December 16, 2015- Movie Memories

 It was great that we got to see a lot of movies for free thanks to Aunt Joan and her friend Ed who always seemed like an uncle to us. She worked at the Elmora Theatre. I think that 1984 was the last year of this- Amadeus. That film was kind of boring to me but Dad seemed to like it; he’s into classical music.  

   Ed used to work as a projectionist at movie theaters and a drive-in was one of them. I think that was in Union; we saw Jaws there.

   He showed us some movies at our house too – Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Willie Wonka. I think that one or maybe even both were at my birthday parties. One summer night in the mid-70s we watched Young Frankenstein in our yard. These were all such good times.

   Mike and I are still wondering why our parents never took us to see Star Wars which would have been for free also. We did see The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi at our Aunt’s theater.

   We saw the re-releases of all 3 films in 1997 but that’s just not the same esp. because of the digital enhancements and added scenes. I’ve seen old footage of people waiting in long lines to see Star Wars and wish that we had seen it back then too.

  In the summer of 1979, Cousin Fran took Mike, her sister Missy, and me to a drive-in to see Roller Boogie. I also saw The Black Stallion and The Black Hole there with those 2 cousins. I had thought that Mike was with us too but he said that he wasn’t.

1985-Tacony-Palmyra Drive In

1973-Elmora Theatre

 

Note- the first 3 photos are mine, the others are from the internet. Elmora Theatre- from American Classic Images

 

Movies 2

I loved the drive-in movies and wish that they still had one in our area. I don't even know if any are left in New Jersey. There probably aren't many left in the country. Besides seeing Jaws when I was a kid, I remember my cousins taking my brother, their sister Mary and I to see The Black Hole, Roller Boogie and I think The Black Stallion. Mary and I saw Star Trek 3 at the Quakerbridge Mall theater with her brother's girlfriend Sue. My brother is really into Star Trek and I kind of like it too so we've seen most of them together in the theater except for the first 2 which we saw on TV and the last 2. He has yet to see the last one. The only movies that I've ever seen twice in the theater are Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade and The Last Crusade and Spiderman 3. Mary went with me the second time to the former and Mark to the latter. The last movie that I saw was Terminator 4. We never saw the other 3 in the theater. I never even saw the first 2 until the late 90s on TV. I wish that we had seen them on the big screen. There are alot of movies that I'd like to see that way, even the classics. I did see the re-release of the 3 Star Wars movies in the late 90's so technically I have seen Star Wars in a theater but it's not the same as seeing it when it first came out. What were my parents thinking? They took us to the scary Jaws but not to Star Wars. It's kind of funny, I guess.

Movies

I don't really go to the movies much anymore- I used to enjoy this especially when I was a kid. Back then I got to see many of them for free because my Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Al- well, he wasn't officially our Uncle but we thought of him as one- worked in theaters. For a couple of my birthday parties in the 70s he brought the movies to our house and showed them on a screen in the basement. We saw Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. One time he showed Young Frankenstein in our yard which was cool. Mom and Dad took us to his drive-in theater to see Jaws which was really scary to my brother and I. We jumped up out of our seats during the one scene when Roy Scheider first saw Jaws close up. I remember some of the other movies that we saw but not all of them. Mom said that we saw all the Disney ones. I mostly remember The Rescuers. We saw all three Muppet movies too. We always wondered why our parents didn't take us to see Star Wars- we did see The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Raiders of the Lost Ark, 9 to 5, The Incredible Shrinking Woman, On Golden Pond, The Four Seasons and Sheena are others that I recall. Amadeus was definitely the last movie that we saw for free. My father loves classical music so he liked that.