Movies

When I was a child we did not go to the movie theater very frequently. The fact that there was not a movie theater in my hometown might have had some bearing on the issue. (I was told that the town once had a movie theater, but that it was converted into a skating rink, or some such thing. I do not remember that.) This meant that movies involved a trip out of town, either to Raleigh or to Smithfield.

This does not mean that I never saw movies, just that I usually had to wait for the movies to appear on television. And I saw some great movies that way: No Time for Sergeants and Mister Roberts, for example.

My first movie in a real theater was Old Yeller, a Disney flick that came out in 1957. We were visiting my maternal grandmother on a Sunday afternoon in Kenly, NC, my cousin, Donald Wayne, was not there, and I was bored. At that time, my grandmother lived next door to a movie theater. My father gave me a quarter and told me to go next door to watch a movie. I came in midway through the show, but stayed for the next showing. After seeing the movie all the way through, I stayed for a third showing until I was bored again. I haven’t seen the movie since.

Old Yeller had the imprimatur of old Walt Disney. The next movie I saw in a theater definitely did not. Tormented was a black and white thriller that came out in 1960. I was seven or eight years old at that time, and it made quite an impression on me, so much so that 65 years later I still remember the gist of the plot, and the dramatic last scene. There were no movie ratings at that time, but I hazard a guess that the movie was not appropriate for a seven or eight year old child. You can still find this movie on the streaming channels.

Watching a favorite dog get shot because of the possibility of rabies and watching a man attempt to kill a young child on the apron of a lighthouse, while being chased off the apron and onto the rocks below by an apparition, may be reasons why baby boomers are generally tough cookies, not given to emotional weakness. On the other hand, they may be why we have produced so many serial killers.

The remainder of my family movie-going experience as a child is limited to more Disney flicks: The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) and That Darn Cat! (1965). In 1965 I saw my first James Bond movie with a friend’s family. It was Thunderball, the fourth Bond movie produced by Cubby Broccoli. Sean Connery was, of course, great, but Claudine Auger? Ooh La La! The movies played a role in my dating life. (Teresa, I apologize for taking you to see Barbarella!) I think I saw the movie Patton eight times when it came out, with five different dates. Taking a date to see Patton is not a good idea, and may explain why I had dates with five different young ladies. Nevertheless, it is the greatest movie ever made.

I don’t make it to the theater all that often these days. Kathy and I would go every now and again when we lived in Georgia. The last theater movie I saw there was Chappaquiddick in 2017. Since moving to North Carolina, we have seen a Fantastic Four movie, and maybe one or two others, in the theater. But, for the most part, we watch movies at home. I bought Wicked from Amazon streaming service for Kathy’s birthday. We had friends over. They stopped by the local theater to get a couple of buckets of popcorn. It was great, except for the movie. It was the weirdest remake of The Wizard of Oz I have ever seen, and it was a musical, to boot. I hate musicals. I own it, but plan never to see it again. The worst part of the movie was the ending. After nearly three hours of torture, I learned that we had seen only part I. I do not plan to see part II.

Although I am a curmudgeon, I must say that the invention of streaming television channels is the second-best invention ever, second only to the invention of root beer. I have seen some great movies on these channels, but they tend not to be recent movies. A couple of weekends ago, I saw a Hitchcock movie from the early 1950s that was absolutely excellent. If you get the chance, take a look at I Confess. It has a great storyline, excellent performances by Montgomery Clift, Anne Baxter, and Karl Malden, and beautiful scenes from Quebec City. We sat before the television, pointing at the screen, and saying “I remember that building!” The lobby of the Chateau Frontenac hasn’t changed in 70 years.

The fact that I do not see very many new movies means I no longer need to watch the Oscars. That saves a few hours every year but leaves me out of the Monday morning water cooler gossip about the host, the speeches, and whether or not the right movie won.

I have a few thousand movies on my external movie hard drive. Most are from the $5 bin at Walmart, movies that are old but still unseen by me. It is easy enough to collect these movies, but making the time to see them is another matter. That is why I have a few thousand on my hard drive. I have gravitated recently to film noir, an example of which is I Confess. If you are looking for a classic movie, check the dozens of decent film noir.

On the other hand, there is always Patton. At ease!