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After sharing my PT-era theater viewings, I think it was ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
krpalmer who suggested doing a similar series about my OT-era theater viewings.
A couple of things to bear in mind. First, I'm relying on 24-30-year-old memories here, so I'm not going to have as many details. I have forgotten the names of some of the theaters where I saw later viewings or re-releases, although I still remember the theaters where I saw each film for the first time. Second, since I was a kid during that era and since my parents never understood the point of paying to see a movie more than once, I saw the OT in its pre-SE form only a handful of times in the theater. It's not as though I had an income and a car back then.
So, let's take a trip back to a simpler time before everybody had cable t.v., when vans were cool, Pong was a sophisticated video game, a great stereo system took up half your living room and played 8-tracks as well as LPs, teenage boys were signing up for the KISS Army, and all of my friends were into Holly Hobby. My favorite shows were "Wonder Woman," "The Six Million Dollar Man," "The Bionic Woman," anything from Aaron Spelling's stable, "Donny & Marie" and "Little House on the Prairie," although I also watched old horror movies, "Star Trek," and "Batman" in syndication. I watched any new sf shows that came along, but they seldom lasted very long. Leif Garrett and Shaun Cassidy were the It Boys. Farrah Fawcett was the It Girl. Everybody was buying Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours." Clothes were hideous.
Viewing #1: June 1977, Valley Circle Theater, San Diego, CA
It used to bum me out that all of the scary movies coming out were rated R. I remember one day asking my dad if we could go see "Carrie." My dad said no because it wasn't for kids. But he pointed out that this movie called SW was coming out soon and we'd definitely go see that.
Over the next few weeks, I started hearing more about this mysterious movie. I recall seeing an ad in the paper and for the life of me, maybe because of the way the newspaper reproduced the ad artwork, it looked like a diving movie. Either that or I was confused with an ad for "The Deep." In the store, I saw the novelization with pictures in the middle. I looked through it and got even more curious about the movie. I thought Obi-Wan was Leia's dad, heh heh.
Anyway, the movie finally opens here May 25 and immediately the long lines form around the lone theater showing it, visible from the freeway running near it. My dad figured this required some strategery, so he came up with the idea of playing hooky from work while pulling my brother and I out of school for a "doctor's appointment." My mom didn't work then, so she was cool.
We went on typical June Gloom day, though I don't know the exact date. The atmosphere outside of the theater was like a carnival. There were people selling all kinds of stuff, including buttons. There was a lady who was a casting director, looking for kids to audition for a commerical (this was SoCal after all). The McDonalds across the parking lot was doing boffo business. People brought their lawn chairs to wait hours for the next show. The funniest part was my dad ran into one of his co-workers in line!
After what seemed like hours, we went into the theater, got the popcorn (I noticed all of the black and white ANH stills hanging on the lobby walls), and filed into the theater with the gazillions of other people. This is the pre-multiplex era, where most theaters were huge and had only one or two screens. No stadium seating either.
Once the film got going, that was it. An epiphany. And life hasn't the same since.
Weirdly enough, I don't remember too much about what happened inside the theater that first time, but I do remember a) being sold on the movie the second I saw the Star Destroyer on that massive screen and b) my mom joking during Vader's big entrance that he instantly reminded her of my dad. After the movie, we couldn't stop talking about it. The first thing my brother and I did when we got home was start drawing the characters and ships. We couldn't remember Han Solo's name...we thought he was called "Captain John."
University Towne Center, San Diego, CA, August 1978
There was a small multiplex (a whopping two or three screens...ooh) at good ol' UTC back in the day and there were still theaters showing ANH even in mid-1978, though I think this was a limited re-release. We saw it for my 9th birthday while my dad was out of town. I remember we invited this kid who lived on my street to come with us, a sugar-addled lad. When the Death Star was blown up, he jumped up on his seat and cheered.
Some old and long-gone theater in South Miami, Florida, August 1982
When I went to see the movie "Annie" during the summer of 1982, I noticed there was a poster advertising yet another re-release of ANH but with a twist...there was also going to be a trailer for "Revenge of the Jedi!" Woo hoo, you know I wasn't going to miss that! So a few weeks later, my brother and I dragged mom to the theater. Imagine how crazy that was, getting absorbed again into the original SW film while picking through the images that flashed by for "Revenge of the Jedi." One thing was for sure...seeing Han running around again revealed he was getting out of that carbonite. No doubt the guy who cut that trailer went on to cut promos for "What Lies Beneath," "Castaway," and other trailers that gave away the store.
krpalmer who suggested doing a similar series about my OT-era theater viewings.A couple of things to bear in mind. First, I'm relying on 24-30-year-old memories here, so I'm not going to have as many details. I have forgotten the names of some of the theaters where I saw later viewings or re-releases, although I still remember the theaters where I saw each film for the first time. Second, since I was a kid during that era and since my parents never understood the point of paying to see a movie more than once, I saw the OT in its pre-SE form only a handful of times in the theater. It's not as though I had an income and a car back then.
So, let's take a trip back to a simpler time before everybody had cable t.v., when vans were cool, Pong was a sophisticated video game, a great stereo system took up half your living room and played 8-tracks as well as LPs, teenage boys were signing up for the KISS Army, and all of my friends were into Holly Hobby. My favorite shows were "Wonder Woman," "The Six Million Dollar Man," "The Bionic Woman," anything from Aaron Spelling's stable, "Donny & Marie" and "Little House on the Prairie," although I also watched old horror movies, "Star Trek," and "Batman" in syndication. I watched any new sf shows that came along, but they seldom lasted very long. Leif Garrett and Shaun Cassidy were the It Boys. Farrah Fawcett was the It Girl. Everybody was buying Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours." Clothes were hideous.
Viewing #1: June 1977, Valley Circle Theater, San Diego, CA
It used to bum me out that all of the scary movies coming out were rated R. I remember one day asking my dad if we could go see "Carrie." My dad said no because it wasn't for kids. But he pointed out that this movie called SW was coming out soon and we'd definitely go see that.
Over the next few weeks, I started hearing more about this mysterious movie. I recall seeing an ad in the paper and for the life of me, maybe because of the way the newspaper reproduced the ad artwork, it looked like a diving movie. Either that or I was confused with an ad for "The Deep." In the store, I saw the novelization with pictures in the middle. I looked through it and got even more curious about the movie. I thought Obi-Wan was Leia's dad, heh heh.
Anyway, the movie finally opens here May 25 and immediately the long lines form around the lone theater showing it, visible from the freeway running near it. My dad figured this required some strategery, so he came up with the idea of playing hooky from work while pulling my brother and I out of school for a "doctor's appointment." My mom didn't work then, so she was cool.
We went on typical June Gloom day, though I don't know the exact date. The atmosphere outside of the theater was like a carnival. There were people selling all kinds of stuff, including buttons. There was a lady who was a casting director, looking for kids to audition for a commerical (this was SoCal after all). The McDonalds across the parking lot was doing boffo business. People brought their lawn chairs to wait hours for the next show. The funniest part was my dad ran into one of his co-workers in line!
After what seemed like hours, we went into the theater, got the popcorn (I noticed all of the black and white ANH stills hanging on the lobby walls), and filed into the theater with the gazillions of other people. This is the pre-multiplex era, where most theaters were huge and had only one or two screens. No stadium seating either.
Once the film got going, that was it. An epiphany. And life hasn't the same since.
Weirdly enough, I don't remember too much about what happened inside the theater that first time, but I do remember a) being sold on the movie the second I saw the Star Destroyer on that massive screen and b) my mom joking during Vader's big entrance that he instantly reminded her of my dad. After the movie, we couldn't stop talking about it. The first thing my brother and I did when we got home was start drawing the characters and ships. We couldn't remember Han Solo's name...we thought he was called "Captain John."
University Towne Center, San Diego, CA, August 1978
There was a small multiplex (a whopping two or three screens...ooh) at good ol' UTC back in the day and there were still theaters showing ANH even in mid-1978, though I think this was a limited re-release. We saw it for my 9th birthday while my dad was out of town. I remember we invited this kid who lived on my street to come with us, a sugar-addled lad. When the Death Star was blown up, he jumped up on his seat and cheered.
Some old and long-gone theater in South Miami, Florida, August 1982
When I went to see the movie "Annie" during the summer of 1982, I noticed there was a poster advertising yet another re-release of ANH but with a twist...there was also going to be a trailer for "Revenge of the Jedi!" Woo hoo, you know I wasn't going to miss that! So a few weeks later, my brother and I dragged mom to the theater. Imagine how crazy that was, getting absorbed again into the original SW film while picking through the images that flashed by for "Revenge of the Jedi." One thing was for sure...seeing Han running around again revealed he was getting out of that carbonite. No doubt the guy who cut that trailer went on to cut promos for "What Lies Beneath," "Castaway," and other trailers that gave away the store.
