# Do you ever pull a "double feature" at the theater? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 22, 2019, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pull-a-double-feature-at-the-theater/828194 "2019-01-22T13:21:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pull-a-double-feature-at-the-theater/828194/21 "2019-01-22T18:35:22Z")
If I plan to see two movies, (weekends, especially the last couple weeks of the year, I’ll see the matinee of one movie, go have lunch, and then see an afternoon feature) I always buy tickets to both. I enjoy the experience of watching a good movie in a real theater and don’t think subtracting from their revenues is in my best interest in the long run. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pull-a-double-feature-at-the-theater/828194/22 "2019-01-22T19:04:16Z")
Yeah, I did it plenty as a kid. Sure, it’s ethically suspect, but I didn’t have the money to buy the tickets, so I’m not losing sleep over it. These days it’s rare I can block out the three hours just to see one movie in the theater. Most of my movie watching is in 20-minute increments on my laptop while washing the dishes. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pull-a-double-feature-at-the-theater/828194/23 "2019-01-22T19:16:16Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Isn’t that stealing? > > I have seen a movie then when it was over bought tickets for another movie that started shortly and saw that. Well, maybe and sorta and it depends. I have done it a few times. Twice, i found a manager type and asked how to pay for the second feature. The first time, he waved at my giant popcorn and drink and said “You already have!” and the second she said “Dont sweat it”. Mind you, some theatres do care, but others dont as long as you buy stuff and are not boisterous. Of course, you can only hit the half empty shows for the "unpaid " version. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pull-a-double-feature-at-the-theater/828194/24 "2019-01-22T19:17:43Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > I’ve left a shitty movie and walked into a better one, if that counts. Yeah, that too. If you leave soon enuf they’d usually refund your $, so that’s not stealing. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pull-a-double-feature-at-the-theater/828194/25 "2019-01-22T19:25:53Z")
I’m the goober who feels too guilty to smuggle my own snacks into the theater. No way am I committing an aggravated felony like watching an extra movie. What kind of sociopath do you take me for? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pull-a-double-feature-at-the-theater/828194/26 "2019-01-22T19:31:14Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yeah, that too. If you leave soon enuf they’d usually refund your $, so that’s not stealing. Ironically, I remember the movie I walked out of (Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever), but not the one I saw. Pretty sure it was a free promo ticket, too. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pull-a-double-feature-at-the-theater/828194/27 "2019-01-22T19:46:46Z")
I did my ‘double features’ the old-fashioned way, as a late night science fiction picture show. By RKO. In the back row. RHPS followed by “Phantom of the Paradise”, to be precise. Halloween season, 1977. ---
**Author:** ![Latimera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/latimera/32/497_2.png) [@Latimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Latimera)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pull-a-double-feature-at-the-theater/828194/28 "2019-01-22T19:53:26Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Back in the day, you could buy a ticket and sit in the cinema all day long, if you wanted too. Nobody cared how many times you saw the damned movie. > > The last time I remember doing this was in 1977, when I saw _ **Star Wars** _ for the first time. My friends and I sat through it twice, and no one tried to shoo us out of the balcony. > > Granted, that was in a big, old-fashioned motion picture palace. In 1985, I went to see _ **101 Dalmatians** _ in a multiplex, intending to sit through it twice. It must have been my first time in one of the damned things, because I was surprised when the asshole ushers stood around waiting for the hall to empty before they opened the doors for the next showing. > > I hate multiplexes. Because of them, going to the movies is not the experience it used to be. :mad: This. When I was a kid it was common practice. I remember the whole family sitting through Mary Poppins twice (and I haven’t seen it since). My sisters and I watched “Help” three times before finally leaving the theatre… ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2019, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pull-a-double-feature-at-the-theater/828194/29 "2019-01-23T00:10:35Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I’m the goober who feels too guilty to smuggle my own snacks into the theater… I recognize what you executed there. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2019, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pull-a-double-feature-at-the-theater/828194/30 "2019-01-23T00:22:54Z")
Maybe? Why do you want to know? I copied VHS tapes too. Call the feds. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2019, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pull-a-double-feature-at-the-theater/828194/31 "2019-01-23T00:24:59Z")
Nope, never done it. I’ve never wanted to sit through more than one movie back to back. I do smuggle my own snacks in occasionally, though. I’m such a rebel. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2019, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pull-a-double-feature-at-the-theater/828194/32 "2019-01-23T00:45:00Z")
I love “Movie Day” as a special treat where I see two or even three different current movies in the same theater on the same day. (Generally this is at the local arthouse cinema when it accumulates a bunch of films-I-want-to-see-and-can’t-see-elsewhere.) But I always buy a ticket for each of them. Occasionally if I’m leaving the theater but have another 10-20 minutes or whatever to wait for my bus, I’ll drop in to the middle of a random movie and watch it for a few minutes. But I wouldn’t try to sit through an entire movie showing without paying for it. > [@peccavi](#): > > I enjoy the experience of watching a good movie in a real theater and don’t think subtracting from their revenues is in my best interest in the long run. Ditto. For the same reason, I always make sure to buy some of the theater’s refreshments: overpriced, but worth it. (Also, I like theater popcorn and don’t ever really eat popcorn on other occasions, so it adds to the special-treat atmosphere.) ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2019, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pull-a-double-feature-at-the-theater/828194/33 "2019-01-23T01:04:32Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > For the same reason, I always make sure to buy some of the theater’s refreshments: overpriced, but worth it. (Also, I like theater popcorn and don’t ever really eat popcorn on other occasions, so it adds to the special-treat atmosphere.) I usually do too–the only time I smuggle is when I want something specific that the theater doesn’t sell. I also take my trash out and throw it away instead of tossing it on the floor like most other people do. Way back in the Jurassic age of Usenet (around 1993) the company I worked with only got a few Usenet feeds and not much else, so I had some very eclectic things to choose from that I wouldn’t normally have read. One of them was a group for theater managers and others interested in that sort of thing. They posted often about how much of their revenue came from concessions, and how much of a pain it was for their employees to have to clean up the mess from slobs leaving their stuff tossed around. It made a real impression on me (obviously, if I still remember it all this time later!) ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2019, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pull-a-double-feature-at-the-theater/828194/34 "2019-01-23T01:18:28Z")
I’ve never moved to a different theater, to see a different movie, but one time in 1977 my mom and I just stayed in our seats and sat through a second showing of Star Wars. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2019, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pull-a-double-feature-at-the-theater/828194/35 "2019-01-23T01:29:48Z")
I’ve never done it, but the idea doesn’t morally shock me nowadays. I have gone to movie marathons a couple of times, though (one was the Marx Bros). ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2019, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pull-a-double-feature-at-the-theater/828194/36 "2019-01-23T01:42:23Z")
It really never occurred to me to do this. Are you that cheap? Who would you do this with: a date, spouse, friend, kids? Great example. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2019, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pull-a-double-feature-at-the-theater/828194/37 "2019-01-23T01:46:38Z")
No, but when I was a kid in the 80’s, we took a quick peek into a theater showing another movie. It was kind of weird because we just walked in for a few seconds and walked out. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2019, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pull-a-double-feature-at-the-theater/828194/38 "2019-01-23T01:48:24Z")
around here they wouldn’t care unless ya made a big deal of it at the 2 dollar movies …… ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2019, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pull-a-double-feature-at-the-theater/828194/39 "2019-01-23T02:50:55Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > It really never occurred to me to do this. Are you that cheap? > . Well, in my first example, you had to leave the theatre complex to buy the ticket, and I had my popcorn and soda. So I asked, and the manager said- dont bother. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2019, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pull-a-double-feature-at-the-theater/828194/40 "2019-01-23T02:54:55Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I recognize what you executed there. Good grief. All my days spent trying to make a dumb pun, and then I make one by accident. I think I just leveled up in Dad. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pull-a-double-feature-at-the-theater/828194.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-ever-pull-a-double-feature-at-the-theater/828194.md?page=3)