# What was seeing a movie like in the 1960s-1970s? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 11, 2017, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-seeing-a-movie-like-in-the-1960s-1970s/788661 "2017-06-11T01:10:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Sveltington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ab097/32.png) [@Sveltington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sveltington)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-seeing-a-movie-like-in-the-1960s-1970s/788661/141 "2017-12-26T03:49:02Z")
That was such a long time ago:eek: I am very old; but I do recall there were many theaters where I grew up. All were downtown. The inside of most was beautiful with balconies, thick carpet and super plushy seats with the seat part flipping up to allow for more room to walk to a seat. (People would stand, flip the seat and then step back to allow people to pass.) My parents took us frequently, possibly children’s tickets were less expensive than a babysitter. I recall seeing Fräulein with the “bad guy” (Theodore Bikel?) chasing someone over roofs at night.\* My Mom took me to the re-release of “Gone With the Wind” sometime in the 60’s. I recall one theater was closed for renovation prior to the release of the Godfather. My then boyfriend and I went. It was like a gala. There were even klieg lights! There were ushers to escort us to our seats. Everyone was all dressed up and the theater interior had been restored to it’s full glory. Of course there was also a number of um “Art” 😉 theaters too. Fortunately my boyfriend looked very old and managed to get us in; but I looked about 12 so I do not know WHAT the ticket seller was thinking. Ah memories \*of course there was more to the movie than that ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-seeing-a-movie-like-in-the-1960s-1970s/788661/142 "2017-12-26T18:34:33Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > In contrast, the suburban theaters, which were also single-screen boxes, would show a double feature, cartoons and newsreels, continuously. Weekdays, this might start at 4PM and go to midnight, but on Saturdays, there was a show from early in the morning to late at night, no intermissions at all. If you came in late for the start of one show, you just stayed until it repeated to see what you missed – “this is where we came in, let’s go”. One ticket got you in for as long as you wanted to stay. Yep. Also a serial, like Rocketman\*, and often a “Beano” game or a dooe prize drawing. Unless they ran a “Kiddie matinee” on Saturdays. Started at Noon with two B films, usually a Jerry Lewis or something, with more cartoons and no newsreel. I remember being asked to leaveby an usher since we were actually “rolling in the aisles with laughter” and I got out of being kicked out as I pointed out the ad actually said that we’d be doing that. 😛 Or maybe the Manager just didnt want the headache. Smoking was uncommon in the theater due to fire regs. But everyone smoked everywhere else. \*[King of the Rocket Men - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_the_Rocket_Men) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-seeing-a-movie-like-in-the-1960s-1970s/788661/143 "2017-12-26T18:43:52Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I forgot about the newspaper thing. If the paper had gotten thrown out (yes thrown out, not recycled) there was no way of knowing the movie times. No Fandango, no Movie Fone. You just had to show up and see what was playing. You could call. Some theaters even had a recorded message. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-seeing-a-movie-like-in-the-1960s-1970s/788661/144 "2017-12-26T18:48:17Z")
and you could take your own food in. Not beverages, tho. Popcorn was cheap and good. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-seeing-a-movie-like-in-the-1960s-1970s/788661/145 "2017-12-26T21:36:41Z")
I was short, and it seemed like there was always someone tall in front of me. I remember going to see a lot of movies (all Disney) which were always shown as double features. At first I only saw movies at the drive-in. Leaving the house in my pajamas always seemed extremely cool to me. I remember only seeing three trailers in front of each double feature. _Star Wars_ was the first movie I saw in a theater that wasn’t Disney. First PG movie I ever saw, too. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-seeing-a-movie-like-in-the-1960s-1970s/788661/146 "2017-12-27T02:06:28Z")
In 1961 our neighbor took my brother and me to see “Gorgo” in a theater in Brooklyn. It was a big fancy theater, and there was a hypnotist performing before the show. We had two theaters in walking distance, one right in the middle of a commercial block, the other in a small shopping area - with a Horn and Hardart’s restaurant (not automat) next door. Continuous showings went on for quite a while. I saw 2001 3 times in a theater during its first run, and we came in on the very end of “Empire Strikes Back” once. And of course you got show times over the phone if not from the paper. There were special road show presentations of big movies in cities. I saw 2001 twice at the Capitol Theater in New York, with introductory music and Intermission just like on the DVD and BlueRay versions. I did buy the program. Theaters were not always scrupulous about start times. We call the Eric theater in Lawrenceville NJ Eric the Early since if you showed up on time the movie had already begun. We came into Raiders of the Lost Ark the first time just when the ball was rolling. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-seeing-a-movie-like-in-the-1960s-1970s/788661.md?page=7)