# When Did They Start Clearing Movie Theaters Between Showings? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 11, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-they-start-clearing-movie-theaters-between-showings/492711 "2009-04-11T01:38:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-they-start-clearing-movie-theaters-between-showings/492711/21 "2009-04-11T17:30:19Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Until the 1960’s, it would have been impossible to clear the theater between movies, because movies seldom had advertised start times and you were _expected_ to enter during the middle. Then you’d stay through the newsreel and short subject and watch the beginning, and leave when you could say, “This is where I came in.” > > My mother tells the story of how she once entered a theater when it opened for the day, confident that for once she’d be able to watch a movie from the beginning. But no, the theater just started in mid-movie where they had left off at closing time the previous night. > > Once they went to advertised start times, it became theoretically possible to clear between movies, and it was just a matter of theater policy; I imagine there was a lot of variation. What. In the world. This is incomprehensible to me. This is giving me the same “How is it even possible for people to work together as a society in this way?” feeling I get when thinking about how in some countries its customary to be late to appointments. I mean, why would anyone watch a movie at all if this is the general practice? ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-they-start-clearing-movie-theaters-between-showings/492711/22 "2009-04-11T19:17:33Z")
This practice seems to by cyclical. With today’s multiplexes and smaller auditoriums, the staff will clear out the theater if the next showing is likely to be sold out. Remember the olden days of huge auditoriums? No reason to clear those out, as nobody would be denied admission due to it being full. It’s likely that the theater manager’s got it stuck in his head that he’s losing money when somebody stays over after a show. It will fade away once he/she is on to another issue. I worked for a UA theater as a kid, and we were always told to clear out the auditorium, and I was even encouraged to sell two tickets to a single person who wanted to see two movies. How embarassing! If only the cinema owners would realize that the concessions stand was their bread and butter. Well, eventually they did, and when I later worked for Edwards, we didn’t care if someone came in early one day and stayed all day. They ATE & DRANK the immensely overpriced snacks. I can only imagine that it’s the same today. So, if a movie is full, they’ll toss people out at the end to make room for the people who purchased tickets to the next one. Otherwise, they shouldn’t really care. ---
**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:** [April 11, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-they-start-clearing-movie-theaters-between-showings/492711/23 "2009-04-11T21:37:37Z")
Well, as another reference point I’d like to add that I’ve never heard of anyone coming in in the middle of a movie and then watching it till the point where he or she came in. Also, staying through multiple viewings is incredulous to me. I wouldn’t watch the same movie twice in a row if it was even supposed to be allowed. Isn’t it technically theft? ETA: I’m 46. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-they-start-clearing-movie-theaters-between-showings/492711/24 "2009-04-11T21:53:24Z")
I saw **Star Wars** the day after it opened, and stayed for the next show. It was mid-day, and the theater was practically deserted, so they didn’t throw anyone out. But I can’t remember doing it after that day. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-they-start-clearing-movie-theaters-between-showings/492711/25 "2009-04-11T22:05:48Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Isn’t it technically theft? It depends on what the implied contract is. If it’s that you buy a ticket and get to sit in an air-conditioned room while a picture show plays, then no, it isn’t theft. (Air conditioning was a huge attraction theaters advertised once upon a time, back before AC was common in private residences. You likely already know this.) Hell, parents used to send their kids to see the movies just to get them out of their hair for a few hours: The notion of going to a theater specifically to see a single movie is more modern than you might realize, at least in America. My point (as I mentioned above) is that theft is defined by an implied social contract as much or more than by blackletter law and legal precedent. The implied social contract up until the 1970s included a very open-ended arrangement for the price of a single ticket and as much overpriced junk food as you wanted to buy. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-they-start-clearing-movie-theaters-between-showings/492711/26 "2009-04-11T22:15:28Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > What. In the world. This is incomprehensible to me. This is giving me the same “How is it even possible for people to work together as a society in this way?” feeling I get when thinking about how in some countries its customary to be late to appointments. > > I mean, why would anyone watch a movie at all if this is the general practice? [Here](http://tomshawcross.blogspot.com/2006/01/this-is-where-i-came-in.html)’s a nice jog down memory lane: > [@](#): > > However, it was another expression that inspired this story. When some murder suspects started repeating themselves during a police interrogation, Nick Charles announces, “This is where I came in.” > > I asked Michael if he knew what that phrase meant, and if he had recognized the humor in it. It was under his radar. > > For the benefit of my younger readers, I will explain this particular phrase. It is based on a former practice in which movie theater operators would show a continuously repeating loop of films – often a double feature of movies with cartoons and movie newsreels separating them (yes, Virginia, in the days before wide-spread television reception, one could watch the weekly news at one’s local movie theater). > > Anyway, on Saturdays, when Mom and Dad would give Jim and me each a quarter and drop us off at the Crest movie theater on Gravois Road in St. Louis, we would enter the theater at some random point in the loop of films being shown that day. > > Usually, we would come in during a cowboy movie, but sometimes it was Ma and Pa Kettle or maybe Francis the Talking Mule. I remember trying to figure out what the heck was going on, as we had missed all of the preceding storyline and character development. Eventually, the time would come when one full cycle had been shown, and we would recognize that we were now seeing the part of the movie that had been showing when we entered the theater. Hence, “this is where I came in” was a phrase that had meaning then. > > The expression “this is where I came in” is one that I seldom hear any more. I wonder how much shelf life remains for it. Some expressions seem to go on and on, long after their original meanings have been forgotten. The phrase is also in [Dictionary.com](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/this+is+where+I+came+in) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-they-start-clearing-movie-theaters-between-showings/492711/27 "2009-04-11T22:25:30Z")
Back when movies had continuous showings there was lots and lots of stuff in-between the movies. Trailers originally were shown after the movies, hence the name, but they also showed cartoons, shorts, newsreels, serials, and other stuff so you statistically had good odds of not entering in the middle of a movie. And although some people did leave “where we came in” the norm would be to stay for the entire showing of the movie so that you could see it all the way through. Different theaters also had different policies. Major first-run palaces might have live entertainment between pictures, but the pictures were central. They could afford to because they were huge, with often 3-5,000 seats, and they were “appointment” viewing. Ticket prices were obviously much higher. It was smaller neighborhood movie houses that tended toward continuous shows so that they could attract as many people as possible for as long as possible. Just having air conditioning - and movie houses were often among the first buildings to get that - was enough to bring people in during summers. During the Depression, prize giveaways were popular to draw crowds on a regular basis. They gave out, say, a plate a week from a set of dishes and you went back for months to get the whole set. The movies themselves were sometimes secondary, and a lot of times were b-movies or lower so that the plots didn’t matter all that much. The big studios owned chains of their own moviehouses and probably attracted crowds that cared a lot more. Theaters and theatergoers varied widely from place to place and from time to time. It’s hard to say what was “normal” for the period. BTW, I originally read the thread title as “When Did they Start Cleaning Movies Between Showings?” My thought was, rather, when did they stop? Good theaters never used to be as sticky as the average multiplex. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-they-start-clearing-movie-theaters-between-showings/492711/28 "2009-04-11T22:32:27Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > When I worked at Cinemark in the 90s we had to clean every theater after every movie. Was this not the SOP in the 70s? Nope. Part of the movie experience was having to walk through an ankle-deep (or so it seemed) sugary layer consisting of spilled soda and dropped candy, with a garnish of popcorn and cigarette butts and ashes (yes, people smoked in theaters back then) (there was quite a bit of grumbling amongst the smokers when they were forced to sit in the aisle seats if they wanted to smoke while watching). People tended to drop their trash when they were done with it, too, which only enhanced the layer. I very much prefer the notion that customers should dispose of their trash in containers, after the movie is over, and that the theater workers should clean the theaters after every show. It used to be, too, that some theaters would only have a couple of evening shows, no matinees at all, on weekdays. This was particularly true in smaller towns. In some towns, in fact, the theater (and there was only one theater in that town) was only open for a couple of days each week. There just weren’t enough people who wanted to see a movie in that town to justify opening the place every night. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-they-start-clearing-movie-theaters-between-showings/492711/29 "2009-04-11T22:42:38Z")
Not only do I stay in the theatre through multiple screenings, it gives me a great chance to catch up on all my cellphone calls and text messages. ---
**Author:** ![bathsheba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@bathsheba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bathsheba)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-they-start-clearing-movie-theaters-between-showings/492711/30 "2009-04-11T23:23:43Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I think the “Movies on a continuous loop” thing must have been US-only; I’ve never heard any “pop-culture” references to the phenomenon in either Australia or NZ. My parents are English and I first heard of the practice from them as well as the phrase, “This is where we came in, dear”. I thought I had read references to it in Australian literature, but I could be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-they-start-clearing-movie-theaters-between-showings/492711/31 "2009-04-12T04:16:44Z")
> [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](#): > > This sounds a little far-fetched to me. I would like to see some movie ads from the 1950s with no starting times listed. I have in my hand a Chicago Tribune from November 29, 1959, which has been conferred upon me because it was the date of my birth. The movie ads are as described by **Exapno** : The bigger, more expensive downtown theaters give show times; most of the smaller downtown or neighborhood theaters do not. For example, if you wanted to see Rock Hudson and Doris Day in _Pillow Talk_ (and who wouldn’t?), your only guidance was “Open 9:00 a.m.; last feature 10:15 p.m.” Curiously enough, many of the _suburban_ theaters give show times. Perhaps when people had to drive to the theater, they were more demanding in terms of preferring a scheduled time. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-they-start-clearing-movie-theaters-between-showings/492711/32 "2009-04-12T04:36:28Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > **Markxxx** , did they check your ticket stub before letting you in? That was so long ago I don’t recall, but if anyone did ever ask anything, it would be “we came in, in the middle and we’re just staying to catch the part we didn’t see.” And we’d do that all the time, we’d come in the middle of the show. Heck this old theatre even had a “cry room.” ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-they-start-clearing-movie-theaters-between-showings/492711/33 "2009-04-12T07:42:14Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > I have in my hand a Chicago Tribune from November 29, 1959, which has been conferred upon me because it was the date of my birth. The movie ads are as described by **Exapno** : The bigger, more expensive downtown theaters give show times; most of the smaller downtown or neighborhood theaters do not. For example, if you wanted to see Rock Hudson and Doris Day in _Pillow Talk_ (and who wouldn’t?), your only guidance was “Open 9:00 a.m.; last feature 10:15 p.m.” Yeah, but _Pillow Talk_ has no beginning nor end. Just kidding. That’s interesting; thanks for sharing. If it’s a single-screen theater you could reason that maybe they start their “prime-time” show at the same time every night so the clientele just know… and then the ad says the time of the last show, but that still leaves all the early showtimes (open at 9 am!) a matter of guesswork. ---
**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-they-start-clearing-movie-theaters-between-showings/492711/34 "2009-04-12T07:58:41Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > [snip] > Heck this old theatre even had a “cry room.” What was that? I’ve never heard of it before. This is an interesting thread… ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-they-start-clearing-movie-theaters-between-showings/492711/35 "2009-04-12T09:01:39Z")
I remember watching Pollyanna years ago and we stayed for the start of the next showing. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-they-start-clearing-movie-theaters-between-showings/492711/36 "2009-04-12T09:10:15Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > When I worked at Cinemark in the 90s we had to clean every theater after every movie. Was this not the SOP in the 70s? Now they start cleaning during the credits! It’s particularly annoying if you want to stay for the secret scene or see something in the credits. But I think this started happening in the era of blockbusters and multiplexes. ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-they-start-clearing-movie-theaters-between-showings/492711/37 "2009-04-12T14:05:59Z")
My experience in going to the movies in the 1940s and 1950s might bring together some of the previous threads. There were always two features (a so-called “double-bill”), a cartoon, a newsreel, maybe a travelogue, the previews (I never heard the term “trailer” until I went to college), and maybe a request for a contribution to the old actors home. The local newspaper always printed the times each movie would start. (In our local newspaper this was called “The Move Clock.”) But people usually didn’t pay too much attention to it. You just went to the theater and went in when you got there and watched until you came to the point “Where I came in.” And as hard as it is to believe, you really could follow a movie you began in the middle and then you did want to see the beginning and leave. This whole process was a 3 - 4 hour experience, so there wasn’t much interest in staying around to see everything again. They certainly didn’t clear the theater and they never cleaned it until after the last show. (Of course, in those days you could get coke, candy, and popcorn. None of the practically full-blown meals you can get now.) In answer to the original question, I think they started clearing the theaters after double-bills became history. Until then it wasn’t possible. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-they-start-clearing-movie-theaters-between-showings/492711/38 "2009-04-12T15:29:51Z")
> [@jellyblue](#): > > What was that? I’ve never heard of it before. > > This is an interesting thread… From what I understand, a cry or crying room was a place where mothers (and it was always mothers, never fathers) could take their screaming infant and still watch the movie, or hear the preacher (in the case of churches). I’ve never seen one myself that I know of. ---
**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-they-start-clearing-movie-theaters-between-showings/492711/39 "2009-04-12T16:42:37Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > From what I understand, a cry or crying room was a place where mothers (and it was always mothers, never fathers) could take their screaming infant and still watch the movie, or hear the preacher (in the case of churches). I’ve never seen one myself that I know of. What a great idea! I’ll bet people would really appreciate that sort of thing now, I wonder why they stopped having them (I wish they had them on planes…somewhere out on a wing, maybe). I thought it was somewhere the ladies could go and have a good cry if they were overcome by the emotion of the movie! Thanks **Lynn**. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-they-start-clearing-movie-theaters-between-showings/492711/40 "2009-04-12T18:54:56Z")
I used to go to a theater in a small southern town in the late 60’s that had a Cry Room. It was a small room situated in one corner at the back of the auditorium with a large glass window and its own speaker. With the manager’s permission, I used the room to make reel to reel tape recordings of some of my favorite movies from that room by hanging my microphone in front of that speaker. I guess I was kind of an early pioneer of movie pirating. The soundtracks at least. I’ve still got the tapes. Who knew that being able to\* listen \*to “The Planet of the Apes” in 2009 wouldn’t mean diddly? Though I did listen to it with the images playing in my mind back then. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-they-start-clearing-movie-theaters-between-showings/492711.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-they-start-clearing-movie-theaters-between-showings/492711.md?page=3)