MOVIES, CINEMAS AND 'PICTURE SHOWS'

     We decided to do something today that is out of the ordinary for us . . . we went to a movie.  And the one that we  selected is somewhat controversial with mixed reviews.  Is it a 'true story' or 'based on a true story'?  (The academic historian in me knows that there is quite a difference. )

     One of my throw away lines when asked about the last movie that I have seen is "Gone With the Wind".  There is a nearby cinema which we have patronized less frequently than in earlier times.  When we pass it, my wife will say, on cue , 
"What is that building there?". And, on cue, I will reply that I think is is a skating rink.

    "The movies are great medicine. Thank you, Thomas Edison for giving us 'The Best Years of our Lives' " . . . so sang the Statler Brothers in The Movies.  I am unsure why we now attend less frequently.  Was not always so.  Guess I could claim in part the fact that there is no theater in our home town.  'Once upon a time' almost every small town had at least one. In the town where I grew up, the building burned one Sunday afternoon in 1954.  Fire trucks came from even as far away as Raleigh . . . 15 or so miles.  The town where I now live lost its downtown movie house by fire many years ago.  And the 'Drive In Movie' out on the By-pass gave way to 'progress' many years ago.

     Strange as it may seem to some who are accustomed to paying today's admission and concession prices, I have vivid memories of using my full 25 cents allowance for admission (10 cents), a box of popcorn (another dime) and a drink (a nickel).  Now that I qualify for 'Senior Rates', I am amazed at  what that can do to a portrait of Andrew Jackson ($20 bill) .
Maybe therein lies at least a clue for the decrease in 'going to the show' (as it was once called).  Doesn't make sense (almost an unintended pun) in that that we spend comparable sums for other entertainments, as well as for 'eating out'.

    Just this week, I saw a video clip on YouTube that had a segment with one of my boyhood heroes, Gene Autry.
He and Roy and Hoppy always wore  white hats.  These days, I like: Baseball stories such as Trouble with the Curve; Humor and Comedy; Historically- based such as Unbroken; and, while the last title does not fit, I usually prefer 'light hearted' stories, where the 'good guys' still win. 

   And the  previews shown today were an unending stream of egregious murder, mayhem, and other forms of chaos.  Perhaps it has to do in part with the fact that I hear ample hurt, strife, conflict, etc in my office that I want entertainment  at the movie.  In that the last two movies we have seen have been 'intense', when we left the theater this evening, my wife  commented that our next one needs to be a 'Chick Flick'. Uncertain of the precise definition of that genre, I still almost agreed.

    An often heard comment is  'the movie is not as good as the book'.  Each time that I hear that statement, I remember that when  Cecil B. DeMille's  blockbuster The Ten Commandments was released, someone asked my fraternity brother, Bob Little, if he planned to see it.  He answered, "No. I read the book."   Maybe that's part of my reason . . . while not all good movies have gone with the wind,  I frequently prefer reading  a book to much that is now on the 'silver screen'.
           Satchel