Inklings: A (personal) movie history | Columnists | Summerville Journal Scene

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Inklings: A (personal) movie history

Published Thursday, January 07, 2010 11:55 AM

By Barbara Lynch Hill
Summerville Journal Scene ®

It’s easy to see a movie these days. Your take one off your shelf or get one from a rental place. Or pop one into a slot, stretch out on your recliner and press a button.

It wasn’t always like this. Going out to see a movie could be as great an adventure as watching some films. Even though my grandchildren shutter in disbelief when I tell this, it’s true that we didn’t have a television in my family until I was a teenager, and even then there were no movies on TV. That was unheard of. In addition, it had a screen not much bigger than a Blackberry, and featured mostly news, Howdy Doody, Milton Berle and test patterns. Truly, those were the olden (golden?) days.

Of course lots of people still go to movie theaters. Many of these film centers feature multiple motion pictures each shown in their own space. They are remarkable examples of efficiency, not ambiance. I vividly remember going to a really stately movie mansion. Growing up in Atlanta, we often went to the Fox Theatre downtown. It was fashioned after an Moorish Palace, with golden arches and columns, stars twinkling from the ceilings and clouds drifting across the “sky.” There was also a huge pipe organ with live organ music between shows. The massive (nearly 5,000 seat) auditorium was accessed up a wide scrolled staircase, and ushers in uniforms with little caps on their heads and discreet flashlights in their hands ushered you to your seats.

Probably my most nostalgic movie memory though, was going to the Buckhead Theater in what was then the “north area” of Atlanta. Many Saturdays of my youth were spent at this neighborhood theater which lacked atmosphere but was crammed full of action both on and off the screen. My dad usually played golf on Saturdays, so he’d drop my sister and brother and me off at the box office on his way to the course. As the oldest, I was in charge, and dad handed me a $5 bill. With this fortune, I got three tickets and we stopped in the lobby to stock up on popcorn, candy bars and soft drinks, and then trooped into the auditorium to claim our seats – usually in the middle of one of the first three rows.

This trio of Lynches then proceeded to sit through the presentation twice. This included: a double feature, one always a western and the other often a comedy; two cartoons; a news reel; and an adventure ridden, cliff hanging serial, such as Buck Rogers; and previews of coming attractions. All the while, the side aisles were full of kids – including us – moving back and forth to refill snacks, use the rest rooms, visit with friends, shout greetings to pals across the room and toss popcorn in the air to herald our approach. After about six hours of this delightful entertainment, we reluctantly left the theater, crossed the street to Jacobs Drug Store to use the phone and then get milkshakes to avert starvation until mom came and picked us up for supper. There was always change for dad.

Occasionally, I’ll watch one of those old movies again by pressing a button. Somehow, it’s just not the same.

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