"The Olympia" showed first run movies. Any Shirley Temple movie was a sure fire hit with me.
"The Strand" showed mainly cowboy pictures and on Saturday matinees gave out pieces of china. I went there on a regular basis, that's how my mother got a complete set of dishes. You got your money's worth at that theater, not only did you get a piece of china, you saw Pathe News, a cartoon like "Popeye" or "Betty Boop" and then you saw what they called a "serial" which left you hanging so you had to come back the folllowing week to see what happened next. As I'm typing this I realize what they were doing was like what we experience on TV today.
"The Chelsea" was know as "The Scratch House" because the seats had fleas. The only time I went to "The Chelsea" was to see "King Kong" which I can't tell you how many times I saw.
In those days the movies did not sell refreshments so my mother would pack me a lunch just in case I got hungry. A salami sandwich was what I usually had. Funny thing is, no one complained, they all must have had the same snack.
As I got older "The Olympia" became my very favorite movie house. Those were the days we had REAL movie stars, Tyrone Power, Robert Taylor, Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Hedy Lamar and Claudette Colbert just to name a few!!
In the 40's the fellows were just starting to get out of the service, had no cars so we would go into Boston by subway. It was a big deal to go to a gorgeous theater like "The Metroplitan." The theater was beautiful and the movies they made in those days were great!!
After a while I dated fellows that had cars so it was a pleasure going into town and after the movie we would go to a Howard Johnsons or a diner for a bite to eat and if your date was flush we would to Chinatown.
One of my dates introduced me to foreign films which we would see at the Exeter Street Theater in Boston. At one time the building was a church which they converted into a movie house. As I recall, it was not air conditioned but we went there regardless. That's where I was introduced to the talented Alec Guiness who starred in "The Lavender Hill Mob" and "The Man in the White Suit, just to name few.
In the 50's I married and moved to the suburbs. There were a handful of independent movie houses not to far from where we lived so it was still easy to get to the movies. Times changed, the conglomerates started opening up and were slowly causing the small theaters to close. At that point in time we had to travel a little further, pay a little more but still went to the movies.
A few years after my husband died I moved north of Boston. At that time there still was an independent theater in the area, "The Warwick." It was a charming little theater, the owner would greet us as we came in, we would see our neighbors and it was a hop, skip and jump from were I lived. And they showed foreign films!! Unfortunately, it didn't take too long before they closed their doors.
Now when I want to go to movies, it's a longer drive, most movies seem to be of the "cops and robbers" variety, seldom is there something I really want to see. When I hear about a good foreign film it seldom makes it to a theater that I can get to.
Would you believe I found a solution!!! Netflix.com
I have already received my first film, "Tsotsi" loved it and am looking forward to the next one in my queue, "Inconvenient Truth."
I'll still be going to the movies with the girls, having dinner out and sharing the movie experience with them but who would have thunk years ago that a movie could be delivered to your door, watch it at your convenience and indulge in some hot buttered popcorn!!