The Wonderful World of The Brothers Grimm (1962)
A while ago, Sandy gave me the idea for this blog post. The topic of movies had come up and not seeing many movies in the theater as a kid.
I don't remember going to the movies much as a kid.
Babes in Toyland (1961) is the first movie I saw in a movie theater at Shopper's World in Framingham, Massachusetts. Either a friend or cousin of Ma's took me with their kids. I don't remember Ma coming. I think she stayed home and had a lunch or dinner ready when the movie was over. I was 6 years old.
The Wonderful World of the Brother's Grimm (1962) One Thanksgiving, Dad, took all of us to Boston to see this movie at the Cinerama.
(It was the first movie to be filmed in a process known as Cinerama. The process used three cameras and a special 3 strip movie screen. The word is a portmanteau of cinema and panorama and gave the audience an immersive experience. The only other film made using this process was How The West Was Won (1962). The process was labor intensive and expensive and dropped in favor of 70 mm film)
After the movie, we must have gone to my grandma's (Ma's mother) for Thanksgiving dinner. Though Dad didn't really like going visiting on Thanksgiving because when we got home there was no delicious turkey smell filling the house or turkey and other goodies to pick on. 😺
Tarzan's Three Challenges (1963) as the first feature to El Cid (1961) at the drive-in. The Brother got to spend a week at Bonny Acres with Auntie (Ma's sister) and Uncle, and my two cousins. Auntie said I couldn't go because I was too little. That just pissed me off as I was only 2 years younger than my cousin, D. To take the sting out of not going on a vacation, Dad took Ma and I to the Natick Drive-In.
While I liked the Tarzan movie, I really liked El Cid starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren. I think this is when my love of watching movies started.
There must have been a couple of other movies that I saw at the Shopper's World Cinema and I must have been with The Brother. I have vague recollections of watching the show and then sneaking up and hiding out in the balcony to watch the movie again. I was a model child and must have been led astray by The Brother, 6 years my senior.
When The Boys Meet The Girls (1965) with the group, Herman's Hermits. I was 13 (1968) and was spending a school vacation week in East Boston at Grandma's. My Cousin D must have been told she had to entertain me and take me around with her. At 15, she wasn't happy with this arrangement.
We walked up to the Seveille to see this movie and to meet her boyfriend. D didn't want me tagging along and she had an argument with the boyfriend. At the theater, he paid for his ticket, my ticket (even though I tried to pay for my own ticket as Ma and Dad had given me spending money), but he didn't pay for D's ticket. She was fit to be tied. Walking home, she screamed and shoved me around. I started walking in the direction of the subway. She yelled at me where was I going. I told her I was going to my dad's office in Boston. She began to panic because my dad was very strict and all the cousins were afraid of Uncle Joe, and of course I told her I would tell Dad what happened.
After making her beg me to go home with her, I gave in. Truth be told, I had no idea how to get to my dad's office by subway from the stop near her house even though I had ridden the subway with The Brother and later by myself since I was 7 years old. I knew how to get to Auntie's house via the Green and Blue lines. Dad would take us to Woodland Station (Green line) to Government Center (now back to the old name of Scollay Square), while Dad either walked to his office, we would go downstairs and change trains to the Blue Line, get off at Maverick Square and walk to Auntie's house). I knew the stops for the Green and Blue Lines, and knew the address of Dad's office, but had never been to visit at this time.
Happy Thanksgiving. Happy Thursday. Thank you all for walking down memory lane with me, for your visits, and your kind words.
