SATURDAY MATINEE

After a nice walk I thought this is a “great night for a movie”.  And I have over 1000 to choose On Demand.  Far too many choices…And then I think of how I used to have just two choices and I’m riding my bike to take in a Saturday matinee.

I was allowed at 10 years to ride over 2 miles to High street.  And I didn't have to worry about getting bumped off by a road raged driver.  I pedaled all over town unabated.

Now the choice – The Levoy, plush seats, glided stairway to the balcony…and today offering an Abbott and Costello double bill - They would meet the Wolf Man and then Frankenstein’s monster. Too much of the same stuff I think.  I didn't like it when Lou got slapped in the face all the time by Bud – he should have hit him back just once and that would have ended it,

Across the street was the working man’s emporium of flickering dreams – The People’s Theatre.  Deck in high enameled apple green.  Hard pealing wood backed seats.  And an lingering scent of popcorn blended with old socks.  I checked the marquee.  THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL and WORLD OF THE WORLDS.  Now you’re talking entertainment.  I paid my quarter and entered the musty arena.

I always chose to sit on the three steps next to the fire exit, half way down the aisle.  Actually this perch was more comfortable than a splintery seat.  But first I had to have my traditional movie watching repast.   Fresh buttered popcorn with at least a week of the recommended daily intake of salt.  Now another hard choice.  Good and Plenty’s or I blow the whole budget on a double Reese’s Cup.  I forego the Cups for the pink and white hard confection and I also choose Ju-Ju Beads as a chaser and I still have money left out of my dollar.

The first movie started and the aliens attacked the earth and where finally defeated (which was a fairly disappointing ending) by a case of the common cold…I would rather it ended in a fierce battle.

 

Next the short subject – The Clutching Hand.  A 15 minute mystery which always ended with a cliff hanger as the shadow of, you guessed it – a clutching hand was seen about harm the hero.  And then the real treat.  Beep Beep – the crowd roar was deafening – As Road Runner was missed by a falling safe that Wily Coyote tossed into the Grand Canyon.  Just once I would like to see that bird get his.

The feature began – a movie that would haunt me for years to come.  

It started with a blaring warning horn alerting citizens that a space ship was landing on the grand mall of Washington DC – (alien do seem to do their homework before they visit).  This film was creepy because it was like a newsreel – I started to think about the end of the world, triggered by extraterrestrials and shuddered.  Most science fiction, as it would later be called, was filled with very cheap and unbelievably clumsy monsters – this one was all too real. 

It didn't end with a battle, but with a warning to get our petty earthly problems straightened out before it was too late.  (Remember this was a time when kids practiced getting under our desks in school to be safe from and A-Bomb dropped on Millville.

I left the theater in deep dark thoughts – then something so ironic happened.  Just as I was about to hop my bike the City tested its Emergency Alert System horns that were on the roof of the City Hall.  This scared the h%^l out of me.  Gads – It’s happening.  The aliens, Russian, somebody is bombing Millville. 

I needed to get home…home was safe.  

And if not - I didn't want to perish alone here on High street.  I had never ridden a bike so fast, so recklessly.  I made the 20 minute ride in just 9 minutes flat.  Ran in the house bawling, I hugged my grandmother, who was totally taken by surprise.  Later after I had calmed down – She scolded me, “Serves you right to waste your money on silly movies”, she declared.

And for several years, whenever I heard a siren, I shivered and wonder if this was going to be the day the Earth would stand still.