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There once was a time when a movie theater had one screen. What you watched depended on what was available that day and time. You didn’t walk up to select from multiple movies to see. You looked at the newspaper or called the theater on the telephone to find out what was being shown and the time of the showing. On the premiere of a major film people would wait in line outside the theater patiently awaiting the opening of the ticket office. Those same people would get in line for snacks and drinks before taking their seats. When the lights dimmed, conversations died down so we could all be silent and enjoy the movie together. Some small towns had a very small theater, not much bigger than a school auditorium or university classroom. People were more patient and courteous.
My earliest recollection of going to the movies myself was 1956. I was 10. The Vogue theater on Tremont Ave in the Bronx was two blocks from our apartment building.
For 50 cents there was two movies, a cartoon, a newsreel, a serial, a soda, and candy or popcorn.
The year, 1956, is significant because it was the year I saw the release of Forbidden Planet, arguably one of the best sci-fi movies of all time.
The people that remember the single screen movie palace era are getting seriously old. I think we can now lament the passing of the multiplex era of the 80's and 90's, where people packed the 4-8 screen suburban theatres every weekend. You go now and even on a "busy" weekend, there's no crowd in the lobby of your local cinema. We've lost the cultural habit, and Covid put a stake through it's heart.
Inflation may continue minting billion dollar (worldwide) grossers, but in terms of admissions we'll never get back there.
I vividly remember the heat coming off the sidewalk while waiting in line to see 'Star Wars' at a local 1 screen.
I was in a theater watching 'Herbie Rides Again' and 'Earthquake!' was apparently (I didn't know it) playing in the adjacent theater and I freaked out when I started to feel my seat shake.
During a movie me and friend go toget snack, come back.
Movie had ended..Just getting over credits running.
Sheesh did we feel dumb.
Ruined the ending for us.
I think we should have been paying better attention.
Last edited by Summerz88; 12-26-2023 at 11:43 AM..
The people that remember the single screen movie palace era are getting seriously old. I think we can now lament the passing of the multiplex era of the 80's and 90's, where people packed the 4-8 screen suburban theatres every weekend. You go now and even on a "busy" weekend, there's no crowd in the lobby of your local cinema. We've lost the cultural habit, and Covid put a stake through it's heart.
Inflation may continue minting billion dollar (worldwide) grossers, but in terms of admissions we'll never get back there.
Gee thanks--I have fond, vivid memories of single screen movie theaters, and I don't consider myself "seriously old." I loved going to our local movie theater so much that I made a cardboard model of it when I was 11 years old, with little drawings of movie posters and stills. The owner of the theater gave me a stack of obsolete tickets, and I played "going to the movies" with my little model. On weekends we went to see whatever the theater was playing, or we took the bus downtown to one of the movie palaces with the huge screens. Around the World in 80 Days...The Alamo...West Side Story...How the West Was Won...Charade...My Fair Lady...A great time to grow up and become a movie lover. The breathtaking movie experience was being whittled away already with the multiplexes. Our little local theater soldiered on as a single screen until into the mid-80s, and then it closed.
We had a couple of these theaters in town that remained for a time after the multiplexes came in. They would show midnight matinees and different things, one of the theaters was only a dollar for admission. We had fun going to midnight shows and there was a 24 hr diner nearby so everyone went there after. Those theaters and Drive Ins were their own experiences that you just didn't get going to a cineplex.
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Just getting over credits running.
Our little local theater soldiered on as a single screen until into the mid-80s, and then it closed. 
