A Movie And Free Dishes

The High Primal ,as I've noted before, is a fountain of knowledge when it comes to movies. Halliwell's "Film Guide" never strays far from our TV set. One would think we venture out to a movie theater frequently. Not so. For some unknown reason (the fact that I'm not a movie buff may be a clue) we get our fill of movies via Netflix, an occasional DVD purchase and Turner Classic Movies on the boob tube.
 
While watching a vintage movie, ”Footlight Parade”, on TCM, I couldn’t help going back in time when it was a treat to go to the neighborhood theater for a night at the movies.

Dish night at the Family Theater in the 1930's is especially memorable for me. If it wasn't for china set giveaways, I doubt that neighborhood theaters would have survived at the height of the depression era. A free piece of tableware was handed out as you gave your 15 cent (as I recall) ticket to a grouchy theater owner. My mother and my aunt competed as to whose set of china would be completed first. The highlight of the evening was not the movie but the sudden crash of a dish as someone scrunched through a row of seats to get to an empty one in the middle.

It's amazing that in the midst of a deep depression, people found the few pennies to get to a movie in order to get something free. Amazing but understandable. It's the American way. Just think, in the midst of the sequester the very rich are looking for a free pass on taxes. But I digress.

 Maybe the High primal and I would get to a movie more often if they gave away something like Marx Brothers bobble heads. Hmmmm, just when was the last time we saw the inside of a movie theater? Don't get me wrong. I'm not too cheap to venture out to a movie, but to be honest, I'm scared shitless of vampires.