What was the first film you saw in the cinema?

What was the first film you saw in the cinema?

Author
Discussion

spikeyhead

17,222 posts

196 months

Friday 15th November 2019
quotequote all
Star Wars in '77

juice

8,508 posts

281 months

Friday 15th November 2019
quotequote all
spikeyhead said:
Star Wars in '77
Same - Gants Hill Odeon. biggrin

belleair302

6,835 posts

206 months

Friday 15th November 2019
quotequote all
Herbie Rides Again in St Albans Odeon somewhen around 1974, I would have been around 5 years old as a birthday treat.

Digger

14,588 posts

190 months

Friday 15th November 2019
quotequote all
I have a feeling it was Gandhi with Ben Kingsley. Might have to watch again to see if it jogs my memory!

pingu393

7,715 posts

204 months

Saturday 16th November 2019
quotequote all
The earliest that I know of was Eye Witness with Mark Lester. There were probably some earlier, but I definitely remember watching that one at the pictures. I don't know what it doubled up with. It may even have been the B movie.


Films were shown in pairs with a cartoon before each.

I recall watching Live and Let Die. It was paired up with From Russia With Love. The cartoon was probably Bugs Bunny, Tom and Jerry or Porky Pig.

I remember that 10.10pm was "The Queen" whether the last film had finished or not. Sparticus was one film that was cut short.

Ice cream lady with a torch telling you to keep the noise down if you opened a crisp packet.

A proper flea pit, now a derelict building.

The place wasn't emptied, so you could pay your 50p (or whatever) at 11am and stay until 10pm if you wanted to. You wouldn't have seen the same film twice as they weren't repeated on the same day. Not even when Jaws came to town.

EarlOfHazard

3,601 posts

157 months

Saturday 16th November 2019
quotequote all
Supersam83 said:
First movie I can remember watching at the cinema was My Girl in November 1991 @ Cannon Cinema in Leicester.

I was 8 years old and was taken by parents and my friend at the time.

Movie rental on VHS was a more frequent way of watching movies at the time and as a family we used to rent weekly and got introduced to many movies that way.
Mine was My Girl as well ! I'd have been either 7 or 8 at the time. Only went as my auntie took me and my female cousin.

Tony427

2,873 posts

232 months

Saturday 16th November 2019
quotequote all
DocJock said:
Thunderball.
Ditto.

Sammo123

2,103 posts

180 months

Saturday 16th November 2019
quotequote all
I have no idea if this was the first film I saw at the cinema but it’s the first film I remember going to see. The Little Rascals. My brother and I went and saw it at the Saturday morning kids club and loved it smile

irocfan

Original Poster:

40,152 posts

189 months

Saturday 16th November 2019
quotequote all
unsprung said:
Only in your teens?

Some here were quite grown up, relatively speaking, before they saw a film in the cinema.

Any particular reason or...? Just curious.
I suspect part of the reason for me is I was an army brat and dad was stationed in Germany for a fair chunk of time prior to '77/'78

Eric Mc

121,776 posts

264 months

Saturday 16th November 2019
quotequote all
unsprung said:
Only in your teens?

Some here were quite grown up, relatively speaking, before they saw a film in the cinema.

Any particular reason or...? Just curious.
The advent of home video would have made a difference for the generation born in the mid to late 70s. Most households had a video player by 1982/83 so many youngsters would have seen quite a few movies on VHS before they felt the need to go to a cinema.

As far as my first visit to " the pictures" (as we used to say in Dublin) was, it's so long ago I can't really remember. One early film I do remember being taken to was "This Is Cinerama" - which was a demo-film made to show how fantastic films shot using the Cinerama system was (allegedly). I would have seen this around 1962 or so (I was 4 years old). By 1965/66 I was already a veteran cinema goer and still have clear recollections of seeing "Mary Poppins", "The Sound of Music" and "Grand Prix" - all on their first releases.

The three films that really helped form my current interests were "Grand Prix", "Battle of Britain" and "2001: A Space Odyssey" - all of which I saw first time round.

waynedear

2,157 posts

166 months

Saturday 16th November 2019
quotequote all
Apparently Mary Poppins in the 60’s........
Apparently a small boy got out of his seat at the end of the film and ran crying down the aisle, howling ‘come back Mary Poppins’
I obviously disassociate myself from said child.

R.Sole

12,241 posts

205 months

Saturday 16th November 2019
quotequote all


Made all the more memorable as the place caught fire with 10 mins to go and burnt to the ground!

Arklight

891 posts

188 months

Saturday 16th November 2019
quotequote all
essayer said:
Same, according to my parents i was "mildly emotional" when Prime died.

unsprung

5,467 posts

123 months

Saturday 16th November 2019
quotequote all
irocfan said:
I suspect part of the reason for me is I was an army brat and dad was stationed in Germany for a fair chunk of time prior to '77/'78
Interesting! And something that would have given you a unique view of the world as a child.

No films shown on base, then?

unsprung

5,467 posts

123 months

Saturday 16th November 2019
quotequote all
Eric Mc said:
The advent of home video would have made a difference for the generation born in the mid to late 70s. Most households had a video player by 1982/83 so many youngsters would have seen quite a few movies on VHS before they felt the need to go to a cinema.
That applies to the back catalogue (say, Disney classics of the 50s, 60s and 70s), but not to first-run films.

Missing out on 80s first-run films such as E.T., The Goonies, Back to the Future, Ghost Busters, The Karate Kid, and so on would have been notable. Your friends at school would be talking about them. Friends would be going in groups, usually accompanied by parents, to see them.


unsprung

5,467 posts

123 months

Saturday 16th November 2019
quotequote all
R.Sole said:


Made all the more memorable as the place caught fire with 10 mins to go and burnt to the ground!
Talk about a dramatic ending!

Was it pandemonium with people leaping for the doors? Or was this more about a small matter that allowed for plenty of time for an orderly departure, before a full-on fire took over?

eck c

345 posts

193 months

Saturday 16th November 2019
quotequote all
Jungle Book, I was only little,

Se7enheaven

1,709 posts

163 months

Saturday 16th November 2019
quotequote all
PurpleTurtle said:
Star Wars.

The first one, before all this prequel nonsense, at The Gaumont Cinema in Birmingham in 1978.

Afternoon matinee performance because I was only 5. Was amazed by the sheer size of the screen, the concept of another short film beforehand as a warm-up, and the interval after that where one could go and buy an ice-cream from a lady in the dark holding an illuminated tray.

This was all quite a bit to take in for my tender years, let alone all the Jedi business!
Wow spooky, same for me. Star Wars , Gaumont , Birmingham. Matinee performance, 1978. I was 9.
An incredible experience and I remember it still so vividly. My father was not quite so impressed, he fell asleep !

Getragdogleg

8,736 posts

182 months

Saturday 16th November 2019
quotequote all
Indiana Jones and the temple of doom, in an old cinema in Malta

Mark-C

5,010 posts

204 months

Saturday 16th November 2019
quotequote all
eck c said:
Jungle Book, I was only little,
This for me as well ... Chelmsford Regent (long gone) ... I would guess at 1970