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Did you do this?

(81 Posts)
mrsmopp Thu 21-Feb-19 19:05:54

Can you believe we did this? We would go to the cinema - the film had already started, so we'd watch it from the middle to the end, then the news, cartoons etc. Finally the main film came on again. We'd watch it then say, This is where we came in! And then leave.
It seems strange now but it wasn't unusual then, was it?

MacCavity2 Thu 21-Feb-19 19:13:46

Goodness I’d forgotten all about doing this, we got our moneys worth didn’t we. Even better if we had money for an ice cream.

tanith Thu 21-Feb-19 19:14:47

No we used to do that too, I'd forgotten but it does seem very odd.?

ginny Thu 21-Feb-19 19:15:59

Yes, I remember doing that. In fact we often watched it all through twice!

BlueBelle Thu 21-Feb-19 19:21:14

Yes I remember doing that too You could just walk in at any point couldn’t you and stay round ? funny to say it now though

Urmstongran Thu 21-Feb-19 19:26:10

And when you think DD2 took our grandson age 6y to the cinema to watch a cartoon in half term - and the price was £14 for her ticket and £12 for his!

Not cheap entertainment these days.

Our mums used to pack us off to Saturday kids matinees - I can still recall the noise, the lady on the piano at the front and the rowdy kids getting up on stage for the ‘talent’ contests. But not at today’s prices!

Doodle Thu 21-Feb-19 19:26:39

Oh yes. I also remember not being able to see all the film as I had to catch the last bus home!

Deedaa Thu 21-Feb-19 19:28:36

I remember sitting through A Hard Day's Night about three times!

BradfordLass72 Thu 21-Feb-19 19:37:02

I think this is why I often turn to the end of a suspense book to find out how it turned out ! grin then go back and continue reading.

LullyDully Thu 21-Feb-19 19:52:41

Yes that was how it was....also we used to rush out before the National Anthem!confused

mrsmopp Thu 21-Feb-19 20:31:51

The usherette would be waving her torch around to show people where to sit as the cinemas were often quite full.
And the clouds of cigarette smoke rising up because most people smoked then. If you bought some popcorn it was only a tiny little packet. Nowadays popcorn comes by the bucketful!

EllanVannin Thu 21-Feb-19 20:48:01

I remember hanging on to the " sprung " seats in case it flipped up before I sat down. Then all you could hear after the film ended were all the seats folding up. They were like mouse traps.

Asking an adult to" take you in " the cinema if it was an x-rated horror film like Dracula----after paying of course.

Beau Thu 21-Feb-19 21:13:19

I always thought it was just my useless parents who did this! I used to beg them to look up the time the film started but it never happened ?
I hated seeing the middle of the film first, it ruined the whole outing which after all was a rare treat at that time.
Urmstongran, the Saturday morning pictures were not related to normal film prices even then as I recall - it was always sixpence in my day, which when you look back is not surprising as most of the films were probably 20 years old at the time ?

sodapop Thu 21-Feb-19 21:22:22

ABC minors on Saturday morning for 6d. Cartoons and a film. Kia Ora squash.

callgirl1 Thu 21-Feb-19 21:30:02

Those were the days, when the programme was continuous from lunchtime until about 12pm. I regularly left when it got to where I came in at. I was mad with myself a few months ago when Giant was shown on TV and I missed it, I went to see it with my auntie when I was about 14 and we had to leave about 10 minutes before the end to catch the last bus home.
Ah, Saturday afternoon matinees, going to the ssweet shop first for sweet tobacco and gob stoppers, then into the Futurist cinema for Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy, Audie Murphy, Roy Rogers ,whoever was on that week, plus the serial.

callgirl1 Thu 21-Feb-19 21:30:56

That should read 11 pm

NanKate Thu 21-Feb-19 21:43:09

The back seats were used by courting couples. ?

callgirl1 Thu 21-Feb-19 21:59:27

And the front row was the cheapest, but the screen couldn`t be seen properly, so when the lights went down we crawled further back!

petra Thu 21-Feb-19 21:59:30

Saturday was a cinema feast for me and my sister.
The usual children's Saturday morning, then lunch at Manzies pie and mash and then another film in the afternoon.
Sounds daft now, doesn't it. This was me and my sister stil at junior school, on our own all day.

GrannyLiv Thu 21-Feb-19 22:58:31

Yep done that! It backfired once when we thought we were early and had caught the last 30 min of a film. We decided to close out eyes so the ending wouldn't be completely spoiled. It took us over 45 minutes to realise that the film had just started!!!

mrsmopp Fri 22-Feb-19 09:41:11

You never see a queue outside a cinema now. When Mary Poppins came on, the queue went right around the block. And then a sign outside FULL UP.

seadragon Fri 22-Feb-19 10:10:40

....and then getting to our feet for the national anthem and not leaving till it had finished....

Urmstongran Fri 22-Feb-19 10:14:16

It sounds wonderful petra!

Kim19 Fri 22-Feb-19 10:18:15

Funny that. Like everyone else, I participated and never thought anything about seeing the end before the beginning. I just 'conformed'? Certainly never remember being troubled or frustrated by it. Happy days indeed.

KatyK Fri 22-Feb-19 10:19:48

Yes we did this (and everyone stood for the National Anthem at the end).