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What was the first film you ever saw in a cinema?

(130 Posts)
LadyHonoriaDedlock Sat 28-Jan-23 16:08:10

Mine was Summer Holiday, with Cliff Richard, The Shadows, Ron Moody, Una Stubbs and others, at the Plaza in Birkenhead. I find this is the case with many of my age (not the Plaza necessarily) simply because the whole premise of travelling to Greece on a converted London double-decker at a time when cheap package holidays to the Med weren't yet a thing was such a welcome relief after that long, bitter winter of 62/63.

When I did my Masters in TV/Film Studies (yes, deal with it!) a couple of years as a mature student one of the younger ones asked if that was where the song came from. The song Summer Holiday seems to have been a potent icon right down the generations.

Chestnut Sun 29-Jan-23 11:57:50

You can find clips from The Student Prince and the full movie on You Tube. In fact, you can find anything on You Tube.

Callistemon21 Sun 29-Jan-23 11:35:28

Kalu

Callistemon21

Oh, The Student Prince with Mario Lanza, lovely.
I still have the EP somewhere too, I'm such a hoarder 😂

No doubt we could find it on Spotify now. 😄

No picture, though 😁

nanna8 Sun 29-Jan-23 11:26:42

I think I saw Bambi,too. Also something about an elephant- Dumbo? I remember being taken to see the Hound of the Baskerville when I was very young. Couldn’t sleep a wink afterwards. My Mum had no idea that it was unsuitable for young kids.

Esmay Sun 29-Jan-23 11:25:40

Bambi and I howled so much that we disturbed the other cinema goers and we left early .

Years later , my children did exactly the same watching ET .

MerylStreep Sun 29-Jan-23 11:23:37

Kalu
The film was Calamity Jane. The Deadwood Stage was a song in the film.

HeavenLeigh Sun 29-Jan-23 11:19:40

South Pacific or Carousel with my parents at the cinema

varian Sun 29-Jan-23 11:18:06

I loved the swashbuckling antics and the clever lyrics

"The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle. The chalice from the palace has the brew that is true."

varian Sun 29-Jan-23 11:12:59

It might not have been the first film I saw at the Saturday morning children's cinema, but the one I remember best is"The Court Jester" starring Danny Kay.

Yammy Sun 29-Jan-23 10:53:53

Snow White Disney cartoon with my gran she wanted to see it herself I was scared of the skeleton and cried. Goal house Rock which two older cousins sneaked me into when I was about 9/10 and something with Paul Robeson singing" Old man river."
I think with my parents it was Exodus I remember a really long queue.

Lexisgranny Sun 29-Jan-23 10:41:37

I have no idea, though I do know that it was something unsuitable! A friend told my mother that she had seen me sitting alone in the cinema, with what looked like a bag of sweets, whilst the girl who was supposed to be looking after me sat in the back row with her boyfriend. I must have been about 3 at the time.

Skydancer Sun 29-Jan-23 10:38:16

Saturday morning Minors Club - The Purple Monster. It always ended on a cliffhanger. We were all scared stiff. Wonderful days.

Kalu Sun 29-Jan-23 10:37:18

Callistemon21

Oh, The Student Prince with Mario Lanza, lovely.
I still have the EP somewhere too, I'm such a hoarder 😂

No doubt we could find it on Spotify now. 😄

Kalu Sun 29-Jan-23 10:34:14

My favourite childhood film of all is still The Deadwood Stage with Doris Day. Oh, how I wanted that beautiful Palomino she sat on when singing, Secret Love.

Callistemon21 Sun 29-Jan-23 10:32:03

Oh, The Student Prince with Mario Lanza, lovely.
I still have the EP somewhere too, I'm such a hoarder 😂

Kalu Sun 29-Jan-23 10:25:58

Callistemon21

I think it must have been Mandy, with Mandy Miller in about 1952.

My brothers, who were older than me, used to go to Saturday morning cinema most weeks.
Later on in my teens I went with friends and saw Summer Holiday, Elvis films, oddly enough Norman Wisdom films and any Doctor films with Dirk Bogarde, whom we thought was the best looking man we'd ever seen. 🙂

Snap Calli. My father took me to see it in 1955 when I was 5yrs old. I cried buckets at that and also Hi Lili, Hi Lo with Leslie Carron and yet more tears watching The Student Prince as Mario Lanza sang, I’ll Walk With God. 😭
Happy days. 😂

Chestnut Sun 29-Jan-23 10:14:19

I was just going to say that Hayley gave an amazing performance in Tiger Bay. It was a brilliant movie but I was too young to see it at the time. It's worth seeing now if you haven't seen it. Some of these old movies really show the freedom that children had in those days.

fiorentina51 Sun 29-Jan-23 07:20:06

I went to the ABC minors sessions on Saturday mornings in our local "flea pit". Utter chaos.
I can't remember my first film but it could have been Flash Gordon or the Cisco Kid. Then again, it might have been Old Mother Riley or Felix the Cat.
I think my first "proper" film was Tiger Bay with Hayley Mills. I went with my grandmother and felt very grown up.
I was about 8 years old.

MayBee70 Sun 29-Jan-23 05:02:48

sukie

Yes MayBee70 I remember the crystal chandelier scene well and have thought of it often over the years. I've never seen a solar powered rainbow maker but what a thoughtful gift from your son!

It actually stopped working at one time and I thought it had broken but I couldn’t bear to throw it away. Then, one day I heard a clicking sound and it was working again! I did have a crystal hanging from a window at one time but I read that it could cause a fire so I gave up on that!

CallmeEsme Sun 29-Jan-23 02:48:49

For me it was Tommy the toreador, but my first evening one was Goldfinger bond movie. I went with my dad and older sister and I felt so grown up at the time.

sukie Sun 29-Jan-23 01:58:13

Yes MayBee70 I remember the crystal chandelier scene well and have thought of it often over the years. I've never seen a solar powered rainbow maker but what a thoughtful gift from your son!

MayBee70 Sun 29-Jan-23 01:44:59

sukie

A lovely neighbour picked my sister and I up to see Pollyanna. I'll never forget waiting outside on the front steps for her to arrive. There were many siblings in my family and we just didn't get to go places so this was very special. I've adored Hayley Mills ever since.

I loved the scene at the beginning with the crystal chandelier. My son bought me a solar powered rainbow maker years ago and it always makes me think of the film. Hayley Mills is such a lovely person. It was a shock to see her in The Family Way years later that was very controversial at the time.

FannyCornforth Sun 29-Jan-23 01:37:42

FannyCornforth

Tarka the Otter when I was 6.
The first one I properly remember was ET when I was 10

Both with my Nan. My mom didn’t like to go to the cinema, she said that it made her feel dizzy.
I’m not one for it either.
The last film I went to was Love Actually with my dad and his wife to be. 20 years ago shock
I refused to pretend that I enjoyed it!

sukie Sun 29-Jan-23 01:32:34

A lovely neighbour picked my sister and I up to see Pollyanna. I'll never forget waiting outside on the front steps for her to arrive. There were many siblings in my family and we just didn't get to go places so this was very special. I've adored Hayley Mills ever since.

FannyCornforth Sun 29-Jan-23 01:30:28

Tarka the Otter when I was 6.
The first one I properly remember was ET when I was 10

Kamiso Sun 29-Jan-23 00:22:31

We took my nephew to see The Wizard of Oz but the film had alread started so it was very dark. When the lights went on during the interval he asked very indignantly “Why are all these people here?”