Movie Memories

I GREW UP in WNY--going to the Mayfair (which still exists), the Rivoli, the Rialto, the Alvin (lots of Westerns), the Embassy (high class), the Capitol (also high class), the Astor, the Temple, the Queen Anne (foreign movies). For first-run movies, Newark--where I rarely went--or Jersey City.

Sat mornings, my brother Roger and I worked hard to amass the money to see a movie--what was it, 12 cents?

Once we went to the Alvin, which was showing 3 Westerns. We enjoyed them. We decided to see them again. We sat thru 2 more movies, then left. We met our mother on the way home. Where WERE you kids?

At the Alvin, I asked for "one small." How old are you? Eleven. "They grow them big here in Guttenberg!" (I WAS 11, and not especially big.)

We liked going to the first show. Half-hour early. The lights dimmed. The curtain--a scary green thing at the Mayfair--parted. The audience got excited. The movie started! Cheers! Especially if there was a cartoon! (Remember 21 Cartoons?)

Roger and I went to the Rialto. Or the Rivoli, nearby. A mummy movie. We got in. We looked at the screen. A mummy was coming toward us! We both ran out!

The line to see Bambi was maybe 2 blocks long. It was almost impossible to see Pride of the Yankees.

They were such fun, those days! With contests! With serials! I fell in love with the Jungle Girl. So pretty, so sexy! Was it Frances Gifford?