...in the winter months, we would go to the cinema just to get off the cold streets.
The cinemas around the sixties in my city were in abundance and a walk or a bus
ride would get you there. So, a few errands to run, to get the entry fee and maybe
a stick of liquorice or a toffee apple thrown in. The demise of the Victorian churches
led speculation to local business men,(hardly well-off themselves) into changing the
sombre looking dwellings into a community of excitement and fun. The bringing
together of many people filled the buildings with a much more enlivened congregation
all sharing the same purpose but not being sombre about it all. The front outside
walls were whitewashed, poorly but acceptable, with small boxes fixed to the walls
containing a few photographs, probably no more than about four clips from the film.
Eventually, large white posters were hung up onto the walls which drew people to
the doors. From the front, it looked like a picture house. From side and back it
looked like a church.
In my district, there were three cinemas. One big one that had a little more investment than the others and attracted the grown-ups or families. The cheaper
'to get in ones' did look a sorrowful sight and sometimes, you could go a week
later and still see the same film on. Not that it mattered to us kids, we were out
off the street and in the warm and making mischief. I cannot remember the
first film I saw, no doubt a cowboy or a gangster; you had to be over sixteen
to view the adult films. If you were under age, you would need to stand outside
in all weathers, waiting for an adult to take you in. Many a time, I asked and
was told to 'push off' of course later on in years, this method was outlawed due
to the child's vulnerability. Not that kids thought that much about that, they gave
as good as they got and more. Most days, you didn't have the entrance fee so
the kids waited till the cinema filled up and gave one kid enough to get himself
in. We would all wait at the side entrance and wait. The big bar would be lifted
slowly and one by one each kid would disappear behind the heavy curtain and
off to the cheaper seats. Of course, this did not always work. The manager would
charge down and the culprits were quick to leave their seats towards the exit.
It was quite funny sometimes, as long as you didn't get caught.
To me, sitting under a big screen with the antics of Cagney and Stewart and a
whole other list of favourites was like heaven. The house I lived in was very
tiny so this provided a lot of space for me and I liked the volume being high.
A lot of people smoked in the cinema then and it was fascinating being in the
dark and yet seeing a few faces in the projection stream and all that smoke twisting
and twirling and all those that were smoking lifting up their heads to blow out the
smoke into the circling tube of light. Looking back, I guess, a whole 2-3 hours of
community habits was acted out in that one collective establishment. And not all
went to see the films. Not that I took much notice when I went there. Out of
respect for the church and the Queen they insisted everyone stayed after the
programmes as the anthem was played. Usually, I always found the place empty
within seconds of the music playing.
Then one day, I stopped going, due to my starting work. But when I returned
some months later I noticed many had been taken over by enthusiasts for Bingo.
There was something a little more tangible to be gained by that I suppose........