Grandma’s Story - Part 3

Question # 3 - What was the first movie 🎥 that you saw in the Movie Theater ? I actually don’t remember the very first movie 🎥 that I saw in a movie theater although I do have many wonderful memories surrounding the first several movies I saw in theaters as a young child. My Aunt Anne O’Donnell, who was one my mother’s younger sisters, was single and she lived with her parents in an apartment a couple of blocks from Broadway. She loved going to the movies and she very generously shared her love ❤️ of the movies with my cousin, Sharon O’Donnell, and me. Aunt Anne would walk us to one of the two major theaters on Broadway in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. Some times we would go to the RKO Bushwick theater and other times we went to the Loew’s Gates. Both theaters were beautiful as far as I was concerned. We entered the theater and settled into our seats. Sometimes the movie was already in progress, but we’d stay until the movie reached the same point where we first entered. Other times, when we arrived before the movie started, the lights in the theater were lowered and the curtains opened revealing the massive screen in front of us. I remember the feeling of excitement when the MGM Lion let out a loud roar while the exciting, dramatic music played in the background. Even now, at 78 years of age, whenever the introduction of a movie comes onto the screen, I remember Aunt Anne and Sharon and our wonderful trips to the movies together. Some of the movies I remember seeing all those many years ago were “ The Seven Little Foyes”, “Come Back Little Sheba”, “ Singing in the Rain”, “Dial M for Murder”. Several of the movie plots were beyond my years and understanding but nonetheless I enjoyed them. Back when I was a young child, the theater would show a double feature (two movies for one admission price) and they’d even show a cartoon between the two main features. When we left the theater, Aunt Anne would take us out to eat. On some occasions we’d go to the local Chinese restaurant which required a walk up a flight of stairs as the restaurant was on the second floor. Aunt Anne loved Chinese food and I enjoyed my first real introduction to Chinese food. My Mom did make a chicken chow mein meal on occasion but that was the extend of my knowledge of Chinese cuisine until Aunt Anne introduced me to other Chinese dishes at this authentic Chinese restaurant. On other occasions we went to a local Ice Cream Parlor and we’d sit in a booth and I would order a hamburger and French fries as well as the most delicious malted milk shake I’ve ever had in all my life. It was served with a glass and a very large frosty metal container that seemed endless. It felt like heaven to me! These outings to the Movie Theater typically ended with a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Anne O’Donnell’s second floor railroad flat apartment. These early movie theater memories are some of the favorite memories of my childhood. Thank you, Aunt Anne!!