Saturday Matinees at the Movies '60-'64

[Denver Dick]

I was going to post this under the thread, "Panic in the Year Zero." However, I decided to run it as new thread about Saturday Matinees. So, what do you guys in your late 50s and early 60s think about my list?

I was born in September 1951. Here are the some of the movies I saw at Saturday matinees that made an impact on me:

Village of the Damned (1960) - Oh, those kids with those British accents and EYES!

The Time Machine (1960) - I loved H. G. Wells and really liked Rod Taylor. As for EYES, how about those Morlocks?

Sink the Bismarck! (1960) - Instilled a great love for battleships and British accents.

The Alamo (1960) - Wow, John Wayne and Richard Witmark with a big knife and lots of action on the big screen.

The Parent Trap (1961) - I fell in love with Haley Mills.

El Cid (1961) - Saw it while on vacation in summer of '61. I did not get the politics too much, but wow, what color, what costumes, what swords and what a gal (Sophia Loren)!

The Manchurian Candidate (1962) - The plot was a little hard for a 10/11 year old to follow, but I became a Frank Sinatra fan.

Experiment in Terror (1962) - This was super suspenseful for an 11 year old me. Ross Martin as the bad guy scared me pretty good. The high point for an 11 year old me was when he made Stefanie Powers take off her blouse - wow, a bra!

Panic in Year Zero! (1962) - At the time (high point of the Cold War), this was all too possible for an 11 year old me.

The Day of the Triffids (1962) - Good SI-FI.

The Phantom of the Opera (1962) - Herbert Lom was pretty scary as the phantom to an 11 year old me.

How the West Was Won (1962) - It was very good, but awfully long for an 11 year old me.

Hatari! (1962) - Wow! My first experience with John Wayne not in the military, on a horse or wearing a cowboy hat.

Lonely are the Brave (1962) - Pretty serious for an 11 year old me, but I got it and even enjoyed it.

The Great Escape (1963) - Super war movie. I loved Steve McQueen and motorcycles after this.

The Nutty Professor (1963) - Gee, there's another side to Jerry Lewis besides silly idiot, who knew.

Jason and the Argonauts (1963) - I thought the special effects were incredible and as an added attraction, there were alot of swords.

55 Days at Peking (1963) - Lots of action and I really liked Charleton Heston, so I liked it.

PT 109 (1963) - I discovered Cliff Robertson.

The Flesh Eaters (1964) - I think I was just a few months shy of 13 when I saw this one. It was scary for me. I recently saw it on late-night TV. Wow, is it dated now.

Fail-Safe (1964) - This was all too real for a 13 year old me with the Cold War going hot and heavy.

A Fistful of Dollars (1964) - This one started my life long love of Clint Eastwood. For me, he was always the Man with No Name before he was Dirty Harry.

Goldfinger (1964) - My first James Bond flick. For me there is only one James Bond, and that one is Sean Connery.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) - This and A Shot in the Dark started my life long love of Peter Sellers. I will always remember Slim Pickens reading off the contents of the survival kit and riding the Bomb down while waving the cowboy hat.

A Shot in the Dark (1964) - As for Peter Sellers, see above. You can only imagine how Elke Sommer effected a 13 year old me. Especially when they were roaming around the nudist camp. WOW!!!

 

[A10]

Our local theater used to run matinees. The B movie was usually old, and I got to see Frankenstein (Karloff), Dracula (Lugosi), and The Wolfman (Lon Chaney, Jr.) on the big screen. I recall Dr. Zivago and The Pink Panther, not too many others....

 

[Evil Dog]

Then there was the Commando Cody serials.....

 

[Pop's2]

Just entered my 20's and married so choices were mutual

Lawrence of Arabia
Psycho
The Apartment
West Side Story
The Great Escape
The Pawnbroker
The Longest Day
Tom Jones

 

[Foodfuzz]

I was born in 1949 so I'm a couple of years older but you've got a great list. I was a James Bond afficiando so I would add Dr. No from 1962, From Russia With Love 1963, Goldfinger 1964, Thunderball 1965, You Only Live Twice 1967.

 

[doublesharp]

I checked in in March of 1951 and saw several movies on the list as matinees at our small town theater. Like you mentioned, the Great Escape was a big influence. Steve McQueen was the epitome of cool and I've ridden bikes since I was able.

 

[longhorn too]

I too fell in love with Haley Mills when I saw the Parent Trap in 1961. I was 12 at the time and I think she was a few years older than me. She is still a very attractive woman.

 

[geoff40]

Cool thread! We had a theatre that charged 50 cents to get in on weekend afternoons, and they showed a few hours worth of 3 stooges, or the Marx brothers, 1950s monster movies, and more, the classics. I spent quite a few rainy weekend afternoons in that theatre when I was a kid. Down the steet a short walk was another theatre that did more formal matinee showings, i remember seeing stuff like Fantastic Voyage, Mary Poppins, and a few others there.

 

[ordy]

Good list. can't forget 'Old Yeller' or 'guns of navarone'.

 

[luangtom]

Yessir, remember those days. Remember going out and collecting glass soda-bottles to sell to the store and get change to go to the movies and a bag of popcorn. Two-bits for the movies and a dime for a big-bag of popcorn. Lotsa Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello screen-time, plus the Stooges and all of the rest. Good memories and good times. Thanks for the thread............

 

[LedFowl]

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) - This and A Shot in the Dark started my life long love of Peter Sellers. I will always remember Slim Pickens reading off the contents of the survival kit and riding the Bomb down while waving the cowboy hat.

A Shot in the Dark (1964) - As for Peter Sellers, see above. You can only imagine how Elke Sommer effected a 13 year old me. Especially when they were roaming around the nudist camp. WOW!!!

I read somewhere that in Dr. Strangelove, Peter Sellers was supposed to play the bomber pilot in addition to his other roles, but broke his leg, so Slim was brought in at the last minute. He was great in that part.

And, yeah - Elke Sommer!

Good list. I'm a couple of years younger. I find I'm hung up on movies we saw on weekend afternoon TV, especially Tarzan and sci-fi movies like Invaders from Mars and Target Earth.

 

[Brian41]

Oh yes I remember that. I lived in Flint, Michigan in those days and could get on a city bus and go downtown for a day at the movies, Tarzan was my favorite though and loved the bolt actions the great white hunters had.
Nowdays the theaters are closed and you wouldn't want to get on a city bus in those old neighborhoods either, a real shame.
Oh, I was in grade school at the time and our adventures were as safe as any in those days. I feel sorry for kids today that can't enjoy those days now.

 

[mjr]

On Saturdays I used to walk about a mile downtown to the Will Rogers Theater just off the town square. One dime paid admission to the matinee, which consisted of at least two cartoons, an episode of some serial, and a couple of movies. And a drawing for various toys donated by the five and dime. (One time I won a plastic assembly kit of the USS Arizona.) I clearly recall the day in 1958 when I put down my quarter, expecting 15 cents change, and learned that the dime matinee was gone and that my 25 cents would buy me admission to a matinee showing of The Vikings with Kirk Douglas. I'd just seen that movie the night before and loved it, so I didn't mind seeing it again. But Saturdays were't quite the same after that.

 

[mball]

Altho at that tender age I couldn't get in to see her movies, someone usually had to peel me off the Brigette Bardot posters outside the theater. I also had a thing for Doris Day.

Never would my friends and I miss a western or a spy movie.

 

[Denver Dick]

I was reading the thread this morning and I don't know how I missed this one:

Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964) - I was very much in to Si-Fi when this came out. I really liked it and thought the special effects were incredible. However, the biggest jolt for me, special-effects-wise, was when I waited in a very long line for a very long time to see Star Wars on opening day, May 25, 1977, at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. I will always remember the feeling I had right after the rolling introduction faded into space and a hugh Star Cruiser came rumbling (the sound was loud and shook the seats) into view from the top of the screen. It changed movie special effects forever.

 

[JcMack]

I was in public H.S. '61-'64. On Sunday afternoon all my public school buddies and I would meet up with the parochial H.S. school girls at the local theater. We'd play musical chairs in the theater till you lined up with the right girl for you for the rest of the movies. Those little ladies all went to church that morning and they all wore their school uniforms to the show. White blouse, plaid skirt, and they all smelled very clean. I seem to remember a lot of "B" Dracula movies with the same guy playing the lead in all of them.

 

[dentkimterry]

Used to have a theater in my town until the late 60's. The matinees were only 10 cents in the late 50's and early 60's. My Grandfather was chief of police and somehow he got us free tickets!

 

[carpriver]

I didn't go to the movies in the early 60's but one that that still scares the Be Jesus out of is "Psycho".

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Ah yes, "A Shot in the Dark"! Urban legend at the time was that in the "nudist camp" scenes one girl was facing the camera with her bosom exposed. Wonder how many tickets THAT sold?
One of the theaters in my town had Saturday matinees off and on in the 1960s, recall seeing a number of Italian made "Sword and Sandal" epics.
One that sticks in my mind was clearly based on the Trojan War. I recall a scene where Achilles gets it, and a scene of the Trojan Horse outside the gates of Troy. And it was something special to see movie cartoons they way they were supposed to be seen-on the Big Screen, and in color.

 

[RenoGuy]

However, the biggest jolt for me, special-effects-wise, was when I waited in a very long line for a very long time to see Star Wars on opening day, May 25, 1977, at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. I will always remember the feeling I had right after the rolling introduction faded into space and a hugh Star Cruiser came rumbling (the sound was loud and shook the seats) into view from the top of the screen. It changed movie special effects forever.

Star Wars is the only movie I ever stood in line for.

It was totally worth it.