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Show Finding new meaning in old movies m a u;e mnviw five or six times each. "South Pacific." ... p.g. oiao his movies five or six times each. There was "Rebel. Without a Cause", "East of Eden", and "Giant," which I particularly liked. The other day "Giant" was on television. It was so good to see it again. It had been years since the last time we had seen it. I especially remembered the part where James Dean stands there and lets the oil gusher drop from the sky onto his face. He did a superb job in that show. There are a lot of the actors from that movie who died at a young age including James Dean, Sal Mineo, Nick whats-his-name, etc. When Elvis came along we had to see all of his movies. They were much alike, I guess, but it was worth it to see that hunk and listen to him sing. , When he first appeared on television in those early days, my mom told me his movements were indecent and that I shouldn't watch him. I did anyway. Musicals were big in those days, the '40's and the '50's, and we never missed one. In those days they would let you stay and see the movie through again without having to buy another ticket. We have been known to stay for as many as three showings in a row without leaving for refreshments or to go to the bathroom. I especially loved Esther Williams musicals and never missed any, and Gene Kelly was much more my favorite than Fred Astaire. (I think it was because to me he was better looking.) "Oklahoma," "The King and I," "South Pacific," and othPr made from BroadwayT terrific and the soundtrack V' be purchased after seeing ! "adl so that you could relive Y11 derfulsong. Ve eaH. I loved June Alyson anH always be her when Wp ft movie stars when I was i, , also liked to be Dale p Betty Grable. Us girls over who was going to be wh , The Disney shows were n . the animation was out of tw a,: "Snow While" was oneOfth?0,lt ones we saw. It was great One of the best things ab011, to the movies in the olden d f that they had cartoons afc the movie. Usually there 1 feature movies and several ; plus the Movietone News thYourea.lygoty0urmoney,sort Gradually they began to cm h First, they dropped the X1 the second feature went and toons began to be eliminated one! time until now there are none When the Mr. Magoo cartoons,, the Coyote and Roadrunner r! came out they were such a rii There was always a rousing Z, from the audience when o, cartoons were shown. Mr Mat? has completely disappeared and h Coyote and Roadrunner can be sea on Saturday morning if yoil lucky enough to catch it. Anyway, we enjoyed seeiw "Fantasia," again. One of the d had never seen it at all before I'm not sure she cared, either. happened to the good old days? By M ARC KI.LA WALKER We took the girls to see "Fantasia" "Fan-tasia" for family night this week and I was amazed that I had forgotten so much of that gorgeous movie. Before you all holler out that I am bound to be forgetful at my age, I would like to dig myself in further by saying that it was almost like I had never even seen some parts of that movie. I figured it out and it has been about 18 or 19 years since we saw that movie for the first time. The two oldest kids were really young at the time. Maybe I had to take one of them out during the first visit and missed a part of the show, or, more likely, I have just forgotten. When I was a kid we used to see a movie every Saturday down at the old Paramount Theater in Ogden. We never missed if we could help it because there was always the serial that you had to keep up on. We must have seen every cowboy show that was made in the mid to late 1940's. We loved Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy, and all the rest. Now, what I am getting at here, is that when one of those old shows comes on TV, I cannot even remember it. I know I must have seen it all those years ago but it is just like watching a new show. (Of course, they were all alike and if you saw one you saw them all which makes them rather forgetable.) I had lots of favorite movies back when we went to movies. We hardly ever go anymore and when the Academy Awards are held we don't even know which movies or stars to cheer for because we haven't seen any of the shows. I remember the first technicolor movie I ever saw. In fact, it is the first movie which I can really remember. That was "Blue Skies" and it had Betty Grable in it. After I saw that I went out and bought some Betty Grable paper dolls and I still have them. (I don't play with them anymore, though. ) I remember the big hullabaloo when "The Moon is Blue" came out and everyone screeched that it was indecent. I saw it at the old Orpheum Theater in Ogden and sat on the back row hoping no one would see me at this "raunchy" movie. I think I might have lied to my mother about going to see it, too. James Dean was the rage of the sage in the 1950's. We must have seen |