Feb 2: Films in childhood
The blog needed an early post featuring films which I watched when I was younger which have stayed with me, and which I would still be happy to watch now.
We had a range of televisions when I was young including a Dynatron in a cabinet which could be covered up with a flexible screen that was pulled across the TV screen. It also weighed a ton. We only had three available channels at the time that I first remember watching TV: BBC 1 and 2 and ITV. There was a close down in the late evening, and no breakfast TV either. The remote control was on a wire. And you tell the kids that today, and they won't believe you...
I remember seeing 'The Great Escape' at Christmas - my memory is that it was on every Christmas, although that was probably not the case, and it certainly hasn't been on at Christmas with regularity for quite some time (although these days of course many films can be watched whenever you want them to be, and it was on a few days ago).
I used to play with toy soldiers as a child, which I brought from a shop called 'Babyland' on the roundabout in Wickersley where I lived, to the east of Rotherham. I had a number of sets, and a diorama of a shelled town where I could re-enact street combat. I watched war films therefore, and also the afternoon cowboy films.
We had a range of televisions when I was young including a Dynatron in a cabinet which could be covered up with a flexible screen that was pulled across the TV screen. It also weighed a ton. We only had three available channels at the time that I first remember watching TV: BBC 1 and 2 and ITV. There was a close down in the late evening, and no breakfast TV either. The remote control was on a wire. And you tell the kids that today, and they won't believe you...
I remember seeing 'The Great Escape' at Christmas - my memory is that it was on every Christmas, although that was probably not the case, and it certainly hasn't been on at Christmas with regularity for quite some time (although these days of course many films can be watched whenever you want them to be, and it was on a few days ago).
I used to play with toy soldiers as a child, which I brought from a shop called 'Babyland' on the roundabout in Wickersley where I lived, to the east of Rotherham. I had a number of sets, and a diorama of a shelled town where I could re-enact street combat. I watched war films therefore, and also the afternoon cowboy films.
I liked the apparent heroism of 'The Alamo' - fighting against the odds and with a touch of John Wayne, not necessarily fully appreciating the geopolitical context, or the idea of 'manifest destiny' and genocide in the average Western.
In terms of the cinema experiences, we used to go to the pictures in Rotherham, which had two cinemas: one at the top of the hill, and one at the bottom: the Odeon and the Scala / Gaumont.
In terms of the cinema experiences, we used to go to the pictures in Rotherham, which had two cinemas: one at the top of the hill, and one at the bottom: the Odeon and the Scala / Gaumont.
Local Facebook groups are great for sourcing images of old locations. I am a member of several such groups which are connected with my local area and these allowed me to find some images of these cinemas where I used to go.
I remember going to see Star Wars in the week that it came out in the UK. It wasn't the opening day by any means, but I remember there being queues outside the cinema in Sheffield where we had to go to see it.
The film had been extensively trailed in the UK for months ahead of this day and I was very excited. There was also a bit of a buzz around Jaws as well.
Watership Down was a memorable watch - quite a gory film for a kids' cartoon.
At the Earth's Core and other Doug McLure films featuring rubber dinosaurs and Caroline Munro were also a staple of cinema as well. I remember.
There were of course all the Disney classics of the time.
For other films, we went a little further afield.
As I got older, there were more opportunities available: Crystal Peaks, the opening of Meadowhall, and the art cinemas in Sheffield, particularly the Showroom cinema where my arthouse leanings started to appear with films such as Amelie.
What are the most memorable films from your own childhood?
The film I should be watching today of course is 'Groundhog Day'.
Groundhog Day is the 2nd of February - the day that Bill Murray is doomed to repeat endlessly. Many cinemas have a special screening of the film today, for one day only....
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