I have always loved ‘the pictures'

A life long addiction

I have always loved films.

From as early as I can remember I have loved the cinema and some of my happiest childhood memories involved going to ‘the pictures’ to see the latest releases. In Brechin where I grew up, my local cinema or ‘picture house’ was The Kings and was a family concern run with ruthless efficiency by the owners.

Matinees on a Saturday afternoon with the latest children’s films.

I looked forward all week to going to see them. New releases were really eagerly anticipated although growing up in a small town with a very small cinema meant we usually had to wait a little bit longer than many.

Tickets were bought through a polished glass window and dispensed flat from a stainless steel dispenser on the counter top. Cheaper seats downstairs in the stalls obviously. It was only later when I started earning my own money from my paper round that I could afford to go upstairs to the balcony seats.

“We sat, rapt, in the pitch black.”

I recall that as much as I enjoyed the whole experience woe betide that any talking went on lest the owner appeared with his torch to shame you into silence. All part of the fun though. We sat, rapt, in the pitch black cinema in absolute silence for the entirety of the film. Yes really.

We avidly soaked up and memorised the best lines of the film to be discussed with and recited to friends on the way home or at school on Monday.

We sat excitedly waiting for the music to start and the heavy red curtains which covered the screen before the films started to swing open.

I recall that there was a short film, often a documentary or natural history piece, before the feature film and that the feature was usually a two reel film which necessitated a break midway through the film whilst the reels were changed.

It was at this reel change point that the usherette walked down one of the aisles to stand near the screen with her tray of ice-creams. The second reel started once everyone had retaken their seats ice-cream tubs in hand.

In today’s digital, on demand, pause and rewind world it may be difficult to understand but somehow this all added to the magic for me.

My life long love of films, like everyone of my generation I guess, started with Disney animated films like Snow White and Dumbo with my mum and then as I got older and more independent such ‘classics’ as Herbie, Planet of the Apes, through to Duel, Jaws, Superman and The Deer Hunter and all the others that came out during the sixties and seventies.

“Black hatted baddies and white hatted goodies.”

A particular favourite of mine, sadly now sort of out of vogue in Hollywood at the moment was the western. Cowboys and Indians.

Rather predictably plotted and by today’s standards often hugely racially insensitive but to a child great just the same with black hatted baddies and white hatted goodies, cavalry coming to the rescue during Indian attacks had me enthralled. But to be fair that was just a favourite all sorts of film genres took a goodly part of my pocket money.

I was there pretty much every Saturday growing up. It installed in me a life-long desire to see the latest releases on a big screen and not wait to view on a more convenient smaller screen at home.

Sadly many local cinemas have fallen prey to changing tastes and distribution methods as well as property developers and bingo halls but thankfully enough still survive or their spirit is carried on by community cinema projects.

As a side note my local described here, the Kings Cinema, had an interesting time after closing and briefly became Flicks Nightclub, one of the most famous in Scotland in the eighties.

But enough survive thankfully. There is still a great cinematic experience for the young to be had in a dark theatre that doesn’t involve picking up a remote control or switching on an iPad. A lifetime love affair can still be fostered in the cinema for today’s youngsters too.

Most big towns still offer them and the new generation of medium and smaller independents like Picture House, Curzon and my own local favourite, The Shortwave cinema have bucked the closure trend and are all offering great viewing experiences and hospitality.

So apart from my much cherished desire that we all just get back to no talking in the cinema I, for one, continue to be a very happy film fan indeed.

There is even the odd western being released too!