In the next village, they had a movie theatre still styled as in the 50s-60s, complete with wooden seats covered in plush red velvet. It had limited screenings, movies that in general where already in major cinemas for a month and cheap prices. No popcorn but no visit was complete without the old style candy. It was run by a couple, the man managing the bar and operating the projector and his wife selling tickets (and keeping an eye on her husband). On Saturday, it had more the allures of a pub that happened to have a cinema attached with its loyal regulars that started off their evening out at the movies. As a consequence, a lot of beer was consumed with regulars telling the man behind the bar to have a drink on them and vice versa. This lead to some amusing scenes that wouldn’t be accepted elsewhere. It added to its charm. Here are some examples. Note: digital movies were in an early stages and the movie theatre was still operated with reels.
It was after the intermission and there was an interruption in the movie and we were watching a blank screen. Suddenly a rumble was heard on the stairs to the projection booth followed by some yelling. While the wife stormed down the stairs, the movie started again. The regulars exchanged knowing smiles and chuckles. Due to all the beer consumed during intermission, the operator fell asleep.
Another time, the movie didn’t make much sense until we realized that the operator mixed up the order of the reels.
Occasionally, the wife would ask the regulars not to buy the husband beer. This was followed by some under his breath remarks when she was gone, calling her some not so nice names and cursing the marital status. He was devastated when she died.
Also, all the young bucks visiting regularly brought their girl friend to be checked out. If he husband didn’t approve of her, the girl was ditched that night. He did favor strong women though.
The theatre was also regularly visited by incognito locally famous actors who knew they would be left alone and could enjoy their night out. Sometimes they assisted in pulling some strings so that a block buster could be shown shortly after its release. One such night, the audience had almost tripled (they sold out that night, a very rare occurrence) and regulars were enduring it until… some incidental customers tried to sneak past the line and enter the theatre without paying. As busy as it was, this didn’t go unnoticed to the wife selling the tickets and she stormed out of her booth. Some of the regulars stopped the freeloaders from disappearing in the crowd. They claimed it to be a misunderstanding and tried to pay but they were thrown out. The regulars who stopped them returned to their place in the line.
One night the movie was bad, very bad. As there was only one movie showing, visitors didn’t have a choice and at intermission, the complaints were rife. It was mutually agreed – between the manager and the regulars – not to proceed with the movie and stand by the bar for the rest of the evening.
The couple sadly died – they were already elderly when we started visiting – and with nobody to take over, the theatre was closed. It didn’t end there though because a famous architect took a liking to it and assisted in the theatre gaining the status as a monument. It was entered in a competition to receive public funds for its restoration and the mayor promised to match the funds. They came out second and it is now fully restored albeit as a multicultural event hall (still showing movies) with some of the old regulars as volunteers. Upon their insistence, the bar and it’s old style candy remained and now the next generation is enjoying the movie theatre. It did loose some of the folklore but the legend lives on.
