Movie Memories

These days seeing a movie is not such a big deal for a child.  In my childhood it was an enormously big deal.  Well, for me it was.  I lived on a farm.  The roads were dirt roads, some had gravel.  We had electric lights put in the year I was born.  Think "A Painted House" and you have my childhood setting.  So that may set the scene for why this was a big deal.  Please, join me as I relive the eventful night of my first remembered movie.

Aunt Opal lived in Big D.  That's Dallas, TX, for anyone that does not know the moniker.  Aunt Opal was a directory assistant/telephone operator for Southwestern Bell and single.  She shared rooms with girlfriends near downtown Dallas.  Granny and I were visiting Aunt Opal for a few days that summer of 1953.  That was always such a treat for this little farm girl.  Aunt Opal was so cosmopolitan beautiful I thought.  She even had painted nails!

The big night that we went to the movie I seem to remember things going like this.  Aunt Opal came home from work.  Granny and I were all gussied up ready to head out for dinner and the movie.  We climbed aboard the trolley car and headed back to downtown.  What an adventure to ride those trolleys.

We reached our first destination, The Pulley Bone.  We went there cause Aunt Opal knew I loved fried chicken.  And Aunt Opal loved me as much as I loved her.  We indulged in wonderfully crusty, greasy, deep fried chicken delivered to the table.  Yummy, yummy, yummy.  There was probably gravy and mashed potatoes but I do not remember.  I may have had a Dr. Pepper.

The next part of the adventure was the walk to the theater.  We saw three nuns.  I had never been that close to a nun.  In full habit.  As a matter of fact, I might never have even seen a nun before then except possibly at the State Fair.  One of the nuns dropped a bottle of fluid and it splattered on our feet.  I was afraid as we walked away because Aunt Opal jokingly said no telling what was in the bottle.  I kept looking at my shoes and socks to see if they were dissolving. I was six years old and very impressionable. 

I do not remember the name of the theater.  My eyes were dazzled by all the lights and people.  Yes, I had been to Dallas shopping before.  To the Sears Roebuck store on Ross Ave. in the daytime.  But that was nothing like this area.  And it was just Aunt Opal, Granny and me.  A very special night indeed for this young, country child.

The movie was billed as the "sensation of the summer", a 3-D movie about a rodeo.  I remember very little other than the 3 - D glasses and a bull "jumping" off the screen into the theater.  Aunt Opal and Granny protected me from the mean, Brahma bull.  I do not even like pictures of that breed of cattle to this day.

This evening I surfed around the internet using '1950's 3-D rodeo movie' in the search bar.  It took a little searching but I found the name of the movie, Arena.   I was pleased to find a picture of the poster. Click here for a synopsis of the movie.  Arena was one of the first 3D movies.  A little further searching found a clip of the movie on YouTube.  It happens to include the scene where the bull came out of the screen at my terrified 6 year old self.  Not nearly so scary to a 67 year old watching on a computer screen in her lap.

Thanks for coming along with me to the movies!  Sorry I did not have a bowl of popcorn and some soda for you.  I'll try to have it the next time you drop by for a visit.

For more movie magic memories visit Gretchen and Ginny Marie over at The Spin Cycle.  Join in some reel fun and spin up your movie memory!