This is a comment for RICHARD SLEEPER who posted the above comments.
My apologies to you and the management of the Balboa, a theater where I saw many a swell monster movie in the late 50’s. The Balboa still allowed patrons in the balcony long after other theaters at roped theirs off. Sigh*** Punks like me were probably the reason balconies were off limits by the end of the ‘50’s.
One afternoon, during a showing of IT CONQUERED THE WORLD, I and a friend manged to slip up to the balcony with an open can of Campbells condensed cream of mushroom soup. At a graphic part of the movie (where you first see the worm creature underwater, I think), we leaned over the edge and blurted out, “I’M GONNA BE SICK!” Then we dumped the condensed mushroom soup over the side and ran like hell.
Sorry, Richard, you probably had to clean it up. But it honestly, truly was only soup.
BTW, I met a girl at the Balboa. A Catholic school girls, who went to St. Michael’s, which was right around the corner. We got married several years later. Still are — married I mean.
The Academy was my threater as a kid growing up in the 50’s. Not only did our family see movies there, like THE VIKINGS and THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, but it was the first theater I was allowed to attend AT NIGHT without a parent — just me and my friends. I remember clearly that first night. It was a friday in June, the last day of 6th grade. I would be starting seventh grade at Horace Mann J.H.S. in the fall.
It was a warm night, perfect. The picture was 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH and the line stretched around the side of the theater and half way down the parking lot — all teenagers. I was so excited to be among them, without a parent. 35 cents for twelve and under, 90 cents for juniors and 1.25 for adults. It was so cool to be in line with the older kids, I gladly paid the junior price, even though I was 12.
Once inside, popcorn was 15 cents, or 25 cents buttered. The Academy had a soda vending machine in the lobby, which was a favorite. When you dropped your dime in, a wax paper cup plopped down, shaved ice sprinkled in, then syrup and soda water sprayed in. Besides the mechanical show, what made it special was the fact that, while the syrup and soda water were spraying in, if you moved the selector real fast between cola and cherry, you ended up with a cherrty cola! How cool was that?!
Another cherrished memory of the Academy is from the mid to late 50’s. It is that of the special shows the threater ran. Suburban theaters like the Academy had stopped running week-day matinees. However, in the summer, the theater ran a special show on Wesnesday afternoons. These programs consisted of a two or three year old Sci-Fi or Action movie and about 10 cartoons. IT WAS A BLAST! I was too young to see TARGET EARTH or INVADERS FROM MARS in first run, but was lucky enough to see them at the Academy a couple of years later (and before they hit TV). On one summer Wednesday they ran THE WIZARD OF OZ and it was there that I learn that it was in Technicolor (having only see in on TV up to that time).
And, lastly, the Academy’s wonderful tradition of running a Thanksgiving Day program consisting of 30, count them, 30 CARTOONS!!! The point of the program was for Mom to be able to get the kids out of the house while she got Thanksgiving dinner ready. To us kids, it was the absolute start of the Christmas Season!
Thom Eberhardt
(who grew up to make movies of his own)
This is a comment for RICHARD SLEEPER who posted the above comments.
My apologies to you and the management of the Balboa, a theater where I saw many a swell monster movie in the late 50’s. The Balboa still allowed patrons in the balcony long after other theaters at roped theirs off. Sigh*** Punks like me were probably the reason balconies were off limits by the end of the ‘50’s.
One afternoon, during a showing of IT CONQUERED THE WORLD, I and a friend manged to slip up to the balcony with an open can of Campbells condensed cream of mushroom soup. At a graphic part of the movie (where you first see the worm creature underwater, I think), we leaned over the edge and blurted out, “I’M GONNA BE SICK!” Then we dumped the condensed mushroom soup over the side and ran like hell.
Sorry, Richard, you probably had to clean it up. But it honestly, truly was only soup.
BTW, I met a girl at the Balboa. A Catholic school girls, who went to St. Michael’s, which was right around the corner. We got married several years later. Still are — married I mean.
Thom E
The Academy was my threater as a kid growing up in the 50’s. Not only did our family see movies there, like THE VIKINGS and THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, but it was the first theater I was allowed to attend AT NIGHT without a parent — just me and my friends. I remember clearly that first night. It was a friday in June, the last day of 6th grade. I would be starting seventh grade at Horace Mann J.H.S. in the fall.
It was a warm night, perfect. The picture was 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH and the line stretched around the side of the theater and half way down the parking lot — all teenagers. I was so excited to be among them, without a parent. 35 cents for twelve and under, 90 cents for juniors and 1.25 for adults. It was so cool to be in line with the older kids, I gladly paid the junior price, even though I was 12.
Once inside, popcorn was 15 cents, or 25 cents buttered. The Academy had a soda vending machine in the lobby, which was a favorite. When you dropped your dime in, a wax paper cup plopped down, shaved ice sprinkled in, then syrup and soda water sprayed in. Besides the mechanical show, what made it special was the fact that, while the syrup and soda water were spraying in, if you moved the selector real fast between cola and cherry, you ended up with a cherrty cola! How cool was that?!
Another cherrished memory of the Academy is from the mid to late 50’s. It is that of the special shows the threater ran. Suburban theaters like the Academy had stopped running week-day matinees. However, in the summer, the theater ran a special show on Wesnesday afternoons. These programs consisted of a two or three year old Sci-Fi or Action movie and about 10 cartoons. IT WAS A BLAST! I was too young to see TARGET EARTH or INVADERS FROM MARS in first run, but was lucky enough to see them at the Academy a couple of years later (and before they hit TV). On one summer Wednesday they ran THE WIZARD OF OZ and it was there that I learn that it was in Technicolor (having only see in on TV up to that time).
And, lastly, the Academy’s wonderful tradition of running a Thanksgiving Day program consisting of 30, count them, 30 CARTOONS!!! The point of the program was for Mom to be able to get the kids out of the house while she got Thanksgiving dinner ready. To us kids, it was the absolute start of the Christmas Season!
Thom Eberhardt
(who grew up to make movies of his own)