It seemed like a good idea at the time

 It seemed like a good idea at the time








    In the simple "Leave it to Beaver" life of childhood in South Gate, a Saturday matinee at the Allen Theater was part of growing up Gate. In my day it was 20 cents admission and there was an actual candy shop next door to the theater where you could buy racist candies called "chocolate babies". The Allen was a true kid-friendly entertainment as it was on Tweedy and so easy to reach Mom's could just hand their sons and daughters a couple of dimes and get them out ot their hair for several hours. We never bought "refreshments" in the  lobby since they were exhorbitant (10 cents for a candy bar.) Yet, there had to be the baptism of the big screen where an older sibling or neighbor would take you to this place of film marvels. In my case it was my big sister Cheryl with a family friend from the Sheehy household, Maureen. The movie was geared at young audiences and was a little more serious than the hundreds of monster schlock thrown at the boomers in the 1950's. My very first movie was "the Creature from the Black Lagoon" that I saw from the back seat of a 1949 Pontiac with brother and sister at the South Gate Drive-In. This time it was the on-foot film was "the Day the Earth Stood Still" that involved a forboding enforcer robot who came to earth in a cool flying saucer with good intentions but was met by ignorance and violence. The saucer has a rough landing and two figures emerge to face soldiers at arms. Despite his good intentions the humans wound Klaatu before he can give his message of peace. Then the truculent Americans  are set to attack the spaceship when Gort the robot starts kicking ass. This robot with the beam coming from his head was terrifying and could point at anything metal and melt the stuff instantly so you can imagine what happened to humans who pissed the guy off. The revived Klaatu lets the earthlings know they need to stop  wars and live peacefully or they will be destroyed by a super race of robot cops to save the rest of the planets in the solar system. This is Cold War America so the chances of peaceful engagement are not great. The phrase Klaatu Barada Nikto that Klaatu issues to Gort has become a cult buzzword with any meanings like world peace are made up. This is all secondary to what came next at the Allen where I sat terrified when the film ended with the ominous sentence "The decision rests with you."  Even dopey South Gate youths were stunned with the possibility of being wiped out when the curtain closed on the movie and then stirred a bit as shock passed through the packed house. What was considered a good idea by the Allen manager was a real life usher dressed as the robot stepping out of the wings and shuffling toward the audience. This unannounced stunt caused utter panic and kids began sprinting up the aisles while shreiking in terror toward the lobby and safety. I was four years old and in complete shock as Cheryl grabbed my arm and pulled me into the stampede. Bewildered children bolted up the aisles through the lobby and out onto Tweedy boulvard where lumbering automobiles comprised of sturdy detroit steel  passed the confounding scene. We never saw it happen but the faux robot took off his helmet and tried to calm the panicked few but the damage had been done.This happened 73 years ago and I have never forgotten it. Neither Cheryl or Maureen have a clue it ever happened.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Paul Knowlton's White Lotus

Image
 Paul Knowlton's White Lotus \      It is ironic that this post is titled something that means nothing to the protagonist. Paul, Zeke, "the Prince," "Senor Suerte" or the Snail (I never called him that.) My old pal just created a memorable vacation on the island of Oahu where the mean old world was a far off nightmare and the closest thing to stress was choosing which kind of massage you would request. Paul was the second friend in my life and we grew up about a block away from each other. We were Catholic boys and loved sports that created a bond lasting seventy years. This connection continued from grammar school to High School, to Community College to University. We were roomates from 1968 to 1972 and our families had a solid respect for one another. Paul grew up in a family of nine kids at a tract house in South Gate when the common man lived the American dream. Then again with 11 mouths to feed the American dream can only stretch so far. It is a cliche but ...
Read more

alright mother

Image
  alright mother- “You can find poetry in your everyday life, your memory, in what people say on the bus, in the news, or just what’s in your heart.” —Carol Ann Duffy  Greg was always delighted by a story told by his mother in law about a "sortie" dinner party attended by a Doctor "Putty" Putnam who had been forced to attend an opera by his wife. When asked by a clueless guest if he enjoyed the opera, his response was  "fuck you!" When I was visiting Bear Cove and sitting next to the matriarch Greg goaded her into telling the tale. But a rum n' coke had loosened "Minnie's" tongue and when she got to Putty's answer she blurted a rather hard FUCK YOU!  Roy, hearing his bride curse thusly said across the table "Alright mother!"
Read more

Immortamus

Image
 Immortamus       I was privileged to join the Sheehy family on an eventful flight to Bone with my favorite little doggie on board. She hated all three thousand air miles, trembling and looking out of the crate with wounded Clairie eyes. At LAX it was heartbreaking to see her consternation but it was worth misty eyes to see her wagging tail when she was put on a leash in the Manchester airport when the misery was over. She sat on the consule of a rented van and bounded into camp freedom when we reached Bear Cove. There were the resident pugs waiting to kick up a storm of barking but soon the little lady had won over Alf and Missy with her California charm. There was always a small fence around the perimeter that was called "the Pug enclosure" but CBD (the California Bad Dog) showed long legged Alfie how to hop over the so called barrier while sticking it to the man. Not all was well though since there was one hardened beast who would not accept this West Coast prince...
Read more