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Sunday, June 8, 2008
Cool childhood movie memories
Been to Fabulous Fox summer film festival? What special summer things do you remember doing with family?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One of my favorite things about growing up in Atlanta was watching movies each summer at the glamorous Fox Theatre with my family.
We started attending the Fox’s Summer Film Festival in 1979 when I was 7-years-old, just one year after it launched. While some of the years have blended together, my memories of the theater and that special time with my family are still pretty vivid.
Screening a movie at the Fox was an event. My mother dressed us in our Sunday best and headed downtown hours before the show was to begin. We didn’t understand why we had to wear fancy slacks and dresses to see a movie, but after we walked in for the first time and saw the theater’s grandeur, we got it.
The line for tickets always wrapped around the building. We stood there melting in the summer heat hoping the movie wouldn’t sell out.
Once our tickets were secured, we were smashed into another waiting area behind the box office. It was covered but not quite inside. There was still no air condition. The movies were general admission so people pressed up against the doors hoping to get a jump on the best seats.
When those doors finally opened, cold air swept over the crowds. (I liked the freezing AC almost as much as the movies.) We always sat in the balcony and would race up several flights of stairs to nab our favorite seats — the front center row.
Since we had to get there early for those seats, there was always plenty of time for me and my big brother to explore the theater. The best comparison I can think of would be the Hogwarts Castle from Harry Potter. There were crazy staircases, tapestries, carvings and nooks to investigate.
I was obsessed with the fancy bathrooms and would fake needing to go over and over again before the show and at intermission. I remember heavy velvety curtains and marble windows cut into Xs that you could peek through. I knew the feeling of the decor was foreign even if I couldn’t place the country. I kept quizzing my non-detail oriented brother to find out if the boys’ bathroom looked the same.
Finally we’d settle back in our seats and I would study the theater itself. I was fascinated by these smaller balconies to the sides of the stage. I never saw anyone sit there and wondered if we just didn’t have anyone important enough to occupy them. I also wondered if they were actually wide enough to hold someone. (Deborah Garner of the Fox has confirmed 30 years later that they are merely facades. I am bummed by this revelation.)
Finally the lights would dim and the Mighty Mo organ would rise up through the stage. Remember I was 7 seeing this — I thought it was magic. We loved the sing-alongs and watching the organist stretch and reach to hit the foot pedals.
And then it was time for the sun to rise and set. I found this very relaxing. We would scoot our bottoms down in the seat and rest our heads of the back of the chairs. We watched as the orange glow passed across the starry ceiling. Sadly, Garner reports the Fox doesn’t do this anymore.
Besides the wonderful family time and exploring the beautiful theater, this was my first exposure to classic films. We didn’t have a VCR then (lots of families didn’t) and the Turner Classic Movie channel didn’t exist. The Fox Theater was my introduction to cinema beyond just “Star Wars” and “Jaws.”
I saw “Gone With the Wind” for the first time on the big screen (as it was meant to be seen), and saw it most years thereafter. We also regularly saw “My Fair Lady,” “The Sound of Music,” “Hello Dolly,” “Oklahoma” and “Moby Dick.” My brother must have been miserable but I loved all the singing, lush sets and costumes.
I do remembering suffering through “Dr. Zhivago” one year. (All I can recall are stampeding horses and lots of snow). One year they showed “Indiana Jones” and “Star Wars,” which made my brother very happy.
I haven’t been to the theater since we started having babies. As part of the Fox’s 30th anniversary of the summer film festival, it is showing “Dr. Suess’ Horton Hears a Who!” this Sunday. Maybe it’s time for my 7-year-old to start exploring the fabulous Fox Theatre.
Coca-Cola Summer Film Festival at the Fox
