What's the first movie (or few movies) you remember seeing in a theater?

[Big Plastic Head]

Herbie Rides Again (1974)

[Wes]

I also remember my mom making us leave during National Lampoon's European Vacation due to the on-screen filth.  

I assume by filth, you mean she objected to that movie's unfortunate interpretation of the Rusty character. EuroRusty is easily the worst of the Four Official Rusties. "Hotel Hell Vacation" is not yet considered Vacation canon and I can't speak to the Rusty Griswold portrayed therein.

[akaJudge]

Pete's Dragon is the probably the earliest movie I remember going to the theater to see, but I remember seeing Smokey and the Bandit, 9 to 5, and Flash Gordon pretty early on.  Now I'm going to IMDB to see if I can put together a timeline and test my memory.

[badgrammer]

Ghostbusters was my first movie, when I was four.  Scared the living bejeezus out of me, I don't know why my folks thought it was a good idea. 

It think this freaked me out too, but Robocop had a lasting impression on me.  I remember hiding behind the large guy seated in front of me during the bloody parts.

WHAT was my mom thinking?! Taking a 7 year old girl to see ROBOCOP?! Although, I guess it was the 80's -when you could take a kid to something like Robocop and not think twice. Other than that, I have pretty fond memories of seeing The Chipmunk Adventure in theaters.

[Pidgeon]

I wish that I could have seen Ghostbusters as a kid. I only got around to watching it when I was nineteen.

[akaJudge]

Pete's Dragon, Star Wars, Smokey and the Bandit are all from '77.  9 to 5 and Flash Gordon are from '80.  I wonder what I saw in between?

[Smelodies]

I saw Pete's Dragon, Freaky Friday, Oh God, and The Wiz all before Breaking Away.  Huh.  

[Senator Gothman (D-OR)]

HA HA The Wiz, yeah yeah.  I did see that in the theater. 

[JonFromMaplewood]

Herbie Rides Again (1974)

Holy shit I was about to write that.  I got my parents/brothers to take me FIVE TIMES.  I guess it works out to be cheaper than day camp.

First PG-rated movie I remember seeing was Murder By Death.  I thought it was the funniest thing ever.  Now I see Peter Sellers in that "Sidney Wang" make-up and I want to punch myself for laughing.

[Trotskie]

Sasquatch, the Legend of Bigfoot (1977).  I was 7.

[Pidgeon]

I see nothing wrong with yellowface.

[Martin]

Come on, Pidgeon. Enough with the trolling.

[daveB from Oakland]

Don't know what the first movie I saw in a theater was. Probably a Disney reissue. I think we went to the theaters to see Fantasia, and Dumbo, and Pinocchio, and Song of The South ... the early 1970s was maybe the last time that Disney re-released "Song of the South" before they started pretending that the whole thing never happened.

Another early movie memory: My mom yelling at the theater manager for showing violence-laden trailers for R-rated movies during afternoon kiddie matinées. I was pretty embarrassed at the time, but in retrospect: Good for you, Mom!

[daveB from Oakland]

Here's some more early theater viewings I remember:



I thought Carol Channing was in the movie version, but I guess I'm wrong.


Hansel & Gretel ...Claymation, originally released in 1954 ... pretty well-done, as I recall.


As Altamont was to Woodstock, "Hugo the Hippo" was the evil offspring of "Yellow Submarine". I had to get some assistance from the internet to remember the title of this one. I know I saw it in the theater, and I know I was bothered by it ... in a way I couldn't quite understand at the time. My research on the 'nets has confirmed that this film was astoundingly misguided and that, as a children's film, it made some choices that were just plain bizarre . This movie could have achieved "Song of the South" levels of infamy, but I think the world just made a collective decision to ignore it instead.


The 1970s left a lot of scars on my psyche, but surely "Benji" wasn't tainted by any of that bad Travis-Bickle mojo, right? Right?? Wait, let's ask the Germans ...


 Thanks, Germany. Thanks a lot.

[JonFromMaplewood]

Another early movie memory: My mom yelling at the theater manager for showing violence-laden trailers for R-rated movies during afternoon kiddie matinées. I was pretty embarrassed at the time, but in retrospect: Good for you, Mom!

I agree. Good for your mom! I remember going to a matinee of "Going In Style" with my dad. Granted, not a kid movie, but PG and in the afternoon. Kids would be there.  I remember absolutely nothing about the feature presentation. All I remember was a trailer showing tidal waves of blood coming out of creepy hotel elevators.