Dad and Me - Movie Memories

A funny thing happened after my mother passed away in November, 2003. My father and I became buddies. He was alone for the first time in 56 years and I was going through some personal issues as well so each Saturday I would go to his house and we would go to a movie and then to dinner. Sometimes we watched a ball game together as well. This was almost every Saturday for six years almost without fail. We were always close but we really came together in those final years and became movie buddies again, much like when I was a kid in the 1970's and he was helping (along with mom) to nurture my love for movies.

This past December 15^th I lost my dad at the age of 87 to the cancer he had been battling for a year and a half. In that time I discovered that, without question, he was the strongest, bravest man I ever knew. He battled with little complaint and a positive attitude that was absolutely startling. I am certain I could have never fought as long, as hard, and with as much dignity as he did if I were in his shoes.

But I digress. While this is an article about my dad this is not going to be the usual obituary-type article. No I want to reflect on the movie memories I have of dad since that is what I always write about here. I am going to reach back deep into the recesses of my mind to tell some brief movie memories that will mean nothing to any of you but have resonated in my mind all these years for whatever reason. Hopefully they will make for some informative moments or amusing anecdotes.

Dad was never one to overly praise or destroy a movie in his personal opinions. In all the years of movie going with him I rarely heard him say anything more than the movie was "good" or "okay," if he liked it less. He rarely proclaimed a movie as "excellent" (although he raved about a few including E.T., The Color Purple, My Big Fat Greek Wedding and House of Sand and Fog) though he was more of a fan of the older classics featuring Spencer Tracy, Henry Fonda, Humphrey Bogart and many others.

If someone asked me what dad's favorite movie was I couldn't answer them. Dad never categorized movies like that. I know he had his favorites but I don't believe he ever picked just one as his all-time favorite. His favorite actor? In the 1970's I know he liked Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds a lot but what male over the age of ten wasn't a fan of one if not both? If I had to guess, his favorite actor in the last 30 years was probably John Travolta. Dad loved to watch Travolta, especially when he danced in Saturday Night Fever and Pulp Fiction. But it was Travolta's presence that made dad want to see otherwise skippable films such as Wild Hogs or Old Dogs. When Grease was released the song "You're The One That I Want" was already a big hit and dad couldn't wait to see it performed in the movie.

Now I would like to write about some movie memories I have of my dad and me from when I was growing up. Again I stress these are small and random but they have stuck in my head all these years. I list them in chronological order and hope you enjoy a little slice of Midwestern movie going life in the 1970's.

THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD - Dad took me opening night in early 1974 to the latest Walt Disney live action opus about a potion that made college student Kurt Russell have super human strength. At one point a cute little dog gets a bit of the potion and is soon wreaking havoc including busting a locked door down. I can remember the still in existence Crown Theater packed with little kids such as me and parents. And I will never forget how hard my dad laughed when the dog knocked the door down. For a moment dad was every bit the eight-year old I was and it was great.

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN - I don't know that I ever heard my dad laugh harder at any single movie scene than the one when Monster Peter Boyle meets Blind Man Gene Hackman and is virtually tortured, albeit accidentally. It started with hot soup in his lap, went to a broken wine glass before a drink could be made and concluded with his thumb lit on fire instead of his cigar. It was a classic moment and one made all the funnier to me by dad's reaction.

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS- Also seen at the Crown (a single screen second run theater) I, as a nine-year old, was totally perplexed by the film's solution. I don't want to go into spoiler territory but I can say now that I have no idea what I didn't understand about it then. I remember dad trying valiantly to explain the ending to me over and over while we sat in the car and his utter frustration that I just wasn't getting it. I think it was he that invented Homer Simpson's now iconic Do'h at that moment but I can't be too sure.

THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN - There is no real special story here. This was the first James Bond film I saw theatrically and I saw it with dad. Back then 007 was still a major deal in the movie market and getting to see this film with him was a big deal to me. We would see all of the remaining Roger Moore films together and saw the last two with Daniel Craig as well.

BREAKOUT- We ventured out to a distant theater to see this one. My mother wanted to shop at the mall there and dad and I went to see the latest Charles Bronson adventure that I can remember being quite violent for a PG rated movie. When the film ended the plan was to go to the mall to meet mom but when we came out of the theater it was raining sheets of heavy rain like I have never seen in my life. We waited a bit for it to let up and then we came to the awful realization we had to make a break for it (ala Bronson), so we ran the 200 or so yards from the theater to the mall. I can still remember holding dad's hand as we ran and how we both screamed at the touch of the heavy, cold rain. By the time we reached the mall we were no more soaked than had we each taken a shower. When mom met us she was totally oblivious to the weather outside.

JAWS- Once again it was a long trip to the same theater as Breakout but this time we had to stop at US Steel so dad could pick up his paycheck. This made us late and when we got into the auditorium young Chrissy was already in the water and the now famous theme was playing. Having heard about this from my oldest brother, I knew my cue and turned away from the screen. I didn't turn back until the screaming stopped and dad kiddingly chided me for being scared so quickly in the movie. Every time I would jump he would jokingly ask me if maybe I wasn't better off in the theater next door watching The Apple Dumpling Gang. I never told him this but I almost talked myself into doing just that more than once but was too hooked on the film to actually leave it.

LOGAN'S RUN- This was my first exposure to a 70MM print with Stereophonic Sound at a theater I had never attended before (the now defunct but once supreme River Oaks screen 1). Shortly after the movie started sound effects were coming out of speakers from only behind us. Dad and I had never heard anything like this and I can remember that we, at the exact moment, turned to each other and said, "Wow." We were both hooked. It was so cool dad agreed to bring me out to the same theater for whatever the next attraction was just to enjoy the large screen, rocking chair seats and terrific sound (none of which we got at our local theater). That film turned out to be The Return of a Man Called Horse by the way.

CARRIE - This was the one and only time I saw dad truly jump in his seat. You all know the scene. The classic ending shot. Just before that is a quiet moment with soft music almost indicating the film is ending. The theater was packed and I can remember dad start to yawn and stretch and then - wham! The shock of all shocks. The theater shook from the screams of the patrons and dad literally went up three inches in his chair. I might have been more amused had I not been so damn scared myself.

SLAPSHOT- I never admitted this before but this was the one film I was truly embarrassed to see with my father (Dressed to Kill would get that honor with mom). The word ahead of time was that this Paul Newman hockey comedy was shocking and offensive and it certainly lived up to its hype. I heard words I had never heard before plus there was some nudity thrown in to make the whole experience a bit awkward. Dad didn't say much when it was over but I think it bothered him too.

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN- Yes this movie provided a second memorable moment for my dad and I. This was during a 1977 re-release and we went to the Y&W drive-in. As the movie was starting on screen #1 something odd and curious happened. Just above the screen in the Western sky a lightning storm began that lasted throughout the movie. Juxtaposing that with the crisp black and white photography of the movie made it so lovely to look it that it was a memory even dad held on to the rest of his life.

SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT- As I wrote, dad was a Burt Reynolds fan and he especially loved his 70's comedies (Longest Yard, Hooper, The End). Dad always liked the way Burt seemed to wink at the camera and none more so in a scene where he outruns a local policeman and pulls off to the side of a business. As he watches the policeman drive off in the wrong direction Burt turns right to the camera and smiles. He captured the heart of his audience at that instant, no one more so than dad who just loved that moment. Incidentally, it was while driving home from seeing this movie that we heard the news that Elvis Presley had died.

THE GREEK TYCOON- This fictionalized version of the life of Aristotle Onassis starring Anthony Quinn was the only R rated film I saw where dad was given a managerial warning ahead of time. Mom and dad had allowed me to start seeing R rated movies when I was eleven and on this visit to the Kennedy Theater the manager took dad aside and warned him that there was a scene of female nudity that left nothing to the imagination. Now the Kennedy was a bit of a drive for us to get to and I am not sure why this movie was picked other than that I was turning into a buff and wanted to see every movie that came out. Dad thanked him but agreed to go in any way as we had made the trip. The family joke became that as soon as dad heard about the nude scene he couldn't get the money out fast enough and just to prove the apple may not have fallen far from the tree, I have not seen the movie in 33 years now and the one scene I can clearly remember? You got that right.

ANIMAL HOUSE - The word was out. Everyone was seeing this movie. It was critically acclaimed. It starred John Belushi, whom everyone loved on Saturday Night Live. But this was not long after the Greek Tycoon warning and dad seemed to get a bit self-conscience about taking me to R-rated films. I begged him for almost six weeks and he wouldn't budge. Then, one September day, I was leaving my junior high school to walk home and about half way there here comes dad in the other direction. He turned the car around, picked me up, told me where we were headed and witnessed one of the great screen comedies together.

DEATH ON THE NILE- This was another terrific Agatha Christie thriller but dad and I were all set to figure it out. We were going to pay careful attention to every line of dialogue, every angle of every shot and by God we were going to nail the solution. Just before the classic moment when the detective (Peter Ustinov) gathers the suspects in one room, dad and I turned to each other and made our guesses. Shockingly we both agreed on who the killer was and we would discover later we came to the same conclusion at about the same time. Oh, not only were we wrong but we were as far off as you could imagine.

HALLOWEEN - A glowing four-star review from Roger Ebert was enough for my mother, the horror film nut, to get dad to take us out the Friday after Thanksgiving in 1978 for a 40 minute ride to see the now classic horror film. Well, it wasn't so classic for dad. In the final act as Michael Myers kept rising from certain doom, dad's classic "Oh come on" remarks began getting louder (the theater had few people in it) and more alarming. He hadn't bought into the whole Michael is the boogeyman explanation so he couldn't buy Michael surviving knife wounds, gunshots and a fall. Driving home mom and I got into an earnest but fairly loud argument over the ending. He just didn't buy it despite the repeated explanations in the film that we kept pointing out to him. No sir, this time he wasn't going to budge and he didn't. I don't know if he ever changed his opinion of the film but I know he resisted seeing it again over the several times it was re-released.

WHEN A STRANGER CALLS- Ok try and picture this. Mom, dad and I are waiting in the lobby at the long dead Dunes Cinema for the 3:30 showing of this movie. The 1:30 show is still in progress and we are right at the front of the usher's box and rope located just in front of the auditorium. At a crucial moment late in the film there is a huge and genuinely frightening shock. In the lobby we can hear the audience from the earlier show screaming and, much to dad's delight; I have gotten a little scared standing there. Dad then started wondering aloud all possible scenarios that could make an audience scream like that, one including something to do with my own bedroom. Mom was not amused but dad took great pleasure in building up the suspense in my mind. He kept talking and chuckling at all of it and that made this mediocre film just a little more frightening. I miss that playful side to him.

1941 - This film was a big deal at Christmas of 1979. This was Steven Spielberg's comic epic and Spielberg had previously given us Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind so anticipation was great. Well we all know the film turned out to be disappointing and a box office dud but what sticks with me is dad's complaint during the movie that when the Japanese army shot the ferris wheel free of its area and it rolled down the pier, there was no way on Earth it would still be lit up. Even though it made for a beautiful visual he was correct. And that was one thing he never forgot as well. When that movie was mentioned that was what he talked about.

SOLITARY MAN- Please excuse me for jumping to 2010 for this one. Nothing really special happened in association with this movie with the exception that this Michael Douglas drama was the last movie I ever saw with my dad.

Before I finish I would like to tell one last story. When we would go to the movies on Saturday afternoon it was inevitable that, at the film's conclusion, I would turn to him and ask what he thought. If he spoke up first it was a serious reaction. I want to give you two quick examples. At the end of Cloverfield, a movie I could tell dad didn't like, he turned to me when it was over and said, "Gee can we stay and watch it again?" O, boy, I paid for picking that one.

The other story was at the conclusion of the re-boot of Star Trek just a few years ago. Dad loved sci-fi films and he loved the Star Trek movies but he especially loved this last one. When it was over he turned to me and said, "I can't wait for the next one." Well, dad didn't make it to see the next one but I am sure he will be watching anyway wherever he may be.

And, dad, I promise, whether I see it alone or with someone I will save the seat next to me just for you.