This is from the My Life in Vignettes series No.

18

The Normal Theatre 119th St. Chicago, 1955

My lifes history would certainly be incomplete without discussing the Normal Theatre. Movies then whose influence on me was profound. The Man with the Golden Arm. The Day the Earth Stood Still. Bambi. Peter Pan. War of the Worlds. To Hell and Back. Singinin the Rain. Rear Window. High Noon. Dial M for Murder. On the Waterfront. The Bridge Over the River Kwai. From Here to Eternity Fire Maidens of Outer Space High School Big Shot Yes, my Cousin Tom and I were loyal customers at the Normal. He only lived two blocks away. Wed cut through the West Pullman School playground. The woman in the box office outside, Hazel had the brightest red lipstick. And the blackest hair on earth. I always thought someday shell be up there on the screen.

Hi Johnny and Tom, youre gonna love these movies so much, shed say. Or, this movie is gonna give you nightmares, Im warning you. You would get a program that included what was coming. There was always a double bill on Sunday afternoons. But first it was Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd trying to blast him in a hole with a shotgun. Then Woody Woodpecker. Sunday, 1 PM matinee, $.25 got you in. Du Du Du Thats all folks. Once in the door we hit the candy counter. The candy counter was not something you took lightly; it had to be studied before making any decisions. Holloway bars that would pull youre fillings out. Ju- Ju Beads that were like chewing on sweet nail heads. Dum Dums, one of my alltime favorites. And of course, Chunky, what a chunk of chocolate. Enough sugar to keep us rolling until midnight. Parental advice: Dont lean your head back against the seat or youll have yourself a ringworm the size of a night crawler. We didnt care we were about to watch aliens wipe out the earth. And there was Audie Murphy, single handedly wiping out the Third Reich. The Day the Earth Stood Still is an Art Deco masterpiece of a film. We stayed and watched it twice. In fact we stayed and watched a lot of movies twice. Just hunker down so the usher doesnt see us. After the movie there was a drug store right across the street that sold Ludens Cough Drops, cherry flavor. But first, you had to let your eyes adjust to the blinding sunlight. Then wed head west on 119th to Sabos Sporting Goods to ogle at the fishing stuff. Once I actually bought a new baseball there. Tom and I would share custody of it like a pet. Then back to the magazine Soda Shop on the corner of Wallace & 119th st. To read all the latest comics before heading back to Toms house. The people who owned it were nice to us, we treated it like a comic library. There I read my first Mad magazine. They did a parody on Gunsmoke. I laughed so hard I thought I was going to pee in my pants. I could not take Matt Dillon seriously after that. Hey, before we go back lets go over to Stukas Tavern and play some shuffleboard. Uncle Oscar will be there thats for sure. That place I could write a whole book about. Those neighborhoods had a tavern on every corner. Each one had its own unique personality, and cast. Did you love that robot or what? Man, I loved that guy! So that, ladies and gentlemen, was a Sunday afternoon for us c.1955. John Brandt

Copyright 2011 John Brandt