Comments on: Saturday Matinee at the Logan: Confessions of a Movie Addict http://www.moviefanfare.com/talkin-the-oldies/saturday-matinee-at-the-logan-confessions-of-a-movie-addict/ The Movie Collector's Blog sm Sun, 01 Aug 2010 04:14:02 +0000 hourly 1 By: Jerry Frebowitz http://www.moviefanfare.com/talkin-the-oldies/saturday-matinee-at-the-logan-confessions-of-a-movie-addict/#comment-1296 Jerry Frebowitz Fri, 12 Feb 2010 04:10:39 +0000 http://www.moviefanfare.com/?p=3075#comment-1296 Fred, that is great stuff. I forgot about Dish Night. In our neighborhood, it was Tuesdays. More great memories! Fred, that is great stuff. I forgot about Dish Night. In our neighborhood, it was Tuesdays. More great memories!

]]> By: Fred http://www.moviefanfare.com/talkin-the-oldies/saturday-matinee-at-the-logan-confessions-of-a-movie-addict/#comment-1294 Fred Fri, 12 Feb 2010 02:44:19 +0000 http://www.moviefanfare.com/?p=3075#comment-1294 Your notes on Saturday matinees brought back a lot of memories and although I didn't live in Philadelphia I had my share of theatres in NNJ. There were new movies every week in those large palaces of entertainment. If I hadn't been to the Capitol or Lincoln in the evenig with my Uncle I would have a choice of the Temple, Strand, Embassy, or the local itch house The City. I remember all the things you spoke about, the newsreel from Pathe, Looney Tunes and the ever popular serial, Superman was my favorite. The pictures were sometimes good and more than likely awful but as long as I had my Jujyfruits or Dots I was happy to sit there and be entertained. Later in my life when I was allowed to travel a bit further I would go to Journal Square where they had a theatre that ran films immediately after they came from NYC. The Stanley theatre was a wonder by itself. It had columns on the side of the orchestra that ran all the way down to the stage and when you looked up the ceiling was covered with twinkling stars. The Loews was another palace of movie art. Although not quite as beautiful as the Stanley it was large and stately. Whats more these theatres had air conditioning which was another draw on hot summer Saturdays. Movies were a great form of family entertainment and I remember going at night with my parents to a theatre that had request night. They showed a third feature which meant that you were in the theatre for about 6 hours. All that for 50 cents for and adult and 25 for kids plus the ladies got a dish. After I graduated High School I got a job in NYC which gave me access to the fantastic theatres there. I remember going to Radio City Music Hall where I got in for 50 cents at a matinee before noon. They always had the first run films and kept them running for weeks before they were released to the other local theatres. I would sit in the loge section which had really posh seats, ash trays and hat holders under each seat and see the coming attractions, newsreel, a cartoon, the feature and a fantastic live stage show featuring the rockettes. I vividly remember seeing "Singin in the rain". I enjoyed seeing it so much I went back to see it a second time. I also remember standing in line to see the Christmas and Easter shows. If I had seen the feature at RCMH I would either go to the Roxy or the Paramount where they also had stage shows. Patti Page was a good headliner and sang about her doggie in the window while Martin and Lewis clowned around on stage. Harry Belafonte was a big draw at the Roxy and sang Matilda and many of his other Calypso beating songs. I guess that this is a lot of trivial nostalgia to some people but it was a great life back in the forties and fifties when the studios held sway over their productions. You could take a child to any of the films and not have to worry about content. It was an era of good times even though there was a war raging in Europe and the Pacific. But my parents never had to worry about what I was seeing. After all I was too young to see "The Outlaw" and that other film "The moon is blue" which used the word pregnant and it was banned by the legion of decency. I guess we were all pretty innocent then and I kind of wish we were back there again, at least for the sake of my Grandchildren. Your notes on Saturday matinees brought back a lot of memories and although I didn't live in Philadelphia I had my share of theatres in NNJ. There were new movies every week in those large palaces of entertainment. If I hadn't been to the Capitol or Lincoln in the evenig with my Uncle I would have a choice of the Temple, Strand, Embassy, or the local itch house The City.
I remember all the things you spoke about, the newsreel from Pathe, Looney Tunes and the ever popular serial, Superman was my favorite. The pictures were sometimes good and more than likely awful but as long as I had my Jujyfruits or Dots I was happy to sit there and be entertained. Later in my life when I was allowed to travel a bit further I would go to Journal Square where they had a theatre that ran films immediately after they came from NYC. The Stanley theatre was a wonder by itself. It had columns on the side of the orchestra that ran all the way down to the stage and when you looked up the ceiling was covered with twinkling stars. The Loews was another palace of movie art. Although not quite as beautiful as the Stanley it was large and stately. Whats more these theatres had air conditioning which was another draw on hot summer Saturdays. Movies were a great form of family entertainment and I remember going at night with my parents to a theatre that had request night. They showed a third feature which meant that you were in the theatre for about 6 hours. All that for 50 cents for and adult and 25 for kids plus the ladies got a dish.
After I graduated High School I got a job in NYC which gave me access to the fantastic theatres there. I remember going to Radio City Music Hall where I got in for 50 cents at a matinee before noon. They always had the first run films and kept them running for weeks before they were released to the other local theatres. I would sit in the loge section which had really posh seats, ash trays and hat holders under each seat and see the coming attractions, newsreel, a cartoon, the feature and a fantastic live stage show featuring the rockettes. I vividly remember seeing "Singin in the rain". I enjoyed seeing it so much I went back to see it a second time. I also remember standing in line to see the Christmas and Easter shows. If I had seen the feature at RCMH I would either go to the Roxy or the Paramount where they also had stage shows. Patti Page was a good headliner and sang about her doggie in the window while Martin and Lewis clowned around on stage. Harry Belafonte was a big draw at the Roxy and sang Matilda and many of his other Calypso beating songs. I guess that this is a lot of trivial nostalgia to some people but it was a great life back in the forties and fifties when the studios held sway over their productions. You could take a child to any of the films and not have to worry about content. It was an era of good times even though there was a war raging in Europe and the Pacific. But my parents never had to worry about what I was seeing. After all I was too young to see "The Outlaw" and that other film "The moon is blue" which used the word pregnant and it was banned by the legion of decency. I guess we were all pretty innocent then and I kind of wish we were back there again, at least for the sake of my Grandchildren.

]]> By: Jack Barlow http://www.moviefanfare.com/talkin-the-oldies/saturday-matinee-at-the-logan-confessions-of-a-movie-addict/#comment-394 Jack Barlow Wed, 30 Sep 2009 06:31:06 +0000 http://www.moviefanfare.com/?p=3075#comment-394 In our evolving electronic world of information technologies, blogs, vlogs and hogs, your reminiscence of the Logan Theater and the existence of Movies Unlimited , Turner Movie Classics and Matinee at the Bijou have given me unspeakable joy, A child of the early 50’s in New York, I was privileged to be brought to Radio City Music Hall by my mother, and less frequently by my father to witness the spectacle of film and the knees of the Rockettes too many times to count. I too have fond and rich memories of the movies that so impacted my life and the way in which I think and see the world. Rather than living in the past, recalling the emotions and thrill of fine (and not-so-fine, but fun films) enriches my soul in a way nothing else has the capacity to do. Thank you for keeping the classics alive. Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Jimmy Stewart, Alfred Hitchcock, Joan Crawford, Peter Lorre, Sidney Greenstreet, Laural and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, Rosalind Russell, Cary Grant, Gregory Peck, Eve Arden, Ann Southern, Lucille Ball, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers and scores of others live ii my heart every day of my life, and you do you for what you bring to my life. I live in Philadelphia for 25 years, and am now transplanted to Rehoboth Beach from original roots in New York. I will have to go back to Philly and visit the site of the old Logan Theater and pay homage to the site on your behalf, and remember its better days. I write for a living now, and my publisher says, “you write like a movie…it’s very visual.” I reply, “No surprise, movies made me what I am.” They do. In our evolving electronic world of information technologies, blogs, vlogs and hogs, your reminiscence of the Logan Theater and the existence of Movies Unlimited , Turner Movie Classics and Matinee at the Bijou have given me unspeakable joy, A child of the early 50’s in New York, I was privileged to be brought to Radio City Music Hall by my mother, and less frequently by my father to witness the spectacle of film and the knees of the Rockettes too many times to count. I too have fond and rich memories of the movies that so impacted my life and the way in which I think and see the world. Rather than living in the past, recalling the emotions and thrill of fine (and not-so-fine, but fun films) enriches my soul in a way nothing else has the capacity to do.

Thank you for keeping the classics alive. Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Jimmy Stewart, Alfred Hitchcock, Joan Crawford, Peter Lorre, Sidney Greenstreet, Laural and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, Rosalind Russell, Cary Grant, Gregory Peck, Eve Arden, Ann Southern, Lucille Ball, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers and scores of others live ii my heart every day of my life, and you do you for what you bring to my life.

I live in Philadelphia for 25 years, and am now transplanted to Rehoboth Beach from original roots in New York. I will have to go back to Philly and visit the site of the old Logan Theater and pay homage to the site on your behalf, and remember its better days. I write for a living now, and my publisher says, “you write like a movie…it’s very visual.” I reply, “No surprise, movies made me what I am.” They do.

]]> By: prof.jackmadura http://www.moviefanfare.com/talkin-the-oldies/saturday-matinee-at-the-logan-confessions-of-a-movie-addict/#comment-386 prof.jackmadura Sat, 26 Sep 2009 04:46:10 +0000 http://www.moviefanfare.com/?p=3075#comment-386 I guess there are more of us 40's kids than I can imagine.South side Chicago 55th st."Garfield Blvd. Arcadia or Acadia theatre, very similar, candy store was adjacent to the lobby, a bag of popcorn 5 cents with 'hot butter "from a small chipped porcelin spouted pot.The dillema then was candy would last and still be good.Errol Flynn would appear with a leg of mutton or pheasant and make it look so good that the popcorn and candy couldn't compare.After a period of time the "parent hunt "would begin,parents on the aisle looking for their kids who stayed for the repeat feature.Oh yeah, Ma Kettle looked really old! I guess there are more of us 40's kids than I can imagine.South side Chicago 55th st."Garfield Blvd. Arcadia or Acadia theatre, very similar, candy store was adjacent to the lobby, a bag of popcorn 5 cents with 'hot butter "from a small chipped porcelin spouted pot.The dillema then was candy would last and still be good.Errol Flynn would appear with a leg of mutton or pheasant and make it look so good that the popcorn and candy couldn't compare.After a period of time the "parent hunt "would begin,parents on the aisle looking for their kids who stayed for the repeat feature.Oh yeah, Ma Kettle looked really old!

]]> By: Dennis Loomis http://www.moviefanfare.com/talkin-the-oldies/saturday-matinee-at-the-logan-confessions-of-a-movie-addict/#comment-381 Dennis Loomis Fri, 25 Sep 2009 22:54:37 +0000 http://www.moviefanfare.com/?p=3075#comment-381 I grew up in a very small town in upstate Michigan called Manistee. I recall more of the 50 than the forties (I was born in 43). In those days even this small town had two theatres called the "Vogue" which was the classier one, and the "Lyric" which featured the Saturday afternoon kids matinees. I recall that we paid 12 cents for admission, and if we had been good that week, Mom would give us another ten or 15 cents for popcorn and candy. I certainly recall the Pete Smith Specialties, but also lot of "travelogue" films as the short subject. Usually the features were westerns with stars like Gene Autry, Roy Rogers (my favorite), Johnny Mack Brown, Rex Allen, Lash LaRue, Tom Steele, and Tom Mix. You could count on the fact that the good guys would prevail in the end, and the bad guys would get caught. The hero would get the girl, and the bad guy that turned good would get killed trying to save the hero or the girl. The good guys would order sasparilla or milk in the saloon, and the good guy would have a funny sidekick like Smiley Burnett or Gabby Hayes. These features were fairly short (50 or 55 minutes) and so often we got a "Double Feature." Our newsreels were the "Movietone" News. We had lots of great cartoons, but Tom and Jerry were my favorite. Most of the kids like the funny shorts with Laurel and Hardy or the Three Stooges, or the Dead End Kids which became the Bowlery Boys. And, when the singing cowboys sang, a lot of the boy booed, as they did when the hero kissed the girl. Thanks for stirring up these old memories. I grew up in a very small town in upstate Michigan called Manistee. I recall more of the 50 than the forties (I was born in 43). In those days even this small town had two theatres called the "Vogue" which was the classier one, and the "Lyric" which featured the Saturday afternoon kids matinees. I recall that we paid 12 cents for admission, and if we had been good that week, Mom would give us another ten or 15 cents for popcorn and candy. I certainly recall the Pete Smith Specialties, but also lot of "travelogue" films as the short subject. Usually the features were westerns with stars like Gene Autry, Roy Rogers (my favorite), Johnny Mack Brown, Rex Allen, Lash LaRue, Tom Steele, and Tom Mix. You could count on the fact that the good guys would prevail in the end, and the bad guys would get caught. The hero would get the girl, and the bad guy that turned good would get killed trying to save the hero or the girl. The good guys would order sasparilla or milk in the saloon, and the good guy would have a funny sidekick like Smiley Burnett or Gabby Hayes. These features were fairly short (50 or 55 minutes) and so often we got a "Double Feature." Our newsreels were the "Movietone" News. We had lots of great cartoons, but Tom and Jerry were my favorite. Most of the kids like the funny shorts with Laurel and Hardy or the Three Stooges, or the Dead End Kids which became the Bowlery Boys. And, when the singing cowboys sang, a lot of the boy booed, as they did when the hero kissed the girl. Thanks for stirring up these old memories.

]]> By: buzz daly http://www.moviefanfare.com/talkin-the-oldies/saturday-matinee-at-the-logan-confessions-of-a-movie-addict/#comment-377 buzz daly Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:14:31 +0000 http://www.moviefanfare.com/?p=3075#comment-377 what a terrific, memory-inspiring piece. i grew up in akron, ohio, and was a regular at the saturday matinee at the highland theatre during the 40s and early 50s. we had a steady diet of roy rogers, gene autry and a few other low budget movies for kids. i remember one in partiuclar where a little girl contracts spotted fever, and the race to save her was the story. once my parents were late to pick us up, and we stayed on to see part of a great movie, singapore, with fred mcmurray and ava gardner. boy, did i put up an argument when mom showed up and i had to leave, half way thru the movie. i really enjoyed reading about jerry's experiences, which so closely mirrored my own during that long ago, innocent era, when kids could go to he movies without chaperones, or fear.of being accosted by creeps. what a terrific, memory-inspiring piece.

i grew up in akron, ohio, and was a regular at the saturday matinee at the highland theatre during the 40s and early 50s. we had a steady diet of roy rogers, gene autry and a few other low budget movies for kids. i remember one in partiuclar where a little girl contracts spotted fever, and the race to save her was the story.

once my parents were late to pick us up, and we stayed on to see part of a great movie, singapore, with fred mcmurray and ava gardner. boy, did i put up an argument when mom showed up and i had to leave, half way thru the movie.

i really enjoyed reading about jerry's experiences, which so closely mirrored my own during that long ago, innocent era, when kids could go to he movies without chaperones, or fear.of being accosted by creeps.

]]> By: Jerry Frebowitz http://www.moviefanfare.com/talkin-the-oldies/saturday-matinee-at-the-logan-confessions-of-a-movie-addict/#comment-376 Jerry Frebowitz Fri, 25 Sep 2009 20:15:56 +0000 http://www.moviefanfare.com/?p=3075#comment-376 Randy - it's true you did miss out on a great era but it sounds like you're having fun with it now. Having TCM available to you is like re-living it all with those great shorts and classic features. TCM has more exciting content in one month than most channels have in a year. In case you didn't guess, I love TCM, too. Thanks for commenting and two thumbs up for Fred and Ginger! Randy - it's true you did miss out on a great era but it sounds like you're having fun with it now. Having TCM available to you is like re-living it all with those great shorts and classic features. TCM has more exciting content in one month than most channels have in a year. In case you didn't guess, I love TCM, too. Thanks for commenting and two thumbs up for Fred and Ginger!

]]> By: Randy http://www.moviefanfare.com/talkin-the-oldies/saturday-matinee-at-the-logan-confessions-of-a-movie-addict/#comment-373 Randy Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:46:28 +0000 http://www.moviefanfare.com/?p=3075#comment-373 Ellie-of course I meant Ginger Rogers, you had to comment as such that I should work harder to keep my facts straight? My reference to Warner Brothers was purely in regards to the package of the Rogers/Astaire movies that was released, it had nothing to do with RKO being the studio that produced the films. Sheesh. Cmon.......get off your high horse, that's a bit condescending to say the least. Yes-I'll continue to watch and enjoy the old films. And I LOVE Ginger Rogers.....there, I said it correctly. Ellie-of course I meant Ginger Rogers, you had to comment as such that I should work harder to keep my facts straight? My reference to Warner Brothers was purely in regards to the package of the Rogers/Astaire movies that was released, it had nothing to do with RKO being the studio that produced the films. Sheesh. Cmon.......get off your high horse, that's a bit condescending to say the least.

Yes-I'll continue to watch and enjoy the old films. And I LOVE Ginger Rogers.....there, I said it correctly.

]]> By: Ed Wilson http://www.moviefanfare.com/talkin-the-oldies/saturday-matinee-at-the-logan-confessions-of-a-movie-addict/#comment-371 Ed Wilson Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:22:48 +0000 http://www.moviefanfare.com/?p=3075#comment-371 Was I lucky, I covered the mid 1940's and through the 1950's going to the movies before TV destroyed the experience of meeting with friends every Saturday for an all afternoon feast. The Alden in East Falls, the Roxy in Roxborough, the Orpheum in Germantown (use to be a vaudeville theater from the Orpheum circuit ), The Capital , the Band Box and many more in every neighborhood. Double features, serials, news, cartoons, shorts, kids throwing candy and pop-corn at each other. Those were the days TV was the real start of isolating kids into their homes and away from their friend at the local movies long before the PC and electronic games finished off kid to kid friendhships. Was I lucky, I covered the mid 1940's and through the 1950's going to the movies before TV destroyed the experience of meeting with friends every Saturday for an all afternoon feast.

The Alden in East Falls, the Roxy in Roxborough, the Orpheum in Germantown (use to be a vaudeville theater from the Orpheum circuit ), The Capital , the Band Box and many more in every neighborhood. Double features, serials, news, cartoons, shorts, kids throwing candy and pop-corn at each other. Those were the days

TV was the real start of isolating kids into their homes and away from their friend at the local movies long before the PC and electronic games finished off kid to kid friendhships.

]]> By: Ellie http://www.moviefanfare.com/talkin-the-oldies/saturday-matinee-at-the-logan-confessions-of-a-movie-addict/#comment-369 Ellie Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:20:34 +0000 http://www.moviefanfare.com/?p=3075#comment-369 Randy...glad to know you are hooked on classic movies but you need to be a bit more precise with your facts: the dance team was Ginger ROGERS and Fred Astaire...and even if your set was released by Warner Bros., their movies were all made at RKO Studios (except for their last in 1949 Barkleys of Broadway...that film was made at MGM). Sorry for the correction but there will alway be someone out here in cyberspace ready to call you on your mistakes. So keep on watching those old films but work harder to keep your facts straight! Randy...glad to know you are hooked on classic movies but you need to be a bit more precise with your facts: the dance team was Ginger ROGERS and Fred Astaire...and even if your set was released by Warner Bros., their movies were all made at RKO Studios (except for their last in 1949 Barkleys of Broadway...that film was made at MGM). Sorry for the correction but there will alway be someone out here in cyberspace ready to call you on your mistakes. So keep on watching those old films but work harder to keep your facts straight!

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