When I was a child, many movies were still in black and white, not to be cutting edge, but because that had been the only format available. I first saw “The Wizard of Oz” when I was seven years old. Of course I saw it in a movie theater because that was the only way I could ever see any movie. I was dumbstruck when the house landed in Oz and Dorothy stepped out into a world of color. The change still gets me every time no matter how often I can now watch the film at home on my little television screen.
My little brother was four and he ran screaming out of the theater followed by my mother when the flying monkeys rained out of the sky. My mother hadn’t seen the movie since it first came out, and I don’t think she remembered how scary those monkeys were. She had been seventeen and probably remembered it as a children’s movie. I was frightened to death by the witch riding by on her bicycle, and my grandchildren occasionally program my phone to play the haunting tune that plays in the background as the witch speeds by. They can’t believe that I was ever scared by the scene. However, they hadn’t seen it on a giant screen in the darkened theater.
I still crave seeing movies on the big screen. No matter how available movies now are at home, I fail to be immersed in the story as I always was in the movie theater. Some such dramatic moments stick with me still. On a date in Boston, we ended up in the front row to see the James Bond movie “Goldfinger.” I had never seen anything as startling as that opening image of a giant gold body. Violent movies certainly hit me harder. And monster movies, no matter how silly they look on television, genuinely terrified me and my friends well into high school. And lets not even think about love scenes, no matter how G rated they all were, filling a huge screen. There was no way Paul Newman had his eyes on anyone but me!
Saved By Words 
I’ve always had could tv in my lifetime yet even I find something so special and magical about that change to colour in the Wizard Of Oz!! Xx
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I am glad that it moves you even though you never lived with black and white tv.
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Some movies are meant to be seen on the BIG screen. I don’t enjoy going out to the movies much as an adult. Etiquette during the movies at large cineplex/malls has turned me off. I can’t wait to watch the Wizard of Oz when my girls get bigger!
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I am amazed that they have to run warnings about talking, texting, etc. before a movie. I have been driven to distraction by people talking behind me at the movies. Particularly if they have already seen it and are filling in their friend on what comes next.
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I can’t go to movies now (the flashing lights and loud music are migraine triggers) but I still remember leaving teeth marks in Evan’s new leather jacket during Silence of the Lambs…
I am going to try to dope myself up to watch Incredibles 2 – I loved the first.
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I hadn’t thought of those things as triggers. But it makes sense. How annoying.
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Yup
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☹️☹️
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Lovely and interesting description of the black and white movies and the theatre
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I remember so little from that movie. I watched it as a kid and never saw it again. The only thing I remember is her tapping her shoes together to go home!
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At least you aren’t haunted by the flying monkeys!
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Haha, good point!
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I remember both of these movies, Elizabeth, and they made an impression on me too. Wizard of Oz is still a favourite of mine and I love Judy Garland’s “Somewhere over a rainbow”.
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She had an amazing voice.
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I haven’t been able to go to movies as an adult because of my allergies. I bet it must be fun to be immersed in the story in large format!
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And the theater warned about flashing lights. Another reader of my blog gets migraines so she can’t go either. I love the big screen. Maybe you should buy one of those seventeen foot home tvs.LOL
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