October 25, 2019 (Friday)
Yesterday’s blog included a picture of an old neighborhood theater that resembled the Queen Theater on Jensen Drive in Houston. I could not find a picture of the real place, so I settled for a look-alike. The real thing was built during my chidhood. I remember when it was built in the 1930s. Satellite pictures reveal a giant slab where the theater, which seated more than 600, used to be.
Once upon a time there were many neighborhood theaters in Houston. In addition to the time I spent working in one of the big ones downtown, I also worked at the Globe Theater, right behind our house in Denver-Harbor addition. I cleaned up the place in the morning, almost always picking up a litle change left behind with the sticky candy and stuff all over the floor. Sadly, it, too is gone. Later I worked at the Village Theater in West University, which was making a valiant effort to come back to life by opening on weekends. I made the popcorn, sold the candy, and generally kept watch. I did not do a good job keeping watch because kids were slipping in the back door and filling up the place without paying.
Coincidentally, I was born a few blocks from the Queen Theater on Jensen drive. I went there many times, especially on Saturdays, when I could spend a half day there and never see the same thing twice.
What has this to do with Frankenstein Friday? Well, I’ll tell you. One day when I was a kid they showed some horror movies, including Frankenstein. When the movie ended, the place went dark, and Frankenstein’s monster appeared below the stage, walking into the audience. Other characters came also. It scared me half to death!
I can still see this guy, looking exactly like the monster, with his arms outstretched, walking toward me. Oh, I can feel the fear creeping up on me as I tell you this. I was scared!!!
The old movie is shown on television, many times about this time of year, near Halloween. Looking at it from an adult’s point of view, it is actually a very good movie. Can there be a better scene than the one in which the mad scientist fiendishly laughs and cries out “It’s alive! It’s alive! It’s alive!”
The original movie opened the door to all sorts of horror films, none of which was as horrible as their later successors which could actually cause a person to lose sleep after having seen them. The movie is rivaled, however, by “Young Frankenstein (1974),” a light-hearted fun movie that most people enjoy seeing over and over.
As for me, I like “Young Frankenstein.” I like to laugh.
