Pre-Oscar

Thinking about tonight’s Oscar telecast, I started remembering the non-Oscar winners of my childhood. These were the movies I went to on Saturday morning with all the other kids. We brought our lunches and for a nickel we saw the serials and the double-feature, all in black-and-white. Sometimes we sat through the show twice. One Saturday my mother came to the movie house and yanked me out. It was almost supper time.

Yes, a nickel to see movies like Gunga Din (five times), Jesse James, (three or more times) and when Technicolor came in there was Errol Flynn as Robin Hood, which I still watch when it shows up on Turner Classic Movies.

Like most kids, I was drawn to the action, the heroics, the underdog triumphing over evil, although Jesse was hardly a role model, robbing banks as he did. But Hollywood and Tyrone Power made his story appealing.

Fast forward to 2012. We saw two of the contending Oscar pictures, The Descendants and The Artist. We liked them both but they played to virtually empty theaters. We saw them at a nearby multiplex on a discount Tuesday afternoon and in each case we were among very few patrons. In fact, only one other couple shared the theater with us for a late afternoon showing of The Artist.

Even great movies need an audience to be fully appreciated.

Gunga and Jesse used to pack ‘em in.