My mother began sending me to the Paradise with my older sisters on Saturday mornings in 1955 when I was five years old. This bought her a few hours of peace. The place was always packed with kids whose mothers had the same idea as mine. She would give me just enough for the 25 cent admission and a five-cent bag of potato chips. The kids used to squirt mustard on the side of the bag and use it as dip for their chips. The chips were “Treat” potato chips. The bag was made of glassine paper. An older man named “George” ran the concession. Ice cream cones cost ten cents. The first film I ever saw was at the Paradise. It was the horror film “Tarantula”, about a giant spider. I was afraid of the dark for a long time after that. Despite this, my mother still sent me with my sisters every Saturday morning for more scary films like “The fifty Foot Woman”, and The Colossal Man". It was a strange way to spend my most imaginative years. I remember watching my sleeping grandfather turn into the Werewolf right before my eyes. I flew out of the room like a rocket. When I saw him again he had turned back into grandpa, but I already knew his secret. Saturdays usually featured two rock and roll films,, or a rock and roll film and a horror film with three cartoons in between. When they demolished the place, I remember walking through the rubble finding strips of old movies. I was probably nine at the time. Years later, when the great italian film “Cinema Paradiso” came out, it reminded me of the Paradise and the kids and the people of the neighborhood it entertained.
My mother began sending me to the Paradise with my older sisters on Saturday mornings in 1955 when I was five years old. This bought her a few hours of peace. The place was always packed with kids whose mothers had the same idea as mine. She would give me just enough for the 25 cent admission and a five-cent bag of potato chips. The kids used to squirt mustard on the side of the bag and use it as dip for their chips. The chips were “Treat” potato chips. The bag was made of glassine paper. An older man named “George” ran the concession. Ice cream cones cost ten cents. The first film I ever saw was at the Paradise. It was the horror film “Tarantula”, about a giant spider. I was afraid of the dark for a long time after that. Despite this, my mother still sent me with my sisters every Saturday morning for more scary films like “The fifty Foot Woman”, and The Colossal Man". It was a strange way to spend my most imaginative years. I remember watching my sleeping grandfather turn into the Werewolf right before my eyes. I flew out of the room like a rocket. When I saw him again he had turned back into grandpa, but I already knew his secret. Saturdays usually featured two rock and roll films,, or a rock and roll film and a horror film with three cartoons in between. When they demolished the place, I remember walking through the rubble finding strips of old movies. I was probably nine at the time. Years later, when the great italian film “Cinema Paradiso” came out, it reminded me of the Paradise and the kids and the people of the neighborhood it entertained.