Tales from the (Movie) Theater: The ‘Movie’ List (Part 8)
(image c/o Cinema Treasures)
Continuation of the series that began here.
The ‘Movie’ List
I guess when you come down to it, this involvement of working as a projectionist from 1976 – 1977 at the Warner Huntington Park Theater was a unique one. It simultaneously fed me concession stand food & drink (though for years afterward, I couldn’t stand to drink Pepsi and this pretty much ended my love of eating a hot dog), pocket-money, and experiences that couldn’t have come from anywhere else.
Add to that, I screened a number of movies, across an interesting range of genres, in a relatively short period of time. It represented a set of film I couldn’t have dreamt to have seen, or let alone afford, during that span. Not only was it, a) a job that helped me through college, but was also, b) a place that cemented my love for movies just by the exposure to this side of the cinema.
College may have led to my later career in technology, but I can equally credit blind, stupid luck in that regard, as well. Along with the essential ability to type. However, the time spent in a fourth floor projection booth, watching for cue marks and feeding 35mm film, to say nothing of carbon arc rods, into a Simplex projector, left an impression that’s still reverberating to this day.
So, after sifting through my memory and reviewing a couple of online sources (IMDB and Wikipedia being prime), I think I’ve come up with a list for most of the movies I pulled out movie cans, spooled up, and projected after the movie theater migrated back to U.S. movie releases. I don’t claim this is the definitive record of all that I screened during my stint. I’m sure I’m forgetting some movies, but some of those were truly forgettable, too.
For the sake of chronology, I’ve broken them down by the year I estimate they were shown on our screen. Most of the films were released in 1976 and 1977, yet there were some that came out from previous years and were either revivals, or second feature fillers for the venue’s regular double-bills.
1976
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
Bobby Joe and the Outlaw
Burnt Offerings
Car Wash
Eat My Dust
The Exorcist
Family Plot
Futureworld
Fuzz
Gator
The Great Waldo Pepper
The Greatest Story Ever Told
Grizzly
The Gumball Rally
Hard Times
High Plains Drifter
The Hindenburg
The Man with the Golden Gun
Mr. Majestyk
Jaws
The Last Hard Men
Lipstick
Midway (sorry, but no Sensurround speakers were used as a couple of years earlier)
Mother, Jugs & Speed
Murder by Death
Obsession
The Omen
Shoot
Silver Streak
Snuff
St. Ives
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Westworld
White Lightning
1977
The Car
The Return of a Man Called Horse
Shampoo
The Shootist
A Star is Born
Swashbuckler
Taxi Driver
To the Devil a Daughter
Two-Minute Warning
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
Airport 1975
The New Centurions
Black Sunday
The Drowning Pool
The Late Show
The Eiger Sanction
The Eagle Has Landed
The Other Side of Midnight
Exorcist II: The Heretic
The Food of the Gods
Pretty Maids All in a Row
French Connection II
Friday Foster
Grand Theft Auto
The Killer Elite
The Hospital
The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing
The Sentinel
Sorcerer
The White Buffalo
For those reading this, and perhaps wondering about the intermissions in-between our normal double-feature, yes we did use those old concession stand ads and intermission trailers. Popular during the 50s and 60s, they were still in vogue. Even during the disillusioned decade that brought us the end of the Vietnam War, Watergate, and Oil Crises (note the plural) they were still put in to hopefully drive up our all too important food sales.
Previous: Surprise! (Part 7)
Next up: Of Westerns, Dramas, and JAWS (Part 9)
The entire Warner Theatre Project series can be found here.
It Rains... You Get Wet 
14 Responses to “Tales from the (Movie) Theater: The ‘Movie’ List (Part 8)”
The lists of films is a great reminder of the variety of films released in those days. Looks like a couple of significant films missed your theater as well. By my count I saw 42 of those films in their first runs, and I was a paying customer. Now I realize why I will never be rich.
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Yeah, the 70s was a great time for movies, and catching them on-screen. That’s great you got to see so many of them back then, Richard. What a time. Many thanks, my friend.
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Ha! I’m so glad you put that video clip of the “let’s all go to the lobby” song. We actually still play that at my theater but a shortened version and it plays during the pre-show commercials. I wish they still had intermissions these days, though! Especially during all of the three hour movies. I wonder why they don’t do that anymore.
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Hey, that’s great to hear, Minako! They’re a wonderful nostalgic touch to show nowadays. Kudos to your theater. I’d agree with having intermissions for long runtime films. Too bad the pre-show commercials get longer and longer these days. Many thanks, my friend.
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1977 a better year than 76. I find 70s films to be either outstanding or bunk. Just my prejudice. 🙂
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Great to hear from you on this, Cindy. Yes, you could get quite a mix with 70s film. Overall, though, I think there was more great than bad that decade. Many thanks :-).
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I’ve been so busy –tomorrow I start back to school teaching! Wow! What a fast month off. I have a movie post coming out I hope tonight and would love your return and your comments. What, by the way, is your name??
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You’ve got me intrigued. There’s nothing wrong with using my blog moniker of le0pard13. But, friends call me Michael :-).
Looking forward to that post tomorrow, Cindy. Many thanks.
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You got to do Jaws! You must have some more stories about that one! I would love to hear them.
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Of course, JAWS will be in there! Thanks so much, mummbles.
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