TMT: Adapted Haunt
This is the next entry in a Theatre… a Movie… and a Time, a series that was begun here. With our next duo post kicking in on our usual last day of the month, which is tomorrow, might as well recall the first time I viewed a collaboration from a pair of my favorite artists. A story from my preferred writer of the last few decades adapted to the big screen by a filmmaker who mesmerized me as a teen when the 60s were coming to a close.
Theatre
Images c/o Cinema Treasures site
Movie
Time
May 31, 1980: I’ve said it before, my love of reading was instilled in me by my mother. Never did I see her without a book in hand, or laying next to her somewhere as she completed some chore; just waiting till she picked it up once more. When it became more difficult for her to get around, I or my brother were instituted to head over to the nearest library to drop off and pick up my mother’s latest batch of volumes.
That didn’t even cover those novels bought and shared with her by her sisters, my aunts. Many a hardcover or paperback got regularly rotated among mom’s sisterhood. One I found myself amongst. Living at my grandmother’s home, their mother, I was privy to overhear many a discussion for some of the fiction voraciously read and parceled out. A few even perused by their husbands, my uncles.
Here’s the thing, never was I explicitly told to read. Have wondered if it was just assumed I would since in this female-dominated clan the progeny always had a book in some state of scrutiny. Even my mother’s lone brother, the next-to-youngest, had a stack of ’em. And if mom influenced me to read, it was her sisters who indoctrinated moi toward their favorite mix of the arts. Books that received cinematic translations.
By late ’77, as a twentysomething, having finished my projectionist stint and moved on to work at a medical center, would find myself in some book conversation or another with friends or acquaintances on the job. Seemed like a pretty natural thing to do. Everybody back then had one novel on their minds: Stephen King’s The Shining. A Book of the Month Club selection that’d soon be in my possession, and thus consumed.
So when 1980 rolled around, spending more and more of my time with the woman I’d met at the medical center, I was more than primed to take the two of us to see the film adaptation of The Shining. Mainly since the guy who tripped me out in what seemed ages ago in a movie theater, Stanley Kubrick, was directing it. A week after it opened, we headed right over to the Village Theatre. Ironically, a favorite haunt back then.
The entire TMT series can be found here. If you’re interested how it’s put together, click here.
It Rains... You Get Wet 
13 Responses to “TMT: Adapted Haunt”
What a fantastic theater! Is it any wonder we thought growing up going to the movies was a grand event? Nice post!
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It’s a beauty, alright. I really do need to go back to it, haven’t been in ages. And it’s still a working showcase of newly released film to this day. Drove by it last week while picking up my daughter near UCLA. Thank you so much, Cindy. 🙂
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Oh, please go for me! 😉
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🙂
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For me these old theatres are irreplaceable, because when you went there you weren’t just watching a film, you were partaking in an event. A ritual. A place that felt like a place for films. You know you were in for a treat, because films were something special there. Watching films in a shopping mall is not the same.
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Oh, we so agree on your point, Paul. These are cathedrals of cinema, for sure. The multiplexes at the mall just don’t compare. Thanks, my friend. 🙂
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Another great TMT post Michael! Boy that’s an awesome looking theater.
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It is! Thank you very much, Ruth. 🙂
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I love old theaters! And The Shining. 🙂 Great post!
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Thank you, my friend. Much appreciated. 🙂
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[…] when I saw this, having read the novel when it was making the rounds as a young twentysomething, I was deeply disappointed. As were other book fans, and famously, the author himself1. I’m […]
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As always, an evocative read mate!
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Thank you so much, Mark! 🙂
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