Columbia Movies

Before videos, cable TV, or computer downloads, there were movie theatres. They were first downtown and then spread out to the neighborhoods. They were a place where parents could trust their kids to spend a Saturday afternoon, and it didn't cost much. As one got older, we got interested in more mature fare, or at least you tried to see it. Fake ID's or trying to look more mature than you really were. It became something of a game between you and the theatre manager. Many of them didn't care how old you were. They just wanted the money. Movies were an escape from life. For two hours (or more), you could go anywhere in time by going to the movies. It didn't have to be a blockbuster. Studios just made movies--good or bad. They didn't have to worry about market share or box office gross. They made movies for the fun of making movies. Sometimes, the little movies were better than the big ones. Low budget films, especially horror, were cheesy. They were short on plot but big on action. They still make movies like that, but they go straight to DVD. I used to see 2 or 3 movies a day. Even before multi-screen cinemas. Once I estimated that I had seen over 3000 movies. I don't know how many now, since the advent of video. I've seen some over 100 times each. Here is a rundown of the theatres that were in Columbia during my growing up years, and a few films that stand out at each one:
Carolina--The Sound of Music; Kid Galahad; Bruce Lee films
Ritz--A Hard Day's Night; Goldfinger; no comment
Palmetto--Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; Good Morning and Goodbye (the manager wanted to see your draft card to get in, which you couldn't fake)
Miracle--The Green Berets; Love and Death; Rosemary's Baby
Fox--Bonnie and Clyde; Airport; no comment
Chateau 8--no comment
Carver--Kung Fu; no comment
Atlantic Twin--Tarzan w/Jock Mahoney; Lady in Cement; no comment (the manager refused me to see The Detective w/Frank Sinatra)
Richland Mall--The Glass Bottom Boat; A View to a Kill
Five Points--Cowboy Serials; Seventeen (used a fake ID a lot until the girl at the box office said my mother was her sunday school teacher)
Jefferson Square--Tora Tora Tora; Earthquake; Aliens
Gamecock--Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Columbia Mall--Airplane
Dutch Square--The Midnight Man; Live and Let Die
Spring Valley--Saturn 3; Pee Wee's Big Adventure
There were also drive-ins, which I didn't go to much, or I'll deny it, if you ask.