What was the first movie you ever saw in a theater?

Mary Poppins- age 4

The Pit and the Pendulum

Atlantis: The Lost Empire

Age 6, 2001.

A double feature Jungle Book and Bambi. I was 4 or 5. Yes, Bambi traumatized me.

At my elementary school gymnasium: an old print of "Swiss Family Robinson."

In a proper movie theater: "Sounder."

Snow White and the Three Stooges

Probably Smokey and the Bandit. We didn't do Disney.

Tootise!

Tootsie

E.T.

The first I remember is waking up for stretches of Doctor Doolittle to take potty breaks. I fell equally in love with Samantha Eggar and Anthony Newley, the two ended llama and the giant snail. 🐌

Theater: Let’s Scare Jessica to Death…

Drive-in: Valley of the Dolls

Benji (1974). Oh lord, the waterworks.

Snow White (1937), when it was re-released in the theaters in 1987. But I don't remember.

The first one I do remember seeing is Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988).

The 1985 reissue of 101 Dalmatians.

r14 again. Just realized that in 1987, 1937 was only 50 years in the past. For some reason, that makes me feel OLD.

The Ugly Dachshund

Ditto, R1. I was also four years old. My parents got all dressed up; I remember wearing a bowtie. We went to downtown Cincinnati to see Mary Poppins, in the balcony of the old Albee Theatre. I remember feeling the need to spell supercalifragilisticexpialidocious afterward.

Mary Poppins was also my first film in a cinema. I was five years old.

BEN HUR and Disney’s animated SLEEPING BEAUTY.

Both made indelible impressions on me.

One of the rereleases of “Bambi” sometime in the mid-70s.

Sands of Iwo Jima

I was maybe 6.

A Disney princess movie of course.

Mary Poppins, aged 7. We drove more than a hundred miles to Charlotte, NC to see it in a first release "special presentation." That's what people did back in 1964.

Pretty sure it was either Aladdin or Jurassic Park. Maybe look who’s talking now.

Barbarella. I was 5

Bedknobs and Broomsticks

Snow White-age 3

Toy Story 4

Song of the South when it was rereleased in 1986. I was 4. I really only remember the bull chasing the kid scene. I'm pretty sure the bull got him.

The next movie I saw in theaters was Jaws: The Revenge the following year. Even as a 5 year old, I thought the roaring shark was ridiculous, but i liked the Bahamian setting.

Either THE MIRACLE WORKER or Disney's IN SEARCH OF THE CASTAWAYS. Can't recall which for certain.

Birth Of A Nation.

R32 I know you must be talking bout the Nate Parker film because you’d have to be over 100 yrs old.

Striptease

Fiddler on the Roof. My mom took my out into the lobby during the scary scene with, what are they, witches?

Most likely not the first, but the first one I remember seeing as a kid is 55 Days in Peking.

It was either "Sleeping Beauty" at Loew's Mid-City in Midtown or the Three Stooges' "Have Rocket, Will Travel" at the Michigan in Carondelet.

Both in 1959. I think it was "Sleeping Beauty" because I remember using glitter paint to create lovely ensembles for Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. My younger brother made such a commotion for the Three Stooges they put us in a sound-proof viewing booth next to the projection room, which was more interesting that the shitty movie.

the first film I actually recall seeing- '2001:A Space Odyssey', back in 1968, I was 7 years old. . My view was from the playground at the drive in movie theater. I just remember some giant monkeys throwing sticks in the air. I was bored and went back to the teeter-totter.

Titanic, jealous much?

Where the Red Fern Grows. My parents either never read the book or forgot the ending, and thought that a movie about cute doggies would be a perfect way to introduce a 4-year-old to the cinema.

True Grit

Destroy All Monsters, in 1969. My parents took me.

"Topo Gigio" when I was 4.

Robin Hood (Disney). Age 5.

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.

I can't remember the movie ... but I remember my parents telling me later they got shit from the lobby attendants about me running up and down the aisle making noise bothering the other theater goers

Probably Avatar 2

1976, Freaky Friday.

The Sound of Music when I was four or five. It had been in release already for a few years, this was in 1967, or 1968.

I remember Maria walking through the birch trees and marveling how big everything was on the screen.

My dad (born in 1933) said his first movie was Drums Along the Mohawk

My mom (born in 1939) reported the first movie she saw was the first re-release of Snow White at Radio City Music Hall

Both recall the experiences vividly into their 80s.

Dumbo, rereleased in 1959, in Superior, Wisconsin.

Jaws at age five in 1975. My mom took my 7-year-old sister and me to see this, but I was so terrified we had to walk out and watch 101 Dalmatians which was playing at the same cinema.

The Village of the Damned in 1960.

R45 *1964

"Bertha Venation"

Yes it was real

Oliver and Company with my older siblings. My parents watched Mississippi Burning.

Billy Jack.

E.T.

[quote]E.T.

It was either E.T. or Annie; they were released in the same summer, but I don't remember which one I saw first. I was 4.

E.T. isn't a horror movie, but parts of this movie were terrifying, and seeing E.T. sick & dying was too much for me.

[quote]E.T. isn't a horror movie, but parts of this movie were terrifying

Annie isn't a horror movie, but most parts of this movie were terrifying

I remember seeing Dr Doolittle at 4, much clearer memories of A Boy Named Charlie Brown at Radio City Music Hall two years later.

r59 My mom thought E.T. was a very, very disgusting monster. She was rooting against him. I also remember having a strong affinity for Eliot, who was basically my age. Surely I wasn't the only boy with these feelings?

"Lady and the Tramp" I was probably 3 or 4 years old.

The only thing I remember about it was the spaghetti eating sequence. We're Italian, and seeing dogs eating spaghetti was a fascinating thing.

I never forgot it.

Rocky IV. I was 6.

Because only Italians eat spaghetti.

[quote]Annie isn't a horror movie, but most parts of this movie were terrifying

True, R60, but Annie didn't give me nightmares.

Star Wars (1977) with my parents.

A strange one, The last snows of spring...about a dieing boy. I even remember the bus ride home. The 2nd movie blew my mind...Superman, 1978, i was 6. U saw it a 2nd time; this is still the only movie i saw twice in the cinema, one week apart. It was just so big and beautiful and really SPECTACULAR..from the opening credits to the glowing white clothes on Krypton. Christopher Reeve was just outstanding as Superman..Margot Kidder was really so believable as Lois Lane too.

R65 is a lady AND a tramp.

That's why the lady is a tramp.

The Fox and The Hound - It traumatized me to no end. Terribly.

The next was Jaws 3 - 3D with my older sister and her boyfriend. Why they let a child my age into that film is beyond me.

"Paint Your Wagon."

Charlotte's Web, I was probably 4 or 5.

Same here-Original Mary Poppins

I think it was Pinocchio. My first live-action movie was Babes in Toyland (1961), at Radio City Music Hall.

The Wizard of Oz at age 4 or so. When the Wicked Witch threatens to set the Scarecrow on fire, I got so upset I had to be taken out of the theater.

16 years later I was sitting behind Margaret Hamilton in a Greenwich Village movie theater. I stopped her on the way out and told her, truthfully, that my college movie night had just shown My Little Chickadee and she, not W.C. Fields or Mae West, had gotten the biggest laughs. She was very nice.

I was too young to remember. I was supposedly a very good baby (so I'm frequently told). I would sleep or at least be quiet through anything so my parents would often take me with them. I'm about Jodie Foster's age so I saw all her films like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I remember seeing Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music when they first came out (I was around 4). I have a very strong memory of seeing The Sound of Music with my grandmother. I remember getting an orange drink at the concession stand that came in a plastic orange with a straw. These would not be the first films that I was taken to, but they are the first ones that I can remember.

I think it was Babe (1995).

The first I remember is The Sound Of Music in a huge ornate old theatre and we were in the balcony.

The Birth of a Nation

Bed Knobs and Broomsticks

Avatar of course.

The earliest memory I have is of Superman 3. Don't know if that was the 1st. I was 3 or 4 I think.

The strong memories are Snow White during one of the rereleases and Die Hard. I also remember our showing of Adams Family ending and sneaking in to see the last half of Cape Fear, my parents movie, which blew my mind.

R1 same. Mary Poppins, age 5.

One of my 1st was also a reissue of Snow White, in the early 80s....but yeah, Superman 3 I think came first.

I think it was Oliver! It was a school excursion.

We had a few movie nights with my dad. One of them was JFK. I would have been 12. It was overwhelming in terms of information and style. I still love the movie. Dad took us to dinner after and we talked about history and feelings. It is a very nice memory.

2001: A Space Odyssey

It was on my fourth birthday. We went to the Palace Theater in Canton, Ohio, and sat through it two times. Back then you paid admission once and could sit there all day if you wanted. Mom was livid over Dad’s having insisted that we watch 2001, which she thought was a stupid choice for my birthday. She was right, but strangely I bonded with my dad over Sci-Fi after that.

Jodie Foster wasn't in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

That I recall (?): “Oliver!”

The Sound of Music at The Stadium Theater. (anyone here know where that is?)

I was 6. My parents took me to a strange, little art cinema and the film was “David and Lisa.” I don’t know why they thought this was appropriate fare for a 6 year old but I was transfixed. And quite traumatized.

Bedknobs And Broomsticks. I was five.

A scene in a period movie got stuck in my head that used to give me an intense feeling of melancholy: a boy, who'd been eating chocolate with some smeared on his face, runs out of the house to discover his family's barn burning.

I've always wondered what the film was. It would've been late 1960s.

Jaws

Dawson's Three Load Weekend

R78 Finally someone young.

Shaggy Dog. I remember standing in line with my mom for the next showing. I don't remember the movie, just the experience of going to 'the movies.'

Like R18, my first movie theater experience was at the Albee in downtown Cincinnati. My Dad, my brother and I saw The Valley of Gwangi starring the glorious James Franciscus.

Sharkfighters! With Victor Mature. It was 1956, I was 7 years old and became terrified of sharks although I lived nowhere near the ocean. I was afraid of one appearing in the bathtub, in the swimming pool, anywhere.

R90 Thank you! I'm surprised no one noticed earlier.

I’m not sure, but M.A.S.H.? at the Music Box on Southport in Chicago. I was 5, and the parents couldn’t afford a babysitter. The only scene I remember is a guy getting hit in the stomach and complains that it hurts, they open his shirt, and his guts fall out.

But I do remember vividly The Abominable Dr. Phibes the next year, co billed with A Diary of a Mad Housewife. As I was looking up at the marquee, I was wondering why anyone would want to see a movie about that. Anyway, I loved the movie, and i work primarily in horror movies now, many that you have heard of or seen.

R1 - same - Mary Poppins - I was 2 or 3, I think. It wasn't the original release. I was mesmerized.

[quote]I'm about Jodie Foster's age so I saw all her films like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Jodie Foster is not in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

The first one I remember clearly is Rio Lobo with my father in 1970, but I have vague memories of The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t with my mother in 1966, so it must have been that.

I definitely liked Rio Lobo better.

R103 - great memory and great theater. It's funny but MASH the film is NOT a film to take a 5 year old, but things were a bit different back then.

I don't recall a ton of kid-oriented films growing up - not like Disney and all of the stuff today. There were some re-releases of older films like Jungle Book, Mary Poppins, etc. but I don't recall there being a ton of offerings for kids at cinemas.

I grew up in the 70s, btw. And cartoons were only 7am to 11am on Saturdays - which I learned later was to give parents a break on the weekends. I didn't put that together until I was much older LOL.

R90, R105 I guess your mind can play tricks on you as a child. I would have sworn she was in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I guess that's a false memory. I must be confusing it with something else I saw. I was around 4 years old when I saw that movie.

R108 Heather Ripley played Jemima Potts. And she could easily be mistaken for Jodie Foster. There was a resemblance.

1963, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. I was 10 years old and my parents took me and my brother to a nice theatre in Hollywood for my birthday. Actually, I doubt if that is the first movie I ever saw in a theatre, but it was a special occasion which I remember well. That's about the age when we would get dropped off for a matinee at the beautiful Panorama Theatre in the San Fernando Valley. I saw a live action film about ducks from about the same time. There were some loser films being shown there, but the main attraction was the candy and trying to annoy the teenage male ushers so we could get kicked out when a parent was due to pick us up.

I also saw Brigadoon for my graduation from elementary school. That's a lovely movie.

One Little Indian

The Biscuit Eater

Deep Throat

Hocus Pocus or The Flintstones.

The Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957)

I cannot remember the first movie I saw as a kid in the theatre. I remember my older brothers took me to see "Beneath the Planet of the Apes." It came out in 1970. I was 7 years old. I cannot imagine my mother thinking it was okay to take me at that age to see such a movie. Even if they took me a couple of years later (maybe a revival), I can't imagine she knew about it.

It scared the living daylights out of me!

Op don’t put our identities on the dark web. I’ll suck your dick.

OP axin this to get the fuckin remember password security question. Don’t answer this thread. Biggest fraud since Milli Vanilli.

R103 “Guts falling out”—I think the movie you saw may have been Catch-22, also 1970, still anti-war and still a long way from a movie for a 5-year-old. If it had been MASH, you probably would also remember the shower scene.

[quote] M.A.S.H.? at the Music Box on Southport in Chicago. I was 5, and the parents couldn’t afford a babysitter. The only scene I remember is a guy getting hit in the stomach and complains that it hurts, they open his shirt, and his guts fall out.

[quote] But I do remember vividly The Abominable Dr. Phibes the next year,

You must have had very interesting parents.

I recall seeing The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins when they came out. But I’m sure those weren’t the first movies I saw in the theater.

I’m thinking the first one might have been From Russia With Love. It seemed like back then (many) parents thought James Bond films were OK for kids. I would have been pretty young. Maybe 6? I’m probably too old to remember for sure.

Like another poster suggested, it wasn’t a big deal in my day for kids to see more adult movies. The whole ratings thing didn’t happen until I was around 11.

Jodie Foster was brilliant in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.

Ah r118, you are correct- that's why I put the ? after the title, because I didn't think it was correct.

r107- do you remember Creature Features? I LOVED the title sequence and music. It was me and my Dad's bonding time.

r119, I suppose. I also begged them to see a midnight show of Andy Warhol's Frankenstein (I was 9) because either Svengoolie or Son of Svengoolie (local horror show movie tv host) was presenting. I was 9, and they dropped me off and picked me up. Next year, I begged them to see The Who's Tommy because of Elton John (I loved his songs), and I ended up a new fan of Tina Turner. They did come with me to see that, and I think they didn't like it too much.

The Song of the South around 1954 when I was 5.

Do I win?

R123 I also remember seeing The Song of the South in a movie theatre. Not when it first came out though. I'm about 12 years your junior. Still an elder, though.

It was Benji. That movie scarred me for life. To this day I refuse to watch any movie with animals. The anxiety is overwhelming. I’m a complete MARY! about anything where an animal is in jeopardy.

I can remember the first movie I saw because I saw so few as a kid, a total of four before I was in high school and could go with my friends. My parents just never took us. The first one was an obscure Disney movie that I only remembered the name and one brief scene which I was finally able to track down once the IMDb came into being. We were visiting family friends in another state and I assume they suggested it. I think I was 5.

I think it was "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm". Got all dressed up and my dad drove us into Boston.

I also have a memory of seeing "The Bridge on the River Kwai" but it must have been a re-release because who would bring an infant to that?

Never asked my folks about it. Wish I had, too late now.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, it was 1975.

The Sound of Music. Albion Mall Cinemas. Rexdale.

The earliest I remember is Lion King in 1994(?).

My earliest memory is Beauty and the Beast. I would have been 4.

I know I loved Dick Tracy, Batman, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles but I don’t know if I saw those in the theaters as I’d have been under 4 lol. But I certainly remember watching them every day at home.

It was Mary Poppins, but I was 2 1/2. I know I saw it because my grandmother got me the book in the lobby. I think I still have it. But the one I remember, when I was 4, was Hawaii. I remember the village on fire and the people running around and screaming. What a terrible movie to bring a 4yo to.

Star Wars, my first grade birthday party!!!!