Unexpected Movie Audience Moments (1 Viewer)

[Sultanofcinema]

Which film was it?

I believe one of the films was Ordinary People which is essentially a movie with a lot of dialogue. So the last thing most of the adults would want is to attempt to listen to dialogue and have kids who would be board with this film, talking.

 

[Sultanofcinema]

In 1981 several friends and myself went to the Cinema Village on 12th street in NYC to see Novecento/1900 which was the full uncut version of the film. The seat next to my left was empty and a very beautiful girl came in by herself, sat next to me and we chatted a bit. Anyone who has seen this film knows it is very graphic in its depiction of violence. After the first scene like this took place, the girl grabbed my arm with both hands and put her head against my arm and shoulder. She stayed like this thru the films run time and she apologized afterwards to me. No apology necessary. I remember the scent of the perfume she had on, which was pleasant. Eleven years later I am with my wife and another couple in Trader Joes. One of the rows had scented soap and I was picking them up and smelling them. Yes indeed!, one of the bars smelled exactly like THAT GIRL's (sorry Ann!) perfume the night of the screening of 1900 and so I yelled it out and my wife thought that I should be committed.

 

[Sultanofcinema]

My older brother and I went to see Mark Of The Devil with Herbert Lom and Udo Kier, released thru Hallmark Releasing. They distributed Vomit bags were were made of a waxy substance and the poster was printed on the bag, lunchbox size. I still have mine, "the first movie Rated V for Violence!" Three seats down to our right, when a tongue was being pulled out of a person a patron could not get that bag open right away possibly due to that waxy substance and had the opportunity to throw up on someone sitting in front of him.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

my wife thought that I should be committed.

She’s not the only one.

 

[Sultanofcinema]

My friend folks! But the best Manager and Projectionist that ever lived on the face of the earth!

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

My friend folks! But the best Manager and Projectionist that ever lived on the face of the earth!

That’s nice of you to say, but I don’t agree. I did learn projection from the best: George, Lou, Bill, and Mac (the Cinerama man).

 

[Sultanofcinema]

Having movie theaters was so much fun, especially when you had contacts that brought 35MM prints to your theater to run films on off hours. I was closing up one night at 1am one Saturday night. A friend showed up with another friend and we were talking about the Sean Connery James Bond films and how great it was to see those films in Panavision and Technicolor on the big screen. So one of the guys said wouldn't it be incredible to see You Only Live Twice on your theater screen in Technicolor. I said it would be a fantasy (now at this time the films were not available on home video). So he walked away while I was chatting with the other gentleman and all of a sudden , there he was with two cans that said You Only Live Twice Technicolor/117 minutes! Well....you know the rest of the story.

 

[Jeffrey D]

The first film that comes to mind on this topic is Lethal Weapon 2. When Murtaugh
says “has just been revoked!”, the audience erupted with cheers and applause. One of my favorite memories of going to the cinema.

 

[Sultanofcinema]

A lot of your stories have been about people screaming or cheering. I remember the 1st day sold out show of Platoon. As the audience was leaving the theater (Cinema 46/Totowa, NJ) you could hear a pin drop. I also heard outright crying, even by men, at the end of The Champ with Jon Voight, Love Story, The Elephant Man and The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button.

 

[Walter Kittel]

I've related all of this previously ( One of the hazards of attaining a certain age. )

Opening day evening of Aliens in 1986. Viewed this in the largest theater in the Galleria (fully seated at around a 600 person capacity). During the segment prior to the attack on the MedLab it was absolutely quiet, as if the audience was collectively holding their breaths. You could literally hear a pin drop.

Midnight showing of Terminator 2 on the morning of opening day. The theater was packed with hundreds of enthusiastic fans, including me. Similar to the first anecdote, what struck me was how everyone was reacting in unison to the film both in terms of timing and manner. It was sort of uncanny, but incredibly energetic and perhaps the single best audience experience I've encountered.

Raiders of the Lost Ark. Saw this multiple times theatrically. In one of the latter viewings, someone a few rows behind me shouted a rather profane and emphatic response to the death of Satipo, which for the sake of decorum I won't repeat. Always kind of stuck with me.

- Walter.

 

[Sultanofcinema]

in 1964 Goldfinger opened. The theater was naturally sold out and what a very interesting reaction from the audience. When Bond comes out rubbing his neck and sees Jill on the bed painted gold, they laughed, not at the film, but at the outrageousness of it. Of course, during the final of The Wild Bunch, I found myself screaming at the screen.

 

[Indy Guy]

3 funny moments...
*At a matinee screening of the Redford version of Great Gatsby, the movie was beginning to test everyones patience at the midpoint. A little girl a few rows back blurted out..."I think we better go home now!" The entire audience erupted with laughter feeling her pain!
*Reader's Digest ran an article in the 60's urging parents not to let kids see "Night of the Living Dead." The film had done poorly at the box office but after the article ran, it became very successful. The Digest was partly right...at the screening I went to, the screaming was deafening with kids running up and down the aisles seeking safety, while the smell of upchuck permeating the whole theater! Nobody back then had seen a zombie movie, and even today "Night" holds up as one of the best.
*Lastly, at a late in the run viewing of "The Sound of Music", a romantic gazebo interlude was interuped by a guest shouting a popular junk-food catch phrase. As Capt. Von Trapp asks Maria "What else did the Mother Abbess tell you?"... we were treated to the TV ad bomb...CLACKERS!!!...now a permanent part of my mental soundtrack!
Just think...we miss moments like these with home theater!

 

[Sultanofcinema]

3 funny moments...
*At a matinee screening of the Redford version of Great Gatsby, the movie was beginning to test everyones patience at the midpoint. A little girl a few rows back blurted out..."I think we better go home now!" The entire audience erupted with laughter feeling her pain!
*Reader's Digest ran an article in the 60's urging parents not to let kids see "Night of the Living Dead." The film had done poorly at the box office but after the article ran, it became very successful. The Digest was partly right...at the screening I went to, the screaming was deafening with kids running up and down the aisles seeking safety, while the smell of upchuck permeating the whole theater! Nobody back then had seen a zombie movie, and even today "Night" holds up as one of the best.
*Lastly, at a late in the run viewing of "The Sound of Music", a romantic gazebo interlude was interuped by a guest shouring a popular junk-food catch phrase. As Capt. Von Trapp asks Maria "What else did the Mother Abbess tell you?"... we were treated to the TV ad bomb...CLACKERS!!!...now a permanent part of my mental soundtrack!
Just think...we miss moments like these with home theater!

My dad took us all (the entire family) to see Night Of The Living Dead when it opened on a double feature of a film called Slaves with Stephan Boyd and... Dionne Warwick. Because there was no behind the scenes, no making of's avail, no sneek peeks or interviews with stars and film clips, that film scared traumatized for many years! It did make a difference seeing it fresh.

 

[KPmusmag]

In the early 1980s I went to my first revival theater. The movie was Funny Girl. I had only seen it on television, so seeing it in its OAR was a revelation. But the best part was that the audience laughed where appropriate and applauded at the end of the musical numbers, as though it was a live performance. It was a great experience.