On Area Screens – Sept. 1, 1966

I never realized it until a few years ago, but Mom and Dad sure took my siblings and me to a lot of movies when we were growing up in the 1960s. 

We saw almost every Walt Disney movie from about 1964 on until the early 1970s. They also took us to almost every John Wayne movie as well from roughly that same time period.

And we saw other movies as well. This movie page from September 1, 1966 – sixty years ago today – includes a few. 

The big movie event for us was Help! featuring the Beatles. 

The album that was played over and over again

We were big fans of the Beatles (before they went all hippie/druggie/psychedelic) because my older sister had all their albums, which were played on the stereo in the living room. We watched the Beatles cartoons, played the "Flip Your Wig" game and each had a favorite Beatle and matching doll. (Mine was goofy Ringo.)

I may be wrong (I'm 67 years old after all), but I'm pretty sure my parents surprised us by taking us to see Help! at the Lorain Drive-In. We were probably down at Lakeview Park first, seeing the fountain lights, and Dad then drove west out of Lorain and then teased us about whether we'd like to see the movie – and then turning in to the Drive-in. At least that's the way I remember it.

The other movie that we saw for sure was Walt Disney's Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. starring Dick Van Dyke and cute Nancy Kwan. I even had a little novelization of the movie (see photo below).

This is the book version that I had

I can't remember whether I enjoyed the movie or not. I did like the part where he had to consult a survival handbook while drifting at sea in his raft. Here's a brief clip. I seem to recall the book telling him to stand on his head (on a raft?) to cure hiccups.

As you can see, the handbook actually 'talked' to him, which was kind of funny. (The book's voice was provided by Richard Deacon, who played Mel Cooley on The Dick Van Dyke Show.)

At the end of the movie, Lt.. Robin Crusoe is rescued from his South Seas paradise, and saved from having to marry Nancy Kwan's character. Even as a kid, I wondered why he wanted to be rescued!

One movie on the page that I first saw on GRIT a couple years ago is The Night of the Grizzly, starring Clint Walker. It also features Leo Gordon, who's always great as a villain. Although the movie comes across as a cheapie made-for-TV flick, it's pretty good and even has a redemption theme, which I like.

Lastly, I like the Giant Back to School Show at the Palace: "5 Big Color Cartoons Plus 2 Hilarious Three Stooges Comedies." It may be 1966 but the illustration of the two kids looks very 1930-ish. And it doesn't say which Stooges shorts were shown, but I hope they were Curlys. (Yeah, a young Don Hilton would have walked out, disgruntled at the lack of Shemps.)

I wonder if Alan Hopewell still has his Giant 8 Piece Handy, Sturdy Pencil Box?

It's great to see Tom Cat in the ad, although we don't know which cartoons were being shown. They could have been lame Loopy De Loops, or Woody Woodpeckers.

Tom looks kind of funny in the ad, with the grey tint over his entire body – instead of a white muzzle, chest and patch between his eyes.