What was the very first movie you remember seeing on the big screen?

[creekland]

I missed Bambi because I refused to eat my soup.  My mom stayed home with me while my dad took my older brother.  I know I had gone to movies before that but not sure which ones.  The earliest memory I have is of some Santa Claus and Martians type of movie.

 

Wow - that's a memory I'm not sure your parents expected would carry into adulthood...

 

If Bambi was re-released in '75, then I was 7 or 8, not 4 or 5.  I guess my memory regarding what happened what year isn't the greatest!

 

I like having seen practically every movie people have mentioned.

 

Oh... and I never knew one could literally use up their "likes."  I have...  but I'm still enjoying this thread!

 

[Lizzie in Ma]

Pinocchio, scared the crap out of me.

[Heather in Neverland]

The very first movie I ever saw on the big screen was the original Clash of the Titans back in 1981.

[Laura Corin]

I think it was Interiors.  I went with my father and my father's girlfriend during my parents' divorce.  I can't tell you how uncomfortable that was.  About the same time, my mother and her partner were taking me to see propaganda films from communist China.  It was an odd life.

 

L

[Shamzanne]

An American Tail, although I didn't make it through it. I was five and Fievel becoming separated from his family was too much for me to take.

[musicianmom]

Song of the South?

Was that the official name? I don't know. It was a Disney movie and would have been 1980. I went with my K class on a field trip. My friends and I were singing Zippity Doo Dah all over the place afterward.

[Pawz4me]

The original 101 Dalmatians.

 

Me, too.

[MyThreeSons]

I have vague memories of going to the drive-in theater. We would wear our jammies and play on the playground until it got dark enough for the movie. After the first cartoon movie or two, we kids would fall asleep in the back of the station wagon and my parents would watch the main feature. When we got home, Dad would carry us in to our beds. It was a cheap way to go, because Mom would pack a picnic-style dinner for us to eat. I do not remember a single title, though.

 

I do remember getting all dressed up in our "Sunday best" to go see The Sound of Music when it was released. My grandparents were visiting from out of town, and they bought the tickets. 

[J-rap]

Doctor Doolittle.

[JFSinIL]

How the West was Won - it was a Cinerama film and we had to go to Hollywood to see it and took Grandma, too - I remember how scared I was of the buffalo stampede - and the family shooting the rapids!  Saw it June 21, 1964 - I have the souvenir book Grandma bought and wrote in from the movie!  I would have been less than a week away from my 5th birthday.

 

 

[MissKNG]

I vaguely remember Bambi.

 

But I do remember seeing Beetlejuice with my mom except I was sick and we had to leave early.

[Miss Marple]

Dr Doolittle. I must have been about 5 years old. Mom was having surgery and dad had to distract 3 little daughters.

[Mommyof4ks]

I saw Ghost when I was 10, and prior to that I had never been to a movie theater. No, I have no idea why my mom thought that was appropriate for a 10 yr old lol.

[elegantlion]

It's probably Bedknobs and Broomsticks. We saw a lot of movies as a kid. That's the earliest memory though, 1971, I would have been 4. I still remember the theater we went to because it wasn't our regular theater. 

[Lady Florida.]

The Sound of Music in the 1960s.

 

That's mine as well.

[Meriwether]

ET

 

I may have seen others first, but I remember ET. I was little. Remember the scene in the cornfield? I was getting tense. Instead of sitting on my bottom, I was crouching and slowly rising in my seat. Dad reached over to calm me down. The problem was he reached out to touch me right when ET was reaching out. The theater got an earful.

 

I know we watched Fox and the Hound and Annie when I was little, too, but I don't know which was first.

[LostSurprise]

This topic is making me smile. We watched Star Wars yesterday and ds2 spent the entire time asking me about my reactions to each part of the film in 1978 when I was 5. It was pretty funny. 

 

 

Song of the South was the title of Disney's version of the Uncle Remus stories. There were re-releases in 1980 and sometime in the mid-'80s. (I went to the 1980 one at the outdoor and don't remember almost anything about it other than being excited about going to the outdoor). 

[Rachel]

Care Bears. The local grocery store was encouraging kids to buckle their seatbelt, if you did a certain number of times you received free tickets. I'm pretty sure the only reason my dad took us was because it was free.

[DSAcademy]

Gremlins!

[Catherine]

Bambi for me too! Although I cried and my mother almost left because I was so upset when Bambi's mother died. We were with friends whose daughters were a little older than me so we didn't leave. I actually remember liking it.

 

Re: Star Wars. My seventh grade class actually went on a field trip to see it! I remember this clearly, with the music-it was one of the most fun school days that I recall.

[Saraswati]

The Fox and the Hound. I'm not sure if it was my first, but the first I remember.

[dbmamaz]

I have a very vague memory of the car breaking down on a trip, and we got to go see a disney princess movie in the theater.  It probably would have been a re-release of Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty.  I would have been in the age range of 3-7. Its pretty vague.  

[Orthodox6]

"Breakfast at Tiffany's."

 

My parents went to a drive-in to see this.  My brother and I had no choice but to go with them (and try to sleep in the back seat). 

 

Accordingly, this was in 1961, making me six at the time.

[jelbe5]

The musical Oliver! in 1968. We also bought the soundtrack and my father and I frequently sang and acted out some of those songs. What fun memories!

[Spy Car]

I doubt it was really the first one, but the first I can clearly remember seeing in a theatre was Mary Poppins in 1964.

 

Bill

 

ETA: The slow working mind now remembers seeing West Side Story at the Music Hall Theatre in either 1961 or 1962 when I was 3 or 4.

 

My Dad also took me to see a lot of Japanese films (expecially those of Kurasowa) when I was really little at a very cool theatre that specialized in such films that was in the (then) heart of the Japanese community in Los Angeles. I (of course) didn't understand any of the dialogue, and couldn't read the subtitles, but I loved the sweep of the big samauri movies.

[alisoncooks]

Follow That Bird. 
Somewhere around 1985.

And I remember the film stopped about halfway through, nearly causing a riot of young elementary patrons, LOL.  The movie did restart.

[SKL]

Probably Star Wars.  I do remember seeing Jesus Christ Super Star before that, but that might have been at church.

[myfunnybunch]

If Bambi was re-released in '75, then I was 7 or 8, not 4 or 5.  I guess my memory regarding what happened what year isn't the greatest!

 

 

 

You know, I was thinking the same thing. I wonder if it made the rounds sometime in between 1966 and 1975? I was an infant in 1966. My youngest sister was born in 1972, and we moved when she was 2, so in 1974. But when we went to see Bambi, my youngest sis hadn't been born yet, and it was definitely the theater in the town we lived in before we moved. I remember the car (my mom's blue car) and theater (the one we drove by so often, and we were SO excited to go inside!) very clearly, and both were from before we moved to Oregon. 

 

Cat

 

[Kim in Appalachia]

I think the first one I saw on screen was Sleeping Beauty.  It was a double feature with Black Hole (I didn't like either movie).  But I think we had done a drive in before that, but at them moment I can't remember what we saw.  It was also a double feature.  I remember going to sleep in the back of our truck (it had a cab), during the 2nd movie.  

[sassenach]

ET at the drive in.

[Kim in Appalachia]

I went and looked it up.  Black Hole couldn't have been the 1st movie I saw, because I did see Star Wars at the movies, and it came out before Black Hole. I remember that I saw Star Wars at the Deptford 6, which at the time looked so new and impressive. I saw Black Hole at a tiny movie theater in our town, which became an adult movie place soon after. :D    

[creekland]

You know, I was thinking the same thing. I wonder if it made the rounds sometime in between 1966 and 1975? I was an infant in 1966. My youngest sister was born in 1972, and we moved when she was 2, so in 1974. But when we went to see Bambi, my youngest sis hadn't been born yet, and it was definitely the theater in the town we lived in before we moved. I remember the car (my mom's blue car) and theater (the one we drove by so often, and we were SO excited to go inside!) very clearly, and both were from before we moved to Oregon. 

 

Cat

 

 

1971 or 1972 would have matched what I thought... but I've no idea if I can trust my memory or not.  Yours sounds more clear since it's based upon whether your younger sis was here or not.  My sister is one year older... I know she was at the movie with me.  ;)

 

This has been a very fun thread to read.  Most of the movies I've seen and can recall a little bit of when I saw them (who I was with, circumstances, etc).  It's been a nice reminisce.

 

Now I'm wondering if I should go back and count the Bambis.  It seems like it was a popular one for a "first" movie for those of us old enough.

 

[Little Nyssa]

The Last Remake of Beau Gest, at the drive in. I can't recall anything of it though, and the movie itself seems to have faded into obscurity. I think that was the first movie I saw, but I do remember seeing Star Wars and Fantasia the same year, and I remember them quite well & loved them.

[tammyw]

I'm pretty sure it was Puff the Magic Dragon, lol. We didn't go to the movies much, when I was a kid, because we didn't have a theater in our small town! I do remember seeing Grease at the drive-in with my grandparents, but I don't recall which came first.

[Heidi]

Joe vs the Volcano

[MFG]

 

Now I'm wondering if I should go back and count the Bambis. It seems like it was a popular one for a "first" movie for those of us old enough.

 

I noticed the high number of Bambis also. I wonder what year(s) of rerelease they represent. I assume no one was talking about the 1942 original release?

[NicAnn]

I think it was Lion King. I became obsessed shortly after.

[Crimson Wife]

"Empire Strikes Back". I fell asleep sometime during the Dagobah training segment (I was 3 1/2) and woke up when Luke was dangling from Cloud City and had no idea what was going on.

[Luanne]

1776 in 6th grade with the entire 6th grade class at school.  It was 1976 when it came out.

[Crimson Wife]

The very first movie I ever saw on the big screen was the original Clash of the Titans back in 1981.

I remember being scared by that one. What were my parents thinking bringing me at 4 y.o.?

[6packofun]

Grease and Jaws (double feature!) at the drive-in with my mom and dad.  I'm not sure I was supposed to be awake for either...LOL

[Evergreen State Sue]

The Bible, and the big screen was an outdoor drive-in movie theater.  I don't remember much of it because I was in my pj's in the back of our station wagon!

[Liberty]

Herbie the Love Bug

[SBMama]

Strawberry Shortcake - I remember that I was very nervous.  I thought the "real" characters were actually going to be there live.  The first drive-in movie I remember seeing was the original 101 Dalmatians.

[momto10blessings]

Gremlins

[scholarly]

Ghostbusters

 

My teenage aunt took me when I was 4 and I've been scared of ghosts ever since.

[Alice]

The first one I really remember is The Blue Lagoon because my Mom got into an argument with the ticket lady who tried to tell her it was inappropriate for me to see. (I was 8.) 

 

But I know I saw Grease many times in the theater (I think it was seven total) and I saw Star Wars. Based on release dates, Star Wars would have been the first I just don’t really remember going to see it. I would have been 5. 

 

But I know by family story that the actual first was Snow White. It’s memorable to my Dad because I threw up all over him in the middle. :) 

[abacus2]

Song of the South, must have been the 1986 re-release, school field trip.

[SorrelZG]

Joe Versus the Volcano, at least in part, only because it immediately preceded the movie we were actually going to see which was Gremlins 2. I don't know if we just went in really early or what. I must have been 8 or 9 at the time but I watched Gremlins 2 again when I was much older and it was so much scarier than I remembered it being.

[Deee]

Bambi - we had to leave because my mother got so upset (she's a nurse and usually quite tough;) )

D