# What was the FIRST film you watched?



## Guest

Can you remember back that far? What was it, and what kind of impression did it make? At the pictures or on TV? Have you seen it since and formed a different impression?

My memories are increasingly hazy, so I'm not sure which of the first few movies I saw was actually the first, but I think it was _The Wizard of Oz_ (NOT the first time around!) when I was about 4 or 5. I went with my big sister and her best friend. I expect they were cross, as I was scared by the witch and the flying monkeys and it subsequently gave me nightmares.

The next few included _Dumbo_, _Help!_ and _Mary Poppins _all of which I loved. Back in the good old days, movies would do the rounds more than once, so I don't remember whether I saw the last two on first release, but I'm fairly sure they were. Whatever, I was hooked on going to the pictures, and enjoyed going to see _Zulu_, _Khartoum _and _Billion Dollar Brain_ with my big brother when I was about 8 or 9 and envied him when he told me about _Fantastic Voyage_ which he didn't take me to see! The first film I cried at because it was sad was _Old Yeller _ - my middle sister and I both recall blubbing!

How about you?


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## brotagonist

I grew up with TV. I think it was all of those old Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne and similar black and white movies.


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## samurai

Fantasia, at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan. I was taken to this by my grandmother when I was 4 or 5 years old.


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## DeepR

As a kid you perceive things differently, with more imagination. That fantastic feeling will never come back. I don't remember the first one, but some early ones I do remember:

The Goonies, at a kid's party at age 5 or so. It gave me nightmares. LOL. Guess my delicate soul wasn't ready for it yet.

The Bear (documentary). I remember watching it in cinema and it made a very strong impression. 

And a little later: Jurassic Park. Made a huge impact. It was friggin awesome as I loved dinosaurs.


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## SimonNZ

I don't know about TV - but at the pictures:










"One Of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing" when I was four or five.

I don't remember it now, but I remember that I remember that being the first.

The first stunner, and the one I can still remember experiencing like it was yesterday, was seeing Star Wars on its original run as a seven or eight year old.


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## Morimur

My mother took me to see 'Bloodsport' for my 8th birthday. Conclusion: my mother is not to be trusted with children.


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## KenOC

The first movie I remember (and I remember it well!) was "The Thing from Another World," AKA "The Thing," starring James Arness of Gunsmoke fame as the monster, ca 1952. I went with my brother and sister, the smallest of the three. I was so scared that I left the theater and got lost, and then I was more scared than ever. On seeing this today, there are still two or three quite scary scenes...


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## JCarmel

I can't remember which was my first film seen but my childhood was taken-up with watching them...& in particular the good old'uns!
And I used to love watching such things as George Formby and Gracie Fields, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers on a Sunday afternoon. Anything that informed me further of the history of the Cinema...'foreign films' as they were referred-to then, in particular. As a family, there was little money to spare for cinema-going but very occasionally my Mum would announce to my brother and I out-of-the-blue, that 'we were going to the Pictures' and one film stuck in my mind in particular as a result of one of these excursions...'Moby Dick' starring Gregory Peck.


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## violadude

My mom says it was the Lion King. That's the first "real" film I saw, besides all the barney and dinosaur videos I watched.


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## Guest

DeepR said:


> As a kid you perceive things differently, with more imagination. That fantastic feeling will never come back.


Agree absolutely. Watching movies at that age transports you to such a real world! Alas, you're right that whatever pleasures the adult world brings, it's not that anymore.



KenOC said:


> The first movie I remember (and I remember it well!) was "The Thing from Another World," AKA "The Thing," starring James Arness of Gunsmoke fame as the monster, ca 1952. I went with my brother and sister, the smallest of the three. I was so scared that I left the theater and got lost, and then I was more scared than ever. On seeing this today, there are still two or three quite scary scenes...


So it's not just modern parents who lose the plot when deciding what their children should watch!

(We all sat and watched _Psycho _when I was 10!)


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## Ingélou

I can't remember the first film ever - there were so many on television. I have memories of the ones that were repeated a lot, of course - 'It's a Wonderful Life' with James Stewart, 'Stagecoach' with John Wayne, and something with Sonja Henie in - I've just googled it, it was 'The Countess of Monte Cristo' - in which to pass herself off as the countess at a ball, she makes the floor-length curtains in her (unpaid for) hotel room into a ball gown. Neat trick!

At the cinema, one of my first memories is being taken by my older sister (I was six; she fourteen) to see 'Oklahoma'. You got value for money in those days, so we sat through the B film first, and I became very restive and naughty, and my sister reported me to Mum afterwards. But I remember a scene with a floating veil from 'Oklahoma', and of course for months afterwards I drove the family nuts by singing 'There's a bright golden haze on the meadow' eleven times every day.


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## Couac Addict

Bedknobs and Broomsticks...projected on the wall of the local library (we didn't have a cinema).
In fairness, the stucco wall probably improved Angela Lansbury's complexion.

Witchcraft...Nazis....the usual Disney fare.


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## Manxfeeder

brotagonist said:


> I grew up with TV. I think it was all of those old Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne and similar black and white movies.


Me too. But I do remember one I saw on TV which disturbed me as a little kid, an old movie called Scared To Death. IMDb says, "From a slab in the morgue, a dead young woman tells the bizarre tale of how she got there, through a maze of murder involving a hypnotist, a midget and a mysterious figure in a blue mask." I'd like to see it again, now that I'm older, because it's probably laughably awful. But it scared me as a little kid; I still remember a couple scenes.


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## Vaneyes

Some early memorable films: Houdini, w. Tony Curtis; Old Yeller, w. Fess Parker; The Searchers, w. John Wayne; The Silent World (Documentary), w. Jacques Cousteau. :tiphat:


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## mirepoix

samurai said:


> Fantasia, at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan. I was taken to this by my grandmother when I was 4 or 5 years old.


Same here - although it wasn't your grandmother who took me. It was in a fishing village in the Kingdom of Fife and I clearly remember the cold and driving rain falling from the night sky as we waited in the queue. Inside was a different world and the music and visuals transported me in a way I'd never been before.


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## elgar's ghost

The part in Mary Poppins where the suits of armour, uniforms and weapons come to life is arguably the first bit of film I can recall - primarily because I remember stropping at my mum because my toys didn't do the same thing.


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## Guest

elgars ghost said:


> The part in Mary Poppins where the suits of armour, uniforms and weapons come to life is arguably the first bit of film I can recall - primarily because I remember stropping at my mum because my toys didn't do the same thing.


Wasn't that _Bedknobs and Broomsticks_?


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## ShropshireMoose

At the cinema the earliest films I can remember seeing were "The Aristocats" and "101 Dalmations", the former I liked the best, especially for the jazz content! At home I remember when I was about five I was allowed to stay up with dad to watch "The Adventures of Robin Hood" with Errol Flynn- a film I'm still very fond of, and I think the final sword fight with Basil Rathbone remains the finest of its type on film. A few months later I was allowed to stay up again to see "The Hound of the Baskervilles" with Basil Rathbone, it's worth noting that on both occasions mum was out, and I wonder if dad wanted someone to be able to enthuse to about the films! My favourite programme as a youngster was "The Golden Silents" which Michael Bentine used to present each week from the National Film Theatre, and gave me an abiding love of silent films. The BBC in those days often broadcast silent films in good restorations, with decent musical backing. This was in the early 1970s, and some that really stuck in the mind were Chaplin in "The Gold Rush"/"Shoulder Arms" and "The Kid", and Buster Keaton in "The General", happy days!


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## Guest

_*Un Chien Andalou*_ (Luis Buñuel, Salvador Dalí, 1929).


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## Guest

But the film that really marked me as a toddler was: _*The Lacemaker*_ (Claude Goretta, 1979). I have been in love with Isabelle Huppert ever since.


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## Jeff W

The earliest movie I ever remember watching was either Disney's Jungle Book or 101 Dalmatians.


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## Manxfeeder

TalkingHead said:


> _*Un Chien Andalou*_ (Luis Buñuel, Salvador Dalí, 1929).


Yeesh! If that's true, that's disturbing. If it's a joke, it's funny.

The National Lampoon had a joke encyclopedia out once, and their description for this movie was, it was the precursor to the American home movie.


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## elgar's ghost

MacLeod said:


> Wasn't that _Bedknobs and Broomsticks_?


Was it really? I can't remember!


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## mtmailey

I can not remember that far back i will be 40 this year anyway back then the televisions where analog & white/black.


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## Donata

The first movie I remember seeing was the re-release of Disney's The Jungle Book in 1984 when I was five.


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## Svelte Silhouette

Mary Poppins. I watched it recently on BluRay disc and it was awful. 

How times change. I recently watched the associated Saving Mr Banks which was enjoyable though.


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## Svelte Silhouette

I'd bet Laurel and Hardy. Black & White but not silent. The cinema did lots of shorts when I was small and in shorts. I was probably 7 or 8 before I saw a full feature length movie. I have seen the Mr banks movie but thought it very contrived and overdone.


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## Celloman

When I was about five years old, I went to see _Snow White and the Seven Dwarves_ in a local theater. Boy, did that evil queen give me nightmares!


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## geralmar

Hansel and Gretel (1954). The one with the animated puppets. It was shown with a projector and screen in the darkened children's room in the Austin public library. I had never seen a film before and was absolutely stunned. I kept getting up and going up to the screen and trying to touch the moving images. The librarian kept screaming at me to stop blocking the screen and sit down. Finally, she grabbed my arm and dragged me back to my seat. Adults were less tolerant of children back then.


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## Headphone Hermit

mtmailey said:


> I can not remember that far back i will be 40 this year anyway back then the televisions where analog & white/black.


What? Well, maybe, yes!! I remember running home from school in the early 1970s to see what was on our first colour TV - erm, .... it was the Bay City Rollers on a kids entertainment programme. Didn't think much of the music (no, really, I DIDN'T!, not even aged 14)


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## Headphone Hermit

The first film I remember seeing (either at home or in the cinema) was _The Dambusters_ - the boys choir from church (yes, boys could be altar-servers or in the choir or perform in the Christmas play in the 1960s and 70s whilst girls .... well, there was no use for them. It seems VERY spooky now, writing that!) were taken to the cinema by the priest as a treat.


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## Il_Penseroso

If my memory serves me right it was My Fair Lady. :tiphat:


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## Weston

Did they even have film when I watched my first film?

I remember an old Admiral black and white TV, the kind that had a little white spot for several minutes after you'd turn it off. Some of my earliest memories were:

Yearly seeing *The Wizard of Oz* on TV, but we didn't get to see the famous color change sequence until the late 1960s when we got a new TV and that was a bit anticlimactic.

*Bird of Paradise*. This old movie was boring but it had a volcano. My sister would call me for the volcano part.

*One Million B.C.* because what kid doesn't love dinosaurs even if they are photographically enlarged iguanas? This was not the Ray Harryhausen 1960s remake One Million _Years_ B.C with Raquel Welch (which was much better) but the original 1940 version.

*The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh* on Walt Disney starring Patrick McGoohan. Wonderful movie that scared me half to death even though I thought the scarecrow (similar to a Scarlet Pimpernel figure) was totally cool.

First movie on the big screen was *The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad* and this too scared me half to death. I was a bit too young for some of the monsters.

Which of these came first? I have no idea.


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## geralmar

Headphone Hermit said:


> The first film I remember seeing (either at home or in the cinema) was _The Dambusters_ - the boys choir from church (yes, boys could be altar-servers or in the choir or perform in the Christmas play in the 1960s and 70s whilst girls .... well, there was no use for them. It seems VERY spooky now, writing that!) were taken to the cinema by the priest as a treat.


Do you remember the name of the dog?


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## BRHiler

The 1st two that I can remember seeing are _Star Wars_ (Episode IV) at the drive-in (remember those?!?!) and _Fantasia_, because my grandfather loved classical music


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## Varick

Svelte Silhouette said:


> Mary Poppins. I watched it recently on BluRay disc and it was awful.
> 
> How times change. *I recently watched the associated Saving Mr Banks which was enjoyable though*.





Svelte Silhouette said:


> I'd bet Laurel and Hardy. Black & White but not silent. The cinema did lots of shorts when I was small and in shorts. I was probably 7 or 8 before I saw a full feature length movie. *I have seen the Mr banks movie but thought it very contrived and overdone.*


Well, which one was it? Enjoyable or contrived?

The first movie from memory on TV was "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." The first movie I ever saw in the cinema was "Star Wars" in 1977. I was 7 years old and my oldest brother took me to see it.

V


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## DiesIraeCX

I don't know exactly what was the first movie I watched, but I distinctly remember watching _Ghostbusters _when I was very young. My other favorite childhood movies were _Hook _and _Homeward Bound_.... Ah, nostalgia, sigh.


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## Lovemylute

I am not sure if it was the very first one, but I remember watching The Sound of Music on TV with my family. It was a big event for us that night, my mom made popcorn and everything! I still remember it quite well, it made quite an impact on my young mind, all that music, the Nazis, the romance, the scenery.


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## Lukecash12

Old Raiders games.


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## Badinerie

Bambi, in the early 60's. I can just about remember everyone sniffling when, well you know!
The one I can remember best was One Million Years BC in '66. Hiding behind the seats from the dinosaurs. Heh!


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## Levanda

I don't remember my first film, in my memories I used watched Soviet films about war and of course tales. I used not allow that much TV.


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## schigolch

I remember very well the first time ever I went to a movie theater. My baby sister was just born, and my parents were with her at the hospital, so my grandmother decided to take me away to watch "Mary Poppins", that was a furor then. I was very impressed by the theater itself, the darkness, and the size of the screen (compared with the size of the TV set at home). The movie itself was not a big deal for me, but I was happy with the songs, and pestered my grandmother for months to play and sing them together at home. (in Spanish, as the songs were translated, so "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" becomes "Supercalifragilisticoexpialidoso").


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## Larkenfield

_Creature from the Black Lagoon_... I had nightmares for weeks after!... I thought the creepy creature was gonna get the girl... Lovely girl and scary soundtrack!... The scaley thing with a bad case of psoriasis was secretly in love with her!


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## Pugg

I still remember one, film with bees, who terrorised village, I was with a friend ( parents away)we where like 14 years old and all those bees ......we where terrified.


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## ldiat

Pugg said:


> I still remember one, film with bees, who terrorised village, I was with a friend ( parents away)we where like 14 years old and all those bees ......we where terrified.


no do not b terrified as this may bring back memories.............


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## ldiat

my first film...slept with the night lite on for weeks!!!


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## Pugg

ldiat said:


> no do not b terrified as this may bring back memories.............
> ]


Not that one, it was called: The Savage Bees


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## ldiat

Pugg said:


> Not that one, it was called: The Savage Bees


oh ok i found it but will let the bees stay in the hive....hhhmmmm 1976 movie


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## KenOC

Why are our first-remembered movies scary ones? Mine was _The Thing from Another World_, 1951. My age was barely halfway to double digits! I was so scared that I fled from the theater, leaving my older sister behind, and then of course I became lost. A truly vivid memory.

The movie was later remade as _The Thing_.


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## Larkenfield

................


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## Phil loves classical

ET was my first movie. I liked the experience of going to the theatre more than the movie itself.


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## Capeditiea

Cujo, Age three. 
as my parents have said.


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## Hampshirelad

I was born after the War and played in the old bombed out sites in London, the films all seemed to be war films in black and white.
Apart from cowboy films on a saturday with John Wayne. I still love a good war film but in colour Zulu or where Eagles dare which has a get opening score.


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## Joe B

The first movie I recall ever seeing, and not in its entirety, was King Kong (1933). My older brother was watching it on the television and I happened to walk by and saw it (late 1950's). The first movie I remember seeing at a drive in theater was Steve Reeves in "Hercules Unchained".


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## scarecroe

The first movie I remember seeing in theatres was E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Still one of the most incredible film scores all these years later.


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## Score reader

My mom taking me to the cinema to watch The Lion King back in 1994 I believe.


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## Torkelburger

The first movie I remember going to see was _The Empire Strikes Back_ with my family back in 1980. I was five. I can still remember waiting in the long, long line and remember what the guy in front of us looked like (he had a mohawk and wore denim). I remember the theater and how terrified I was that it would be sold out before we got our tickets. Sure enough, they put a SOLD OUT sign up while we were in line. My dad tried to tell me we'll see it some other time, but I was scared I'd never see it because it would always be sold out (in those days before VHS and DVD, if you didn't see it in the theater, then you didn't see the movie at all, ever--unless it came on TV years later). Eventually we saw it in the theater and I thought it was the greatest thing I'd ever seen.


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## znapschatz

It was a weird one for a first movie; "Helzapoppin," starring Ole Olsen and Chick Johnson in a mind bending surrealistic tale I couldn't understand in the least at age 4. I still get not exactly nightmares, but disturbing images from it. The only thing I understood was a hotel bellman carrying a potted plant early in the film, calling for "Mrs. Jones," repeated at intervals throughout its duration, each time the plant growing larger, until finally the bellman is clinging to the top of a full grown palm tree, still calling for Mrs. Jones. Many years later, in fact this year, I found it to have been a successful but highly underrated, hugely inventive comedy based on the two comedians' popular Broadway show. The second film I saw was "Bambi," a much better fit for my age level then, and maybe now :clap: .


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## Marinera

probably something with WWII - based on my behavior then.


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## znapschatz

Marinera said:


> probably something with WWII - based on my behavior then.


It might be possible to guess, within a few years, the ages of TC members by their first movies. I seem to be the senior here, although Hampshirelad and Marinera could come close.


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## Marinera

znapschatz said:


> It might be possible to guess, within a few years, the ages of TC members by their first movies. I seem to be the senior here, although Hampshirelad and Marinera could come close.


not in my fourties yet

Dad watched WWII movies often


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## Marc

Probably a short slapstick movie of Chaplin, Turpin, Keaton, Lloyd or Laurel & Hardy, watching the telly with my dad.

Laughing together, ain't that a good start of a 'moving' life?


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## QuietGuy

I, too, grew up on TV. I'm sure there were movies I saw that I don't remember now. One of the earliest that I do remember is How The West Was Won in 1962. (I was 5 and we had to go to Denver to see it -- a rare treat.)


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