Village Squire, 1980-10, Page 50P.S.
BY KITH ROULSTON
Nearly everyone has a fantasy about
what they would do in the unlikely chance
they should win a lottery. Some of us
would take trips around the world, some
buy expensive cars or jewels. Mine would
be a simpler pleasure.
Of course my fantasy is even more
fantasic than most people's because I
never buy lottery tickets. But I can still
dream. My winnings would go to
supplying my vices: not booze or
cigarettes or wild women (although the
latter is the more tempting of the three)
but books, plays and movies. Those are
my addictions. 1 can't walk past a book
store without going in. And getting out
without buying at least one book is a
matter of willpower akin to a drunk
passing up a free drink. I've got a
bookshelf full of books 1 haven't had time
to read already. Plays, of course are part
of my business and so I get to indulge
myself more frequently than most people.
But my lottery loot would most likely
go to satisfy my cravings for movies.
Movies have been the missing element in
my social life in recent years.One of the
disadvantages of living in small town
Ontario is that getting out to movies can
take a lot of concentration. I mean that in
the city you can read the reviews in the
papers and figure that the movie will be
around for a month or two somewhere in
the city when you can find time to see it.
In small towns where there are often two
movies a week at a theatre you have to be
on your toes and have a babysitter on
standby if you're going to get to all the
movies you'd like (and when you've got
four monsters . . . er children, it's hard
to find a babysitter at all.)
WAIT FOR TV?
What the heck, you say, you can always
wait to see it on television. I suppose. but
somehow it's not the same. I mean how
would you like it at live theatre if they
interrupted the play every ten minutes for
three minutes of ads or if people
wondered in and out past your seat
commenting on the action on stage or
on the need tor more toilet paper in the
bathroom or that the bulb was burned out
in the refrigerator so you couldn't tell if
the cake had green icing or was just
sitting around too long. No. the movies on
television may not cost $3.50 but you pay
the price in other ways. I think if I was a
movie writer or director I would cry at
what happened to my masterpiece when
it reached the tiny screen (although my
sorrow would be eased by the residuals).
And then there's another hazard to
watching movies on television, modern
PG/ 48 VILLAGE SQUIRE/OCTOBER 1980
movies anyway. A lot of movie people like
to use realistic language today. You can
argue whether or not this is artistically
necessary but you can't argue with the
results when a television station decides
to protect the ears of the viewing public
as one of our local stations sometimes
does. The dialogue goes something like:
"Listen you Bleep. I've had enough of
your BLEEP, BLEEP." If you don't stop
that I'm going to BLEEP your BLEEP,
BLEEP, BLEEP." And the other guy says
"Well BLEEP you too you BLEEP." Now
isn't the BLEEP entertaining.
Of course there was a time when
movies on television were more enjoyable
(for one thing they didn't have to bleep so
many words). 1 think 1 really got hooked
on movies when we got television back in
the late 1950's. Back in those days the
CBC used to fill the Saturday night gap in
the summer vacated by the hockey games
with a program on movies and much as I
loved hockey ( that was in the days when
the Leafs actually won) 1 could hardly
wait for the movie to start in the summer.
summer.
The program was called Great Movies
and it went back through the years to
some of the classic movies of two or three
generations. Fred Davis used to host the
movie and the commercial breaks were
something more than an excuse to rush to
the bathroom or the refrigerator. After
the commercials he would re -introduce
you to the movie by telling you something
of its history, who directed it and wrote it,
who starred in it and some anecdotes
from the making of the movie. Instead of
being an interruption, the commercial
breaks actually added something to the
enjoyment of the movies.
And of course it was a pleasure getting
to see the great movies of so many
decades. It's something that's missing on
today's television schedules. In the early
years of television you could catch classic
old movies, just about any day of the
week. Today they're about as common as
finding gold nuggets on main street
unless you happen to be lucky enough to
be serviced by one of the educational
channels which we out in the boondocks
aren't privileged enough to get (we just
help pay for it with our taxes).
STAYING UP
I got in the habit of staying up to watch
the old movies on the late show before I
got married. It almost ruined a promising
marriage. 1, from a family that nearly
always watched the late show married a
girl from a family that collectively started
to yawn at 9:30 and was invariably in bed
by 10 or on rare occasions of celebrations
10:30 (and they were the city slickers and
we the farmers).
Anyway it doesn't matter anymore.
While I'm still tempted, there's so
seldom a late movie worth watching that I
haven't seen before.that the marriage is
safe.
Coming
in the November Village Squire
Books, books and more books
Our area is host to a wide range of bookstores, featuring everything from new to
used and children's books. The Squire takes a look at some of the unique ones.
Some fiction to start your winter reading
The Village Squire introduces a short story by Canadian writer Brock Shoveller.
Training with the Pros
Angelo Nigro, from near Stratford, was a trainer with the Buffalo Sabres during the
'70's. We have a look at one of the people who puts the pros on the ice.
A value in children's books
Elaine Townshend takes a look at a gentleman south of Clinton whose hobby is
collecting children's books.
Plus the latest news from the theatre and arts scene, a
restaurant review', theatre in Harriston, a day trip and more
about the interesting people and places in Western Ontario.