I mentioned in a previous post that my father liked western movies and when I was a kid we almost always went to see one every Saturday night. Our community was mostly made up of sharecroppers, as were we, and there wasn't much money for stuff like movies but dad did mechanic work for the public on the side and usually had enough extra money to take us to town and go watch a western movie.
The theater, we all called it "the picture show", at Nettleton, a very small town five miles from where we lived, was owned by Charlie Boren and he seldom showed a movie that wasn't a western. In fact, I was a teenager before I saw a movie that wasn't, and didn't know any other kind was made until I was 10 or 11 years old. The movies Charlie showed were mostly made in the 1930's but nobody knew it, we watched those old movies into the mid 1950's and never thought about how old they were.
Almost without fail the Saturday night movie was one with either Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy, Lash Larue, Eddie Dean or my namesake, Johnny Mack Brown. On Saturday's everyone knocked off farming at noon, ate dinner, took the weekly bath and was in Nettleton by 3 to 4 p.m. The main street was one block long, still is but it's almost a ghost town now, and it would be full of men, women and kids. The men would gather in bunches and talk about everyday life on the farms, poor old so and so who got killed, died or his wife ran away with the Watkins man and some would always have a bottle of moonshine or homebrew to pass around. The women would visit every store on main street looking at stuff and gossiping but seldom buying anything and us kids would have a big time chasing each other around. If one of us had a nickel we'd buy a pack of chewing gum, usually Juicy Fruit, at Sam McDuffie's drug store and share it with friends. Sometimes by the time we divided it up we'd only get a third of a stick each but that was enough.
The movie started at 6 p.m. and about 5:30 folks would start buying tickets, which cost 25 cents for adults and 15 cents for kids, and going in to find just the right seat. By movie time it was packed, and there was usually a few folks having to stand up because it wasn't a big theater and all the seats were full. The black section was upstairs in a balcony that was only about a third as long as the main room. I always wanted to sit in the balcony because they seemed to have the most fun. They were always throwing popcorn and popcorn boxes down on the white folks and surprisingly, given the times, no one ever thought anything about it.
Before the movie started Charlie showed a newsreel and then a 15 or 20 minute serial that usually featured Superman or Buck Rogers. I didn't care about the news or serial, I was ready for some bad guys to bite the dust. I always like the hero's sidekick as much as the hero. Smiley Burnette, Gabby Hayes and Fuzzy Q Knight were my favorites. Sometimes Charlie would have a drawing and give away $5.00, and on rare occasions $15.00. That was a big event, even $5.00 was a lot of money in those days.
On a fairly regular bases one of the men who had nipped the bottle a tad too much when it was passed around would get sick, become a little rowdy or get loud. Charlie and some big guy who worked for him would escort them out and nothing was thought of it. If anyone was escorted out Charlie always gave them their ticket price back and there were never any hard feelings.
The first color movie that Charlie showed was Shane, still one of my favorite movies. That was in 1955 or 56 and it was unbelievably awesome after having seen only black and white movies. Charlie closed the theater in Nettleton not long afterward and bought one here in Amory. That ended our going to the movies, and ended the gathering on Saturday afternoons on main street. That was a shame as Saturday afternoons in Nettleton and the movie that night were exciting events, something special to look forward too while hoeing, picking cotton or doing the normal chores that went with farming. The most exciting was the time Dooley Harlow took a few nips too many and during the movie jumped up, pulled his pistol out and shot at a bad guy on the screen five times. The bad guy was going to ambush Gene Autry and Dooley probably didn't hit him but he must have got close enough to spoil his aim because he missed Gene.
The theater, we all called it "the picture show", at Nettleton, a very small town five miles from where we lived, was owned by Charlie Boren and he seldom showed a movie that wasn't a western. In fact, I was a teenager before I saw a movie that wasn't, and didn't know any other kind was made until I was 10 or 11 years old. The movies Charlie showed were mostly made in the 1930's but nobody knew it, we watched those old movies into the mid 1950's and never thought about how old they were.
Almost without fail the Saturday night movie was one with either Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy, Lash Larue, Eddie Dean or my namesake, Johnny Mack Brown. On Saturday's everyone knocked off farming at noon, ate dinner, took the weekly bath and was in Nettleton by 3 to 4 p.m. The main street was one block long, still is but it's almost a ghost town now, and it would be full of men, women and kids. The men would gather in bunches and talk about everyday life on the farms, poor old so and so who got killed, died or his wife ran away with the Watkins man and some would always have a bottle of moonshine or homebrew to pass around. The women would visit every store on main street looking at stuff and gossiping but seldom buying anything and us kids would have a big time chasing each other around. If one of us had a nickel we'd buy a pack of chewing gum, usually Juicy Fruit, at Sam McDuffie's drug store and share it with friends. Sometimes by the time we divided it up we'd only get a third of a stick each but that was enough.
The movie started at 6 p.m. and about 5:30 folks would start buying tickets, which cost 25 cents for adults and 15 cents for kids, and going in to find just the right seat. By movie time it was packed, and there was usually a few folks having to stand up because it wasn't a big theater and all the seats were full. The black section was upstairs in a balcony that was only about a third as long as the main room. I always wanted to sit in the balcony because they seemed to have the most fun. They were always throwing popcorn and popcorn boxes down on the white folks and surprisingly, given the times, no one ever thought anything about it.
Before the movie started Charlie showed a newsreel and then a 15 or 20 minute serial that usually featured Superman or Buck Rogers. I didn't care about the news or serial, I was ready for some bad guys to bite the dust. I always like the hero's sidekick as much as the hero. Smiley Burnette, Gabby Hayes and Fuzzy Q Knight were my favorites. Sometimes Charlie would have a drawing and give away $5.00, and on rare occasions $15.00. That was a big event, even $5.00 was a lot of money in those days.
On a fairly regular bases one of the men who had nipped the bottle a tad too much when it was passed around would get sick, become a little rowdy or get loud. Charlie and some big guy who worked for him would escort them out and nothing was thought of it. If anyone was escorted out Charlie always gave them their ticket price back and there were never any hard feelings.
The first color movie that Charlie showed was Shane, still one of my favorite movies. That was in 1955 or 56 and it was unbelievably awesome after having seen only black and white movies. Charlie closed the theater in Nettleton not long afterward and bought one here in Amory. That ended our going to the movies, and ended the gathering on Saturday afternoons on main street. That was a shame as Saturday afternoons in Nettleton and the movie that night were exciting events, something special to look forward too while hoeing, picking cotton or doing the normal chores that went with farming. The most exciting was the time Dooley Harlow took a few nips too many and during the movie jumped up, pulled his pistol out and shot at a bad guy on the screen five times. The bad guy was going to ambush Gene Autry and Dooley probably didn't hit him but he must have got close enough to spoil his aim because he missed Gene.
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