Beloved Christmas movies

Like many folks, my favorite Christmas movie is A Christmas Story. I've seen the film dozens of times, yet I never tire of it.

So, when I learned that Riverview Theater in Minneapolis was showing it on the big screen, I jumped at the chance to see it in a theater. I emailed my friend Sue K. and asked her if she wanted to go. To my amazement, she had never seen the movie before. I insisted that she must view this cinematic treasure and we made a date to see it on Monday at 5:00.

The Riverview Theater is celebrating their 60th anniversary. The lovely art deco lobby, fixtures and great seats make it a treat to see movies there. They opened in 1948, the same year the film is set in, so the film and theater made a great match. The admission tickets were fifty cents, the 1948 price. The proceeds were being donated to the local Food Shelves along with any food donations from patrons.

We thought that an early showing on a cold, miserable day would not draw such a big crowd. Boy, were we wrong! This was a major EVENT. We arrived to find the line stretched out the door into the zero-degree weather. The lobby was packed as we squeezed our way into the theater--and it was literally packed to the rafters! We finally found two seats next to the wall a long ways back, but fortunately there are no bad seats in the Riverview.

We settled in to watch the panorama of mayhem before us. The crowd was quite animated and the aisles were full of people rushing in with popcorn and pop, also being sold at 1948 prices. And then the movie began. What fun it was to watch it with such an appreciative crowd!

A fellow writer from my group happened to be sitting behind us along with his girlfriend. I think he laughed the hardest of all.

What a treat and what a nice Christmas memory. I wish you all a nice Christmas memory this year, too.