Hello Calamity Jane!!!!
I have missed you.
I remember the first time I saw you many years ago.
It was Dollar night at the Drive In Theater.
You haven’t forgotten Dollar Night at the Drive-In, have you?
Dollar night, which meant a carload of people got into the movie, usually a double feature, for only one dollar.
Yep! ONE DOLLAR!
Remember seeing 8 or 10 kids crammed into a car and wondering how they were able to ride on top of one another?
First, the people laden car would roll slowly into the gravel parking lot of the Drive-In.
Driving over hump after hump, finding just the right parking spot that also had a speaker that worked.
Then all those kids, (usually teenagers) would emerge from the car like circus clowns crammed into a Volkswagen!!!
….and they would race to either the swing sets playground or to the lawn chairs that sat on a cement slab in front of the concession stand to watch the movie before piling into the car and leaving.
I can’t help but smile.
I would never have done that, but I did like to go to drive in movies.
Hello Doris Day!
The Doris Day/Calamity Jane Movie was special for me!
I remember it so well because my Dad was out of town.
Mom loaded up the car with pillows, cokes, butterfingers and popcorn she made at home.
Mom then drove me and my two sisters… to the Rocket drive-in movie.
I remember, because being the oldest, I got to sit in the front passenger seat.
Which was a big deal for a kid in those days.
So we drank Coke out of the bottle and ate buttered popcorn out of a brown grocery bag….
…..and watched Doris Day in buckskins ride a horse and chase down the Deadwood stage.
It was exciting and the song Doris Day sang….”Secret Love” was probably my introduction to songs, love and romance.
Sigh!!
This past week-end was a movie tribute to Doris Day who passed away last month!
It was a marathon of sorts showing many of her movies.
I really liked Doris Day both off and on the screen.
She was one of the few people from Hollywood with morals.
Which, according to her autobiography, was why she actually quit the entertainment business.
“Doris Day left the movies in 1968. Her last feature film was With Six You Get Eggroll with Brian Keith. She turned to the small screen in The Doris Day Show which was on the air from 1968 to 1973. And with the arrival of the permissive ‘70s and changing entertainment trends, Doris said goodbye to show business. Of course, she went on to parlay her huge popularity to her fight for animal rights. Doris was the first celebrity to ask for an end to wearing animal fur.”
Doris Day died on May 13 at the age of 97 from complications of pneumonia.
I was only able to see a couple of her memoriam movies Sunday.
After church, the Captain and I worked in the gardens clipping and mulching and pulling weeds.
We then turned on the Lanai TV, and while relaxing in the pool on floats, we watched Doris Day.
Sigh!
Doris Day made about 37 movies and I believe I have seen almost all of them.
She appeared in comedies, love stories and dramas.
“Midnight Lace” with Rex Harrison, “The Man Who Knew Too Much” with Jimmy Stewart, “Young at Heart” with Frank Sinatra and “Julie” with Louis Jordon were four of my favorite dramas and suspense movies, altho there are many others.
And then there are the love stories…the funny, romantic love stories like:
“Pillow Talk” with Rock Hudson, “The Thrill of It All” with James Garner, “On Moonlight Bay” with Gordon MacRae.
Doris Day starred with so many leading men like Clark Gable, Gene Kelly, Rod Taylor, James Cagney, Ronald Reagan, Cary Grant, Kirk Douglas, David Niven, Danny Kaye, Jack Lemon, Bob Cummings, Ray Bolger, and Richard Widmark, just to name a few.
I had to chuckle at the movie “Pillow Talk” because it revolves around a party line telephone.
I am not sure many of our youngsters today even know what a party line telephone is!
Or a princess phone or even a phone attached to a wall.
Oh, the marvels of science and technology…but the Doris Day movie is still a cute movie and I love watching it.
Over and over again.
I wonder how many youngsters know who Doris Day was?
I’m smiling now…
Come to think of it, the kids today probably don’t know what a drive-in movie is either.
Oh well, I am sure when our kids are old and gray…their grandkids will wonder what the fuss was over an IPhone. LOL
Do you remember party lines and Doris Day movies?
Or Drive-In movie theaters?
Share please!
Hugs and Blessings Always
Wonderful tribute. You are a great writer and have blogged about Doris and her era well. Doris Day was a beautiful lady and has left a legacy of great movies.
I have fond memories of watching her movies. I need to introduce my grandchildren to her movies.
I loved Doris Day’s wholesomeness…it was not an act, ….I have seen her in interviews and though she liked to say she was no prude…she still had values. A lot different from some of the actors today. Her movies would definitely be good for grand children.
I love this Kari! Yes, I remember party lines…as a young child we had a two-party line and the other person would tie up the phone for hours. Drive-ins, of course! There are a couple within driving distance of us, but we haven’t been. Doris Day always looked so beautiful and sweet in movies and she was an excellent singer! Have a beautiful Tuesday sweet friend!
For entertainment, I love movies (clean cut) and singing… and with Doris Day, I got both. thanks for stopping by dear Pam!
I love Doris Day! Her smile is what I always loved about her!
And I remember Party Lines. I’m at the Lake House now… which is my childhood home… the phone was in the kitchen. Every once in a while after dinner, when Mom was not in the kitchen… I would pick up the phone and listen. Oh my!
And drive in Movies… oh yea!
those were the days for sure, huh Nancy? There are a few drive in movies still around but none near me. 🙁 Enjoy your lake house this summer. hugs
I am a HUGE Doris Day fan, loved all her movies, and those heart throbs Cary Grant and Rock Hudson…*sigh*
I hear ya Jenna….I think she was so great a singer and actress.