"Un – Earned Income":

The 'Carry on' films were always popular, and incidently they gave me the idea for this autobiography! ‘Un – Earned Income’: Frank and Ivy Dainty visited us about every two weeks, to replenish our stock of children’s confectionary, from a Doncaster Cash and Carry. They alternated with the representative of a Sheffield sweet manufacturer, who it was obvious had taken a fancy to me; he gave me lots of free goodies, and had a hankering to sit with me in the office giving me the glad eye, plus the twenty questions, for as long as I was willing. I recall on one visit I was helping Mr. Dainty to unload his car with our order, while Mrs. Dainty sat in the office. I never told anyone, but because she knew of my pay at that time, she felt I put in more time than I should, which I gave freely. While he was at the car, she used to slip me a £10 note, to supplement my wage, as she used to say, but one time her timing was wrong, and he walked into the office just as I was taking the money. Quick thinking I suddenly said ‘Yes Mrs. Dainty, I’ll see the lady for you, and get her to make up a floral display just as you would like’, luckily she realised what was happening, and went along with the bluff. They were a lovely couple, and she was so very proud when son John was elected a councillor. From then on it became her regular practice to give me money on each visit; I felt some guilt but then again, it was what she wanted to do. ‘Hit the Road to Dreamland’ There were many memorable moments in the cinema business, and one that amused me concerned our oldest usherette Kitty Fowler, who was fast nearing retirement age. The ‘Empire’ in it’s later years had a reputation for being a cold place during the Winter months, mainly because we were not permitted to have the heating system on for more than two hours each night. This certainly was not long enough considering the size of the place, and it took one hour for the hot water to circulate round the building. Due to the coldness of the ‘Empire’, it became the policy not to show films which had snow scenes in them, especially during the winter months, yes that was really true; because if the patrons saw snow on screen, they would suddenly be aware of the coldness in the auditorium, and complain to management. 59 Sitting in her seat, near the stalls door Kitty had a tendency to 'cat-nap’ (doze off), when things were quite. On one particular night, the Fire Officer decided to pay us a visit. He entered the auditorium and you guessed it, Kitty had nodded off. After a few moments she became aware that someone was standing besides her, she looked up, and smiled at the Officer. He in turn bent down and quietly said to Kitty, ‘Can I ask you what you would do in the event of fire? Kitty by return replied ‘I’d have a bloody warm, that’s what, it’s perishing in here!' Luckily he saw the funny side of the situation and went away happy. Kitty was the subject of many of our stupid pranks, but I honestly think she really enjoyed them. Once I got one of the ladies to take her a warm drink, during the show. What she didn’t know was that she was given a cup of hot water. We waited for her reaction, when suddenly the door opened and out came Kitty, in a real temper complaining, ‘Hey, this tea hasn’t got any sugar in! From that point onwards she always came into the foyer to drink her beloved cup of tea. ’Not All Hot Air’ There were occasions when patrons complained about the cold, yet they never realised that if they were cold, then we were too. A lady who complained about almost everything came down from the circle on night, and asked me if the heating was on in the circle, to which I replied ‘No’. She asked why not, was I not aware that it was cold upstairs, and why the radiators were not turned on! I replied that I knew it was cold, and the radiators were not turned on because there were no radiators on the circle area. I explained that when ‘Star Cinemas’ owned the building they fitted all new seating in the circle, and removed the wall radiators The were then working on the assumption that the warm air from the stalls, would rise into the Circle. This plus the added patrons in the new seats would be ample to keep the circle nice and warm. If only that theory had actually worked! The late 1970s saw a revival of films in the cinema, and the Heanor 'Empire' shared in the success. 60 ‘Grease’: 'Grease' had its world theatrical premiere on Broadway in 1972, and has triumphed throughout the world, both in acclaimed theatres and in countless school productions. In 1979 Grease took over the record as the longest-running show in the history of Broadway, and the hit film starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton John proved to be the highest grossing movie musical ever. Wherever the film was shown, there were hundreds of people waiting to get into the cinemas. I recall at the Heanor 'Empire', we were so busy, we couln't put the money in the cash draw fast enough, so we got four empty Walker's crisp boxes and just threw the £20 , £10, and £5 notes in the boxes until we had the patrons seated for the show. Then we would sort out what we had taken. The co-creators, Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, were friends for seven years before they collaborated on Grease, and it was over beer at a party when the idea first surfaced. Reacting against the "traditional, 'legit' show tune type melodies of the Great White Way" (Jim Jacobs), Jacobs and Casey amused themselves imagining this new kind of musical on Broadway, with music from the late Fifties and characters from the golden days of rock'n'roll. Of course the new idea of television advertising did a lot to promote the film. ‘The Adventures of the Wilderness Family’: A real good family film although cheaply made, with irritations, like the boom microphone that kept coming into camera shot! An inspiring tale of a family's struggle to survive in the mountains. The Robinsons (Skip, Pat, Jenny, and Toby) flee the big city for life in the high Rockies, to escape the pressures of modern city life. But even there they encounter dangerous situations, as Mother Nature tests them. They must come to terms with their decision and learn to accept it, knowing that a return to the city is not the answer. (Things must go well enough, for they return a few years later in "Further Adventures of the Wildnerness Family, Part 2.") However, the public remembered the first film the best, and although it did good business it was'nt a big blockbuster. ‘Saturday Night Fever’: Saturday Night Fever is one of those movies that comes along, and seems to change the cultural temperature in a flash. 61 After the movie's release in 1977, disco ruled the dance floors, and a blow- dried member of a TV-sitcom ensemble became the hottest star in the country. For all that, the story is conventional: a 19-year-old Italian-American from Brooklyn, Tony Manero (John Travolta), works in a humble paint store and lives with his family. After dark, he becomes the polyester-clad stallion of the local nightclub; Tony's brother, a priest, observes that when Tony hits the dance floor, the crowd parts like the Red Sea before Moses. Director John Badham captures the electric connection between music and dance, and also the desperation that lies beneath Tony's ambitions to break out of his limited world. The soundtrack which spawned a massively successful album, is dominated by the disco classics of the Bee Gees, including "Staying Alive" (Travolta's theme during the strutting opening) and "Night Fever." The Oscar-nominated Travolta, plucked from the cast of Welcome Back, Kotter, for his first starring role, is incandescent and unbelievably confident, and his dancing is terrific. Oh, and the white suit rules. John Travolta was doing what he liked best, and put a lot of hard work into this film. The stance and white suite became popular for a while, (but not with cinema Manager's who were all the wrong shape), and they loved the music and dance. ‘ABBA – The Movie’: From their first moment of international triumph, as Sweden's entry in the 1974 Eurovision song contest, everything ABBA has touched has turned to gold. "Abba: The Movie", follows the supergroup on a sensational tour of Australia and captures all the magic and excitement of one of the world's most entertaining live acts; It features an unforgettable selection from the many songs that have taken the four to the top of the charts around the world. The movie also provides an interesting and thoroughly entertaining insight into their lives off-stage, punctuated by the amusing exploits of Ashley, a disc-jockey who follows ABBA across the continent. 62 Not quite sure who or what ABBA is, Ashley is nevertheless determined to get his interview. They didn't care about the story, they came for the music, and sang their heart's out, and tapped their feet, and that was only the usherettes! There will never be another time like this again. ‘Thank You for the Music’ from ABBA In the late 1970s, it seemed as if there was about to be a resurgence in people enjoying a night at the cinema, but it was short lived, and it reached the stage where people realised that despite television advertising, the films were not as good as they were made out to be. The renters wanted a larger percentage of the weekly takings, and we still were barred from enjoying the small screen advertising by the cinemas at Nottingham and Derby. Their target was right, they were booking films that appealed to the family and younger audiences, for that was where the money was; although we in the business were hoping for the impossible to happen, and that the cinema would return to it’s former glory. It seemed as if for weeks we were filled to capacity, the people would queue for hours, and at one point we had them falling out over seats, just to get into the auditorium. It was decided not to accept bookings for these programmes although there were many telephone calls requesting us to do se, but when we saw the rate at which the seats filled, we were pleased that we were not providing the service. After each nights performance, there was an incredible amount of rubbish to clear from the auditorium floor, and we were temporarily allowed another cleaner while it lasted. My friendly Bank Manager from Barclay’s called me at the cinema one morning to remind me that I should have special insurance to cover myself and the takings, if I was going to take the bank by my own transport, because my car insurance would not cover me if I was robbed. Little did he know that the cinema insurance only covered us to keep one hundred pounds in the safe overnight, so if anything did happen who should do the worrying – certainly not me! 63 Please go to the next web page....