I'm Watching "Casablanca" right now, remembering when it was played in the Bryan Center, which I attended. Anyone else seen in there? I believe it was the first movie shown there and I remember it being at midnight. I could be having a senior moment and be incorrect on all accounts. I'm guessing 1983.
(I think) I also remember seeing "The Holy Grail" there on a Saturday night.
Anybody else recall?
By the time I was there(as the 90s started) there was Tuesday and Thursday Freewater films series, where they show someone like Kurosawa for 6 straight Tuesdays. Friday would be more like Casablanca or Holy Grail. Classics that were more part of the general cultural knowledge. And then Saturday was regular run movies which you had to pay to see - Quad Flix or something like that.
Plus various groups would show films as fundraisers, and that in addition to Bryan other auditoriums were in play: Baldwin, Page, even Gross Chem. I recall we did better than expected with "Psycho" around Halloween time; the black-and-white classics were cheaper than newer releases. They were great for people with no money; I especially liked the concert / rock movies: Quadrophenia, Woodstock, Song Remains the Same, etc.
P.S. This must seem like a very Crusty topic to the young'uns. My Swee'Pea and her roomies just pick something off someone's Netflix whenever they want to watch a show. I'll have to ask her the last time she saw a movie in a theater on campus.
I also hear there's some sort of enhanced movie sound called "Dolby". What will they think of next?
Now get the heck out of my yard.
"Quality is not an option!"
One of my favorites was seeing Hell's Kitchen in Baldwin. Before the movie, they showed Betty Boop for President and a claymation short of Georgia on My Mind with singing peanuts and Jimmy Carter. (It was called Jimmy the C - per IMDB.com. Now I'm going to have to search for the video online.) Must have been around 1980 election time.
And here is a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5nUd3wtT9A
Not sure if it is exactly the same or not as I vaguely recall singing pine trees, too.
When I was at Duke in the Jurassic Era, there was no Bryan Center, but there were regularly scheduled movies at Page Auditorium. There were also a series of films at the Engineering School Auditorium.
I first saw Casablanca in a classroom -- I was taking a one-hour class in film appreciation. That class also introduced me to Ford, Hawks and Renoir. Don't think we got any Kurosawa -- I didn't stumble into his films until later in life (and now he ranks with Ford as my all-time favorite director).
We also had a series of midnight movies. This is before the Rocky Horror phenomena. I remember Bedazzled (the Cook and Moore version) as a very popular midnight movie. Barbarella was another midnight classic.
Those of us at Duke in the Triassic era didn't have the Bryant Center either. One of the Freewater films I saw early on was The Harder They Come which introduced me to reggae music. Also saw one of my all time noir favorites, Chinatown, in Page Auditorium. My how times have changed.
I also remember them showing The Rocky Horror Picture Show one night at the tennis bubble above Cameron, which I think was torn down for the Terry Sanford Public Policy building.
There were no movies when I attended Duke as we just drew/watched pictures on our cave walls.
350px-AltamiraBison.jpg
350px-SantaCruz-CuevaManos-P2210651b.jpg
[redacted] them and the horses they rode in on.
I remember seeing The Great Train Robbery at Page in the mid to late sixties. Made in 1903, so that might qualify for the oldest American film screened at Duke.
And no, it wasn't the premier. I'm not that old. Close, but not that old. Just your typical Crustie.
ricks
I was there after the establishment of the Bryan Center. I feel too young to contribute.
I remember seeing Fritz the Cat and Heavy Metal during my four years there. And a bunch of other films, not sure why the cartoons stand out. I did notice that alcohol didn't necessarily enhance the event.