This television program was broadcasted until the mid 80's, and its schedule began to change, sometimes at 11 PM, sometimes at 12 PM.
The subject matter of the movies was varied: action, comedy, science fiction, romance, drama, westerns, classics from the 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s, etc.
The problem with this was that I was six years old and my mom and grandmother would send me to bed early because I had to go to school the next day.
As an obedient child I followed my mom's and grandmother's orders, I remember that the TV was in the living room and for the time it was black and white and very similar to this one:
They would wait for the adults to fall asleep and I would sneak into the living room, tune to channel 2 and there I would start watching movies like : Anchors Aweigh, Wuthering Heights, Picnic, Jason and the Argonauts, Tarzan, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, The Ladies Man, Gaslight, Where Eagles Dare, Five Fingers of Death, The Bridge on the River Kwai, It Happened One Night, Arsenic and Old Lace, Citizen Kane, Rio Bravo, Dr.No and many others.
Of course, sometimes I didn't understand the plot, or when the movie got more exciting, they would yell at me to go to sleep or else they would punish me.
They televised film series dedicated to actors or film directors: John Wayne, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Bette Davis, Abbott and Costelo, David Lean, John Ford, Sam Peckinpah, Frank Capra.
My favorite day was Friday as it was dedicated to Science Fiction and Horror, and I was left at home to watch the complete movie, among many I saw: The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Thing with Two Heads, The Fly, Fantastic Voyage, King Kong, One Million Years B. C, Rasputin the Mad Monk, Barbarella, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Blacula, The Fearless, Vampire Killers, The Mummy, The Wolfman, The Gorgon, Rasputin The Invisible Man, Frankestein, Freaks and countless other films.
My favorite movies were those of Vampires, especially those of Dracula, I identified a lot with the character, as I felt misunderstood, misfit to society, especially, I was struck by the one played by Christopher Lee in the Hammer films, he was the first vampire that really inspired me fear, especially his appearance as a vampire in the film "Horror of Dracula" by Terence Fisher.
The presence of this Dracula on screen is terrifying, he is the incarnation of evil reflected in fangs and blood. This creature is capable of the greatest acts of evil in order to satiate his desire for blood. Here, Peter Cushing is the best Dr. Van Helsing of all the Dracula adaptations on film.
That being created attraction and repulsion in me at the same time, I covered my eyes in the bloody scenes, but I opened my fingers to see them. I was very struck by the final duel between Dracula and Van Helsing, he manages to expose Dracula to the sunlight by throwing himself on the curtains of a window, takes two candlesticks and improvises a cross, before which he retreats while he disintegrates into flesh and bones, thus, Van Helsing opens the window and the wind carries the ashes away.
After some time, the work impressed me even more because I had not seen it in color, being it a must in my video library and I consider it a classic, for all that it transmits despite its low budget, its setting is powerful, and the work of the protagonists is exceptional. I consider that this film introduced me to classic horror, to modern horror and encouraged me to watch good cinema. I approached F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu, Robert Wiene's The Gabinet of Dr. Caligari, most of the Hammer Horror Films and I am still discovering great works of cinema whether A, B, or Z.
When I place myself in the time in which I saw the film, I can say that it brings back memories of how my country Venezuela was back then, when my mom or my aunt took me to the movies to see Disney films, bought me a Banana Split ice cream, or took me for a walk through the Chacaito Mall and a Boulevard called Sabana Grande.
I remember the quiz shows that were on TV and their, I remember the marmalade sandwiches with yellow cheese at a soda fountain that still exists and is called Don Corleone, I remember my grandmother taking me to school, I remember Toddy, Savoy chocolate and pancakes with butter.
I also remember them buying me clothes I didn't like and the carnival costumes they forced me to wear, I wanted to be El Zorro or Dracula, but they dressed me up as Prince.
I will always remember those times, and the influence of that TV show in my film education.
This is my entry to CineTV Contest: Memories
