Film Flashback September 27, 1975

What was playing at the movies in Murfreesboro, Tennessee 44 years ago? The Martin Twin was showing a couple of interesting British movies. One screen featured Tommy directed by Ken Russell while Monty Python and the Holy Grail played in the other theatre. The Towering Inferno was playing at Cinema One. The Marbro Drive-In was featuring the usual Seventies exploitation style b-movies Games Guy Plays and Games Girls Play.

Cinema One was usually where the more cutting edge type films were shown so it's a bit strange to find a weekend where the Martin Twin showcased the edgier fare while an Irwin Allen disaster movie played on the south side of town. The Towering Inferno was a towering hit though. It ranked number 2 on the highest grossing movies released in 1974. It came out in December of 1974 and didn't get to Murfreesboro until September of 1975. This was the second week at Cinema One. I didn't see any of the movies playing this week at the theater, but I did catch some of The Towering Inferno on network television back in 1980 and it just bored me.

The Martin Twin was where it was at for this week. I'm not a huge fan of Tommy even though I enjoy the songs, Ann Margaret is ravishing, and Roger Daltrey is tremendous in it. I guess I would like it to be less opera and more of a musical. Singing all of the time is just strange to me. I recall that it was the Riverdale High School Drama Club that would show Tommy every year to raise money for the Drama Club. I believe they showed it in the auditorium with an actual film projector. It wasn't a crummy VHS tape. I never went though. Lots of students did. It got you out of 2 classes during the school day. I loved The Who, but I guess money was just too tight for me. I needed my extra few dollars to buy a new Creem magazine or old Black Sabbath tapes back in those days. Tommy was a pretty big hit back in 1975 as it was the 9th biggest grossing film of the year.

I never would have thought Monty Python and the Holy Grail would have played during normal hours in Murfreesboro in its first run. I was familiar with Monty Python when I was 9 years old because PBS would show Monty Python and the Flying Circus back then. I didn't understand much of it, but the British accents were funny. Monty Python and the Holy Grail would later become a favorite of mine in my high school days. It would often feature in movie watching parties during the 1984-1987 or so boom of VHS tape renting. You had to be able to quote portions verbatim and with the correct accent if you wanted to keep up with your geeky friends.

The Marbro Drive-In has Games Guys Play which is a re-titling of the movie Goodnight Jackie. It's a sex comedy. Gregory Sierra, Jim Backus, Lana Wood, Christopher Norris, and Barry Williams are the better known actors in it. The IMDB reviews note that it's a rather mild film. Games Girls Play was originally titled Sex Play and also goes by the name The Bunny Caper. The synopsis: "Young daughter  of high ranking political figure gets into trouble when she and her friends compete at bedding the foreign diplomats." I have never seen either of these movies, but might have to look up Games Guys Play since there are so many television stars I liked in it.