It's December now, and in a little over two weeks we'll all be racing to the theater to see a new Star Wars movie featuring Han, Luke, and Leia--something that hasn't happened since 1983!
Are y'all getting excited?! I sure am, even though I've avoided like the plague the myriad articles, images and trailers about The Force Awakens! I'm trying to go in as blind as I can be to this new film, so please don't let any spoilers seep into this thread. I'll never be able to fully replicate the newness and innocence of my first viewing in that magical summer of 1977, but by staying spoiler-free, I'm trying. I know that seems crazy to many of you, who are watching the trailers over and over again, and reading every article about the upcoming film you can get your hands on. But that's not my style. An especially strong sentimentality has come over me, and avoiding all TFA content is how I'm expressing it, in my endeavor to come as close as I can to that 1977 experience.
I saw Star Wars in June of 1977, at the Eric Twin Chestnut Hill, in suburban Philadelphia. I was 11. I knew absolutely nothing about the film going in, and I walked out of that theater changed. I went back to see the film about 20 times in the next two weeks, and an additiional 10 more times during the rest of the summer. (Little did I know I'd get to play Chewbacca as LFL's promotional actor 25 years later!)
I have no photos of me at the theater that summer, let alone that first day. But I did recently come across the photo below of me in my summer Little League baseball uniform. When I looked at the photo, I thought to myself, "Hmmm, that's about the age when I saw Star Wars.". I turned the photo over, and saw the faded but still legible Kodak date-stamp on the back read: JUN 77. (See the pic of the white back with the faded date-stamp below.) Wow! Very, very cool. I immediately wondered if that is a photo of me *before* I even knew Star Wars existed? Or is it a photo of me, the young man who was already changed by having seen Star Wars? I'll never know for sure.
You see, when I first saw Star Wars, no one in my family had ever heard of it, and I had older siblings who were avid movie goers. And only one of my friends--Kevin, who took me to see it the day after he'd seen it with his father--knew anything about it. I remember a few years ago reading a list of the first 35 theaters that got Star Wars on May 25th, and the Eric Twin Chestnut Hill was not on that list. I suspect my theater was among the next dozen or so that got the film, on Friday, June 3rd, and that I probably saw Star Wars that weekend or the next.
Kevin called me on a Saturday to tell me he had just gotten home from seeing this incredible new film, Star Wars!!! He didn't even say hello when I picked up the phone, he just blurted out, "Have you seen Star Wars?!". I casually said, "No.", not exactly knowing how to react to the strange sound in his voice. He then shouted out, "Have you seen the trailer for it on TV?!" I lied, and cooly said, "Yeah, I've seen the trailer. I just haven't gotten around to seeing the movie yet.". You see, I was determined to not let Kevin know he knew something I didn't know. LOL But he did know something I didn't know, and I remember as if it was yesterday, the sound of sheer joy and excitement in his voice. Without him telling me anything other than the film's title, I knew from the energy in his voice, the electricity in his voice, that this new movie was something special. Something extraordinary.
Kevin told me nothing about the film, and insisted I join him the next day, as his father was taking him back to see it again. Oddly enough, my memory of that brief phone call--and specifically, of the feeling I had when I picked up the phone and he blurted out, "Have you seen Star Wars?!"--is more vivid and indelible in my mind than any other part of seeing the film the next day. And I have many very vivid memories of watching the film. But no moment is etched into my mind like when I first heard the words, "Star Wars". Strangely, I knew in that "Have you seen Star Wars?!" moment, my world would never be the same. It was the seminal moment.
I'm almost certain it was a weekend, because Kevin's father was not at work. So that means Kevin first saw Star Wars on a Saturday, and he took me to see it the next day, Sunday. Looking at a calendar of June 1977, it was likely June 5th, or June 12th that I saw the film. I suppose it's possible it was the 19th, but that seems awfully late for me to have not heard about Star Wars. I lived in the nation's 4th largest media market, I was already a film buff, from a family of film buffs, and I'm almost certain the buzz of Star Wars would've reached me by then. So, yes, I'm guessing I saw Star Wars on June 5th or June 12th, 1977.
As for when the photo of me below was taken, here's my thinking. Our last day of school at my Elementary was always in the first few days of June. Looking at that calendar of June 1977, the 3rd fell on a Friday, so I suspect that was our last day of school that year. In the photo, I'm wearing my summer Little League baseball uniform. The league practices did not start until after the school year was over. So, I probably didn't get issued my uniform until the week of June 6th, at the earliest. Therefore, if I saw Star Wars on June 5th, then this is a photo of me *after* I'd seen the movie. But if I didn't see the film 'til the 12th, then there's a possibility that in this photo, I am completely unaware of that galaxy far, far away.
Either way, I thought the photo was a cool find, and it made me think of putting up this thread to see what y'all looked like the year you first saw a Star Wars film, so post your photo from that year! If you have a pic of you taken during the MONTH and YEAR like I stumbled upon, then even better. And if any of you have a photo of you THE DAY you saw Star Wars, that would be amazing! So no matter which Star Wars film was your first, share a pic of you from that year, month, or day!
The Wook
ps~if anyone has a list of the theaters that were in the first group to receive the film on May 25th, and the second and third groups which received the film on June 3rd and June 17th, respectively, I'd love to see it!
Are y'all getting excited?! I sure am, even though I've avoided like the plague the myriad articles, images and trailers about The Force Awakens! I'm trying to go in as blind as I can be to this new film, so please don't let any spoilers seep into this thread. I'll never be able to fully replicate the newness and innocence of my first viewing in that magical summer of 1977, but by staying spoiler-free, I'm trying. I know that seems crazy to many of you, who are watching the trailers over and over again, and reading every article about the upcoming film you can get your hands on. But that's not my style. An especially strong sentimentality has come over me, and avoiding all TFA content is how I'm expressing it, in my endeavor to come as close as I can to that 1977 experience.
I saw Star Wars in June of 1977, at the Eric Twin Chestnut Hill, in suburban Philadelphia. I was 11. I knew absolutely nothing about the film going in, and I walked out of that theater changed. I went back to see the film about 20 times in the next two weeks, and an additiional 10 more times during the rest of the summer. (Little did I know I'd get to play Chewbacca as LFL's promotional actor 25 years later!)
I have no photos of me at the theater that summer, let alone that first day. But I did recently come across the photo below of me in my summer Little League baseball uniform. When I looked at the photo, I thought to myself, "Hmmm, that's about the age when I saw Star Wars.". I turned the photo over, and saw the faded but still legible Kodak date-stamp on the back read: JUN 77. (See the pic of the white back with the faded date-stamp below.) Wow! Very, very cool. I immediately wondered if that is a photo of me *before* I even knew Star Wars existed? Or is it a photo of me, the young man who was already changed by having seen Star Wars? I'll never know for sure.
You see, when I first saw Star Wars, no one in my family had ever heard of it, and I had older siblings who were avid movie goers. And only one of my friends--Kevin, who took me to see it the day after he'd seen it with his father--knew anything about it. I remember a few years ago reading a list of the first 35 theaters that got Star Wars on May 25th, and the Eric Twin Chestnut Hill was not on that list. I suspect my theater was among the next dozen or so that got the film, on Friday, June 3rd, and that I probably saw Star Wars that weekend or the next.
Kevin called me on a Saturday to tell me he had just gotten home from seeing this incredible new film, Star Wars!!! He didn't even say hello when I picked up the phone, he just blurted out, "Have you seen Star Wars?!". I casually said, "No.", not exactly knowing how to react to the strange sound in his voice. He then shouted out, "Have you seen the trailer for it on TV?!" I lied, and cooly said, "Yeah, I've seen the trailer. I just haven't gotten around to seeing the movie yet.". You see, I was determined to not let Kevin know he knew something I didn't know. LOL But he did know something I didn't know, and I remember as if it was yesterday, the sound of sheer joy and excitement in his voice. Without him telling me anything other than the film's title, I knew from the energy in his voice, the electricity in his voice, that this new movie was something special. Something extraordinary.
Kevin told me nothing about the film, and insisted I join him the next day, as his father was taking him back to see it again. Oddly enough, my memory of that brief phone call--and specifically, of the feeling I had when I picked up the phone and he blurted out, "Have you seen Star Wars?!"--is more vivid and indelible in my mind than any other part of seeing the film the next day. And I have many very vivid memories of watching the film. But no moment is etched into my mind like when I first heard the words, "Star Wars". Strangely, I knew in that "Have you seen Star Wars?!" moment, my world would never be the same. It was the seminal moment.
I'm almost certain it was a weekend, because Kevin's father was not at work. So that means Kevin first saw Star Wars on a Saturday, and he took me to see it the next day, Sunday. Looking at a calendar of June 1977, it was likely June 5th, or June 12th that I saw the film. I suppose it's possible it was the 19th, but that seems awfully late for me to have not heard about Star Wars. I lived in the nation's 4th largest media market, I was already a film buff, from a family of film buffs, and I'm almost certain the buzz of Star Wars would've reached me by then. So, yes, I'm guessing I saw Star Wars on June 5th or June 12th, 1977.
As for when the photo of me below was taken, here's my thinking. Our last day of school at my Elementary was always in the first few days of June. Looking at that calendar of June 1977, the 3rd fell on a Friday, so I suspect that was our last day of school that year. In the photo, I'm wearing my summer Little League baseball uniform. The league practices did not start until after the school year was over. So, I probably didn't get issued my uniform until the week of June 6th, at the earliest. Therefore, if I saw Star Wars on June 5th, then this is a photo of me *after* I'd seen the movie. But if I didn't see the film 'til the 12th, then there's a possibility that in this photo, I am completely unaware of that galaxy far, far away.
Either way, I thought the photo was a cool find, and it made me think of putting up this thread to see what y'all looked like the year you first saw a Star Wars film, so post your photo from that year! If you have a pic of you taken during the MONTH and YEAR like I stumbled upon, then even better. And if any of you have a photo of you THE DAY you saw Star Wars, that would be amazing! So no matter which Star Wars film was your first, share a pic of you from that year, month, or day!
The Wook
ps~if anyone has a list of the theaters that were in the first group to receive the film on May 25th, and the second and third groups which received the film on June 3rd and June 17th, respectively, I'd love to see it!
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He took me to every OT SW flick and we stood in line at midnight together to see the PT films the day they opened and on Dec 17th we are doing it again. 
