Were You There? Summer, 1977

[sueb1863]

With the 40th anniversary of the opening of the first Star Wars movie coming up on Thursday, I thought I'd start a thread so people could share any stories they might have of seeing the movie in 1977.

Did anybody here see it opening day on May 25 or during the summer of 1977? Any memories or first impressions that you can recall?

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

I got taken to see it about a week after it opened. It was the biggest cinema audience I'd seen since Jaws. I enjoyed the movie - and although I've never been what you'd call a mad fan of the franchise it was certainly one of my most memorable film-going experiences!

 

[Breogan]

I remember it was one the first movie I chose. Told my dad - I want to see this!, he remarked- that's what you like, ok lets go.
Was definitely the right age for it and was hooked.
NYC line, definitely busted-the-city-block, I remember part of the line spilling over into a K-Mart or Woolworth, where kids who had been there hours, had pretty much taken over a toy aisle and had pulled all kinds of stuff off the shelf.
No Star Wars toys that I remember, I think I remember seeing Micronauts everywhere.

Theater gave us a "Star Wars program" which I cherished, as after that summer, it was for a long time the only way to see images of the stuff again.

Eventually bought the ghostwritten Alan Dean Foster novel.
As well as Splinter of the Mind's Eye, and eventually a couple of the Han & Chewie novels.
The Marvel comics (with the bizarre Jabba), and had a few of the figures, no ships.
Via trading and "flipping" cards I managed to get a full set of the Blue series deck, and stickers.

Three years later cut school to wait in line for ESB.

 

[sueb1863]

The movie didn't come to my town until July. It was one of the first movies to play in our brand-new mall cinema, which had a whopping THREE screens!!! it had the biggest auditorium, of course. I remember it was all red decor with red curtains on the walls. I don't remember much about seeing it the first time, I wasn't really able to follow the story until I read the novelization. I do remember seeing it several times afterwards (ended up seeing it 13 times that summer) and each time there were huge long lines stretching either into the mall or out into the mall parking lot.

They took the cinema out of the mall a long time ago but every time I go by it i still remember sitting in that cold air conditioned theater in 1977 and watching SW. I saw several other big blockbusters in that theater, but nothing ever topped that one.

 

[Breogan]

+39 more!

May 25, 1977
40 Years ago today Star Wars came out.
Happy B-day

 

[sueb1863]

^^^ That's great!

If anybody gets the antenna channel Decades, they're doing a look back at the history of Star Wars today.

 

[danoyse]

Yep. I was 3. We lived in the Bronx, and the movie opened there in August. According to my folks, they saw it the first weekend it was there, and they thought I would like it, so they went back the following weekend and brought me.

I remember that it was packed and how the audience went nuts at the Star Destroyer at the beginning. I was totally mind blown by the double sunset and I remember asking my dad why there were two suns. And I remember the audience cheering so hard when the Death Star exploded that my seat actually shook.

We saw it a few more times, I have no idea how many (it played there almost a year). My aunt took me to see it when I was 4, and she said I didn't make a sound for the entire movie, but then I repeated every line in the car on the way home. My folks told me they took me there to see another movie once, and I got all upset when I found out we weren't seeing Star Wars.

I remember seeing it again during a re-release when I was about 5, and my mom clearly reminding me on the way out, "OK, now that was the LAST TIME. Next time we're seeing something else!!"

My mom said they thought I would like R2-D2 and C-3PO when they took me to see it that weekend, but they wound up creating a monster.

 

[Mandon Knight]

I was, six months later, we got it December '77 in the UK, had to wait a while but the reaction was the same as in the summer over in the USA, queues round the block, fandom had been created on a whole new level.

The television coverage was huge and it was immersive, just life changing.

 

[C. Lee]

It didn't open everywhere in the United States in May....it didn't come to Kentucky until June 25th. I had read about it's making for months in STARLOG magazine. Then after it opened in May, the news talked about it constantly....so I was chomping at the bit to see it when it finally arrived. It also happened to be my 20th birthday.

It was at one theater in Lexington (the now gone Lexington Mall Twin Cinemas)....I was off from work that day....so my best friend and I went to the first showing. It's a good thing we did....because the biggest crowd I had ever seen was already there. We ran to the ticket counter hoping there were still tickets left, they assured us we would get in. They opened the doors and we all piled in....this was the first time I had ever seen every single seat taken....ushers went up and down the aisles making people move over if they saw an empty seat between people. The starting time came and went....and after over a half hour of us knowing all seats were taken...people were getting restless. Then someone came in and explained the delay. So many people had shown up for this time....they were working on how to project it into both theaters (remember it was a twin cinema) at the same time so everyone could see it. At about 45 minutes after the scheduled show time it started. We were blown away of course.

When the movie let out....the crowd waiting to get in the next showing was twice the size of what had been there for ours. I'm sure they couldn't get them all in even both screens that time. Finally by the next week another theater had it booked also, so it was easier for people to see it.