Sunday Fun: Matinee Movie Fun — Daleks!

Browsing the internet in the morning does have its positive moments. A British bloke noted that it was on this date in 1965 that Doctor Who's feature film spinoff  Dr. Who and The Daleks premiered in the UK. While I was just old enough to have seen the inaugural big-screen Who when it hit this side of the pond, I did not see it. Perhaps my dad felt that the Dell tie-in comic book would suffice... a nice treat after being treated to a nice crew cut. After all, mere months before that trim, I watched the original television chapter play on which the Techniscope treatment was based and it scared a three-year-old half-pint half way to the planet Skaro. I told that story here.

Enjoy!

Time travel to 1973/74....

As we sat on our bicycle seats, my friends and I were transfixed by the showbill posted outside CFB Broden's "Astral" theatre. Must see movie.

"Mom!" She was sitting at her Singer sewing machine. "Doctor Who's playing. Can I have a quarter?" Mom stopped and handed me admission for a matinee special. No doubt what prompted her agreeable reply to my request was her proud British background. She was well aware of Doctor Who and would have rated a British picture as special entertainment for any one of her children. ("When Doctor Who's on, the streets are bare.")

"Si", whispered friend Glen after he spotted me slowly and carefully making my way down the aisle, my eyes having not yet fully adjusted to the subdued light. He had the aisle seat to my immediate right. I tucked past him and took my seat. As events unfolded, a popcorn flick didn't need popcorn.

(I joined the film in progress, as I'm sure the reader has surmised.)

Last October I rewatched Dr. Who and The Daleks and enjoyed it, even if it was clearly inferior to the original, and creepy, tele-story. Note that "Doctor Who" became "Dr. Who". For obvious reasons, the filmmakers from Amicus Productions had an eye on the US marketplace. In the name of narrative efficiency, the Doctor's backstory had been completely eliminated. The original interdimensional time-traveller was now an eccentric Earth scientist and inventor. William Hartnell's telly Doctor was mysterious and sometimes creepy; widescreen Dr. was played by Peter Cushing as a kindly old grandfather, more in keeping with kiddy matinee-movie friendly fare.