I’ve often mentioned going to the movies at the Neptune Theatre in Richland when I was growing up.

I’ve also mentioned that my mother had a beauty shop in the rear of our house during that period.

From time to time I’d peek my head into the shop to see if my mother had anything for me to do before I went outside.

Sometimes she’d ask me about the movie I had seen the night before.

I remember telling her about Witness for the Prosecution, one of my all time favorite movies. I had thoroughly enjoyed it, although there were a couple legal aspects that I didn’t quite understand. For example, was it true that a woman couldn’t testify against her husband?

Yes, my mother explained. A wife cannot be forced to testify against her husband. Same for the husband against his wife.

I wasn’t sure I understood the logic of that at the time, but OK. At least the movie hadn’t made that part up.

Another time I had seen the 1956 French version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame with Anthony Quinn and Gina Lollobrigida. I’m certain the version I saw was dubbed into English as I don’t remember having to read any subtitles. Although it was made in France in 1956, it didn’t make its way to the Neptune Theatre until November 1958.

What had I thought of that?

I told my mother and the other women in the shop that I thought it was a love story.

They just looked at each other. I think they were recalling the 1939 version with Charles Laughton. Finally someone realized that I meant that the hunchback was in love with Esmeralda. 

Then there was Days of Wine and Roses. That starred Jack Lemmon, one of my mother’s favorite actors. When I was telling the women in the shop about that, I mentioned that “he goes nuts”. 

They laughed at that and then my mother “corrected” me and said I probably meant he goes berserk.

I dunno. I still think he goes nuts.