Just discovered why I had to retune t'telly the other day - I gather changes had been made to accommodate a new channel. Where I live this is Channel 81 and is devoted exclusively to old films.
Oh, what joy! I'm 20 again and in the back stalls for 1/9d with Pamela in one of those double seats which we vacate before the lights go up and we are exposed to the censure of an auditorium convinced it knows what social mores we have transgressed. Sadly, the reality does not match the vividness of imagination - it is our first date, after all. Nevertheless, euphoric from the musical romance of Jeanette McDonald and Nelson Eddy, like moles into the sunshine we grope our way through the light to the street where, as it is before the congestion of modern times, we find the old girder-forked Velocette, patiently dripping oil in anticipation of our return. Petticoats hitched (with a surreptitious glimpse of suspender) to avoid the worst of the oil and with trousers tucked into my socks, we wobble in a stately manner into a fine night and take the scenic route back to the nurses hostel at the local hospital.
Nostalgia unconfined. I'm spending too much time in the company of Carole Lombard, Edward G, Rita Hayworth and all those who so selflessly gave of their time and talent to the amusement of the world's cinema-goers, thus distracting the attention of others from the enjoyments of Pamela and I in the back row.
Last of the late brakers.
