Remembering the Ritz
My husband G. Grod forwarded me Carrie Rickey’s piece on Philly’s Ritz theaters, which may be acquired by Landmark. As with most buyouts of local indies, there’s the usual sturm und drang of “Boo, our independent [insert business type here] is gone and bought out by corporate goons.” While I don’t love Landmark theaters (in fact, I had one of my worst movie experiences ever at the Lagoon), I think they do a reasonable job of keeping up local historic theaters, programming good films, and offering good, albeit over-the-top expensive, concessions. Since I recall feeling similarly about the Ritz theaters, I hope there won’t be much change for folks in Philly.
I moved to Philadelphia sight unseen for my first “real” (i.e., salaried and with benefits) post-college job. I didn’t know anyone, and the Ritz theaters were like my first friends. Though I soon met good folks like JV and Rock Hack, it took a while to get sorted with friends; my job was demanding and required me to work many nights and weekends. Movies, which I’d recently learned to love (see #2), very ably filled the few cracks in my schedule. I was young and insecure enough to feel self-conscious when I went alone to restaurants and to dinner, but I quickly learned to like my own company.
At the time, there were only two Ritz theaters–the Bourse, and the Five on Walnut. (The East opened just before I moved away.) Though the screens were smallish, so were the theaters, which felt intimate. Each weekend, I’d look for the late showing of movies that sounded interesting to me. I was young enough that I could still stay awake for the 10 p.m. show; they weren’t the expensive naps they’ve become in later life. I learned that Chinese films are often depressing, and that Gong Li is beautiful, by watching Ju Dou. My first Alan Rickman movie was one in which he didn’t play a bad guy–Truly, Madly, Deeply. I remember beautiful images and intrusive scores from Marcel Pagnol’s autobiographical films, My Father’s Glory and My Mother’s Castle. I didn’t love every movie I saw at the Ritz theaters, but all were subsumed in my burgeoning love of film, which I continue to honor both by making movies a priority, and by going to see them at local movie houses like the Ritz.