One of my nieces is a big fan of GWTW. Some years back, in the late 90’s I went with her and her husband to a screening of a restored print of GWTW complete with HD Dolby surround sound at the beautiful old historic Senator Theater in Baltimore. I’d seen the movie many times on TV but never on the big screen.
As we were taking our seats, I noticed a black couple was sitting right behind us. As far as I noticed, they were the only blacks in the entire theater.
I wondered why they were there. Were they there because the wanted to make a statement or make some sort of scene? Or where they, like my niece and I, there because we all love old classic movies at a great venue?
I have to admit that during the showing, during some of the scenes depicting the slaves and slavery, knowing that a black couple was seated right behind us, I felt a bit uncomfortable.
But I didn’t need to. When the movie ended and we were leaving the theater, the black couple exited in front of us. They were holding hands and smiling. I overheard them talking about how beautiful the restored print was and where they might go to catch a late dinner. I tapped the man on his shoulder and told him that I knew of a few very good restaurants nearby and asked if they liked Thai food. They both smiled and said “Yes, we do.” So I told them about this really great Thai place that I had been to before that was only a block away. They both smiled and thanked me for the recommendation. But the woman then asked me, “Is this area really safe to walk around in? The theater is very nice but we are sort of in a “ghetto” area and I don’t want to get mugged.”
We chatted a bit more and I learned that the wife was a history professor at a small college near Gettysburg PA and that her husband was an MD and that they were both big old classic film buffs and were that they were Republicans and that living in rural PA, that they hated going into Baltimore City because of the high crime rate. They cordially invited my niece and her husband and I to join them for dinner but unfortunately we had eaten dinner before the movie and my niece and her husband had to get home as they had a baby sitter for the evening who needed to get home before 10:00 because it was a school night. I sort of wish we could have joined them. They were a very lovely couple.
I saw many classics at The Senator over the years - Lawrence of Arabia, The Godfather II, and most recently The Return of the King. I understand it has now been chopped up into smaller viewing rooms.
What an uplifting story, thank you!