“I have seen every Autry flick growing up or as an adult.”
There’s always John Wayne. ;)
“Looking back on it now, it was all about giving parents some time away from the kids.”
One can assume so. Not that you would let your kids run off to a matinee now anyway since today’s wisdom holds that they’re going to have an unplanned date with a guy in a van labeled “Free Candy”.
“I am sure my parents ran back home to the bedroom.”
And then, a few weeks after you saw Stardust on the Sage, your parents announced that you had a new brother or sister coming.
There were some piss poor John Wayne movies as well. (Note: early John Wayne movies are difficult to watch as an adult. Back then, with a theatre full of screaming kids it was fun.)