MovieChat Forums > O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2001) Discussion > Inmates at the movies?

Inmates at the movies?

posted 15 years ago by Vehrlah
7 replies | jump to latest

At the risk of being totally naive, i have to ask: was it really customary -or did it ever happen- around 1930 that they took prisoners to the movies like that?

I was seriously wondering about it, someone please enlighten me..

PS the scene in the movie theatre 'do NOOOt seek the treasure' and the reply 'we thought u was a toad' and back and forth is right up there in the funny-lines&faces-hall-of-fame
with the sweet!-dude!-sweeet!-duude! tattoo scene in dude where's my car. Genius! Masterpieces!

[–] StarMerchant 15 years ago

I really couldn't say for sure, but I've seen it in another movie as well. Also, in The Green Mile, the guards take John Coffey ("like the drink, only spelled different") to a show as a last request before being executed.

[–] onlycafe-1 15 years ago

sullivan's travels.

[–] kaneforgov 15 years ago

While not exactly common place, it was also not unusual. During the depression people went to the movies as an escape from everyday life and for prisoners it was sometimes used as a reward. Often the allure of the movies was not the film itself but the real attraction; air conditioning.

Before air conditioning was commonplace movies theaters were often one of the few air-cooled places in town. In the summertime people would often go to the movies to enjoy the air conditioning (and stay all day) with the actual movie being an afterthought.

[–] Doc80 12 years ago

A few years late but this^ is pretty much the reason. It was used as a reward and summertime in Mississippi can be oppressively hot. So from time to time, if the road crew was working well and didn't cause any problems, they reward them with a movie in an air-conditioned theater.

[–] lubin-freddy 15 years ago

As mentioned above, it's a quote from Preston Sturge's great Sullivan's Travels, from which O Brother takes its name. This is the scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0CRAavN4EI.

"Sometimes you have to take the bull by the tail, and face the truth" - G. Marx

[–] mjz688 13 years ago

Thanks so much for that! I knew that the title of OBWAT came from Sullivan's Travels, but had completely forgotten about the convicts-in-the-cinema scene -- which had totally mystified me until you supplied the connection.

IMDB at it's best!

[–] rikkirat 11 years ago

Does anyone know the name of the movie they were watching in the theater?