Did you know that a movie cowboy helped me get through college?
How was that?
When I was a freshman at Bucknell, I was determined to succeed, so I made a deal with myself. On certain nights, if I finished my homework on time, I would reward myself with a trip to the movies. There were two theaters within walking distance. (I wouldn’t have a car until I had graduated and was working.)
Okay.
One theater was the Campus. It was a relatively new, art-deco venue that showed first-run features. It showed one movie and the ticket price was 50 cents.
The other theater was officially named the Roxy, but it had earned the nickname of the Spit ‘n’ Whistle.
Did you?
No, we didn’t. I don’t know how it got that name. Anyway, it charged only 35 cents and it showed a double feature. Not first-run features. They were typically shoot-em-ups like westerns starring such heroes as Rocky Lane, the Durango Kid, and Lash LaRue.
Being the frugal student that I was, I would go to the Roxy and see LaRue get the bad guys with his bullwhip. And I got through my freshman year and eventually graduated.
Good.
Incidentally, I’ve since read that LaRue later taught Harrison Ford how to handle a whip for Ford’s Indiana Jones movies.