I've relayed the story I tell people about my Dad, well now it's the turn of my Mum. Another little tale I like to pass on about her past. Makes me smile to picture it.
DISCLAIMER: The jist of this story is completely true. As I wasn't there at the time however, some of the details have been 'added' to flesh out the story - Makes it a better anecdote :o)
Picture the scene. It's 1975. Fashion is short skirts, flaired trousers and terrible haircuts. Elvis is into his 'Las Vegas' phase and Abba are all over the charts. At the cinema, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is picking up multiple oscars and disaster movies are proving to be great money spinners for the studios.
It's one such disaster movie that plays an important part in this little tale. The Towering Inferno. Now a fixture of every bank holiday weekend, it tells the tale of a newly opened tower block catching fire, trapping hundreds of party goers inside. With a cast-list full of Hollywood's finest, it was a guarenteed success at the box-office.
What has this got to do with my Mother? Well she saw the film over and over again. Not because she was a huge fan of Steve McQueen or Paul Newman, just because at the time she was working as a cinema usherette. Now a dying breed, an usherette's main duty was to carry a tray of ices and frozen drinks on a stick to sell during the interval. Even to this day she knows the exact moment during the film she had to leave her post to go and collect her tray. She reminds me everytime the film in shown on TV!
I need to digress here if I may. Remember this is the mid-70's. Cinemas at this time were huge, imposing buildings. There would only be one screen, but the seating would be on several levels. Stalls at the lower level, dress circle above, possibly even a balcony level above that. Going to see a film was akin to making a theatre trip. It wasn't til the 80's when they all got converted to either multi-screen or bingo halls, and the magic of a proper cinema visit was lost forever. As well as selling the ices, an usherette would also be on stand-by in one particular area. Checking tickets, keeping rowdy teenagers quiet during the love scenes, breaking up heavy petting on the back row etc. They would also have the responibilty of guiding customers out in case of an emergency evacuation. Now that I've painted the picture, I'll get back to the story.
As part of my Mum's training, she was given a few code words to learn. The idea being that if something happened, a message could be relayed to all the usherettes by calling out a single unrelated word. If you were a customer watching the film, would you think anything of it if someone called out the word 'rabbit' once? Of course not, but to the usherettes that could translate as "There is an underage youth in section 4, check tickets and if you find him, escort him off the premises" (ok maybe not that complicated, but you get the general idea).
So, back to the film. My Mum is guarding the upper circle of seats. Everyone has their lollies, the lights have dimmed, and the second half is under way. Richard Chamberlain has just fallen to his death, and no one is holding out much hope for Fred Astaire by now either. Just at this moment someone calls out....
"Jester!"
"Hmm", thinks my Mum. "I'm sure that means something, but I can't for the life of me remember what it is. Nevermind. If it's important I'm sure they'll shout it again."
Silence. No more shouting, no repeat of "Jester". Can't of been that important then. Carry on enjoying the rest of the film, her section of customers happily settled in for the big water-filled finale.
...."but what did 'Jester' actually mean?" I hear you ask. You didn't ask? Well I'll tell you anyway!
"Jester" was the code word for "Fire - Evacuate your section immediately and quickly." Quite appropriate considering the nature of the movie on show.
Naturally the codeword couldn't actually be "Fire". Could you imagine trying to get several hundred people to leave a cinema peacefully and calmly in the dark if someone is shouting out 'Fire'? The panic could quite easily cause more harm than the fire itself.
Within minutes the entire cinema was empty, except for one small section of the upper circle where my Mum was watching over a cluster of customers. The whole of the stalls below her now completely deserted. Outside the management is explaining to everyone what is going on, and calming down anyone with hysterics. Inside, 30 or 40 people are still watching a 900ft skyscraper burn to the ground.
...Thankfully it was only a drill, but I'm sure she was sent back in usherette training school after that one!
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