Going to the movies on Easter: Excellent idea. Which movie do you choose? We read the newspaper but take fifty steps back. What films were in Parma on Easter Day 1974? How many cinemas were there?

Firstly, the number of cinemas: there were 15, 10 of which were in operation for the first time. Here is the list: Ariston (via Petrarca), Capitol (via Cavour), Centrale (via Mistrali), Ducale (via Biccio), Joli (via Coconcili), Lux (via Piazzale Bernieri), Odeon (via Piacenza), Orfeo (via Oberdan ), Trento (Via Trento), Verdi (Via Baciudi), Astra (Piazzale Volta), Olimpico (Via Montanara), Roma (Via Tanara), D'Azeglio (Via D'Azeglio) and Piccolo Teatro (Borgo della Trinita).

On Easter Sunday fifty years ago, Sunday, April 14, 1974, there were these films on the program: “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” by Walt Disney at the Ariston, “Bye Stork, Bye” at the Capitol, “…or else there” “Let’s Get Angry” On the Centrale and on the Ducale, “Zardoz” with Sean Connery in Jolie, “Where Did the 7th Company Go?” In Lux, “Appassionata” with Eleonora Giorgi and Ornella Muti in the Odeon, “Madame, will you permit me to love your daughter?” with Ugo Tognazzi in Orfeo, “La Stangata” with Paul Newman and Robert Redford in Trento, “My Pistol for Billy” with Gregory Peck in Verdi, “I Guabi” with “Our” Franco Nero in Astra, “L” “Chen’s Cry” also terrifies the West At the Olimpico, “Il Giorno del Dolfino” with George C. Scott in Rome, “The Ten Invincible Gladiators” at D'Azeglio, and finally at the Piccolo Teatro “Los Amigos”, the second scheduled film with Franco Nero.

It is easy to imagine that the most watched film might have been “…Or We'll Get Angry,” which was shown in two cinemas. Starring Terrence Hill and Bud Spencer, the film was one of the most successful films of this beloved duo, and even now, 50 years later, it is often shown on television.

It should be remembered that in the mid-1970s, cinemas in Parma “standardised” the seating: no longer the “first seats” of the booths with comfortable padded seats and the “second seats” of the gallery with completely wooden and unpadded seats, but a single row of seats (at a cost corresponding to the seats The former, of course).

In this “overview” of the cinemas of Parma from many years ago, it is also worth mentioning the Ritz Cinema Theater in Via Venezia, which in addition to various screenings prohibited to minors under 18 years of age, programmed red light films or, alongside With offers, success. On Easter Sunday 1974, two theatrical productions entitled “Crazy Sex” and “Princess Kim” were planned at the Ritz.

Of all the theaters listed, only the Astra and D'Azeglio cinemas remain today. Now the multiplexes in the Galleria and on campus dominate the scene.