MovieChat Forums > The Jerk (1979) Discussion > I was turned away when I tried to see th...

I was turned away when I tried to see this in 1979

posted 17 years ago by kadmom
9 replies | jump to latest

Since 1977, when I was an impressionable teen, I adored Steve Martin- I first saw him on Johnny Carson. In 1979, I was 15 and eagerly awaiting his first full-length movie-The Jerk.

My then 21 year old sister took me to see the movie. When we got to the ticket counter, the horrid looking, pimply faced lady selling tickets refused to sell us tickets to the movie because, at 15, I must not have looked old enough to get into an R rated movie.

My sister explained that she was 21 and my older sister and it was OK. The lady insisted that my sister produce documentation that she was my legal guardian, or come back with a parent, or no tickets.

We went away with me very disappoionted! That was the only time I had any trouble getting into an R rated movie with during that era! Me and my sister had even gone to see Rocky Horror Picture Show around the same time, for crying out loud!

I guess I'm still angry about it! LOL! Of course, I eventually saw the movie and now, I really don't know what all the fuss was about or why it was rated R.

[–] kincaid67a 17 years ago

It's rediculous that you could not see that. My mom took me back then (I was 12 years old) and I didn't get the nasty jokes anyway. It was a great movie.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] kincaid67a 16 years ago

It's ridiculous that you had to get ridiculous over my rediculous. (just joking) I have a bad habit of spelling words the way they sound and not as they are seen.

[–] jbartelone 16 years ago

WOW!!

The OP must have had to deal with a very strict theater manager.

My parents were kind of sensitive to R-rated content. However, they had no problem with me seeing The Jerk at its initial 1979 theatrical release. I was about 13. They had no quarrels with the movie.

FYI: Minors can see R-rated movies as long as they are with a legal age parent according to the MPAA guidelines. Things were much different back in 1979. Today, you could probably get into any R-rated film if you were as young as 14 and by yourself in most cases.

Joe

[–] JoeLoebner 16 years ago

Not where i go to the movies.

Joe

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] doowopfan 13 years ago

I remember when I was 19 I got carded for Romy and Michelles HIgh School Reunion. I was very disappointed when there was no nudity or anything in it. I wasn't expecting there to be on my drive there but after the IDing I thought there must be some crazy stuff in it. What was up with that?

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I did sixty in five minutes once...

[–] jpowell180 9 years ago

When I was 21, I took my 13-year-old brother with me to see A Nightmare on Elm Street part 4; the dude at the ticket stand (who was likely younger than me) carded me because he thought I looked younger than 17!

[–] Haverchuck_Is_King 9 years ago

Glad I wasn't the only one. I was 15 in 1979 and I got turned away from both Amityville Horror and The Jerk. Then I figured out the key to getting in was to go to a matinee at a multiplex, buy a ticket for a PG movie, but walk into the theatre showing the R movie I wanted to see. The matinees were always understaffed and they would check the ticket at the same time I bought it and just wave me in, but if I went at night, they would actually have ushers check the tickets at the door to EACH theatre in the multiplex.