About a year or so ago PBS ran a documentary on the British Royal family. I watched it. I can't remember the name of the doco so I can't give you a url to IMDB.
Toward the end I noticed, out of the corner of my eye, my wife standing by the side watching me watching it. So, naturally, when a picture of Her Majesty appeared as the credits rolled, I had to stand to attention! My wife laughed and laughed, because she knows that I don't think the British Royal family is of much relevance to an Australian.
So then I told her about movie theatres in Australia in the 1960's. Back in those days movie credits didn't run to a quarter of the length of the movie (Ok, so I'm exaggerating). But compare the length of the credits for a movie such as The Great Race[^] with the length of the credits for any movie these days. Two or three screens worth of names and that was it - the movie was over and the house lights came on! Thus, when the movie ended you had two choices; either make a bolt for the exit before they showed Her Majesty and played God Save the Queen, or face peer pressure and stand to attention. We usually made a bolt for the exit!
One night at the drive-in Misery Guts was in such a hurry to get away that he forgot the speaker was still sitting on the window. This would have been 1965 or thereabouts and drive ins didn't provide a radio link; you hung a single speaker attached to a bloody great steel cable on the slightly lowered drivers side window. He took off to beat the traffic jam leaving the drive in and tore a large chunk out of the door column. That steel cable was built to take all the punishment you could throw at it!
I can still remember how heartily I laughed!
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