My brother Brian took this picture in the Summer of 1982 of the marquee on the side of what was the GCC Deptford Mall movie theater. He always meant to send it in to National Lampoon magazine which had a regular feature showcasing funny pictures of outrageous signs submitted by readers, but he never did. It’s a shame because I think he had a shot of the magazine accepting this picture.
The employee responsible for the marquee had the unenviable task of trying to fit The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas on the sign. It was supposed to be the big release of the summer so they had to promote it. I don’t doubt that there was a little smartassery involved in the reduction of the title.
Back then E.T. was all that anybody could talk about as it toppled Star Wars from its perch as the top grossing box office smash of all time. Porky’s was a hit. The Thing, Grease 2 and Megaforce were all box office flops. The Thing which was a remake of The Thing From Another World eventually became a classic on cable and home video.
That’s how it was in the Summer of ’82.
40 years later, I found the photo in a box while looking for something else.
