I fell in love with movies when I was a kid. I remember sitting in my room on Lincoln Street, watching old films on a little black-and-white television I'd picked up at a rummage sale. Saturday mornings sometimes meant Million Dollar Movie, and I discovered a world of stories, characters, and places that would stay with me for years.
Some of those memories are remarkably vivid. I can still remember the house and fireplace in I'll Be Seeing You, a film I first watched all those years ago. That's one of the things I've always loved about movies. Sometimes the smallest details are the ones we carry with us.
For years, I wrote about movies at another little corner of the internet called The Gray Fedora. I enjoyed exploring the films and the memories they brought back, but somewhere along the way, the writing became a little too formulaic, and I stepped away.
Meanwhile, House 173 was changing.
What began as a place to document the work we were doing at 173 had gradually become a home for other stories, too. Photographs, memories, things growing in the garden, and the occasional thought that didn't fit neatly into any particular category.
And I began to realize that perhaps movies belonged here as well.
After all, the pleasure I find in watching an old film isn't so different from the pleasure I find in working on an old house. Both have a way of bringing back memories, inviting a little reflection, and occasionally surprising me with something I hadn't noticed before.
So Movies 173 is a home for those thoughts.
Sometimes I'll write about a movie because I love it. Sometimes because it reminds me of someone or somewhere. And sometimes because one small moment in an otherwise ordinary film has stayed with me for reasons I can't entirely explain.
The movies are still playing.
And I'm rather glad to have found another place to sit and enjoy them.
There's always another seat at the movies here at 173.
Come join us.