SAN FRANCISCO – OUTER RICHMOND DISTRICT – BALBOA THEATER

Liz and Lee Heidhues 5.25.2025

Movies are forever. When I was 12 years old my parents took me to see “North by Northwest.” It was quite racy fare for a pre-teen and remains one of my favorite films of all time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_by_Northwest

As part of a Memorial Day weekend special the soon to be 100 year old Balboa Theater is holding an Alfred Hitchcock retrospective. Last night Liz and I went to this neighborhood theater in our corner of San Francisco where we have lived nearly 50 years.

We walked into a packed theater which included people of all ages and found comfortable seats in the next to the last row. It had been mysteriously roped off and was waiting for us. It goes to show that good movies are timeless.

The ‘A-List’ cast including Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason and Leo J. Carroll is stellar. I was duly impressed when I look up Eva Marie Saint and learned she will be 101 years old on the Fourth of July. One of the most entertaining performers in the film is Jessie Royce Landis who gives a bravura portrayal playing Cary Grant’s mother. It’s classic stuff.

No trip to the movie house is complete without popcorn. Kitchen master Liz dug out our 40 year old West Bend popcorn maker. Found a recipe for caramel corn and went to work. Producing a tasty treat which Liz dumped into a double paper sack and munched away as she sat transfixed during “North by Northwest.“