first impressions

Movies have a huge impact on us when we are kids. The memories stay with us for years afterwards even after a film is long forgotten. I remember going to see a movie about 4 boys that visit the Museum Of Natural History and then go boating in Central Park and journey back to prehistoric times. I remember loving the film as a kid and developing a big thing for dinosaurs. I lived in Brooklyn and Central Park was "in the city" so far away and so mysterious. Yet I knew I could get there by subway. Were dinosaurs just a subway ride away?

For years the vague memories of that film stayed with me but I could not find out anything about it. Some people remembered something like it as a TV serial, others say I am thinking of "Land of the Lost" from the 70's. But I knew it was a movie I had seen in a theatre. I don't think I was more than 6 or 7 at the time.

In the days before the internet I researched the film through guide books and video distrubtors. I finally learned the movie was called "The Journey to the Beginning of Time". It was actualy a Chzech film made in late 1950's. In the mid '60's an American distributor released the film with an additional beginning and ending featuring the four boys in NYC. In 1994 Goodtimes video released a VHS copy of the movie and I watched it again. It was amazing that almost 30 years later the memories of watching this movie came rushing back.

Now in the age of the internet it's easy to find out information about the film. I learned that people who remembered it as TV show were correct. In the late 60's the movie was cut up and shown on kids shows as a serial. Even better I found the full movie (cut up into 11 parts) on YouTube