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The Movie-Crazed 10-Year-Old Boy Who Ran Away From Home To Spend A Week At A Theater

In 1947, a West Coast child made national headlines by the vacation to took it upon himself to indilge in

Andrew Martin
3 min readMay 25, 2024

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Growing up, many of us have things that we adore so much that our enjoyment of them teeters on obsession. Although we may eventually grow out of them and find new things to focus on, in the moment we live for our passions. In 1947, a 10-year-old boy was so crazy about movies that he took $20 and ran away from home for a week so he could do nothing but watch films at a theater.

In February, 1947, Allen was living with his family in the San Francisco area. The fifth grader absolutely loved movies, to the point that he decided he had to leave the rest of life behind and devote himself to them for as long as he could.

With $20 in his pocket, Allen skipped out on his family and school, without the latter’s knowledge, and endeavored to lead a movie life for as long as the cash would hold out. Initially, he planned to spend one whole day taking in films, but when his final showing ended and he saw that it was 1:30 a.m., he grew scared and decided that since he was probably in a lot of trouble anyways, he might as well see how long it could last.

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Andrew Martin
Andrew Martin

Written by Andrew Martin

Dabbler in soccer, history, investing & writing. Master’s degree in baseball history. Passionate about history, diversity, culture, sports, film and investing .

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