Saturday, September 15, 2007

You Must Be This Tall:The Story of Rocky Point Park

Rocky Point Park was an amusement park in Warwick, Rhode Island that is a part of my past. As an adolescent, it was a meeting place, a safe place for young people to have fun. As a young adult, we went to the beer garden, the fireworks, the batting cages. As a parent, I took my kids. The park closed in 1996.

The film, You Must Be This Tall:The Story of Rocky Point Park, chronicles the history of the property on Narragansett Bay from the late 1800's to the present. The vitality and history of the waterfront property is interesting and impressive. Though it had many roles over the years, I remember it as an amusement park. The names of the rides and games came back in a rush. I sat smiling in the dark, many happy memories washed over me. The view from the top of the Ferris wheel, the crash doors on the Castle of Terror, the drenching you got when you rode the Flume, the thrill of the Music Express, Spider and Scrambler!! The most powerful scenes, for me, were the shots of the Kiddieland rides and the carousel. Back in the day, my kids rode them for hours. Some colorful characters are featured in the film. A local roller coaster enthusiast, past employees of the park and local politicians. I knew several of the people in the film, it's a small state. I also learned that a local legend about monkeys in the woods around the park was true, I always thought it was made up.

A wonderful film about a time gone by. Thanks to Dave Bettencourt and his crew for putting it all together. You even got a cool wristband like the ones that let you ride every ride in the park, all day! Well done!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

After 6 weeks in theatres and over 10,000 tickets sold we are now accepting pre-orders for You Must Be This Tall: The Story of Rocky Point Park on DVD. It's a 2 disc set with all sorts of extra stuff on it. I think it turned out great!!

Linda said...

That's awesome Liam! I'll put links up in my DVD posts. I loved the film, you guys did a great job!!