Today I took the kids up to Austin for a noon showing of Captain Blood, the movie that catapulted Errol Flynn to stardom, at the Alamo Drafthouse. Harry Knowles has conspired with the owners of the Drafthouse to put on a Saturday Morning Film Club — a monthly event with free admission for kids and adults accompanied by a member of the junior set.

I was rather interested to see what Harry was like in person, since his writing seems to embody the best and worst of an individual whose emotional development stopped around middle school. While taking an unseemly interest in scatological and base humor, he also maintains a boyish enthusiasm for film that seems to resonate with fans and visitors to his heavily trafficked website.

The movie was superb. I hadn’t seen much of Errol in action before, and quite enjoyed the panache with which he played his role. The near-Shakespearian repartee among the characters drew hoots of laughter from the audience, and the furtive pleasure of scarfing down a sandwich during a film completed the experience. (The Drafthouse serves food during shows, so it’s actually an entirely licit treat.)

Harry was on good behavior for the kids, which made his introduction to the film, while a bit long for the young ones in the audience, altogether enjoyable for those of us with an interest in cinema. All in all, it was a great time, and we’re hoping to get back for these monthly events with some regularity.