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   dymatsuoka

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   During his years in the squalid slums of Limerick, Frankie, whose family rarely has the two penny price of admission to the theater, manages to get in to the see the movies in a variety of innovative ways.  On his First Communion Day, his mother suggests that if she brings him to the Lyric Cinema wearing his First Communion suit, they might let him in for free.  On the way, however, they run into Mikey Molloy, who offers to perform a ruse which often works to get Mikey's brothers in to see the movies.  Mikey and Frankie go up to the ticket man together, and after Mikey has gotten his ticket, he creates a "diversion", pretending that he is having a fit.  In the ensuing confusion, Frankie sneaks into the theater and gets to see one of his favorites, James Cagney (Chapter 4).

   A few months later, during one of the rare periods when his father is home and there is a little money at least, Frankie is sent with sixpence once a week to take dancing lessons that he hates.  After being teased by the neighborhood boys, Frankie decides to skip the dance lessons and use the money to go to the Lyric Cinema instead.  His deception works for several weeks, and he gets to see some memorable films, after which he goes home and makes up dances to show his unsuspecting parents what he has learned in the classes he is supposed to be attending.  His duplicity is finally exposed by "some snake of a boy from the dancing school" who tells on him, and Frankie is sent directly to confession to be absolved of his sins (Chapter 5).

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   Posted by dymatsuoka on Tuesday March 3, 2009 at 11:40 PM