1930 Charlotte, North Carolina
Robert Starnes, more commonly known as “Uncle Hall”
1926
Charlotte, North Carolina
Interviewed on January 26th, 2019
By Charlotte Hylinski
I am 92 years old and it is hard to recall specific things and dates. The problem is we forget and something will trigger our memories and we are deluged with things from our past. I simply do not remember the first movie I saw. I do remember going to a movie with my mother when I was very young. Probably 4 or 5 years old. It was very confusing to me. I have no memory of what it was about. The theater was probably the Carolina in downtown Charlotte. The Carolina Theater was quite large and had a stage where live performances could be given. It was large and had a balcony.
Later on I recall going with others in my neighborhood to the movies in downtown Charlotte. It was close enough to walk…we had streetcars (trolley) and the cost was seven cents…which was a lot of money in those days to kids! This would have been during the depression. On Saturday mornings, the movie houses would show movies that would appeal to kids. For us it was usually cowboy movies. Some of the stars would have been Tom Mix, Ken Maynard, Tim McCoy. In addition to the movie they would show a “Serial” to encourage you to return the next Saturday…much like the streaming on netflix, amazon today. Nothing is new. One of the popular serials that I remember vividly was Rin Tin Tin. The star was a German police dog. Rin Tin Tin was started in the days of silent movies.
Like I said, cowboy shows were popular with kids, especially boys, another venue was comedy movies. Popular stars were Harold Lloyd, Joe E Brown and Laurel and Hardy. The latter pair were stars for a long, long time. Because of the Great Depression, people needed a lot of laughs. In the thirties this country and the world was in a deep economic depression. Most of the movies reflect that. One actress was a child, Shirley Temple. In her roles she was a natural. She could sing, dance and converse with adults. Her parents did a good job of keeping her separate from the attention showered upon her. They did not try to exploit her.
Movies had a great influence on the public in hair styles, clothes, and fashion. One example I remember is a movie from the mid-thirties: It Happened one night. This starred Clark Gable and Claudette Brown. At the time most men wore an undershirt. Hanes hosiery (out of nearby Winston-Salem) made underwear and ladies hosiery. In one of the scenes Clark Gable is shown without an undershirt. Hanes sales of underwear dropped to almost nothing. It was crazy.
Concessions were not available in the early days of my movie-going. I do not recall when they started appearing. I think popcorn may have been the first product, then candy and soft drinks later followed.
Most of the movies were not very memorable. Gone with the Wind appeared in 1939. I really remember seeing this film so vividly. Many movies were based upon books. Edgar Rice Burroughs was a prolific writer and some of his books feature a white man living in Africa among apes and this was the theme of many Tarzan movies. The first were in the days of silent movies starting in 1918. They became very popular in thirties when an Olympic swimming gold medalist, Johnny Weissmuller, was cast as Tarzan. None of the movies won an Oscar or were even nominated for one. Movies constitute a large part of our history. Movies made in this country are shown throughout the world and many of them give a wrong impression of the USA. When I was growing up foreign films were non insistent. With Netflix, Amazon, Hulu that is no longer true.
