1937 Greater Boston Area Massachusetts and 1931 Ridgewood New Jersey

Diane Schmults & Edward Schmults
Born 1937 & 1931
Greater Boston Area Massachusetts & Ridgewood New Jersey
Interviewed on 1/27/2025
by Thomasin Schmults

THOMASIN: What is the first movie you remember seeing?

DIANE: The first movie that I remember seeing is Bambi. I do not remember the second. There may have been years in between.

THOMASIN: And how old were you when you saw Bambi?

DIANE: I must have been maybe five or six I think.

THOMASIN: What do you remember about the movie?

DIANE: I do remember the warning: “man is in the forest” and how that terrified the animals. The sweet animals like Thumper and Flower and most of all Bambi and his mother. And I think he had a little female friend. I’m not sure I think her name was Fala. And again, do you want to know what I remember next?

THOMASIN: Yes!

DIANE: Well I believe Bambi’s mother was killed by one of the hunters. And he’s alone, he’s a little orphan fawn alone in the forest. And then suddenly, I can see it: an enormous stag appeared. And he looked at Bambi — and it was very patriarchal — he said “I am your father Bambi.” It’s made me — now as a mature adult — think it must have been a German movie, but these things are very clear to me and I think it probably has influenced my love of animals and my dislike of hunting my whole life long.

THOMASIN: And what did you think of the characters and the story? And there’s not that much dialogue in it, but in this case, the voice actors?

DIANE: I guess they were all fine actors, they were. They were Disney, Walt Disney. They were sweet and I remember the skunk, named Flower, and Thumper the rabbit, and how his ears would go down. I mean, I think they were— they must have been beautifully characterized to capture the imagination of a child the way they did.

THOMASIN: What did you think of the animation?

DIANE: I think it was wonderful obviously. I don’t know that I’ve— I must have seen it since because I do— these pictures are so clear in my mind. But at that age, at that critical age I could find no fault with it.

THOMASIN: Do you remember who was with you when you saw it?

DIANE: Oh I’m sure it was my mother. Possibly my brother, who was two years younger. So I may have been older than five. But certainly I was less than ten.

THOMASIN: Did you see it in theaters?

DIANE: Oh yes. Oh my goodness yes. That was the only way you could go to the movies then.

THOMASIN: How did you get to the theater that you saw it at?

DIANE: Well either my mother drove… we could have gone on a bus, but I imagine she drove. And I think it cost fourteen cents to go to an afternoon matinee.

THOMASIN: I wish that were still the case!

DIANE: I bet you do.

THOMASIN: Do you remember if there were concessions, and if you had a favorite candy from the time?

DIANE: Oh that must always have been popcorn. It’s a lifelong love I have of movie popcorn with lots of butter.

THOMASIN: That sounds delicious.

DIANE: It is. Bad for you, they tell us now, but they’re kill-joys.

THOMASIN: That’s still my favorite as well.

DIANE: Good.

THOMASIN: It’s a classic. Do you remember the name of the theater?

DIANE: No. No I don’t. I can see a marquee, you know, where they… Oh they were so exciting, lights all the way around, but no, I have no recollection. I imagine they were part of the movie chain, weren’t they Paramount theaters or Warner? But I’m not sure. That’s just a guess.

THOMASIN: Do you remember if there were ushers or if you sat seated yourselves?

DIANE: Oh there were probably ushers.

THOMASIN: And you don’t remember the name of the theater, but do you know if it still exists?

DIANE: Oh no I would not know.

THOMASIN: What year was it when you saw the film, and what town did you see it in?

DIANE: Well I think — you know I don’t know for sure what year it was — I think I was less than ten. I’m sure I was less than ten. When I was ten we were living in Worcester MA, when I was, say, five or six we were living in Newton MA. It would have been in the state of Massachusetts in one of those towns.

THOMASIN: I wonder if maybe you saw it at the Coolidge Corner Theater where I always see movies.

DIANE: Find out how old that theater is.

THOMASIN: That’s from 1933 so it would have been there yeah.

DIANE: Yeah that’s nice to think about.

THOMASIN: And then you said that you’ve seen Bambi at least once again probably. Do you remember what it was like seeing it a second time?

DIANE: No I don’t, and I’m only saying that [I saw it again] because it is just so clear in my mind. That picture with the stag coming out of the forest, of the rabbit and the skunk, you know, and that point, when they say “man is in the forest.” I think I must have seen it more than once, but I couldn’t swear to it.

THOMASIN: It’s possible that it just stuck in your mind.

DIANE: Obviously it’s had an influence on me because as I say I deplore hunting, I don’t understand the instinct.

THOMASIN: yes I was going to ask more about that— what impact you feel that the movie has had on you.

DIANE: I think that, and I think you know I love animals, seeing those charming [inaudible] ones, Bambi and his friends, obviously that would arouse a child’s affection.

THOMASIN: And then do you feel that movies in general have had any impact on your life?

DIANE: Well, Thomasin, there are things that I remember, that I remember visibly— visually— and the most recent one we saw — or I saw — Conclave the other night, you know about the choosing of a Pope.

THOMASIN: Yes I’ve heard good reviews for it.

DIANE: It is very very good. It’s the acting, I think, that impresses. Also I think it’s probably pretty realistic. Other films… They’re films that draw you into them, you know, you put yourself in another place when you’re really engrossed in a good film. And these films have done that. And I think the ones that have the most impact on your life are the ones you see when you’re young. Very young.

THOMASIN: Yeah I would agree with that from my own short experience as well.

DIANE: What’s your favorite earliest?

THOMASIN: Hmm. I remember really loving Bambi as well actually. It’s the earliest film I can remember watching too. And I really loved the Princess and the frog when I was younger too.

DIANE: Your frog.

THOMASIN: It’s set in New Orleans. It’s another Disney film, and it’s a really fun one. And the Princess saves the Prince instead of the other way around.

DIANE: It was interesting trying to recollect what the first movie was, and then trying to think about why. And I do think it has had a lifelong impact upon me. The other films I’ve loved, and I could make up a list for you but I don’t know that they… they may have had an impact because they’ve dealt with things that I’ve already thought or believed. But I don’t know. This is this is deep Thomasin, it’s wonderful what film can do. It does put people into another place, and it gives them visual ways of thinking that they might not have had otherwise.

THOMASIN: One last question I’d love to ask you is how have you seen movies change since you first saw Bambi to the most recent movie you saw Conclave. They were obviously created with many years between them.

DIANE: Oh certainly but Conclave— the changes that I noticed were not not apparent. Concave is very very well acted. I think very well directed and I think very realistic. But what I deplore in modern film is the bad language, the violence, the overt sexuality. There are other things in life. And things are often— it can be portrayed, well, more subtly. I think one’s imagination can take an image and create more of it than if it’s thrown in your face. So I really deplore most modern filmmaking nowadays. And then movies like Titanic? I thought was absolutely ridiculous. I couldn’t wait for that couple to drown. But you just don’t get me started. Okay I’ll give the phone to your grandfather now.

THOMASIN: Thank you Granny.

DIANE: Just a minute, here’s Grampy.

EDWARD: Hi Thomasin.

THOMASIN: Hi Grampy, how are you?

EDWARD: Good, thank you. All’s well here. Now that the snow’s melting.

THOMASIN: Yes, we only have a little bit of snow left here as well.

EDWARD: Okay, I’m prepared to be interviewed.

THOMASIN: Alright, well the first question is: what is the first movie you remember seeing?

EDWARD: First movie I remember seeing. I believe it’s Jesse James.

THOMASIN: And how old were you approximately when you saw it?

EDWARD: Well, now I’m not sure about that. Someone told me — I think maybe your father or someone else — that the movie came out in 1938. And in 1938 I would have been seven years old and that sounds like maybe I might have been too young for my mother to take me to the movies, so I’m not sure. But it would have been, you know, 1938 or sometime after that. And I just can’t recall.

THOMASIN: What do you remember about the movie?

EDWARD: Well it’s interesting, I remember quite a lot about that movie. There was a story of James who was basically a western outlaw, a criminal, and he had been in the Civil War, and I think he might have fought with Quantrill’s Raiders. I think that was in the movie. That was a group that sort of continued the Civil War after it ended. It was a Confederate group. And then in the movie — and it kind of glorified Jesse James too— and not “kind of,” it did. Because it sort of blamed his criminal career on the railroad. Allegedly, and I don’t know if any of this was true, but in the movie the railroad wanted the land that the James family owned, and Jesse James’s mother lived in a house on that land. And I remember very vividly the house going up in flames, and I think the mother died in the fire, and Jesse James and his brother Frank blamed the railroad for it. Whether that is literally true I don’t know for their career, because they went where the money was, so they robbed banks but they also would stop trains and then steal money and watches and things and everything from the passengers on the trains. And it starred three really good actors. Jesse James I remember was played by Tyrone Power, and his brother Frank, Henry Fonda who of course became a [famous actor] — and Tyrone Power was a famous actor of course, so was Henry Fonda, and it was the third actor of the movie, Randolph Scott, who also became quite a big star in later years. And I don’t remember the feminine lead but I think it was Jesse James’s wife as I recall, and I don’t remember who played that part. But it was just the story of his career, and I remember the fire, and the mother perished, and there was a series of robberies. Jesse would visit his wife, and then he’d have to sneak away again because the law was coming. And he wound up being killed by some other outlaws when he had sort of gotten on the straight and narrow, and he and his wife were living in a house under an assumed name, and I remember very vividly his wife— he was on a ladder putting a picture on a wall and painting, and she was saying “no move it left,” “right,” and some outlaws there came in and shot him in the back, killed him, and that was the end of Jesse James. And I remember there was a sequel to the movie called Frank James, his brother, and Henry Fonda starred in that movie, and I think that movie probably came out ten or more years later.

THOMASIN: And what did you think of the characters in the story?

EDWARD: Well, I thought they were very well done, well acted. I think I even realized at the time that Jesse in real life might not have been quite as good a person as he appeared in the movie. You know I think the movie did, as I said, clarify this and kind of… you know he was a criminal who robbed innocent people and stole money from banks. I think I believed it even then, you know it was hard to play all that off on the railroad, or any of it. But I know I thought it was well acted, I liked it a lot, and that’s why I remember it I think.

THOMASIN: And who was with you when you went to see it you said you thought your mother had probably taken you?

EDWARD: Yeah there was a movie theater, there was only one in Ridgewood New Jersey. It was called the Warner theater, and it was right in downtown Ridgewood, it was very small, and I don’t think I would have been going to the movies by myself, you know, when I was eight, ten years old, so I’m pretty sure my mother would take me on a Saturday afternoon to see the movies, and my sister I guess. And you know, the movie was a matinee and would start off with a newsreel, and then frequently it was a double feature, you know where it would have the main movie, it could be Jesse James, and there would also be a shorter movie along with it. And you know, you would spend a couple hours in the theater on a Saturday afternoon. I believe that’s what happened, but I don’t have a— now I’m speculating that’s the way I saw it because I really don’t remember the details of how I got to the movie, or whether in fact I went with my mother. I just know that I did that, and I think that was probably true with this movie.

THOMASIN: How did you usually get to the theater?

EDWARD: Well when I was a young child the only way would have been with my mother. I wouldn’t have been able to ride there on my bicycle, it was a— it’s a couple miles away from where I lived, so we would drive there— my mother would drive there.

THOMASIN: Do you remember if there was a concession stand at the theater and if you had a favorite candy?

EDWARD: I don’t remember that. It was unlike the movies of today, it was a very small lobby. There was

I can remember when you walked in there was a very small lobby… there was a ticket booth in front and a small lobby, and you walked immediately into the theater. It wasn’t a multiplex or anything like that, there was only one reasonably small theater, and I really don’t recall whether they sold popcorn. I just can’t remember that.

THOMASIN: And would you repeat again the town in year and the name of the theater?

EDWARD: Oh it was Ridgewood New Jersey. R-I-D-G-E-W-O-O-D. And it was called the Warner Theater and it had a marquee outside, you know, with an overhang, and there were little lights up there. And then on the marquee you could see what— you know, there would be an ad for the movie they were showing at the time.

THOMASIN: Do you remember if there were ushers or if you seated yourself?

EDWARD: You seated yourself, there were no ushers. You just bought a ticket as you walked in and sat down.

THOMASIN: And do you know if the theater still exists?

EDWARD: Well, I don’t. I think it probably doesn’t, but I just don’t know. I know that it came upon hard times for a while, it was shut down, and may have reopened, but you know I moved from Ridgewood. The last time I would’ve been in Ridgewood… I guess you know I went in the marines, and law school, and I didn’t really spend much time in town. But I have the feeling it went out of business, as so many small theaters did, because television was coming on— or came on later — and then I think they just couldn’t make enough money in it. I’m guessing now, but I’m pretty sure it’s shut down.

THOMASIN: Do you remember if you ever saw Jesse James again?

EDWARD: Oh I think I did, I think I’ve probably seen it three or four times. But never in a theater again I don’t think, but I would see it when they’d show it on TV because I remembered it fondly and I liked seeing it again because it brought back memories of when I saw it the first time. And, you know, it was a good early western movie.

THOMASIN: Do you feel that the movie has had any impact on your life or that the movies in general have had an impact on your life?

EDWARD: I don’t think that movie did. And I guess I’d have to say, I enjoy movies, but in terms of having an impact on my life, I don’t think so. I see them really as entertaining. There are those that I like and those that I dislike, and I’m sure I’ve learned a lot of things from the movies, or some things from the movies — particularly documentary movies and things like that — but in terms of having an impact on my life, I don’t know that I can say that. Or at least right now I don’t— I’m not sure that I can say how if my answer was yes. So I think it’s doubtful they’ve had an impact. Well, when you say impact, I think you learn so much from the movies, and movies— now I’m expanding— when you say movies, do you include movies that you see on television? Yeah, okay. Well yeah I mean you do learn things from the movies, you know historical movies and documentaries and movies like that, so they enrich your life, but in ways that… Oh I don’t know. I suppose that’s my answer. Yes.

THOMASIN: And then my last question would be: have you seen movies change since you saw the first movie you remember seeing, Jesse James, to the present?

EDWARD: Well that’s changed, first of all, just the simple mechanical things, movies have become much clearer, you know the resolution is more lifelike. In the old movies you see scenes from towns and you realize they were– some of them were almost like painted cardboard. Now the scenes are much more realistic, and of course the special effects have made them more dramatic, and there are far more action movies because of what they’re able to do now. And the audio is better, I think the acting is better, but now even with all those improvements movies have much more competition, so it’s, I think, a pretty tough business. But you know, yeah, there’ve been great changes in just the quality in so many different respects. I mean when you see an old movie now— you know sometimes I say “oh I’d like to see that old movie,” but you’re really put off by the acts, sort of herky-jerky scenes, and at a lower quality, the camera, and scenery, and all of that business. And they seem quite old when you see them again, and not really as exciting and as interesting as you may have recalled them in your memory, because the quality is so much lower than the movies today. You know it’s interesting a lot of people say to me “oh the greatest movie ever made was Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane.” And we’ve looked at Citizen Kane and I wonder why people call it the greatest movie ever made. It really doesn’t seem right. I don’t know, I think it would be very hard to label one film the greatest movie ever made, and particularly the older movies, I guess it’s a lot of nostalgia wrapped up in that when they say it’s the greatest movie ever made. I don’t know I— and also I’ve never thought that Orson Welles was the greatest actor… but in any event, that’s just a personal view of mine. But you know, I was a little boy that liked action movies. [inaudible] Sir Francis Drake, and those sort of action, swashbuckling movies were the ones that appealed to me as a little boy. Well even as an older boy. And so those were the movies that I went to. And I know Mom [Diane] said Bambi, and I mean I remembering seeing and liking Bambi, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and everything else, but there was a— you know a movie— you know a couple of movies that I recall most vividly, and the first one was Jesse James. But then a little later on, there was a woman— I think it was called Women in White, and I just remember the scene in it now, the scene from that movie was kind of seared into my memory. And the scenes took place the hospital, and there was a nurse sitting on a window sill, and I can see it now in this movie that I saw, because I had nightmares about it for, you know, months afterwards. And the patient, I guess had some sort of mental problem, and she was reading, and he sneaks up on her and pushes her out of the window. And you know she screams as she falls down about ten stories into the street and is killed. And you know that was— just shows that— boy that just scared the living daylights outta me, and I had bad dreams about it for six months after that, off and on. And yeah, you really wonder whether kids — young children — should see a movie like that.

THOMASIN: Yeah that sounds like it would be really frightening for a little kid.

EDWARD: It was! I don’t know how little I was, I may have been ten or twelve or I don’t know, but I can remember that movie pretty well, and that’s vivid in my memory, at least that scene, even to this day. Of course I’ve seen dozens of movies [besides] that one and Jesse James, but boy that one stuck out too. And then after I got a little older, why we used to go to the movies by ourselves, you know a bunch of kids, we could have the Warner Theater on a Saturday afternoon right there and see a Batman. I can remember that during the war [World War II], because the first thing as I said, was there was always a newsreel, kind of the news of the day, and it always had war items about how the army was doing in Europe and elsewhere, and then that would take about fifteen or twenty minutes, and then there may have been a cartoon, and then there would be the main feature. That sort of the style of the way they were showing those movies in the Warner Theater. They were good actually, there was also music behind them. They were sort of patriotic at the same time. Alright well, I hope we’ve gotten everything.

THOMASIN:
Thank you!

Interviewees’ relationship to interviewer: paternal grandmother and grandfather