1939 Dalian, China

Mao Xinshi

1934

Dalian, China

Interviewed on 02/07/23

by Jenny Mao

I’m going to go first. The first one I remember watching was a movie with no sound. It was my mom who brought me. There was no sound, just actors. It’s called a silent movie, but I don’t really remember too much about it. The second one, though, I was 5 or 6 years old. My sisters were 7 and 10. Just kids! I was theyoungest out of those three, and my sisters took me to the movies. Of course I remember. We went all the way to the movie theater.

It was Chaplin. Do you know Chaplin? He was the dancer, the one with the cane, the American. He was a comic. He’s so famous, you definitely know him. He walks kind of funny. You’d recognize the walk. A shining international superstar! I was so little, so I don’t remember much of the story. Sorry. I just thought he was hilarious and brilliant. He had a hat and his pants were too big. I wanted to go up to the screen and touch the screen so I could understand where the people in the movie were coming from. 

The third movie I really enjoyed watching was 顺风耳千里眼 (clairvoyance). One of the brothers could hear everything, and one of them could see for miles on end like a hawk. At that time, that was a fantastical idea! It was our best science fiction story. Do you know what it felt like to see that? We didn’t have binoculars at the time. No idea what a telescope was. We couldn’t even record anything. Of course, no phones. 

I also remember 三毛流浪记 (The Wanderings of San Mao). 三毛 (San Mao, or three hairs) was the name of the little kid, because he only had three tufts of hair on his head. He didn’t have a home. Nobody was looking out for him, so he would have to try to ask for food. I guess I liked it because it was about a little kid, and I was also a kid. It made me want to be brave. I would cry and watch at the same time. [Grandma interjects: Your grandpa likes to cry while he watches movies. And your dad only ever asks if the people onscreen are the good guys or the bad guys.] 

Did you know, at the movie theater you couldn’t talk and there were no snacks, no candy, no popcorn. It was such a giant room, enough to fit everyone in my middle school class three times over. Oh! Sometimes they would play movies at school on the big grassy fields. People would crowd on all sides. Some people would watch the movie backwards, because there was more space around the back. We were really happy to bring out little stools after dinner. My parents sometimes brought tea, a fan, and sunflower seeds. There weren’t as many rules compared to the big movie theaters. We were allowed to whisper, which is good, because I liked to ask questions. Just to make sure I understood the movie.