1940 Bronx, New York

Jerry Schatzberg

1927

The Bronx New York

Interviewed on February 15, 2021

By Jess Pevner

My entrance into really interesting films came later on in life. But as a youngster, I would usually go to the movies every Friday evening with my father. Saturdays, we had a cleaning lady who would take me, or I would go with friends that were capable. And on Sundays, my father and mother would take me. I guess my hero was Mickey Rooney—he was everybody’s hero in those days. He was 5 foot 1 and he was in films with Judy Garland all the time—they would sing and dance and have a lot of fun. And for me being a youngster, I caught onto that kind of fun. Rooney had a series called the Andy Hardy family, and there were a number of films made of that family, which were for kids my age—so those were the things that I would watch. Andy Hardy was such a universal character for everybody; he could sing, dance. They were a little juvenile, compared to what we see now. I think I was twelve, fifteen at the time—maybe even younger. It depends on the type of movie—like how you’d take young kid to see an animated film today.  As I got a little older, I remember seeing more of the movie stars—Carrie Grant, Robert Taylor, and Clark Gable. They were the big movie stars, just as they are now.

I grew up in the Bronx at first, then we moved to Queens when I was 13. I know now that (Stanley) Kubrick and I grew up not too far from each other in the Bronx. We probably went to the same cinemas, sitting in different parts of the theater. I forget what the name of the small theater near to me was, but we’d go to the big cinemas too. We’d take the bus to get there—Loew’s Paradise. The theater was beautiful and it was in the Grand Concourse of the Bronx. Loew’s were a chain, grand multiplex cinemas made to look like old castles or churches. I guess that was the company’s idea. I am fairly sure there were ushers that would show us to our seats and make sure we sat in them, but I can’t swear to that one. The concession stand was very big for us—Good and Plenty and Baby Ruth were my favorite candies. They’re still around today, but I don’t eat them now. I don’t think that we had ice cream, because that would have been messy in the theater… but there were candies and popcorn. And I would get a drink—a soda, that is!

Friday night was usually family night, and Saturday was a kid’s thing. Loew’s was where everybody went on Saturdays. In those days, films showed for a week. I couldn’t wait for Friday to come around, because that meant a new show. And they’d change it again the next week, because they’d want to get you to come again. That was our entertainment. But as time went on, films got to the point where they’d keep it as long as they got people coming. They used to show double features on the weekends—they’d go from one film to the next, in the same show. And on the double feature days they used to have serials—not cereals that you eat—but serials that you watch. They would be about 15 minutes, and go through some very hectic experience. They went from week to week, and they would always end with some drama, and they would pick it up again next week. Somebody just got run over by a car, but the next week you would find out– phew –the car just narrowly missed her. The next week, she’d just jump back up again. It was terrible when they stopped having the double features.

I didn’t start to get involved with foreign films until I was really into photography. I had a friend— the two of us were assisting a photographer- I was the on-camera assistant and he was the darkroom assistant. Jack was really the one that pushed me towards going to the movies and seeing foreign films, which was a revelation at the time, and really was new and wonderful. The Italian films were impressive to me, and I got into (Federico) Fellini and the old Italian thing. I probably started watching English foreign films first because I could understand the language and didn’t have to read all the time—I’m a very slow reader, and sometimes that would bother me. I didn’t get into career until I was 27 (I was working in the family business before that) – I started taking some photographs in the Navy. It wasn’t until I started working as the photography assistant that I got the love of it (and the foreign films). I worked in photography for a long time and did not make my first film until I was 40 [Puzzle of a Downfall Child]. No films come to the top of mind as primary inspirations, but nobody can deny the influence that Orson Welles had on the industry.