1943 Sassuolo, Italy
Elena Vitali Sandrelli
Born in 1937
Sassuolo, Italy
Interviewed on 1/28/2019
By Matteo Sandrelli
Interviewing my grandma – Translated from Italian (I kept the Italian text in case the reader is an Italian speaker and would like to see the original responses).
What is the first movie you remember seeing?
ITA: Quando avevo 4 anni bianca neve e i 7 nani, e continua ad essere il mio ricordo preferito (1943) o crick e crock. Lui e’ quello grosso che cadeva dall’aereo e io piangevo piangevo ma la mamma mi rassicurava che lo avrebbero salvato, mentre tutti gli altri ridevano
ENG: I remember watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs when I was 4 years old, and it is still one of my favorite memories. Crock from The Big Noise was the other one. He was the big guy who was about to fall from the plane, and I remember I used to cry and cry – while everyone else was laughing – and my mom would try to reassure me that everything was okay, and he wasn’t going to fall.
How old were you?
ITA: 4-5 anni.
ENG: I was 4 or 5 years old.
What do you remember about the movie?
ITA: La Strega aveva fatto imprssione. Mi piacevano tanto I nanetti e lei che parlava con gli uccellini. Poi mi hanno regalato anche il libro. Mi ricordo crock che sgambettava con le gambe fuori dall’aereo e io piangevo e mamma mi diceva di stare tranquilla che l’avrebbero salvato.
ENG: The witch really impressed me. I also loved the little dwarfs and the fact that Snow White could talk to the birds. I also had the book which I really loved. I remember Crock would kick his legs that were hanging from the airplane and I would cry, while my mom would assure me that they were going to save him.
What did you think of the character(s), actor(s), story?
ITA: Avevo 4 anni, non mi ricordo la storia o molto altro. Mi ricordo solo che lui stave per cadere dall’aereo e io piangevo!!
ENG: I was 4 years old, I can’t remember much. I can just remember that he was about to fall from the plane and I was crying!!
Who was with you?
ITA: Ero con mia mamma.
ENG: I was with my mother.
How did you get to the theater/venue?
ITA: Andavamo a piedi. Erano gli anni 40 e nessuno aveva la macchina, poi noi abitavamo in un posto vicino quindi si poteva andare a piedi. Non ci si metteva tanto, c’era un cinema solo a Sassuolo. Piu’ tardi in brasile ce n’erano tanti.
ENG: We walked. Nobody really had a car in the 40s, and we also lived quite closely to the cinema so we could walk. It didn’t take long, there was only one cinema in Sassuolo. In Brazil – where I lived later in my life – there were many.
Was there a concession? Did you have a favorite candy?
ITA: No non c’erano I popcorn in Italia! Mamma non mi comprava nessuna caramella, perche’ non si usava mangiare fuori pasto, erano gli anni 40!
ENG: No, we didn’t have popcorns in Italy! Mom wouldn’t buy me any sweets, because we didn’t use to eat outside of meals; it was 1940!!
Do you remember the name of the theater? Were there ushers?
ITA: No. si, c’erano degli uscieri che strappavano il biglietto
ENG: No, I can’t remember the name. There were ushers that would rip your ticket.
What town and year was this?
ITA: Sassuolo (Modena) 1943
ENG: It was Sassuolo (Italy) around 1943.
Was the War affecting all of this?
ITA: Nei primi anni si poteva andare, piu’ tardi si, soltanto dopo la Guerra. Durante la Guerra non si andava da nessuna parte. Una bambina di 4 anni aveva una vita casa-giardino e basta, non si andava neanche a sucola, veniva la maestra e basta.
ENG: We were able to go during the first years of the war, then only after, when the war was finished. You couldn’t go anywhere during the war. A 4-years-old had would spend her life only in the house and in the garden, I didn’t even go to school, the teacher would come at home to teach me and that was it.
When did you start going to the cinema with your friends?
ITA: A 16 anni ho cominciato ad andare al cinema da sola, in brasile pero’. Ero piu’ grande, san paolo era una citta’ grande con tanti cinema e tante occasioni.
ENG: When I was 16 I started going to the cinema by myself, but I was living in Brazil. I was older, and San Paolo was a big city with many cinemas and opportunities.
Something else you want to talk about?
ITA: Tutti I film del Esther Williams. Li vedevo in continuazione. E poi I film di Doris Day, calamity jane l’ho visto 7 volte in due giorni di fila dale 2 alle 6. Erano I miei preferiti. Williams nuotava, era bellissimo vedere I primi sincornismi nell’acqua, le ragazze bellissime che nuotavano insieme, con I fiori, era una cosa eccezzionale. Doris day cantava benissimo, aveva una voce deliziosa, erano musical. Betty davis faceva dei film impegnatissimi. In un film si perdeva in un pantano perche’ il suo amore se n’era andato, poi erano tutti film non allegri, impegnativi, lei aveva cose da nascondere.
ENG: All the movies of Esther Williams. I would watch them continuously. And then the movies by Doris Day, Calamity Jane; I saw it seven times in two consecutive days, from 2 to 6pm! They were the ones I preferred the most. Williams would swim, it was wonderful seeing the first synchronisms in the water, the beautiful girls that would swim and dance together, with the flowers, it was an exceptional thing. Doris Day sang very well, she had a wonderful voice, they were musicals. Bette Davis did some very intense movies. In one movie she was very sad because the love of her life was gone; they weren’t happy movies, they were more challenging, she had things to hide.
Did you like Charlie Chaplin?
ITA: Charlie Chaplin non mi piaceva, Luci della ribalta pero’ mi e’ piaciuto molto, lui non faceva lo scemo in quell film. Pero’ non era il mio attore preferito.
ENG: I didn’t really like Charlie Chaplin. Limelight was good though, he didn’t act as a tramp in that movie. However, he definitely wasn’t one of my favorite actors.
