1945 San Joaquin, California

Carol Pepitone

1945

San Joaquin, California

Monday, February 6, 2023

By Matt Leone

The first movie I vividly remember seeing was Casablanca. I do not remember exactly how old I was when I first saw it, but I was pretty young. I could watch Casablanca twenty-five or fifty more times in my lifetime and never get tired of watching. It was aired at a time when people were kind of pushed to their limits, and had to act on their beliefs. Ingrid Bergman was the lead female actor and… oh, I cannot remember the male lead… Humphrey Bogart! It was a story about a couple. Ingrid Bergman was married to this man who was trying to keep the Allies in the war, and helping them defeat the Nazis. He traveled incognito with the help of underground networks in different countries. The couple had to give up a lot, and fought between their true love for each other versus duty and honor. They had to stand up for what they felt was right. It may have been a little bit of propaganda given the war time in the real world too, which makes it that much more remarkable. Casablanca is where the famous line “play it again, Sam” came from. If you have not seen Casablanca, you must. It is truly a beautiful story. You can really relate to the characters, especially in a story like that.

I would go to most movies with my brother and sister. Our parents drove us to the theater, dropped us off, and would come back when the movie was scheduled to end. I cannot remember if this was the case for Casablanca, but the theater would actually show two movies a day rather than one. And they would have cartoons in the middle of each movie. They had Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Road Runner, Mr. Magoo… and Pepe Le Pew! Our parents would leave us alone at the theater all day. Back then, there was never any thought or concern leaving the kids for a few hours.

Our theater in San Joaquin had concessions, but of course we mostly brought our own. My favorite candy was called Jujubes, which I think are still around but are bigger now. Back then, they were the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen — tiny! I also really liked Sugar Babies, which I think are now called Sugar Daddies. Again, back then they had small little pieces. All of those little candies were hard as rocks — I am surprised I still have all of my teeth considering how much I at those! My siblings and I would share the candy we had packed or purchased, if we cooperated, of course.

I grew up in San Joaquin, California. It was a pretty desolate, rural town, known for our farmland, oil, and cotton. We did have a theater. It was not a big metro area, though, so everything was scaled down, including the theater. I do not remember the name of it, but the theater was impressive.  

Entering the theater was dark but magical. Our theater had ushers, but they mainly just helped you to your seat, because of how dark it was in the room. I remember going in the summer, which was a big deal at the time. The theater was one of the three or four places in the whole town with air conditioning. It was not like the air conditioning we have today. It was called a Swamp Cooler, or Swamp buster, something like that. The air in California was so dry that it never gave off a heavy feeling — it was just cool. To sit in the theater for an entire afternoon instead of the hundred-degree weather was such a treat.

I do not get to see many movies nowadays, especially in the movie theater. There is simply nothing on television that I want to see, both shows and movies. I prefer to go back and watch the old ones, the classics like Casablanca. Back when I was a kid, it was a really big deal to go to a movie. It was a whole day event. I think that is why those movies and actors stay with us; the overall experience was such a treat in so many ways. I also remember watching Fantasia, Gone With the Wind. I also remember all of the heartthrobs of the time — Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, they were all very relatable characters at the time. Oh, I could go nuts thinking about all of these old movies! Nowadays, though, the movies are not as much of an event. My grandson is one of the biggest movie buffs I know, and yet he never goes to the theater! He watches them on his television or computer instead. My childhood experiences at the theater are ones I will always cherish.