1948 New York City New York

Ysela Lopez Negrete
Born in 1938
New York City, New York
Interviewed on February 2, 2024
by Rodrigo Ortiz Mena

What was the first movie you remember seeing?

My memory is pretty bad, but I think one of the first ones I remember is The Wizard of Oz. I was really impressed by it because it wasn’t in black and white; It was Technicolor what they called it then. And I loved the music. I saw it I don’t know how many times, and of course my parents would have to take us. I was the oldest, so they didn’t take us very much. I was very young but I loved that movie. I loved that movie.

Do you remember about how old you were when you first watched it?

I was probably about 10. I don’t remember what year that movie, was but I think it was before the 40s.

Do you remember where you went to watch the movie for the first time?

No, I don’t remember that because my parents of course took me. They stayed with us. They would never leave us alone. I was the oldest of five sisters so they rarely took us to the movies, but it was some small movie theater in New York.

We didn’t go very often because my father’s job didn’t let him take us too much. We were too many. But whenever we had a chance, or later on, I saw many movies that we really loved. Some of the old ones I love more than the new ones. I love the old movies better.

Do you remember anything else about The Wizard of Oz, about the characters, the story?

I loved the music. I think it was Judy Garland. I think it was very well made. Right now, when I think about it, I think it was better made than some of the modern ones [laughter]. Have you seen it?

I have seen it. It is very well made.

It is very well made. It makes you happy instead of all the sad, horrible movies that they have right now.

Do you remember if you related to any of the characters when you watched it when you were younger?

Of course. To the… I can’t remember her name. Judy Garland, I loved her. I loved her adventure. It was incredible. I really liked that movie. One of the other movies I liked was Little Women. It had all of my favorite actresses: June Allyson and Margaret O’Brien and Elizabeth Taylor, and I related to all of them. We were five sisters, and they were four sisters, I think, I don’t remember too well. But the life they lived, I really liked that.

Did you watch that one in New York as well?

I think so. I don’t remember really because we came back to Mexico, then I used to watch some, but it was really hard to watch a movie on TV. We didn’t watch that many movies on TV, so I really don’t remember where I saw them..

Do you remember going to the movies in Mexico, or was that not something you did?

Yes, we went once in a while. There were lots of movie theaters here, Those movies were just newer movies, not before 1967. I saw, for instance, Giant with Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson. That impressed me very much. It was very well made, and there were a bunch of movies with Marylin Monroe, of course. She was very popular in those years. And I like any movies with Laurel and Hardy. They were comics. And then we saw the older movies, for instance Charlie Chaplain movies.

Probably the oldest movies, they are all in black and white, but they are very well made I think Very funny. Laurel and Hardy, have you seen it?

No, I’ve never seen those.

You have to see those. Those guys are funny

There are lots of movies, for instance Gone with the Wind. That was a classic, with Clark Gable. Oh, he was the most loved actor, especially among the girls.Very, very handsome.

And then there was Singing in the Rain. Wow, I really loved that one. It’s a little bit like the first one I told you. It was musical all the time, but the dancing was really, really good. You should see that one. Singing in the Rain with Gene Kelly and Debby Reynolds.

Ysela, I want to ask you a little bit about the experience of going to the movie theater. Do you remember what it was like to go, if you got any food or any candy, what the experience of going to the theater was like?

Of course, you had to buy popcorn, That’s sort of like a classic when you went to the movies: you had to get popcorn. Then it was very dark and someone would have to take you to your seat.

The usher?

The usher took you to your seat. I remember it being too crowded. When I was in New York, of course, once or twice they took us to Radio City, but there are no movies there. But I remember Radio City. I was very young. I came back from New York when I was only twelve, so I don’t remember with details of the movie theaters we went to.

I also wanted to ask if you saw any movies with Dolores del Rio. I know she was related to your father.

She was related to my father. Yeah, I probably saw them here in Mexico City, I don’t remember the names. She was very beautiful and she was a very good actress, but frankly, after seeing American movies, I didn’t like Mexican movies very much. Now I do, now I do. But then I didn’t appreciate them.

Do you have any other memories about movies that you would like to share, any other good memories that you would like to remember?

Well, let me see if any other movies. I liked the musicals, probably they were my favorites then. The Alfred Hitchcock movies, Marlon Brando, then I think there was a Cinderella they made some of those years, but those are probably my  oldest memories. I really liked going to the movies.

I loved to read Agatha Christie, she was my favorite author then. I used to read all her books, and they started making the movies, but I don’t know when they started making them. I really liked them, they were very, very well made those movies.

Ysela Lopez Negrete is the interviewer’s paternal grandmother.