1950 Brooklyn, New York

Lynn Hess

1942

Brooklyn New York

Interviewed on February 12, 2022 

by Luke Mozarsky

I don’t remember the exact name of the first movie I saw, but it was a Western. I went with a mother and a group of girls, and I was very young—I had to have been seven or eight years old. We walked there, since it was right by our apartment. It was a very typical Western; the good guys were dressed in white, the bad guys in black. There was a lot of shooting; the good guys were supposedly creating justice, and the good guys would win. It was very stereotypical of Westerns. I don’t remember the whole story, because it was many, many years ago, but the actors played the typical Western characters. The good guy rode into town, and there was always a shootout with the bad guy. The good guy always won, but it wasn’t done through justice; it was done through a lot of killing and shootouts. And yet they stood for justice—the bad guy was a bad guy. The way that they handled justice in the Westerns was done by violence instead of trials and things like that. They were meant to foster good beliefs—what was right versus what was wrong. “Right” won, but the way “right” won wasn’t right. I don’t remember thinking any of this as a child, but thinking back, I wasn’t a lover of Westerns. In fact, I mentioned it and the girls looked at me like I was crazy, but I didn’t love Westerns because of the violence.

The theater was in Brooklyn, New York. There were ushers at the movies then, but they didn’t bring you to your seat—they just stood in the aisle. The theaters were beautiful, at least in Brooklyn. There were a few theaters I very well remember—I’ve been to all of them. The Albemarle, the Rialto, the King’s, and the Patio were all near my house. They were big, and they were decorated and much more ornate.

The King’s Theatre, Brooklyn, NY. A movie palace built by Loews Theatres in 1929, the King’s operated until 1977. 33 years later, restoration began in 2010.

I don’t even know if [my favorite candy] exists now. It was something called Jujubes. I liked those, and popcorn. The whole movie experience was different. You got so much more for your money. The first thing that happened in every movie was a newsreel. I can still hear the music it began with. Following the newsreel there was a cartoon. I was always waiting for the cartoon when I was a kid—we all were. There was always a cartoon. Following the cartoon, there were two movies. There was the main feature, and a second movie. So, for the price you pay now, you got four things: two movies, a cartoon and a newsreel. I hate to tell you, but as a little kid I didn’t pay much attention to the news; I was waiting for the cartoon. I wish things in some ways were more like they were then. It just shows you what’s happened with money, that they give you one movie now, and that’s it.

Movies were very popular. My first apartment, where I was born (I moved when I was about six), was facing the Albemarle theater. The Rialto would show foreign movies; they were more the “artsy” movie theater. I would go there very often. The theaters were near each other, all in walking distance. And they all thrived! People were going to the movies! One didn’t put the other out of business at that time. There was no Netflix, none of this on the television, so a movie was a special thing. As a little child, I wouldn’t go often, but later I went all the time. I went with your grandfather to the King’s, and most of the others. As a teenager, we didn’t go to parties the way kids do today, but movies were one of the most common dates!

We’re very sad, gramp and I, to see what’s happening to movies. They contributed so much to people’s enjoyment. They were special, they were fun. We would meet people at the movies; we would go with friends, couples. It’s not the same with Netflix; Netflix is great, it’s wonderful, but it’s not a movie theater. One, you had a big screen. And with the audience, there was definitely more excitement. The popcorn, and the whole environment; you’re not just sitting on your couch watching a movie. But remember, the movies were black and white, they were not technicolor yet. It’s ironic, because I remember when color television came in, and I said “what do I need it for?” I was perfectly happy with the way it was. And of course, color enhances so much. At the time, I didn’t think it was necessary, because the story came out fine in black and white.

I hope movie theaters make a comeback, but I don’t know, because people don’t want to pay. The movies used to be much cheaper. Of course at six, seven years old, I don’t remember how much they were, but I guarantee they were a pittance compared to what they are now. In fact, I’ll tell you a story. My father, who you never met, left me (in his tapes of stories) a story of how he used to go to the movies with a cousin, Charlie. He didn’t have money one day to go to the movies, and he was so upset because he couldn’t meet Charlie. And then he found a nickel on the street, and he was so happy because he had enough money to meet Charlie at the movies. So it must have been just a nickel back then! A nickel when my father was a kid, so maybe it cost a dollar by the time I was a kid, at the most.

I wish I could have remembered the name of the first movie I saw, but I remember watching Song of the South with your mother at a theater in Pittsfield [Massachusetts]—that was her first movie. I don’t know what it is now, but it’s not a movie theater. There’s a little interesting story about movie theaters around there. There was a paint store in Pittsfield, and for years and years and years it was a paint store. Nobody knew except the guys who bought the paint store, but behind the store was the most gorgeous movie theater that you could imagine. I believe it was The Colonial theater. 

The Colonial Theatre, Pittsfield, MA. After opening in 1903, the theater offered both films and plays. It closed in 1951 and operated as Miller Paint Supply until its restoration for shows once more in 2006.

The guys who owned the paint store had the foresight not to tell anyone and to save that movie theater. It became a big project to renovate the theater to make it look like the old days, and it’s gorgeous. That was what the movies looked like. It was a totally different feeling—it was an experience.