1955 Passaic, New Jersey
Michael Rudell
Born in 1943
Passaic, New Jersey
Interviewed on January 25, 2019
by Kenneth Stier
What is the first movie you remember seeing?
A movie is something in the theater, right? Because when I was growing up, television started coming into play. We had a television set when I was still in Passaic, so that would’ve been in the late ‘40s or so, but I don’t remember movies on there. I’m not sure where I saw Hop Along Cassidy or Roy Rogers or The Lone Ranger. I mean, The Lone Ranger was in theaters, and I’m sure I saw them on Saturdays for matinees. The movie that I first remember seeing in the theater was actually The Court Jester. That’s my first memory of going and saying, “oh, there’s a movie.” But I was no youngster by that time… I think I had to be 12 or 13.
What town and year was this?
I’m guessing I was 12 or 13, so I guess it had to be ‘55ish or maybe ’56, but it was probably when I was 13. And the town was Passaic [New Jersey] even though we moved in ’53 to Clifton. We grew up in Passaic, and there was downtown Passaic, and the movie theaters – there were three movie theaters in downtown Passaic, I’m not sure which one I would have seen this in, but it was one of those three. One I’m sure was called the Montauk, I’m sure of that. I think there was one called the Central, and there was one called the Capitol, and they were all within two or three blocks from each other. It was one of those three.
What do you remember about the movie?
What I remember, and maybe I remember because I’ve seen it since, is how remarkably wonderful, talented, funny, enjoyable Danny Kaye was. He was the star, he was the court jester, and he was fabulous.
What did you think of the characters, actors, story?
I’m voting for the awards now in the movies, and I could answer that question – you know, I vote for the BAFTA [British Academy of Film and Television Arts], I vote for stuff like that – I didn’t think anything of it. I just enjoyed the movie. I loved watching Danny Kaye. I wasn’t sitting there analyzing anything about it other than that I really enjoyed it, it was funny, he was hilarious, and I don’t think I spent much time analyzing whether the screenwriter did a faithful adaptation if it was based on a book. I wasn’t giving a whole lot of thought to that stuff. I probably was thinking things that thirteen-year-old kids think, which was nothing to be proud of.
When you see a movie now, you’re thinking much more analytically, then?
When I see a movie now – you know, I actually gave a speech just on the opening credits of a movie and what a story it tells. When I look at a movie now, a lot depends on whether I’m seeing it having read the review, whether I’m seeing it not having read the review, whether I’m seeing it for a client of mine, whether I’m seeing it because I’m going to end up voting on it, or whether I’m seeing it because I just want to see the movie. But when I look at a movie now, I do look at it differently because the opening credits tell a story to me, so I’m pretty focused on that, and I’m much more critical about how the movie holds up. Having said all that, I also want to be entertained. I’m also jaded because my first job, many years ago, by a fluke, I ended up being assistant to the president of the Columbia Pictures Television international arm, and I had my own screening room, and I would be watching un-dubbed Czechoslovakian movies to see if we wanted to acquire them. But I had my own, so I became very sensitive to noise in theaters and stuff like that. But no, when I look at a movie today, I’m much more sensitive to the various aspects, even music and whatever, I’m much more sensitive to what goes into making the movie.
Who was with you?
I don’t have the slightest idea. My guess is one of my friends. I don’t recall going to movies with [my sister] Rena; she wouldn’t have been seen dead with me when she was 17 or 18 and I’m 13, so my guess is it had to be a friend.
Would either of your parents have gone with you?
I don’t remember having gone to the movies with my parents. I don’t think they took me to a play until I was – well, I remember what play they took me to, and I guess I must have been a teenager. It was Damn Yankees and Pajama Game, and I went with them, but I don’t think they took me to movies.
How did you get to the theater/venue?
If I were 13 or 14, it’s my guess that I probably took a bus. It was easy to get down to downtown Passaic, so I probably took a bus. I don’t recall anybody driving me. I could’ve walked; it wasn’t that far. I walked from my home to downtown Passaic a lot. I didn’t take a cab, I didn’t take an Uber, I doubt that my mom could’ve dropped me off. But my guess is that I either took a bus or I walked.
At the theater, was there a concession? Did you have a favorite candy?
I am reasonably certain, although I don’t remember the concession stand – there was one in the Montauk, so I have to say there was a concession stand. Did I have a favorite candy? I probably in those years was eating candy, which I rarely do now, and if I did have candy, my guess is Mounds was always my favorite. If they were making Mounds in that year, my guess is, if I had a choice, I would’ve had a Mounds.
Not an Almond Joy?
Well, it’s funny you’re being precise, but I would prefer Almond Joy, but I think it came out after, so I’m being safe by saying Mounds. I just looked it up, it looks like [it was] created in ’20 as a single piece, so it looks like there was Mounds in my years, and I recall switching to Almond Joy once Almond Joy came in, but I think in those years, I’m not even sure there was Almond Joy. This is highly technical stuff… Let’s see what Wikipedia says… Almond Joy was introduced in ‘46, so it could be I had an Almond Joy, because I really liked Almond Joy.
Do you remember which of those three theaters you saw the movie in?
The Montauk would be a safe bet, until somebody does their research and finds out that The Court Jester played at the Capitol, in which case you’ll come and get me and I’m going to be responsible for you not becoming a doctor, and I couldn’t live with that.
Did the theaters typically play different films?
Yes. Oh, yeah.
Would you have had a favorite among the three?
Of the three theaters, I think the Montauk was kind of the classiest of the three in those years. Somehow, I think that was the classiest of the three. Probably would be the favorite of the three, probably just because it was reputed to be and seemed to be the best of the three.
What impact did this experience have on you and on your future cinematic experiences?
None. I think that I grew up loving Danny Kaye, so I had a lot of respect for him. I went to see Danny Kaye movies. I guess it introduced me to that sort of comedy, but I don’t think it had any impact at all on what I became, occupationally or otherwise, other than that I’ve always loved movies, but I don’t think that was because I went to see Court Jester and said, “I had to watch movies.” I went to see Damn Yankees and came out of there wanting to be Ray Walston, who played the devil. My guess is, had I become an actor, that would’ve been it, but I never did any of those things. So, I don’t think it had any impact.
Given that you work in the entertainment industry, how did your experiences with cinema specifically as a kid influence your later career choices?
It didn’t, because it’s a fluke that I’m in this business. To make it the briefest of stories: I went to law school. I was going to go in with my father. The first day I was admitted [to the bar], I tried a case, I went back to him and said, “I learned what I’m not gonna do,” because I was in civil court in New York and even though he had been treated royally as I was growing up, watching him try cases (he was a great lawyer and I’d walk around with him), at the civil court in New York I was four rungs lower than the janitor, so I went back to his office and said, “I’ve learned what I’m not going to be doing.” Up until that, my main job, I think, before that was, I had been a basketball counselor. That’s about the only work experience. About four or five days later, by a fluke, the job opening that became available was Columbia Pictures, so I went to work for Columbia Pictures without any forethought about, “hey, I’ve got to get into the entertainment business,” so that’s how I got into the business. I had no preexisting desire to be in the entertainment business. … When I started out, there was no such thing as entertainment law when I started out. When I started writing the column for entertainment law for the [New York] Law Journal in ’77, we didn’t know what to call it. There was not really a field called “entertainment law,” so it was a relatively new field of law. It was lawyers who were representing entertainers or producers or whatever who were doing tax work, corporate work, but they didn’t know that they were entertainment lawyers, per se. They’d represent Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, they’d do the tax work, they’d make the movie deals, but they were lawyers who represented actors and actresses. The field mushroomed substantially.
