1956 Florence, South Carolina
Joyce Kimbrell
1948
Florence South Carolina
Interviewed on September 4, 2019
by Thien-An Bui
I don’t remember the title of the first movie that I saw, but it was a cowboy movie – a western. Another colloquialism for these during that time was a Shoot-Em-Up. I don’t know whether it was a term used only by children or parents, but that’s what I used to refer to them.
I was about 8 years old, around 1956. I think it was around wintertime. I’ve seen lots of westerns in my lifetime, and nowadays, there are many reruns of shows from my childhood that I like to watch. After watching a good many, you could begin to predict how the story would play out. There would be a good guy who’s usually a sheriff/lawman, a bad guy who’s a bank robber/cattle rustler that would hold up stagecoaches carrying lots of gold or money, and a pretty girl (damsel) that wears a pretty dress with pretty curled hair who falls in love with the good guy. In most movies, they end up kissing and getting married … or the guy rides into the sunset and leaves the girl behind.
I was with my family at a drive-in movie, and there was a huge screen located in a big field. In this field, about the height of your car, there would be a post with a speaker. It was 5” x 10” and you’d take one when you came in and attached it to the driver’s side of your car to hear the movie’s audio.
I remember two drive-ins available in the town I was raised. In the middle of the field were concession stands and a bathroom. You could order a hot dog, hamburger, fries, and/or a drink and take it back to your car to enjoy. There would be an intermission between acts, which was when people would frequent these areas. Bottled drinks were 5 cents back then, but you had to pay a small deposit on the bottle (maybe 2 cents). If you brought the bottle back you could get this deposit refunded, as an incentive to recycle.
The concession stands always had popcorn – it was the smell of it that drew people in. Your feet would stick to the floor from the spilled drinks and candy – a sensation that I didn’t like at all. You watched where you sat.
Fountain drinks on crushed ice were really something. When I got married, I loved this so much that I received an ice crusher. There were lots of penny candies sold – set about the height of the child to entice them. A box of Goobers and a small piece of pink, soft chewing gum would hold me for an entire movie. We were not rich, so the movies were a treat. I didn’t have much to spend, so I budgeted according so.
In the wintertime, you wore coats and toboggans because you wouldn’t crank up the car for the entirety of the movie to stay warm. You’d take blankets and pillows – the children would wear their pajamas. Eventually, the children would pass out, letting the parents enjoy the movie.
In the summertime, movies didn’t start until it was dark. This meant a late outing – which was great for teenagers. You’d also see more trucks flow in during this time because it was a good place to hangout for our youth. If you came to watch the movie, you shouldn’t park next to a truck full of teens. Beer was the strongest substance that people drank back then. I don’t remember any major disturbance or rowdiness, but teens would fear people calling their parents.
It was cheaper to go to a drive-in than going to a matinee. If you were under 12, you got in for free. Once a week, they would run a special deal where they charged per car, so people would load as much people as they could to go. It was basically a party night. You could bring your own food – we brought bottled drinks, snacks, etc.
I remember these movies had lots of beautiful horses, and the good guy always had the biggest, fastest, and prettiest (whitest) horse. I grew up in a rural area and lived on a farm for a while, but I was not a farmer’s daughter. The horses and open plains made it more interesting for my peers, but they did not affect me as much.
Cowboy movies also contained Indians – and in these movies, the cowboys always win in after a big fight. The Indians would use spears, knives, bows and arrows, and guns bought from the “bad men.” Settlers would sell them to Indians for profit, but it was the Indians that were always depicted in the wrong.
Not specific to the film I saw, but some actors that I remember were Randolph Scott, Gene Autry (singing cowboy with a beautiful voice + guitar, would sing to his gfs), and Lone Ranger (masked good guy wearing a white suit) and Tonto (Indian friend, keymosabi). Gene was a singing cowboy who added a musical flair to captivate his audience, and Tonto was the first Indian that I remember being depicted in a positive light on the big screen.
We talk about guns and violence nowadays, and now as an adult, I realize that these cowboy movies were filled with them. When I watched them as a child, I didn’t really think about these matters.
