1956 Syracuse, New York

Joyce Pike

Born 1941

Syracuse, New York

Interviewed on January 30, 2026

by Alex Shadman

Alex Shadman (AS): What was the first movie you remember seeing?

Joyce Pike (JP): I’m going to say, and it’s going to be kind of interesting because the first memory that I have of seeing this, I figured out I was probably about 14 years old, and it would be The King and I. 

AS: Can you tell me a little about what this movie is about?

JP: It’s about the King of Siam, which is now, I believe, Thailand, and Anna, who is a widow. She travels to his kingdom to teach all his many, many, many, many children. He has a proliferation of children, and they’re so cute! She goes there and he is a pompous jerk, looks down at her because she’s female and it’s really a good movie, Alex. And how she wins him over, and then they fall in love, and they’re from two different worlds. There’s some little bit of backstory about young people not being able to really have relationships because of probably, basically racism, you know? But that’s that’s not the main story. The main story is how she comes and he needs her and then how he treats her, but she brings him down from his lofty perch. 

AS: Where did you go to see this movie?

JP: I actually saw it in Syracuse, New York. I didn’t go to the movies that much, you know? My Aunt Jule, my mother’s sister, had moved to Syracuse.
And in the summertime, she would sometimes take my brother and myself up there for a little vacation. So when I was up there is when I went to a theater in Syracuse, and I went with her niece, her husband’s niece, but through marriage, hers also. And Chris is probably six months younger than I.

AS: How did you get to the theater?

JP: Well, we didn’t drive, obviously. We were too young. I do remember going to downtown Syracuse sometimes, and we would take a bus because Chris lived on a main route and we would take a bus. I can’t say this is the way we got there that day, but that’s what I recall. 

AS: How often did you go to Syracuse?

JP: I would say probably most summers because my mom would be working, and so my aunt would come down and pick us up, my brother and myself, and we would stay there for a while, you know, maybe a week or two. He would hang out with my cousin, Bobby and I would spend time with Chris. We would play poker and card games. Anyway, those are good memories now.

AS: What do you remember about the theater? 

JP: Well, the theater, I recall was very plush, very ornate, kind of “trumpish.” You know how Trump loves gold and everything. It was like a New York theater, but it was a movie house, and it was also a stage. It was… really ornate. It had balconies. It didn’t have boxes as I remember it. But it was very, very, very plush. And I do remember mentioning to you once before that we had these two theaters in Bridgeport, which were kind of like Radio City, but not on the size of the one in Syracuse. Syracuse had a huge building for this theater.
I don’t know the name of it, and I don’t want to guess. I just remember it was like nothing that I was familiar with at that age I was like “Wow, this is pretty, you know, plush.” 

AS: Do you remember there being ushers?

JP: I don’t. I don’t. Yeah. 


AS: That would feel weird to me now because everything is so “do it yourself,” but then again, we still have ushers for plays. Did you buy specific seats then? 

JP: No, you just got a ticket and then you went and sat down. I don’t remember buying a certain ticket or anything to a row or a section or anything like that at all. 

AS: Do you remember there being concessions?

JP: No concessions that I remember. The local movie houses in Stratford had concessions 
They had popcorn, they had candy, and drinks and things like that. But I don’t remember it at this particular venue. I don’t even know what I would have bought. Probably a box of candy, something like Raisinets or Necco candies, which are like little wafer type of things. I don’t know. They probably had things like Jujubes and something like that too. I probably didn’t buy a lot of candy. I was lucky enough to go to the the show. Don’t even ask that much of these things cost.
I don’t know. I have no recollection because you didn’t have an income. Your parents were just making ends meet. So, if you went to the movies, you’re lucky to get in to go see the movie. 


AS: How often, when you were up in Syracuse, do you think you went to the movies?

JP:
Not often. I think this was like a one time time thing because it came out in ‘56, I’m pretty sure… summer of ‘56. Normally, when I went to Syracuse, we just hung out with kids, played cards and did fun things in their house. 

AS: Were the actors in “The King and I” known people?

JP: Oh yeah! The lead, the King was Yul Brynner. I believe he was from Russia. He shaved his head. I think he was in some other movies, like biblical movies also. He was a known star, definitely. And Deborah Kerr. So, she was a female lead. Also, Rita Moreno, who I believe was in West Side Story. She would have been played one of the natives of Siam. She was a very popular actress, and so was Deborah Kerr. 

AS: What were the costumes like in the film? 


JP: The time of this movie, gosh, I don’t even know when it took place, but I do remember the costumes. Of course, the natives of Siam, they had their native garb on. But Deborah Kerr, she had these dresses that went to the floor with many, many, many, many petticoats. Fancy! Very, very fancy! The King, he almost looked like an elf. And he had a mannerism of being rough around the edges. Have you ever heard the term “et cetera, et cetera, et cetera?” That came from that movie. He was just giving out orders, “et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.” And then, the dancing was phenomenal. Phenomenal! 

(singing) “Shall we dance? Buh…buh…buh! Da da da… Da da da da da da da… Buh…buh…buh!” Yeah. 

AS: Was it fully a musical movie? Similar to “The Sound of Music” in that sense? 

JP: Yes, yes, yes. I say it has more dancing. And it was a love story. And about what he put her through. You know, he would have her bow and would say, “lower, lower, lower” so she was almost on the ground and so was he because they were trying to prove to themselves who could bow lower. It was just a beautiful, beautiful story. 

AS: Do you remember enjoying the film both then and now?

JP: Yes. Alex, I don’t see movies probably more than once. I think there’s just something that I have never really enjoyed seeing movies more than once. I don’t study them, you know? This movie, I saw many, many times. I enjoyed it so much. In fact, after the movie, I went and got the soundtrack on a 78 Long Play. I had that record until we moved up here, and then we got rid of all our records. That’s how much I enjoyed that movie.

Note: Joyce Pike is my maternal grandmother who has spent most of her life living in Stratford, Connecticut.