1958 Mexico City, Mexico

Blanca Lilia Navarro

Born 1952

Mexico City

Interviewed on 2/7/25

By Victor Pardo-flores

[Translated from Spanish]

Victor Pardo: Did you watch a lot of movies growing up?

Blanca Navarro: Well, I would say I watched a normal amount because there were a lot of TV shows at the time so my time was divided between watching TV at home during the week and then on the weekends we would go to the movies.

VP: Thats interesting! What type of TV shows would you watch?

BN: The TV series that I liked were all about animals. For example, Rin Tin Tin was a German shepherd who would help the United States military. I liked the show Lassie which was about a Collie. I also remember seeing Skippy, who was a kangaroo with a show about his antics in Australia. Overall I just really enjoyed watching series about animals since as you know I am a big animal person.

VP: What is the first movie you remember seeing?

BN: The first movie I remember seeing was Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs. I think it was a rerun of the 1937 film.

VP: Did you watch the movie in English or Spanish?

BN: They would show the movies in English with Spanish subtitles and they also had versions that were translated to Spanish so we always went to the Spanish ones.

VP: How old do you think you were at the time?

BN: I think I was about six years old because there was a theater that was dedicated to showing only Disney films. It was built to look like a castle and so we always liked to go to that theater when I was younger.

VP: What did you think of the characters, actors, and story?

BN: I hated the witch, and of course snow white was very kind and well the hunter was a hero because he didn’t end up killing her and he risked consequences with the stepmother. I also thought the animals were very adorable and the dwarfs, well they each had their own persona, like grumpy, happy, sleepy, but yes I ended up really enamored with snow white.

VP: Who was with you?

BN: I was with my sisters and my dad because my mom would always stay home and make dinner.

VP: How did you get to the theater?

BN: We actually ended up walking, because we lived something like 12 blocks away from the theater.

VP: Was there a concession stand? Did you have a favorite candy?

BN: I do remember there being a concession stand. They had popcorn, drinks, chocolates, nuts, and I don’t think nachos existed then but they had hotdogs, ice cream, sorbets filled with meringue and a lot of candy and gummies.

My favorite candy was definitely these little chocolates that had a creamy inside, kind of like the Freskas now. They were called Pom Poms and they came in this white rectangular box with black lettering and the little chocolate balls drawn on the box.

VP: Do you remember the name of the theater? Were there ushers?

BN: The theater was called “El Cine Linda Vista”.

There actually were ushers. You would come in, and it wasn’t like today where you come in and find your seat, the usher would come in with a little flashlight and guide you and they would take you to find a seat wherever there were empty seats in the theater.

VP: What town and year was this?

BN: This was in Mexico City on Avenida Insurgentes and Avenida Montevideo. I don’t think I remember the year, but it had to be around 1960 more or less but I think I was around 6 years old.

VP: What type of movies did they show when you were that age?

BN: Generally they were comedies or westerns, or they were about police, especially during that time there were a lot of movies about drug trafficking in the United States. There were also some scary movies but more sarcastic ones because at that age I would be scared of them but now you watch them and you’re like “whats happening here” like in Dracula and Frankenstein.

Most of these movies were about an hour and a half to two hours long and had an intermission in the middle of the movie so you could go and buy your concessions if you hadn’t bought them already.

VP: Thank you so much! It was great to hear you share all of these memories.

Note: Blanca is my paternal grandmother and has spent most of her life as a school teacher in Mexico City.