1951 Fullerton, California

Edward Richkind

1951

Fullerton California

Interviewed on 1/27/2018

by Aidan Swift

The first movie I ever saw? That’s a hard one because, you know, I’ve seen so many movies it’s tough to remember exactly the first one. You know what? I don’t know if this is the first movie I actually saw but the earliest movie I remember was Disney’s Pinocchio. I remember it because I had this little Pinocchio toy just like in the movie that I would play with and I know I used to love that toy and that movie. Gosh, I’d say I was probably four or five years old at the time. The problem with Pinocchio is it won’t be so hard to recall because I’ve seen it lots of times since with my own kids, but that was definitely my first. Me and my family watched every Disney movie when they came out. They were incredible, oh, they were so incredible. You cannot talk about movies from that timeframe without bringing up Disney. Everyone I knew went to see every Disney movie the moment it came out.

The theater? No, I’m sorry, I can’t quite recall which theatre I saw Pinocchio in but— actually, I’ll tell you what, there are two theatres that really stick out in my mind from my childhood because I grew up in two different places. From zero to nine I lived in the San Fernando valley and then moved to Orange County and lived there until I graduated High School. The place in San Fernando was called the Lankershim theatre because it was on Lankershim street and Orange County was the Fox Fullerton. Oh, it was one of those real classic theatres with everything and— Oh, of course! Now, this wasn’t the first movie I saw but the first movie I remember going to the theater to see was The Alamo with John Wayne and those two other guys. That movie was one of my favourites but I don’t think I saw it since that time at the Fullerton when I was ten or so. What do I remember from the movie? Well, I definitely remember the big battle at the end and them losing. Oh, and Jim Bowie had a knife. Yeah, funny thing where that came from.

How much were the tickets at the Fullerton? Oh, they were very cheap. I mean, when I went to go with my parents they paid for us so I don’t remember those prices but I know when I’d go to see movies with my older brother they’d be no more than a dollar. Twenty five cents maybe but no more than a dollar. There was this crazy thing— you’re going to get a kick out of this— where on Saturdays kids could get in to see a movie for free if they had three Bubble Up soda bottle caps. I don’t even think they make Bubble Up anymore, do they? Yeah, that was something I definitely remember. My favourite snacks? Well, I had popcorn of course and I used to get Flicks which were these little tubes that you could open from both ends and out came these little chocolate wafer things. I remember eating a lot of those because I loved chocolate. Before every movie they’d play these fascinating little newsreels that were kind of like human interest stories, covering something you wouldn’t see in the papers. It’d be along the lines of a pet story or a bizarre hobby someone had in xyz Minnesota or whatever!

I think movies are really important to me because of the role they play in the family. I’d always go to see Disney movies with my family and I can remember certain parts of my life because of the movie I saw around that time. Yeah, they’re sort of anchors in a way to various memories. That’s a good way to put it. When I had children of my own, I wanted movies to be just as important to them so we’d go see all the new animated films and talk about them together. Movies are something of a family value to me, I suppose.