1946 Athens, Greece

Dr. Leonidas Petrakis

Born 1935

Athens, Greece

Interviewed on February 4th, 2022

By Zoë Sernyak

I was born in Sparta, Greece in 1935. The first things I ever remember watching was that the occupying Germans would march us all down to the main square in Sparta – you’ve been there – and make us watch ‘news clips’ about the rest of the world. Now of course, these were propaganda. But I don’t really want to talk any more about that.

The first movie I ever saw was in 1946, in Athens (Greece). I remember that going to the movies at that time was a big event, a special occasion. We got dressed in our Sunday finest. I was ten years old. No, eleven. The first movie that I ever saw was Pinocchio. We walked to the bus stop, rode the bus to Omonia (πλατειο Ομονοια) square, the central square in Athens and then walked to the theater. I was with my sister and a few other kids.

I don’t remember if there was a concession or if I ate anything at the theater. I didn’t really want to eat anything. The building was an art nouveau building called Rex (Ρεξ). That name was written on the outside of the building. It was very fancy; the seats were very comfortable and plush. Now, there are a lot of outdoor theaters in Greece, but this one was an indoor theater. For the movie itself, I don’t quite remember what language it was in. I believe it was dubbed in Greek. Yes, that was it.

It was a cartoon, drawings. I remember that Pinocchio was a wooden puppet that came alive. I remember this from the movie, not from stories or hearing about it from more recently. I remember clearly that when Pinocchio said something that was untrue, his nose would grow. It was staccato, the movements. Very abrupt. When he was put through a test and his nose grew it would jump out. Bang, grow out, bang. I remember his movements started out really stiff, but as the movie went on, they became more realistic. This change really stood out to me. If I’m not remembering incorrectly, I remember something about a tree growing out of his nose, with birds. I can’t remember that clearly, though. I mostly remember the nose almost jumping out of the screen. And the emphasis of the music. The music really stood out to me because it underscored the movements of the characters which stuck with me all these years. I don’t remember much about the rest of the movie.

I remember watching cartoons with you and your brother when you guys were younger. I haven’t seen too many cartoons since then. I think that the thing about cartoons is that you don’t get as attached to them as you do with real, human actors.