1938 Ciudad Madero, México

Ms. Guadalupe Estrada (or Doña Lupe)
Born 1929
Ciudad Madero, Mexico
Interviewed on 2/11/2024
by Alicia Sanchez

What is the first movie you remember seeing? How old were you?

It must have been one with Cantinflas, probably El bombero atómico (The Atomic Fireman) or Aguila o sol (Heads or Tails). I went to see it when I was 9 or 10 years old [Note: we searched up the year each film was released and found that Aguila o Sol aligned with the age she remembered]. I was with my sister, Antolina, and my mom.

What do you remember about the movie?

That it was a comedy. Cantinflas came out with another comedian. They were in several movies together. I just remember laughing.

What did you think about the characters or actors?

I do not remember very much about the story. I remember seeing Cantinflas a lot. He was funny and I always thought of him as a good man. The people who worked with him praised him.

Do you remember where you went to see this movie? How did you get to the theater?

I went to a local movie theater in Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas. (Laughing) We walked, of course. We never had a car or vehicle of any kind. It was close to our house, but we walked everywhere anyway.

How often did you go to watch movies at the theater?

Whenever we were able to. If we had 1 peso [Mexican currency], my mom would say “we can go to the movies or we can eat tomorrow,” and we would choose to go to the movie theater. We would get home from school the next day and make tortillas to eat.

What brought you back to the theater each time?

I saw advertisements on the walls of houses or stores for new movies. We didn’t have television back then, not even a radio, so it was the only way we were able to see something like that. I didn’t get a TV until I moved to the United States.

Was there a concession? Were there ushers?

People were always outside the theater selling candies in stands/posts. They had sodas and popcorn inside. We never bought anything because we could not afford it. There were no ushers either. We got our tickets and went to sit wherever we wanted.

What colors, smells, or sounds do you remember?

We watched movies at night and I remember being scared one time by one of the statues they had outside of the theater. They were showing a movie about mummies and had statues to advertise it. I ran away from the theater screaming.

Did you see other kids there?

There were a lot of families at the movie theater. It was always full, but I never talked to any of the other kids there. I stayed with my sister or my aunts and uncles.

What did you wear on the days when you went to the movie theater?

My mom would make me dresses. (Laughing) I would wear gym shoes at that age, but they always fit me too big. We weren’t able to buy a pair that fit. My mom got sick and I had to start working to help at 12 years old. I was only paid 15 pesos a month.

Did going to watch movies with your family influence your relationship with them? How did you feel when you went?

Watching movies always gave us something to talk about. I remember being so happy after watching a movie. All three of us [her mom, her sister, and her] would sleep on one bed and talk and joke about the movie we saw. My sister and I argued a lot, and she didn’t like to play the way I liked to, all rough and dirty, but we were always able to enjoy a movie together. We got along better whenever we went to the movie theater.

Note: Guadalupe Estrada is my maternal grandmother. This interview was translated from Spanish.