1950s Los Angeles, California

Interviewee requested anonymity
interviewed by Alex Reichenbach
9/19/19

I doubt that you’ll be interested in my memories of going to the drive-in movies with my parents. I don’t remember any of the movies, just the popcorn and falling asleep in the back of the station wagon. And, the gray metal corded speakers you hung on your windows. Of course now, looking back, I love the Hitchcock movies from this period, but those would have been considered too scary for kids. And, wonderful films such as Citizen Kane [1941] or Casablanca [1942] would not have been thought appropriate for, or interesting to, children. I didn’t see many westerns, for example, like The Searchers [1956] or High Noon [1952]. Little girls were not as likely to see these as little boys.

I think the movies have changed fundamentally in their place in society since back then. Back then, there used to be an expectation of going to the movies. The question wasn’t, “Are you going to see a movie this week?” but rather, “What movie are you going to see?”

In 1960, I was 13, living in a suburb of Los Angeles, and going to a Catholic school. The latter meant I wasn’t allowed to see anything not approved by the Catholic Legion of Decency. So, my list of films is notably lacking in intellectual content. I’m not sure if any of them count as ‘Classic Hollywood.’ Most of what I remember from my early childhood is a lot of Disney. There were only two playhouses near me growing up [One is still around and functioning to this day!], and I’m not sure if either showed films that would’ve been looked down on by the Catholic Church, but if they did, I never saw them. I actually think all of the movies playing in my small town were okay with my parents. We didn’t want to see war time movies. My father was a soldier coming back, and our community always avoided any recollections.

The first movie I remember seeing at the Sierra Madre Playhouse was Bambi [1942], and I’m not sure that parents fully recognize how scary that movie is. I specifically remember the forest fire in it. I don’t think I went to a movie theater before I was about 10 years old, so I saw this about 1957. Most people remember when Bambi’s mother was killed, but I remember all of the animals running from the fire. It was astonishing animation, but it was also so scary. This was, after all, Los Angeles. Forest fires were always a threat. I remember the curse scene in Cinderella [1959]. I remember seeing this film with my little brother John sitting on my lap. I always thought the witches in the Disney films were the best. I asked my brother what he remembered from that film, and all he remembered was how gross the theater had become – with popcorn and concessions all over the floor. Oh, I used to love the Junior Mints from the concessions and how the popcorn used to have real butter.

When college came around, I went to many fewer movies. I was one of the few women in my math major at Stanford, and had to study to prove my place. However, I do remember one movie in particular. It was the first serious arty movie I remember: The Seventh Seal [1958]. I went on a date, and I didn’t want the boy to know I wore glasses. It’s in Swedish with subtitles and was a total mystery to me. It may have been the first foreign language film I saw.

Movies have played a dramatic role in my life. Now that I have retired and have so much time, I have started using all the streaming services. They have stayed with me throughout my life, both a formational part of my childhood and adulthood.

Citations:

Drive Thru movie: http://www.brucesallan.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Wired.com_.-Photo-by-Zen-Icknow.jpg

Citizen Kane: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYjBiOTYxZWItMzdiZi00NjlkLWIzZTYtYmFhZjhiMTljOTdkXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNzkwMjQ5NzM@._V1_.jpg

Casablanca: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/moviedatabase/images/e/ed/Casablanca_%281942%29.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140203153550

High Noon: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BOWIzZGUxZmItOThkMS00Y2QxLTg0MTYtMDdhMjRlNTNlYTI3L2ltYWdlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjc1NTYyMjg@._V1_.jpg

The Searchers: https://www.texasmonthly.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/3262-600×0-c-default.jpeg

Movie theater images: Both were gotten from the interviewee and are from an unknown source.

Bambi feature image: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nLvX-erABqY/hqdefault.jpg