Movies Of The Forties

Movies of the forties gave a pre pube kid a glimpse of secrets of the adult life to come.
So many questions were not so much answered, but brought up
Characters on the screen ranged from criminal types, Boston Blackie, played by Chester Morris, chased and brought to justice, to the more subtle, such as the doctor character played by Charles Colburn, in Kings Row, who amputated Ronald Reagans character's legs, for spite. Richard Widmark's portrayal of Tommy Udo, who with an evil chuckle, pushed his mother in her wheelchair, down several flights of stairs, had many a lad, imitating that laugh, curled lip and all.

Getting to and from, was a weekend ritual, beginning with gathering the group, going house to house, waiting for whomever to tie his shoes, making small talk with his mother, accepting a snack, or being ignored. Three or four boys, walking and talking, through the neighborhood, about 3 miles to The Show. "Where are you Going"? To the show. "What's the picture?" They Died With Their Boots On. "Who's in it?" British accented, Australian born, Errol Flynn, portraying General George Custer's last stand. Hey cowboys and Indians, whats the difference?

Who could forget those character actors and their roles? Maria Openskia, an old gypsie woman, in Golden Earrings, with Ray Milland, and Paulette Goddard, with the hopefuly low cleavage. Laughable, outrageous dark makeup, and story lines.
Oskear Homulka, the man with two tongues, type cast as the mysterious foreign European, double agent.
Esther Williams, in all her swimming pictures, with underwater, musical ballet numbers, staged as a copy, or maybe actually, by Busby Berkley, who used various camera angles, using sometimes hundreds of actors/dancers/swimmers to produce a " Production Number".
Peter Lorrie, the sinister little man, whose evil laugh , we would all imitate. Fat man, Sydney Greenstreet, barely able to breathe, and say his lines. Bogie. Nobody fooled with Bogey. The beautiful, 22 year old Lauren Bacall, would stop the heartbeat, a a certain pre pube, Italian American schoolboy, and not quite know why.
Sidekick to Roy Rogers, Gabby Hayes, had an old codger style, all his own. Dag nab it !
Johnny Weismiller's Tarzan, had Cheetah, the chimp, silently mugging for the cameras.
Walter Brennen, everymans wiser, older, loyal, comedic best friend. The list goes on.

Who could not be patriotic, after seeing those those WW2 war movies? The young kid, scared, taken under the wings of veteran soldiers, who you knew wouldn't live to the end of the movie. The American pilot, being machine gunned, after bailing out, by a Japanese pilot, shown sniggering. I'll bet that 90% of the American flags sold, are to people over 50, affected by those movies.

Nothing slid by the watchful eye of a pre puber, regarding actresses. One thing it taught, in a subtle way, was girls/women could be different. Some as buddies, some as pests. some as nuetral nice, some as jerks, but our hormones were there for the erotica.
The poster for The Outlaw, is imbedded in my memory. Jane Russell, in a haystack, tight blouse, pouty look, low cut blouse,...well, you get the picture. C'mon, give a kid a break. Virginia Mayo, Ann Baxter, Marylyn Monroe, pant pant, and yes even Carmen Miranda and Dale evans.

Then you had your "Genre" movies. Pirate, War,Historical, Biblical, Arabian, Swimming Musicals, Dancing Musicals, Slapstick Comedy, Romantic Comedy, Serious Mysteries, Comedy Mysteries, Detective,Prison, No stone left unturned
Horror and Comedy howevwe were the meat and potatos of our crew.
How many hairs, on the back of your neck, stood up, as Lon Chaney as The Wolf Man, was growing his, quickly, before your eyes? Dracula was a scary dude. That casket inside that stone dungeon, and whats with Igor, anyway? Frankenstein was no slouch either. The scary scene in The Catwoman, with the unseen girl, behind the door, screaming horrificly, and then the silence, as the camera pans to the threshold, and blood trickles. It could keep a kid awake some nights.

A typical day began, hitting up mom or dad for the admission price, plus extra money for candy and popcorn.They just were also coming out with soda pop vending machines, which were an exciting novelty to try. After the coins were dropped, sometimes the cup would come down askew, and as the pop was bouncing off the the side, you had to quickly open the tranparent plastic vertcle door, and right the cup, to save some for a sip at least. Alas, sometimes no cup at all, and then suffer not only thirst, but jeers and laughter from your buddies. The manager of the theatre was uninterested in your loss, as his steely glare indicated to you, intimidation, since you knew you could be only one raucous laugh away from being ejected from the theatre.
Ten cents to get in, a nickle for popcorn, and if you had more, a Holloway sucker, which would last a very long time, as long as you let it melt, and not chew.
Pre television days were matinees on Saturday, and Sunday afternoons, sarting at 1 in the afternoon, and ending around 4 or 4:30. Double features with one basic B movie first, cartoons and coming attractions next, and then the feature.
A lot of not paying attention to the plots very much, noise, laughing through tears of silly behaviour, ridiculing actors, and each other, were the norms.

Bob Hope, Danny Kaye, Jimmy Durante? Nah
On the way home, we became pirates, cowboys, or whatever the theme of the movie, we just saw.
When we got home, we remembered Virginia Mayo.

Sept 25, 2007
My cousin Jo Anne came in from out of town, and it was good to see her, and brought back some memories.
We were not close in age , she being about 5 years younger, but we had an affinity for each other which bonded us together by way of parenting skills, or lack thereof .
Her mother, my aunt Jo, had eccentric personality tendencies, and my dad, her Uncle Tony, was a self annointed pundit, who meted out his opinions, and judgements, in an abrasive manner, just this side of being a tyrant.
With his own son, moi, I was able to witness first hand his mannerisms, and become affected by them, as well as Jo Anne witnessed her mothers foibles.
So therin, I perceived this odd way were were raised, though unspoken, bonded us together,
We met with her brother, cousin Pat, his wife, my brother Bob, and sister in law Sandi
The night before our meeting I remembered , The Way We Were, so to speak, and got a little depressed and introspective. My brother Bob, 6 years my senior, my hero & role model growing up, sat across the table very thin, but upbeat and cheerful, despite suffering the effects of a stroke a few years before , with his cane parked next to his chair, and my sister-in-law with her fold away wheeled walker nearby, also cheerily discussing their new life at the retirement community, where they now live.
Cousin Pat was almost like a brother to me, growing up, and being 2 years older, we were almost peers, at the playground, and close to equal in baseball, footballl, and other rites of passage experiences involving our favorite pastimes which had the subject of girls, very high on the to do, or trying to figure out, list
He looked very healthy a virile for a 74 year old guy, who aged really well. About 5 years ago he was diagnosed with a form of dementia, which is hardly noticeable, in a short visit, other than him repeating anecdotes.
His wife Paula is a strong beautiful person, who is by his side constantly, watchful and attentive, and wary of him wandering out of sight, and becoming lost.
Jo Annes dad, my Uncle Al, is now 93 years old, and unfortunately didnt join us, because after visiting with an elder care attorney, which was the purpose, of the visit, became tired, and opted out, and asked to be returned to his
elder care type hotel, which is not assisted living. The place he now resides requires that older folks, who need constant medical attention, are not eligable for admittance. He still gets around relatively well, found himself a girlfriend there, and seems quite content.
Growing up, I always admired him, and tried to emulate his upbeat mannerisms, and realized his intelligence was a trait, that was worth having, and made me determined to work hard to become learned.
I remembered that when I was a kid, when I visited, he had a stack of crossword puzzles, all solved, printed neatly in pencil, wrapped neatly and saved. with a rubber band, that he would cut every day from the newspaper. He had many such bundles, which fascinated me, and made me wonder why he seemed to enjoy doing that , which prompted me to begin trying to solve those puzzles myself. What a fantanstic gift this was to me. What a great way to improve ones vocabulary, as well as feeling the satisfaction of sometimes at first, and even today, on those damn tough New York Times Sundasy puzzle, just completing a small section, that ties itself together
Jo Anne is a beautiful, vibrant, confident person, who was in the company of her friend Heinz, who accompanied her on this trip. Heinze is a very likeable, soft spoken, unpretentious kind of guy, who stays quietly in the background, but always ready and willing to help others.
Lord knows he was at the right table for that service.
Which brings me back to the Night Before this luncheon meeting
Remembering tossing the football, and baseball, with my brother and cousin, all the street games, kick the can,hide and seek, getting home before dark, the interactions with this particular group and our families, can make one feel saddened and yet grateful, for being in the mix of this company, so to speak.
I was hoping I would not have to steel myself for drawing these introspective comparisons to such a degree that I would become kinda choked up, about this meeting,. But in the light of day, and in real life, despite this marching of time,it was a time of hugs, handshakes, and happy faces, and rejoicing.

Getting started

Back In The Day
And Today Too

I was born in 1936
The world is so fast today compared to when I was growing up
Because I always enjoyed reading about world history, I always wanted to write about my impressions of and comparisons of back then, and now
Who knows, it might be interesting and fun for my descendants
I like the idea of a diary, and if I have the balls to share some things, in writing, which is so damn permanent, I'll cut and paste , from an e mail sent to myself , and transfer it to my Blog
One of the good things will be, is that it wont have to be organized into any time frame formats, which makes it a rambling of thoughts & attitudes
Stay tuned
Sept 2007