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.