Thought I would express a word or two about Movies. During the early days of Movie Making they didn't have a lot of money I guess. The Silent Movies were great for their time, but seem a little 'hoakey' to me when I look at them. Of course even at my age, they were out of date when I was going to the Movies as a kid. I had the joy of seeing some of the best, and would stay to see some of them twice they were so go.
Back then, once you were in the Theater, you could stay, they just kept running the program over and over again.
During the Depression, which was my very early years, Movies were a great escape. There was little that people had to make their days brighter. My Dad always had work. The folks were ever mindful that we kids were able to have some fun. It might not be much, but we did some great things as a family. I believe I have mentioned in previous Bolgs' that we had a car, but we seldom used it. When we wanted to go someplace, we used "shanks ponies" and stretched our legs and walked. Always as a family, or at least me along with my two brothers.
Saturday was Movie Day. That was then they made REAL MOVIES. Something you could go to and set in and be uplifted and enjoy yourself. You weren't bombarded with car crashes or everyone shooting or a lot of physical activity on the screen. No those were the days when they had a story line. When they had a moral to their base, and characters that were telling their story with as much normal action as we could believe. No fake stuff, well, there was, but it was so fake, it didn't even fool a kid my age. Most of that was in the Serials they played every Saturday for the kids. Things like "Buck Rogers" which was suppose to be a space thing, but all the rocket ships and the space scenes were so weird that it was not the least bit in any form, reality. But they were entertaining and fun anyway.
There were the Cowboy hero films that all the kids loved. In fact many of them turned up on TV when it was in it's earliest times. We don't ever see them now. They aren't 'hip' enough, or what ever the 'in' word is these days. It seems, from all I see, that unless you are scared half out of your seat, it isn't in the Movies anymore. I recall the one film I went to that had me spending most of my time under the seat. That was
"King Kong". Now when I see scenes from it, I realize just how fake that was, but it still scared me when I was in the theater that Saturday. Ronald laughed at me. I wonder how he really felt, now that I look back on it?
There were the Cartoons that we all laughed at, and the Comedy Films that kept us in stitches. There were the Adventure Films and the Historical Melodrama Films that I liked so much. I remember when Color came out and we saw "Robin Hood" for the first time. Man what a thrill. The Kids shows that came out and we all were so thrilled. "Cinderella", "Bambi", "Dumbo" to name some. The Love Stories were so well done and their was no foul language or sex scenes. The entire experience of going to the Movies was for entertainment and we were certainly entertained. Some of the great stars of those days were: Lorretta Young, Carol Lombard, Madelaine Carrol, Clodette Colbert, Cary Grant, Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, Gary Cooper and of course the Cowboy Stars like Tom Mix, Richard Dix, Hop-a-long Cassidy, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and back then even John Wayne. He became better know much later in different rolls and was great in everything he did.
No language that would cause for alarm and no action that was unkind to the younger viewers. Yes, we were blessed. I am grateful for the TV re-runs of many if not most of those old movies. The comedy ones are still funny, the action ones are still exciting, or at least to me, and the love stories are just a sweet and delightful as they were back then, when I didn't know a lot about what they all ment at the time. Innocence is so special and it is a shame that it is no longer valued. Language has slipped into such a sink hole that it is unfortunate. Relationships with individuals is portrayed in such a way, so out fashion that it boggles the mind trying to figure out just what the writers and producers are thinking about. Most of what is projected is so far a field from normal life as we know it, that is is unreal. Moral standards have been shot full of holes in the many formats they are producing for not only the movies but for TV as well. It is so bad, in my opinion that very little of reality is out there for the normal person to view.
Sex is the means for selling most everything on TV. In fact when they started using it to sell 'hamburgers'
I really decided someone had slipped a cog in the advertising business. I don't need to be exposed to such junk as they are producing today, so I don't watch much TV and I rarely ever go to a movie theater. I have walked out of a number of theaters when what I saw or heard so insulted my intelligence that I wouldn't spend another minute wasting my time. At one of those times, the Manager of the theater heard my loud disgust at what had just be said and apologized to me. I think he was even upset that such language was coming out of the speakers, and the mouth of a women no less. Well it taught me well that I didn't need to waste my time or money being insulted. I don't even want to hear one bad word, or watch one insulting scene between a man and women. I am not a prude. I just like to think of myself as having good sense and good judgement in what I want to see and hear. For I realize what goes into the mind is something that stays in the mind. No scrubbing will remove it.
I loved the Movies and I loved going to the Theater. I have been fortunate to see some great Stage Plays and Productions. My Dad and Mother wanted us kids to be raised with cultural backgrounds. We were taken to some of the nicest places to eat and then out to see a great live show in Los Angeles. I was and am grateful for their careful teachings and guidance in such things. I have enjoyed Musicals and Drama in live as well at the Movies. I have seen Variety Shows on the Stage in person and on the Movie Screens. I have even performed on the stages of some of those theaters. That was before the days that the live entertainment in between the Movies was no longer deemed necessary. Of course in those days they gave away glass ware and dishes too. Things were a great deal different back then. There were the nights when they had sneak previews. I think I have talked about those before as well. It was such a great thing to see the big lights in the sky outside the Theater announcing there would be a special showing. It didn't cost any more to get in, but it was a thrill to see the first showing of a new Film. One never knew what it would be but everyone was excited to watch and then fill out their suggestion cards at the end. If one was lucky they could catch a glimpse of one or more of the Stars as they left the show. Been there to get the reaction of the audience, don't you know.
Well like most of what I have experienced in my life, things change, and in this case I have to admit I don't think the change has been to the better. The cost has risen and the content has sunk way low. One is not given entertainment, one is exposed to all sorts of unusual action that is so far fetched that it is stupid. I just recently saw one of the old Musicals called "That's Entertainment". Yes, it was! They don't make things like that anymore. They say it would be too expensive. I don't believe it could be any more expensive than what they crank out of their Tech Labs and Computer set ups. It just is they don't have the talent to display. All the singers yell now, they don't style a song. Even the old songs they have to sing out of style and yell the lyrics. They kill the Star Spangled Banner with all their catterwalling and screaming. I have even heard them do a 'job' on America the Beautiful. Apparently nothing is sacred to them. Actors and Actresses that have to reduce themselves to such low levels to put a Film together have never studied what went before, or they would have known that what they are acting in not life, or at least not normal life. I guess the old adage of'
'you get what you pay for' has a whole new meaning in today's standards.
I'll take the good old days when their were Stars who made entertaining Movies. I know the Studios were different back then and molded their Stars and watch over their actions on an off the screen. They guarded their moral code and had ways of keeping things in check. I realize they did have a strict code that had to be followed. A shame that the one they use today only tells how bad the action and language is, not what is in good taste. Even their way of trying to let the public know what is in any given film, they lack the ability to even keep that in any kind of order that the public can really tell.
Well, these are the signs of the time. Everyone has their Agency to make the choices of what they will watch. As for me, I choose not to be part of what is being produced. No, not even on TV, and I pay a lot of money for no more than I do watch. Even the NEWS programs are so bulked up with commercials it takes more time to wade through them. I certainly don't feel like I am getting much for what I pay for.
They don't play Hop-a-Long Cassidy either, or the Cisco Kid. Now there was some real good adventure and moral watching. I did like the Long Ranger too! Well not the new one they turned out. It looked as if it might have come out of the brain of some horror writer? I guess if you want to remake something that was good once, you have to tweak it a bit. Life has it's changes and I am too old to adjust to what they are cranking out as entertainment. Just a cranky old lady here I guess. I do however wish my growing family could look forward to enjoying some of the great things that I was able to enjoy. I wish there were Comedians like Red Skelton, Danny Kaye, Jimmy Durante, Martha Raye, Joan Davis and the venues they played. Why there were the friendly competitions of Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, Jack Benny and Fred Allen. There were the fun Fibber McGee and Molly and so many others that made the nights fun and the air bright with laughter that was uplifting and enlightening. Chuckles that returned until the next time you saw or heard them.
We need a lot of laughter and we need a lot of love, real love to make the days great and happy. No long faces, no heads full of things to make them scared or unhappy. We had some wonderful things to share, and OH, how I wish we had a number of them around right now as well.
This is a wonderful world, and there is a lot of wonderful things in it to make us happy and proud and loved and needed. We need lifting and patted on the back for the goodness that is in each of us. We need the entertainment and laughs that brighten our days and brings happiness in to our lives. We need a lot of what is lacking in the society we are dealing with daily. Too many heads are bowed over small phones that keep them connected to each other, but they have little time to look up and enjoy the things around them. Life is short, it slips away from us one minute at a time. On day at a time, one week at a time. Before the child realizes they are not children any longer. It happens, I can testify to it. I have had a great life. I have enjoyed many things, but most of all I have enjoyed my family. I hope in some way I have put into their lives some of the good that was placed into mine by parents who wanted me to see and experience good things. There are so many around us all the time, but in today's society, it appears one has to dig deep to find them.
Technology has run us right into a whole new way of living. Being as old as I am, I don't find it a place I fit very well. Even the Cell Phones have advance too far for me to manage. How far we have come in so short a time. It must be time for me to slip into the past and let the rest of the world go rapidly by. I won't go quietly however, I have to have my say. I have to leave some word of caution to those who may read my 'rambling'. Don't allow the world to tell you what is good. Don't let the modern things so catch your attention that you forget to enjoy the greatest gifts that God has left here for us. Stop and smell the roses. Lend an ear to the sweet sounds of nature. Wind in the trees, birds singing, animals exploring and playing, the smell of the grass being mowed and the happiness of children laughing. Make the day the best you can, look for the good around you, enjoy being part of something so wonderful as the family you have been blessed with. Gain your place in life by being all that you can be. Love deeply, Laugh from the very bottom of yourself, and touch life with a heart and soul full of gratitude for what you have been blessed with. Be free to enjoy this life, and to return each day with a happy heart in what you accomplish with the time you have been given. Nothing lasts forever, but while you have it, embrace it, and appreciate it. With all my love, now and forever.
Written this 27th day of February 2014
by: Eileen Rosenberg
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