Facets' College Corner: Interview with the Past

Editor's note: For this assignment for Introduction to Film at Oakton Community College, students were required to interview someone who had frequented the movies prior to the 1960s in order to understand how different the movie-going experience was compared to today’s horrors at the cineplex.

The stars and narratives were different, which many older movie lovers mention time and again. It isn’t just a matter of generation. It has to do with the fact that films were aimed at adult audiences during the Golden Age, plus even the most simplistic films had a moral center, something today’s audiences either don’t realize or don’t understand. Like all popular storytelling modes, movies serve as a barometer for an individual or society to measure up against—to measure their actions against a known standard to understand their own beliefs and values. In today’s Hollywood cinema, this proves an exercise in frustration, because special-effects-driven movies aimed at adolescent are not just shallow—they’re hollow. Therese Trevias brings out the differences between past and present in her interview with Mr. Hubbard Hancock—just an average movie fan from back in the day.


Interview with the Past

One night while flipping channels, I came across an old John Wayne movie that made me think about how it felt to go to the movies around the Golden Age of film. So began my search to interview someone who had seen movies during that era. I began asking around work if anyone who had gone to movies in that era would be interested in being interviewed for my film class. From this search, I discovered the husband of one of my coworkers, Mr. Hubbard Hancock.

Therese: What were movie theaters like in the 1950s?

Mr. Hancock: I use to go to the Holly Theater on Fullerton and Greenview (the corner closest to Facets). I loved it because I would be able to see a cartoon and then two features. There I would sit in the movie seats staring at the screen watching a cartoon on a Saturday or some cowboy or war movie. There were some days I would sneak in after school with friends to watch a movie.

Therese: So how much would it cost to see a movie or double feature?

Mr. Hancock: Unlike these crazy prices today; a person could go to the movies for about 35 to 50 cents.

Therese: What prompted you to see a certain movie? Was it the actor, storyline, or genre?

Mr. Hancock: John Wayne was my hero. Anything with John Wayne was icing on the cake. I enjoyed a good cowboy or war movie.

Therese: What about John Wayne made him your hero?

Mr. Hancock: He was always the good guy. He was polite to the women and tried to reason with the man before using brute force. He would cling to his morals and do what he thought was right. He was the hero.

Therese: What about cowboy or war movies made you interested to sneak out and see them?

Mr. Hancock: The movies in the 1950s had heroes and villains that were easily identified. Sometimes you could identify them by the hats they wore. The bad guys normally had black hats on. You knew who to cheer for.

Therese: What was good about that era?

Mr. Hancock: A person would leave a movie feeling good about the world. Again, one knew who were the bad guys and who were the good guys. It was pretty straightforward. You knew that the heroes would do what was morally right in a situation. This could be seen in any cowboy or war movie done in that era.

Therese: What was not good about that era?

Mr. Hancock: If I have to think about it, I would say that it gave a false sense of security. The world in reality was nothing compared to the movies. The real world isn’t straightforward. The real world isn’t morally black and white as shown in the movies. Let us face it; it isn’t a Leave It To Beaver world that we live in today.

Therese: How do movies of today compare and contrast to the movies of the Golden Age?

Mr. Hancock: Today’s movies are not meant for the over-sixty male crowd. There are probably three movies a year that come out that may be worth taking a look. I am not into romantic comedies at all! I dislike science fiction movies and today’s scary movies. If you want to see a real good horror movie, you should watch an Alfred Hitchcock film. Now that is a thriller movie! So far, the only recent movies I have enjoyed are The Godfather, Tombstone, and Saving Private Ryan. I still like the “old” movies better. There was something about them that was wholesome. I loved the movies about cowboys, gangsters, or war. Those were great movies! I guess it is because it was the generation I grew up in.

Therese: Thank you for your time. It has been very helpful and appreciated. I will definitely rent a Hitchcock movie.

Mr. Hancock: Now you are going to see how a real movie is done! It was my pleasure. Thank you.

In my interview with Mr. Hancock, the one sentence that remained in my mind was:

“There was something about them that was wholesome. “

In speaking with Mr. Hancock, I realized how the movies of that era impacted the daily lives of people. It was the place families would go and spend a Saturday together. The place where one could meet friends and spend time together for under a dollar. It was a place where one left “feeling good” about the world they lived in. The movies gave a generation a sense of security about the world, a place one could learn about what society saw as morally right and wrong. It was where villains and heroes were easily identified. It was where morals were straightforward and simple.

In comparing the Golden Age to today’s movie-going experience, there are some similarities. People still go to the movies to spend time with families and friends. Sadly movies today cost more than a dollar. Yet in some of today’s movies, we have become more socially aware of the concerns that affect our world and generation. These concerns can range from health-care issues to the environment. We are not restricted by the Production Code and censorship of the 1930s. Films today are a bit more risqué than in the Golden Age. Yet in some ways, I envy Mr. Hancock’s experience as a movie-goer of that era. In my interview with Mr. Hancock, it seemed the movies created a more simple time.