On Saturday nights in the 1940s, we looked forward to taking the Sun Valley bus from Scottsdale to Phoenix to go to the movies. You either found a buddy to tag along or, when you got your driver’s license, you borrowed the family pickup truck and asked a girl to go.
The Fox, Orpheum, Rialto, Strand, Studio and Phoenix drive-in theaters usually screened a new show each week. Later, the Vista and the Palms theaters offered more choices.
The shows ran continuously. You entered the theater whenever you arrived and stayed until you got to the place in the film when you first sat down. Movies were shorter, and most were double features. The theaters also ran 10- to 12-minute newsreels and a cartoon. These were placed between the main features.
The newsreels gave us insights into national and world events — insights that we now try to get from television news. I say “try” because today’s TV newscasters only present limited footage to accompany their stories. The newsreel cameramen had more time to ply their craft because they were subject to fewer deadline pressures.
No foul language
There were other differences from today. For example, we didn’t have to listen to foul language, and the actors kept their clothes on. The shows were still thrilling, but the elements that make it necessary to rate today’s movies PG, PG-13, R or NC-17 were left out.
Those kinds of things have never added to a good script. They only appeal to the darker side of a small minority of viewers and the greed of the studios that go to obscene lengths to squeeze every last dollar out of every picture. I imagine these movies lose more folks than they attract. Who’s going to take their family to an R- or NC-17 rated film?
Today, my wife, Cora, and I can only find five to eight movies a year that we hear are worth watching and minus the filth. We still enjoy a good mystery, a musical, a comedy or an old-time cowboy picture.
After the theater
Back in the ‘40s, if we rode the bus to a theater, we had to leave the movie by 9 p.m. to catch the last Sun Valley bus back to Scottsdale. However, if we had our own wheels, we loved to take our dates to a drive-in restaurant or soda fountain, particularly in the summer.
One, the Polar Bar, featured “Zombies” and “Sissy Zombies.” A Zombie had 10 big dips of ice cream. The Sissy Zombie had fewer.
I can’t imagine tackling one of those things today, particularly after eating popcorn and drinking a soda at a movie. But, back in those days, we each ordered a Zombie of one kind or another. And, I don’t remember sending that great big glass goblet back with any ice cream left in it.
Saturday nights were special then and they remain so today. Time permitting, we still rent a good picture and make some popcorn. Or, when we can find a good picture, we get off the sofa and go to the show.
Paul Messinger was raised in Scottsdale and founded Messinger Mortuaries in 1959. Reach him at 480-860-2300 or 480-945-9521.
The Fox, Orpheum, Rialto, Strand, Studio and Phoenix drive-in theaters usually screened a new show each week. Later, the Vista and the Palms theaters offered more choices.
The shows ran continuously. You entered the theater whenever you arrived and stayed until you got to the place in the film when you first sat down. Movies were shorter, and most were double features. The theaters also ran 10- to 12-minute newsreels and a cartoon. These were placed between the main features.
The newsreels gave us insights into national and world events — insights that we now try to get from television news. I say “try” because today’s TV newscasters only present limited footage to accompany their stories. The newsreel cameramen had more time to ply their craft because they were subject to fewer deadline pressures.
No foul language
There were other differences from today. For example, we didn’t have to listen to foul language, and the actors kept their clothes on. The shows were still thrilling, but the elements that make it necessary to rate today’s movies PG, PG-13, R or NC-17 were left out.
Those kinds of things have never added to a good script. They only appeal to the darker side of a small minority of viewers and the greed of the studios that go to obscene lengths to squeeze every last dollar out of every picture. I imagine these movies lose more folks than they attract. Who’s going to take their family to an R- or NC-17 rated film?
Today, my wife, Cora, and I can only find five to eight movies a year that we hear are worth watching and minus the filth. We still enjoy a good mystery, a musical, a comedy or an old-time cowboy picture.
After the theater
Back in the ‘40s, if we rode the bus to a theater, we had to leave the movie by 9 p.m. to catch the last Sun Valley bus back to Scottsdale. However, if we had our own wheels, we loved to take our dates to a drive-in restaurant or soda fountain, particularly in the summer.
One, the Polar Bar, featured “Zombies” and “Sissy Zombies.” A Zombie had 10 big dips of ice cream. The Sissy Zombie had fewer.
I can’t imagine tackling one of those things today, particularly after eating popcorn and drinking a soda at a movie. But, back in those days, we each ordered a Zombie of one kind or another. And, I don’t remember sending that great big glass goblet back with any ice cream left in it.
Saturday nights were special then and they remain so today. Time permitting, we still rent a good picture and make some popcorn. Or, when we can find a good picture, we get off the sofa and go to the show.
Paul Messinger was raised in Scottsdale and founded Messinger Mortuaries in 1959. Reach him at 480-860-2300 or 480-945-9521.
Resource : http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/scottsdale-history/2017/02/23/scottsdale-saturday-night-movie-dates-change-over-years/98215764/
