Introduction
Data collection through interviews offers a researcher first hand information on the subject. This paper explores the movie scene in the 1960s as explained by the 74 years old retired American marine called Mr. Van Clerk. Specifically, the treatise explores the movie theatres in the downtown of New York City.
Mr. Van Clerk is a retired Marine who lives in the downtown area of the New York City. He was raised in the same neighborhood until he joined the military in the early 1970s. In the view of this retired citizen, action movie was the main center of attraction to movie theatres in the downtown area. Most of the action movies were inspired by the previous Second World War and the need to paint the war soldiers of this war as the true heroes of America.
Mr. Van recollects that the entire geographical region of downtown New York had only three movie theatres. The theatres were located in the eastern corner, Central Street and the southwest end near the Downtown National Park.
Though several decades have passed, Mr. Van describes his first day at the movie theatre in the company of his father at the age of 14 years. Specifically, the first action movie he watched was the famous Attack blockbuster. This event reaffirmed his passion for action movies and career choice. In fact, Mr. Van ended up as an army officer to emulate the main character in this particular movie.
In the 1960s, movie tickets were sold several days before the actual screening. Mr. Van stated that there were different types of movie tickets depending on the number of attendees and sitting position in the theatre. Though the price margin for different kinds of tickets was fairly negligible, Van recalls that having a VIP ticket would mean a better view and free snacks.
The snacks that were sold during screening in these movie theatres were the traditional pop corns and soft drinks. Mr. Van recollects that the female ushers would serve the snacks to the attendees at a cost of between five cents and ten cents. The most expensive snack was the milk shake which was retailing at fifteen cents.
The movie theatres, according to Mr. Van, showed three films for each admission during the weekends and two films during the weekdays. The busiest day in the movie theatres was Fridays since most releases were screened on this day.
Though the movie screens were black and white, Mr. Van recollects that the sound proofing technology was in existence and viewing quality was average. The main themes in the action movies of the 1960s were heroism , revenge, and punishment for felony against the state. Mr. Van recalls the movies Attack and Vikings as his favorite action films. He has since kept a copy of each in his expansive action series home library.
In the view of Mr. Van, movie producers of the 1960s were generally ethical on the extent of what they displayed as explicitly violent motion images. He recalls attending these films with his seven years old sibling without having to deal with later nightmares from this minor. This is no longer the case since Mr. Van has reservation for excessive violence display in action movies despite the parental advisory message exempting teenage audience.
Conclusion
Conclusively, Mr. Van accepts that the current movie theatres have better sound proofing, viewing, and sitting arrangement. It is apparent that action movies were more appreciated in the 1960s than today in the memory of this retired soldier.