Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Beyond the Book: It's 1950 Again


Hello, and welcome to this edition of Beyond the Book, Elaine’s attempt to let you know what her characters are doing after the conclusion of the book.  My name is Liesel Wolf. I was Elaine’s heroine in Never Trust a Pretty Wolf. Since I live in a midcentury modern home, I’ve gotten interested in the 1950’s. I’ve share some recipes with you and showed you my house, and today I’d like to talk about movies.

Just like people in previous decades, people in the fifties loved the movies. Hollywood had a lot of competition from TV, though. Shows like I Love Lucy were taking viewers away from the movies, so Holly came up with idea for the first 3D movies. To watch the movies you needed special glasses. They were made of polarized cardboard with one red colored lens and one green one. The images seemed to jump off the screen at you. Audiences loved it, but some of the movies were so silly that the fad didn’t last long.

Before it died away, though, in October of 1953, you could buy a 3D comic for only 250% more than regular price. How much was that? A quarter.

Besides 3D, the 1950’s saw the introduction of drive-in movies. Americans did love their cars after all! Most of the drive-ins are gone, but there are a few left. The picture shows the Capri Drive-In in Coldwater, Michigan. (The picture is from Wikimedia Commons, and the author is Andrew from White Pigeon)

There were a lot of good movies in the fifties, but two stand out. The first is Singing in the Rain starring Gene Kelley and Debbie Reynolds. It remains one of the most popular movies ever made. When Gene Kelley did a dance number in the rain, they mixed milk with the water so the rain would show up better.

The other film that I think stands out is On the Waterfront. This movie starred Marlon Brando. It was shocking because the actors used bad language, and the movie showed violence. Sounds like a modern movie, doesn’t it?

Check back next Tuesday for the next installment of my series on the 1950’s.

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