In spite of everything, we enjoyed ourselves. The local theater ran three different shows every week. Each show consisted of a double feature, coming attractions, Movietone news, a cartoon and what were billed as selected shorts. In addition, in the summer the Saturday matinee included a chapter of a serial. It ended each week with the main characters caught in a situation that appeared would end in sure death, and the plot then picked up the next week with a death defying rescue.

Since the three weekly shows were Wednesday and Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and Sunday and Monday, it was possible to see two separate shows each weekend. Once a month, there was a Polish movie on Tuesday night. Then there were two movie theaters in neighboring Northampton that could be reached by buses that left every half hour.

The movies themselves were different from today. There were the war movies designed to induce people to an even greater war effort. Many of these were titled with locations of WWII battles such as “Wake Island,” “Bataan” and “Guadalcanal Diary.” If it was a war action movie, the military unit usually had a smart aleck who finally died bravely, someone from Brooklyn, a farmer from the Midwest, a Southerner, a Texan, a poet or budding author and a Jew. Since the military was not integrated, there were not any blacks. More glamorous were those that depicted dashing pilots flying in the army air corps shooting down those dirty Japs, or navy men sinking German submarines. Other shows were set on the home front with the brave wives waiting for their men in the service while doing essential war work.

Then, there were the many comedies with characters like Abbott and Costello and Bob Hope usually in uniform. Of course many of the movie stars were in the military. For example, Jimmy Stewart who attained the rank of Colonel, and Clark Gable both flew bombing missions in Europe. It was said that Field Marshal Goering posted a special reward for the capture of Clark Gable.

In any case, the movies were much more chaste than today. One could take a casual date without being embarrassed. The Hayes Office censored all movies. The length and passion of a kiss were regulated. Married couples slept in twin beds at least thirty inches apart. Toilets were not shown. No profane language was allowed. “Frankly, my dear I don’t give a damn” in Gone With The Wind was a special exception. Everyone stayed fully clothed. The closest they came to sex was a kiss, with the music rising in the background, a cut to black, and then a scene of the couple the next morning. We did not have to watch the whole gory process. We knew what happened.