Stocking seams

made you look!!!

I've just watched, for the umpteenth time, this movie[^] (42nd Street for those of you who don't want to click on the link). I think I first saw it on Channel 9 Melbourne in 1976 after the Olympic Games. The 1976 Olympics were held in Montreal which put them pretty much during the Australian night time. Channel 9 did live coverage which caused many many Australians to miss sleep. They also discovered that transmitter maintenance was much cheaper if they didn't actually turn em off - so after the games were over they went to an all night movie schedule. Those were the golden times for Hollywood musicals on TV in Melbourne. We got three or four different 1930's movies a night on free to air (we didn't have cable TV in those days). Some nights they'd run 4 Marx Brothers movies or another night they'd run Gold Diggers of 1933, Dames and Footlight Parade. I went without sleep!

These movies fascinate me. Over the years I've tried, and failed, to explain to sceptics just why they appeal to me. There's something inside me that yearns for the past that I never experienced. I suspect it dates back to the things no longer remembered that I picked up in my earliest years living in my grandmothers house. I can remember watching Laurel and Hardy on TV when I was about 4 and a half years old and being fascinated not by the slapstick but by the art deco sets. That and the way that Oliver Hardy pronounced the word 'Honolulu'. And make no mistake; things like that DO affect young children.

In 1983 I started taping these movies - they were still regular occurrences on late night TV in Melbourne - well, regular enough that I could tape em. But I suppose the demographics of those who set the programming for late night TV changed during the late 80's; these movies gradually disappeared and by 1991 it was quite the surprise to find Footlight Parade scheduled (Tuesday November 5 1991, 4:00 AM - Channel 10).

So why the fascination with a 71 year old movie that was made by the Hollywood factory? Partly it's the sheer age of the thing. I find that I no longer look centre frame; I find myself picking out a hopeful face, an extra, who in 1933 hoped it would lead to a career. They're all dead by now, those who became stars and those who didn't but I imagine that most of them went on to live normal non hollywood lives. (Anyone who wants to quote Pink Floyd at me about lives of quiet desperation are welcome).

And the music is damn good. Here I have to confess a penchant for (amongst many kinds of music) the music of both the Weimar Republic and 1930's dance music. Again I suspect long forgotten childhood memories; my father, 44 years dead, was a jazz drummer and I dimly recall gramophone records played at home.

Oh and the stocking seams? I watched the movie with my 16 year old step-daughter Morgan. She stayed with it until the musical numbers struck up (it's not really rap). She noticed the black lines on all the womens legs and commented. I'm barely young enough to not remember that as a normal thing - but I was able to explain that stockings up until the mid 50's had a seam that had to be straightened. Her comment? It sucks to be old!

Ah well, one day she too will be old.