Readers Remember

At 2 years old back in 1927, I hadn’t a glimmer of what a motion picture was, but I knew it was a really big deal when my parents took me along to the theater to see “The Jazz Singer” one evening.

I was fascinated by moving images on the screen and voices coming out of the mouths of the actors. The loud voices mesmerized me to imitate exactly what they were saying, word by word.

I continued mocking all the dialogue until the harassed management sent an usher to the stage to announce: “The show will be over in 15 minutes.”

The line demanded to be repeated. I called it out in my sonorous best. At that point, the manager zeroed in on my parents and demanded: “Take that child out of here!”

And that was my role in the first feature-length film with spoken dialogue.

VIRGINIA BROOKS

Granada Hills

*

I was a little girl at the train depot in 1932 in Salem, Ill. A small group waited there to see President Hoover’s campaign train come through.

There were mutterings of anger, bitterness and fear as they waited. They needed someone to blame for the Depression and Hoover was the one.

When the train stopped, someone yelled, “Come on out here, Hoover, I want to spit on you!” Then President Hoover’s bland face appeared. I looked down at my worn dusty shoes, afraid the president might blame me for that terrible remark.

HELEN HOWARD

Rancho Santa Margarita

*

In 200 words or less, send us your memories, comments or eyewitness accounts of the 20th century. Write to Century, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053, or e-mail century@latimes.com. Letters may be edited for space.