jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I've been watching some old movies lately - like from the 1930s and 40s. I noticed something odd: most of the actors are old - like 60-plus. There are policemen who are way past the age of retirement. The same goes for doctors, nurses, and most other characters. I wonder if people simply worked until they dropped back then, or if having older characters made them have an air of authority.

I was watching an old Sherlock Holmes movie from 1944, and I saw what looked like an Omega enlarger. The enlarger originated in 1936, so it could have been what I saw. It made two appearances: in a plane as a bomb site and in a scientist's lab. I used one of them back in the day, and it stood right out to me.

I saw another piece of photo equipment in a James Bond film. A satellite was opening its antenna in space, and they used a flash gun with a folding reflector to represent the antenna. I still have the exact same unit.

Dannj

I think those actors were in their 30s and 40s…they just looked older😂

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

😂

Well, there is something to that. People did look older back in the day. Just look at yearbook pictures from years ago.

One thought was that most young people were involved in WW II, but that didn't last all that long.

BebuLamar

Yes those people looked older for their age.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

They did that so they could buy booze.

BebuLamar

And I thought in the old days you could buy booze when you were 18 not 21 like now. Any way think about it I am always of legal age to buy booze.
I was born in Vietnam and they didn't have the law prohibited children from buying alcoholic beverages. My parents had me went to buy booze when they have visitors. I came to the US in 1975 when I was 20 year old and 18 was the legal age to buy booze. When they changed to 21 I was much older than 21 already.

elee950021 Loc: New York, NY

Jerry!

Have you noticed all those current actors who are older, also 60s and above in age? Many have created second careers as action characters. How about The Expendables series of movies where every action actor of the past decades appear?

Speaking of Simmon-Omega enlargers, when my wife and I had our custom lab, studio and rental darkroom business, we were paid a visit by Fred Simmon, who was President Emeritus of Simmon-Omega Co., one of the brands handled by Berkey Marketing in Queens, NY. He was the last surviving co-founder of the company. He was "retired" but still the company's public relations person and visited users of Omega products.

His visit, in the late 70s to our lab was a wonderful occasion as we told him how we started with B22 and early D2 enlargers and when business was good, graduated to a dozen D5s, D2vs and six Chromega color enlargers. We reminisced with him about his early days and his experiences with the military during WW2. A very nice man who passed in 1981 and had an obituary in the NY Times about him.

Speaking of movies with photographic props and stuff, there's a scene in Tom Cruise's 2002 "Minority Report" movie where his character visits a future (2050s?) photographer at her studio and there is a 250-sheet box of Ilford printing paper sitting on a table (I believe). The director sure thought that film would still be around at that time and not digital!

We once, back in the day, rented a simple darkroom setup with a small enlarger (not sure if it was an Omega B22) and some trays, clips and other miscellaneous stuff for a "Law and Order" episode.

Be well! Have a great Thanksgiving all! Ed

EdJ0307 Loc: out west someplace

I have been watching a lot of movies from the 30s, 40s, and 50s on the local PBS channel. One thing I notice about those movies is that a lot of the characters are smoking, or they are holding a cigarette but not smoking. I wonder if the tobacco companies get the studios to have the characters smoke so they can entice the audiences to buy more cigarettes.

therwol Loc: USA

I see a lot of smoking in today's British shows. I would think they'd know better by now. You also see it a lot in TV shows from the 60s.

As for the age of the actors in the 40s, you have to take into account WWII, but that doesn't explain the geriatric parents of young children before that.

Burtzy Loc: Bronx N.Y. & Simi Valley, CA

I've seen the Sherlock Holmes film. I believe it was called "Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon." And the Bond film had to be "Diamonds Are Forever."

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Great story!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Yes, right on both accounts.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Definitely! No doubt about it.

"Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" was promoted and supported by the diamond industry.

I can't remember the last time I saw a person smoking in real life. I grew up in rooms full of cigarette smoke.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Just saw a Gralab timer (I still have 2) in the NetFlix series “Travelers”

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I believe it varied by state. I went to college in NY state in the late’50s and we could driink at 18 but when I went home to PA the age was 21. I didn’t keep track of when it changed but it was after I turned 21. At 84 it’s not an issue.