Cinema Canada (Dec 1977-Jan 1978)

SPOT LIGHT on curly posen | Curly S. Posen has been in the business — the entertainment business — for a long time. Being president of the Motion Picture Theatre Association of Ontario for the last five years is only the culmination of a career which started as an usher and ran through stoking the calliope and booking strippers, not to mention owning and running theatres. He remembers how it was, and talks about the beginnings of exhibition in Canada. Outspoken as always, Posen has seen enough to know what he thinks. Cinema-Canada: How did you get into the film business? Curly S. Posen: I was going to school and one of the fellas sitting next to me, his father owned a movie theatre, so we used to go in on Friday and Saturday and usher. That’s how I got into it. I was in the music business too. After I left school I went with a carnival and then with a circus, and played the calliope. Cinema-Canada: Which circus? Curly S. Posen: The Maple Leaf Circus. We had a lot of fun, you know, and it was all one big happy family. The travelling was tough, because we used to travel in broken-down trucks anywhere from 100 to 250 miles a day or every second day, because you couldn’t play in towns close by. Nobody believed in it at the time, just like the film industry. You know, if you're next door, you can’t play because you’re going to lose business by it. We had a big top and we used to have to set it up each time. Everybody worked at everything, don’t forget, even cooking and washing and washing down the horses. We had clowns and everything. I used to be kind of an entertainer too, I used to dance. Cinema-Canada: You danced in the circus? Curly S. Posen: Well, I did, you know, hoofing. I used to be a soft shoe dancer and then I went into ballet — I used to take ballet lessons when I was 6/ Cinema Canada a kid. You can’t tell it now, by my size. I was 107 pounds then and I danced ballet. And then I used to travel around with burlesque. I used to play with the band in burlesque. I worked with Gypsy Rose Lee and Phil Silvers. Cinema-Canada: Do you remember Phil Silvers? Curly S. Posen: Oh yes, he knows me today. What’s-his-name, Red Buttons, I remember when he started in the shows. We were doing a communist scene with Phil Silvers, I think it was, and Red was running down the aisle yelling, “Down with the Communists’’ and he used to fall on his pratt. photo: John Wlodarezyk Was there real stripping back then? No, no. They were wearing net brassieres, and G-strings, you know. When they first started, there were net pants actually. There was no stripping — they had pants. Then they got the G-string. Rose LaRose was the only one that always wanted to lose her G-string — she was the dirtiest one of the bunch. Today she has a big burlesque house, I understand, in Toledo — a big nightclub that features strippers. What kind of life was that? We enjoyed it. Every show was one big happy family. The person himself meant something. I remember I went to Muskegan one time with one of the shows, and one of the trumpet players who was with us, his mother wouldn’t let him go — he was only 17 at the time. She didn’t want him to go away because she was afraid he wouldn’t go to church on Sunday mornings, you see. So I promised her that I would take him. I went to Catholic church every Sunday with him, and it didn’t bother me. When they kneeled, I kneeled and when they crossed, I crossed and that was that. So they didn’t know the difference, and I used to go with him every Sunday because I had promised his mother. She believed me so she let him go. I guess I had an honest face... I don’t know about today... What happened to your orchestra? It’s still going. When did you get into that? I’ve been doing that since I was a kid in the school band. I was playing in the band with the shows I was going with, and I played the calliope when I was in the circus. You never left that? I wouldn’t give that up. That’s relaxing. You know, when I go out I see how crazy people can be at an affair. I enjoy myself. What kind of affairs does your orchestra play at? Just private affairs. The dates have gone down quite a bit. I don’t want to play rock all night because I’m more of a Guy Lombardo type, and because they raise the scales on them. I mean, they used to use big bands; today you’re going out with:3 and 4 musicians. At one time I used to be a big shot — I used to say, sorry, if you're going to have the affair at this place, you’re going to have so many