Cocoli, where the living is......easy. An aerial shot of Cocoli. (Circa 1984) This is the front interior of a 1949 Desoto. Check out the hanging dice from the rear mirror. This was something you had to have to be cool. Then you will also see the steering wheel knob or "Cheater" as some of us called it. This was a must! Then there was the radio... Yes a real necessity to listen to all the oldies and goodies music from AFRT-SCN Fort Clayton. Yes this was before bucket seats so you could have your main squeeze almost on your lap. This automobile was perfect for seeing the flick at the local Drive-In show or parking up on Contractor's Hill off K-9 Road to see the submarine races. The recent movie "Tailor of Panama" shows the wonders of Panama. What a lost paradise! We must all remember that Panama is more than just a canal. In my day Humphrey Bogart had quite a following. Maybe it was the tough guy image he portrayed on the silver screen. A movie that came out during that time was "Across the Pacific." It was a movie about some saboteurs who wanted to blow up the Panama Canal. Well Bogey a retired CIA agent on vacation in Panama, takes care of the bad guys in quick order. Something I always loved about his pictures. My all time Humphrey Bogart favorite movie is "Casablanca." I was born during the war years. Many of the movies that I saw at the local theater for 10 cents dealt with the eternal battle of good vs evil. Nothing has really changed from those days. The fight continues even today. We must remain vigilant and pray hard! God bless us all. CASABLANCA the Best Picture of 1942. This classic love story is full of intrigue, witty dialogue, and a host of outstanding co-stars including Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Paul Henreid, Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre. Bogart received the first of his three Best Actor Academy Award nominations for this film. CASABLANCA has already gone down in history as a fabulous love story between Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart. It is eternal as William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. CASABLANCA has the most famous goodbye in cinema history when Rick says to Ilsa at the airport: "Where I'm going you can't follow. What I've got to do you can't be any part of. Ilsa, I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you'll understand that. Now, now . . . Here's looking at you, kid." At the same time, CASABLANCA provides a dozen or more memorable quotes which seem to pepper the English language. The movie has an assortment of unforgettable colorful characters that provide the right touch of relief to the seriousness of the main story line. In my book it is the best picture ever made and rewards the viewer each time he or she sees it with a Ahhhh and overall good feeling... Yes indeed! Then the plot thickens as Captain Renault, Lazlo, Rick and Ilsa arranging the getaway at the airport...but the adventure isn't over yet. Louie (Captain Renault) then gives one of the most memorable quotes in all law enforcement when he says, "Major Strasser's been shot. Round up the usual suspects." Stagecoach 1939 This landmark 1939 Western began the legendary relationship between John Ford and John Wayne, and became the standard for all subsequent Westerns. It solidified Ford as a major director and established Wayne as a charismatic screen presence. Seen today, Stagecoach still impresses as the first mature instance of a Western that is both mythic and poetic. The story about a cross-section of troubled passengers unraveling under the strain of Indian attack contains all of Ford's incomparable storytelling trademarks--particularly swift action and social introspection--underscored by the painted landscape of Monument Valley. And what an ensemble of actors: Thomas Mitchell (who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar as the drunken doctor), Claire Trevor, Donald Meek, Andy Devine, and the magical John Carradine. The films striking use of chiaroscuro lighting and low ceilings made the films action and story more dramatic and set the standard for all westerns to follow. It also made John Wayne a star. John Wayne, The Duke, was born Marion Robert Morrison on May 26 in 1907 in Winterset, Iowa. His first major role was in 1936 in the film The Big Trail. It wasn't until John Ford cast him in Stagecoach (1939) that he finally achieved stardom. He appeared in over 200 films, including many early Westerns that are no longer available. He won an Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of Rooster Cogburn in True Grit (1969). He was also nominated for Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) and The Alamo (1960). John Wayne died on June 11, 1979. Pilgrim,do you remember the Saturday Matinee in the Canal Zone? Well Pilgrim, we don't have all day just tell them how it was... The Saturday Afternoon Matinee in the old Canal Zone was a tradition and a fun time for all little kids. Every townsite featured a Saturday Afternoon Matinee in the 40’s and 50’s. All the kids looked forward to the picture show of chapters, 3 or 4 cartoon features, and maybe a newsreel. This was all before everybody in the Canal Zone had a TV in their living room. Most of what was available was strictly low band radio programs. With a crystal and a sharp needle you could build your own set for pittance. You could listen to Amos and Andy, Jack Benny, Bud Abbot and Lou Costello, Lucky Strike’s Hit Parade, the whistler, Gunsmoke, Death Valley Days, the Lone Ranger, FBI in Peace & War, Danger, Rin-Tin-Tin and Sergeant Preston of the Yukon.....just to name a few. We all did our homework listening to the radio or reading comic books with a flashlight under the covers. There was Captain America, Red Rider and his little companion, Little Beaver, Superman, Batman & Robin, the Phantom, Plasticman, the flying group called the Blackhawks and the cowboys; Tom Mix, Hapalong Cassidy and the likes of Joe Palooka, Archie and friends, and other comic books that escape me now. But the highlight of the weekend was going to the Saturday afternoon matinee. That is how it was back in the old Canal Zone. It didn’t take a King’s Ransom to see a great western. Whenever there was a John Wayne movie it was a must see...Yes indeed and all you needed was one silver dime. The drinks, popcorn, chocolate bars (Babe Ruth or Butterfingers) and maybe some peppermint sticks or gum you could get all for another 25 cents tops. Honest! Most weekly allowances were about 50 cents. This meant you took out the garbage every night, polished your dad’s shoes (2 or 3 pairs) and washed the family bus once a week. The military shoes the Cuna Concession would do them. Cutting the yard was done by Public Works for the US Navy or a legion of grass cutters by Panama Canal Company. It just depended what townsite you called home. But 50 cents went along way back then. In the early days 5 plays on the jukebox for a nickel. A loaf of bread 8 cents. Pork chops, 15 cents a pound. Comics were a nickel a piece. A student assistant during the summer of 1956 -1957 earned a whopping 50 cents an hour. But everybody thought they were in hog heaven! Besides most Panama Canal Company skilled employees earned a lot more. And the overtime was out of sight. Before TV in the Canal Zone the families were huge. The average family size in the old Canal Zone was about 6. And some were a baker’s dozen. Uncle Sam took care of the kids by providing a special allowance for more kids then only two. Somebody said it was $2,500 per little kid. I don’t really know for sure. But all I really know was the Saturday afternoon matinees were packed! Sometimes it was SRO or you where SOL. But hey, you could always go to another townsite and see what was being featured at their matinee. The hook was the chapters. It could be say Dick Tracy chasing a number one fugitive on a narrow mountain road at night in one of those all black sedans with Tommy guns blazing as the organ music grew louder and just before the cut.......you see Dick Tracy’s black sedan going over the cliff. Then the screen would fade black. That was the hook.......an invitation to come back to next Saturday’s matinee to see what happen to Dick Tracy. Of course, the following week you would see how Dick Tracy jumps clear of his car has it plummets over the cliff and explodes. Great fare for little kids. Then we would have cartoons like maybe Bugs Bunny or Speedy Gonzales or Tom and Jerry. All the kids would laugh their heads off as they ate all their goodies. Then when you thought the movie would never begin.......the curtains would close and the announcement on the screen would be.....”Now presenting our Feature Presentation, ‘Randy rides again with John Wayne and Gabby Hayes.’” What a kick! Of course, all the kids, at least many had worn their guns. The Cowboys and Cowgirls were all pack’in. Many wore chaps and even carried saddlebags. All these outfits were available at the Panama Canal Company Commissary. No little kids would think of not bringing their guns to the show. Especially if it was a western! Why? Well how would they be able to help the good guys when they got in trouble. They always did. That was a given. Most of the six shooters on the screen fired away like a machine guns......no reloading was necessary. It was easy to tell the good guys from the bad guys. All the good guys wore white hats and the bad guys black hats. There would be 3 or 4 bank robberies and maybe even a couple of train robberies too. Then a posse would be form to chase the bad guys. John Wayne or Roy Roger would be friends of the US Marshall or Sheriff and they would help him round up the bad guys. There would always be a scene with an old timer leaning on a hitching post and the leader of the posse would ask, “Did you see any of them?” Well, the response would always be, “Sheriff they went that way.” Well, at that the whole theater would roar. And of course all during the showing the audience would be carrying on conversations with those on the screen. If it got too loud the usher with his flashlight would be around to quiet everybody. One of the spectacular scenes was the trick riding. It seems that the posse and the bad guys would pass a group of rocks about 3 or 4 times. Then the guns would be blazing away with that familiar ring. Much of the falls and trick riding was done without stand-ins. John Wayne had started as a stuntman. So it came quite easy for him. Then who can forget the stage coach chase scene as the bad mask men came out of the rocks to ambush the stage. Then there would be a damsel in distress as her run away buckboard took off to parts unknown. In all these scenes all the little kids were using their guns and really getting into the picture. Then of course another great scene was the rearrangement of the Saloon’s furniture. The tables and chairs would break apart. The kids would roar! People would get thrown out the window or through the swinging bat doors. And through it all nobody would loose their hats. It just seemed that the hats were glued on........yes, they were. Oh, did I mention the one reel westerns were in fabulous black and white. The whole matinee would last 90 minutes tops. Then you would either pick up your horse (imaginary one) you left outside tied to the hitching post or wait for the stage (family bus to pick you up in front of the clubhouse. Of course, once it arrived with your mother or father at the wheel, there was always a fight to see who rode shotgun. By the time you got home you were famished. Your mother would say, “Supper is in an hour. Why don’t you listen to the radio......read a comic book. But stay close. I don’t want you going out and getting all sweating. Your dad should be home soon, he got called in to work to handle an emergency. No, you can’t have any oatmeal cookies now. Here why don’t you help me cleanup this chocolate icing out of this bowl.” And so it went those wonderful days in the old Canal Zone when life was rather simple, not difficult and the only thing really on your mind was, “I wonder if.......Dick Tracy gets out of the warehouse explosion in Chapter 13. Well, we best all make some plans to go to the Saturday afternoon matinee at Cocoli or Balboa. “Hey, Mom, I’m going to use the phone to see if any of the kids are going to next Saturday’s matinee.....okay?” “Okay Louie but don’t stay on it for hours, Dad may call.” “You bet Mom.” That is how it went almost any Saturday afternoon at the picture show. Do you remember? Well, gotta run. Hope my little story tickled a few brain cells......and maybe........just maybe you recalled how it was back then........when life was a bit simpler and a silver dime would open up the wonderful world of the Saturday afternoon matinee.....yes, Kid. You bet. John Wayne was a winner in any fight. We were proud to ride shotgun with John Wayne and back his play. After the movie we always left walking a little taller and feeling good knowing that again good had triumph over evil! Although John Wayne is gone now, I for one will never forget the joy he gave us little kids through his westerns and the other 200 movies that he made. I was never disappointed. Here is a very rare picture of John Wayne when he was just getting started in Hollywood. John Wayne was not ashame to show his patriotism. This is one of the things I liked about this true American. Freedom is not free. God Bless American. Welcome to Cocoli. On the street where you live. The Fozz of Happy Days... All the kids tried to wear their hair slick down with a duck tail in the back... Just like the Fozz. All you needed was a little dab of that popular selling little grease kids stuff like Top Brass or Brylcream and it would do the trick. Some Cocoli Guys at a Dance. The Cocoli boys and girls were great dancers. There was a very popular group called the Five String Busters who often played to the enjoyment of everybody. The Wurlizer Jukebox The Wurlitzer Jukeboxes were everywhere in the old Canal Zone. From Clubhouses to watering holes there was a jukebox in a corner. If I recall a play was only a nickle. You could be the DJ by selecting your favorite songs. Life was great listening to the oldies and goodies. El Puente de Las Americas Sunsets with a wink Or maybe it is daybreak It is Carpe Diem Living in Cocoli meant that the Miraflores Locks was the center of our lives. After 1962 El Puente de Las Americas became our center of our lives. We would cross it daily going to Balboa to shop at the commie and for a shopping trip to Avenida Central in downtown Panama City. Life was an adventure as we all lived the Panama experience. An early picture of Miraflores Locks with a US Navy battlewagon making a transit north bound. Notice that this is before the swing bridge was constructed. Battlewagons in a line going in harms way The US Navy from the beginning had a major role in the defense of the Panama Canal. Fueling at sea, a favorite time for we usually got mail from home. “And the sea will grant each man new hope… as sleep brings dreams of home.” ---- Christopher Columbus “There is a tide in the affairs of man, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; omitted, all the voyages of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea we are now afloat and we must take the current when it serves or lose our ventures.” --- William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar It has been a real pleasure sharing some of my love for a little town called Cocoli, where the living is easy......I spent almost all my growing up in the Old Canal Zone in Cocoli. I left to travel with my Uncle Sam in the US Navy. Now as they say ".....let the journey continue!" Check out another page.....you'll be glad you did! Take care and drop by Cocoli again. Hasta la Vista. See you on the flip side. Photo Credits: Author, Hollywood, CZ, US Navy and PCC Archives More Little Stories US Navy, not just a job but an adventure. Sing and rejoice, tra-la-la, for fortune is smiling upon you!