In the cinemas of Valera, the hustle and bustle was formed / By Alfredo Matheus

About 55 years ago, the Delicias Cinema (14th Street and 16th Avenue) was inaugurated. That night, the city of Valera came to a standstill; everyone wanted to see the famous actors from Radio Caracas Television who were the guest stars at such a festive event… I was more than amazed to see a line of black cars from which the artists were getting out, receiving the applause of the sovereign.

The Delicias Cinema then opened its doors to the public. When I was 13, I couldn’t go in to see “C” censorship films, where naked women in the nude caused a stir in a region that still maintained high moral values. Since everything has a solution, we gave a bolivar to the doorman, the popular “Maracucho”, so that he would let us in to see the “big movie” of pornography only for those over 18.

Lots of fights at Cinelandia

On Sundays, long queues formed at Cinelandia (Av. 11 with Calle 10) to see “Santo, the silver masked man” or Pedro Infante and his Mexican music. At the movie theater ticket booths, there were huge fist fights; nobody wanted to stand there watching their favorite movie. “El Loco Toro,” a tough fighter from 15th Street and 12th Avenue, would punch his way through and buy up to 50 tickets that he would later resell for one more bolivar to those who did not want to participate in that fight of shouting and hitting.

Pedro Infante’s admirers were prepared with their light-hearted quartets motivated by radio propaganda: “If the cocuy came from Scotland, it would be priced like whiskey”within a few minutes they were singing the artist’s songs and shouting: “Long live beloved Mexico.”

The Valera Cinema

Located in front of Plaza Bolívar, on Thursdays of “D” censorship, there was not “room for so many people”, many had to watch the film standing up. Halfway through the documentary, “the shouting of the year” began when the technician Tálamo changed the film reels, it was deafening.

Tálamo turned on the light and in a strong voice gave orders to the crowd: “Gentlemen, either you stay calm as if you were going to be operated on or I won’t show any more films.” The silence was total, Tálamo changed the reel and the fun continued.

Mexican style mustache

The passion of the people of Valera for Mexican films was so great that men began to wear a mustache just like the actor Jorge Negrete. The hairstyle of Javier Solís. The walk of Pedro Infante. To dance like “Cantinflas” and fight like Santo, the silver masked man.

At the entrance to the cinema, customers were delighted with their friend Betancourt and his 100 kilos of muscles. He was a bit of a stutterer, they asked him: What do you have for 0.25 cents? He answered without any complex: “Tooorooontooosss”, chooocooolaaateee. The city christened him the popular “Chocolate”.

The fight is fighting

When the movies of the immortal fighter Bruce Lee became fashionable, in the neighborhoods the fights between the youngsters were with kicks… On the outskirts of Cinelandia, it was a party of home-cooked food: Pedro the Italian and his tasty arepas, there the name “arepas mataperros” was born. He prepared a bread stuffed with meat, it is said that in Valera the first Venezuelan hamburger was known. “Alirio, pata e´ croche” he stunned with his cry: “Lleeegaaarooon los peeerroooosss»He was the first hot dog vendor the city knew.

The caraotas hallaquitas (8 for a bolivar) flew from the pots of the housewives who came from Santa Eduviges Hill… Don Jorge and his homemade candy store hawked, “put your hand in my child, put your hand in my child.” The Haitian was a real spectacle with the huge basket of plantains on his head. When he saw a beautiful woman pass by, he would exclaim: “Oh, what a delicious toast, I wish I could eat that toast”…The teenagers exchanged stories about Memín, Hermelinda, Juan sin miedo, The Phantom, Tarzan, Mandrake the Magician.

It was a wonderful Valera, clean from head to toe, there were no garbage dumps in the streets, respect was supreme, little was stolen from the public treasury, and you could not bring bags or animals through Plaza Bolívar.