Until at least the end of the 1960s in the UK it was the practice at the end of the final performance in cinemas to play the National Anthem. Some people (especially us youths) would ignore it and leave but most of the audience would stand at respectful attention until the end. Also at the close of each day’s TV schedule the National Anthem would be played on each channel (only 3 or 4 back then), usually accompanied by footage of the Union Jack or the Queen.
Did Americans have the same custom in theatres, on TV, etc?
Definitely at the end of the broadcast day on TV. So many stations now operate 24/7/52, that I think it’s fallen by the wayside. I don’t ever recall hearing the national anthem when going to the movies, not even when I was a kid. Maybe they showed something patriotic at the end of the evening during the war; I don’t know.
I lived in Britain for a time back in the '70s, and remember being surprised at the patriotic closing the first time I went to a cinema. I also cannot see a choc ice these days without wanting to shout “Albatross!”
Ray Bradbury wrote a short story entitled “The Anthem Sprinters”. It revolved around a sporting event that required the competitors to race each other out of the theatre in the time gap between the ending of the film and the start of the anthem(Ireland).
In Ontario, Canada, they used to play the national anthem before every movie. People were expected to stand. I’m not sure when it disappeared, but I recall this from the early to mid 70s.
Personally I wish they’d ditch the thing from sporting events. What a stupid custom.
In Thailand, the national anthem is played on TV and radio twice every day, at 8am and 6pm. It is also blared over loudspeakers in towns and villages, and everyone is expected to stop and stand at attention. Even in Bangkok, although these days in the capital it’s limited mainly to places like the train station or popular public spots like Victory Monument, and it’s often difficult to hear it above the noise. You won’t hear it in, say, the modern shopping malls. But it’s always funny to watch clueless newbies when everyone stops and stands at attention while they (the newbies) keep stumbling along, wondering what the heck’s going on.
In cinemas, the king’s anthem – NOT the national album like many foreigners mistakenly believe – is played before each showing, and everyone stands at attention.
And sometimes they use a video of the national anthem that doesn’t have cymbals crashing at the end of each line. And then, sometimes, standing there in the dark with their hands over their hearts, some moviegoers add their own cymbal crashing sound.
And then the next morning at Morning Quarters, a nastygram from the Base Commander will be read to ALL personnel stating that there would be no more audience supplied accompaniment to the National Anthem in the base theatre.
The national anthem “at the conclusion of our broadcast day” was also shown in Toy Story 2, as the evil toy collector dozes on his couch. Can’t find it on YouTube.
Wow. Thanks to this thread, I finally got a 4 decade old Cheech and Chong joke. Back in the late 70s Dr. Demento frequently played the C&C skit “Tortured Old Man”, which starts out (paraphrased from faulty memory):
Cheech: Hey man, what ya doing?
Chong: Watching TV.
Cheech: What are you watching?
Chong: I dunno, some movie about Indians.
Cheech: Ah man, that’s not a movie about Indians, that’s a test pattern
Chong: (Very stoned enunciation) Oh, wow. I thought it was a movie about Indians…
At this time (1978 or so), the only test pattern I was familiar with was the “bars and tone” seen here. I got the main joke, that he’s too stoned to realize he’s just staring at a test pattern, but I could not figure out how anyone, no matter how stoned, could see Indians in that. And I wasn’t about to ask my parents or older sister to explain druggie humor.
Thanks, Dope, for fighting ignorance, even if it took 35+ years.
