# Things that date movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 12, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465 "2011-03-12T23:42:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/41 "2011-03-13T03:37:41Z")
I just watched _What’s Up, Doc_, a 1972 movie that is mostly set in a hotel. Doors have actual keys, not magnetic cards. Not just that, but you were expected to leave your key with the front desk when you left the hotel and pick it up when you returned. The keys were left in cubbyholes behind the desk, so that anybody could walk up and see whether the key was there or not. Somebody picked up a house phone to call and order a fake room service order. Today, the computer automatically tells the operator what room is calling and the operator normally addresses you by name. Everybody carries luggage, but none of them have tags or any identifiers, even though they’ve all come off airplanes. And Volkswagens float. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/42 "2011-03-13T03:37:53Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Seinfeld has the same “dating” (lack of cell phones) Yeah, there are definitely a couple of episodes where this is the case, but one that stands out is the movie theater episode, where they’re all standing waiting for Jerry to show up. I can’t remember exactly what happened, but for some reason Jerry couldn’t make it, and the rest of the crew ended up getting separated in the chaos. These days something like that would have easily been resolved with one call. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/43 "2011-03-13T03:50:02Z")
Stilted and unnatural acting and dialogue, both in movies, and TV. Since around the '70’s or '80’s there has been a trend toward ever less scripted more casual laissez faire acting style and ennui in Movies and TV. People seemed to lessen their formality, stiffness, and interview style and break casual with acting. Kind of the precursor and realized today in its apex as the modern “reality style” of TV. You can always tell the movies and tv that are pre-reality tv. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/44 "2011-03-13T03:54:13Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > …Doors have actual keys, not magnetic cards. Not just that, but you were expected to leave your key with the front desk when you left the hotel and pick it up when you returned. The keys were left in cubbyholes behind the desk, so that anybody could walk up and see whether the key was there or not… I’ve seen/read that in old movies/books too, but never understood the point. Why were guests expected to leave their keys at reception? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/45 "2011-03-13T03:55:09Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I can remember not that long ago, before cell phones when we would send out delivery guy out on the road (and this was extremely common for any one that had delivery people). If for some reason you needed to get a hold of them, for example, you needed to have them come back, or stop and pick something up), we’d have to start calling all his stops and asking if he’d been there yet. Eventually, you’d find one of the stops that he hadn’t been to yet and ask them to have him call in and then hope that they passed the message along. > > When ever people eschew cell phones, I always try to explain how it revolutionized the freight industry. It saved, even a small business like us, a ton in hourly wages and gas not having to send someone all the way back out to basically where they just where to do something because we had no way to get a hold of them. This was a huge gripe when I was working. The NYS Department of Corrections just refuses to adopt cell phones. It’s ridiculous. What happened was back in the nineties, when cell phones were just becoming popular and were still very expensive (costing at least $200 apiece) the department decided to get into cell phones. The idea was that some people were so vital they needed to be on call around the clock. But because the phones were so expensive, there were only a limited amount of them. So people had to justify being issued a cell phone - it was a sign you were important. And not getting a cell phone was a sign you weren’t considered important. Now go forward ten years and cell phones had become so cheap, they were literally being given away for free. But unfortunately the mentality was set - cell phones were scarce and only important people could have one. So the department wouldn’t go out and get the phones we could have actually used. For example, we’re transporting a busload of prisoners three hundred miles across the state - hey, maybe it would be a good idea to have a cell phone in the bus so we can call the people on the bus and they can call us. But no, we weren’t supposed to issue cell phones to transportation. People weren’t even allowed to bring their own personal phones. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/46 "2011-03-13T03:57:11Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > I’ve seen/read that in old movies/books too, but never understood the point. Why were guests expected to leave their keys at reception? I always figured that was before privacy was a big deal. This way if someone stopped in or called for you, the desk staff could tell them if you were in or out. If you were out, they could take a message and give it to you when you returned. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/47 "2011-03-13T03:59:40Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > For that matter, walking out onto a runway to board a plane. I still do that semi-regularly, though it’s almost always at smaller airports, including boarding a 777 via outdoor stairway last year (on the big island of Hawaii; I don’t think that the Kona airport has any jetbridges at all). ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/48 "2011-03-13T04:01:51Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > This was a huge gripe when I was working. The NYS Department of Corrections just refuses to adopt cell phones. It’s ridiculous. > > What happened was back in the nineties, when cell phones were just becoming popular and were still very expensive (costing at least $200 apiece) the department decided to get into cell phones. The idea was that some people were so vital they needed to be on call around the clock. But because the phones were so expensive, there were only a limited amount of them. So people had to justify being issued a cell phone - it was a sign you were important. And not getting a cell phone was a sign you weren’t considered important. > > Now go forward ten years and cell phones had become so cheap, they were literally being given away for free. But unfortunately the mentality was set - cell phones were scarce and only important people could have one. So the department wouldn’t go out and get the phones we could have actually used. > > For example, we’re transporting a busload of prisoners three hundred miles across the state - hey, maybe it would be a good idea to have a cell phone in the bus so we can call the people on the bus and they can call us. But no, we weren’t supposed to issue cell phones to transportation. People weren’t even allowed to bring their own personal phones. Wow, just when cell phones got cheap enough that most anyone could afford them, but before everyone had them, we started keeping a spare one at work. This way if we had to send someone out on the road and they didn’t have their own (or they forget it at home), they could just grab the spare. Especially nice during our busy season when we have a few temp workers running around delivering things in residential neighborhoods. It’s a lot easier if they have a cell phone and they can call the person or call me for directions rather then coming back and telling us they couldn’t find the house. We just got rid of “Cell X” about a year ago. Between everyone having their own and GPS’s it really wasn’t necessary anymore. ---
**Author:** ![jacquilynne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jacquilynne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacquilynne)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/49 "2011-03-13T04:02:13Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > (Waiting for the torrents of troglodyte Dopers who don’t use voicemail…) Hey! I resemble that remark. Honestly, I have voicemail on my cell phone and on my work line, but Bell charges something like $6 a month to have voicemail on my home line, and I get maybe 1 message a month that isn’t a telemarketer. I could buy a lot of answering machines with the $6 x $12 x 10 years that I haven’t been paying for call answer. I also don’t have call waiting or call display – I don’t like phones, I don’t get a lot of phone calls I care about, and I don’t see a compelling reason to pay more money in order to allow people to reach me on the phone when I’d rather they emailed. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/50 "2011-03-13T04:04:09Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I always figured that was before privacy was a big deal. This way if someone stopped in or called for you, the desk staff could tell them if you were in or out. If you were out, they could take a message and give it to you when you returned. Maybe to make it more difficult to copy the key so that you can come back and steal the next occupant’s stuff when he’s out? It wouldn’t stop a determined thief but making it more difficult can help cut down on the number of people who do it. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/51 "2011-03-13T04:10:55Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > And holding switchblades…with their wrists tied together…and breakdancing with roller skates on. > > ETA, obviously, that was a joke, but the Michael Jackson red leather jacket with the zippers does show up from time to time in early 90’s movies. Oh yeah. If you were to believe the movies from the 80’s, most gang members wore those jackets and bandanas. Punk rockers around that time were kind of like that, too. Mohawks and leather jackets. I can’t think of an example offhand though. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/52 "2011-03-13T04:18:11Z")
Any number of multiple heist movies are almost immediately outdated with advances in safecracking/alarm/computer tech within 5-10 years of inception. Many seem ridiculously outdated. I guess as a classification, obsolete security tech, dates movies. ---
**Author:** ![Heyoka13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Heyoka13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heyoka13)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/53 "2011-03-13T04:20:53Z")
Recognizing an actor that I know is dead . . . ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/54 "2011-03-13T04:22:44Z")
Elevators that made it look like you were walking into a closet. Elevators that had the metal fences you had to close yourself. HUGE department stores with elevator attendants calling out the floors "Third Floor, Furniture, Bedding, Children’s Toys; Fourth Floor, Women’s clothes, Shoes, Men’s Suits; Fifth Floor, Athletic wear, Jewelery, Televisions…etc. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/55 "2011-03-13T04:28:11Z")
Someone running up to the gate at an airport trying to catch the love of their life just before they board a plane. Petite people in over-sized sweatshirts. People carting around thick, heavy laptops. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/56 "2011-03-13T04:31:13Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > But they knew about it at the time. They have a flashback episode of X-files that took place around 1992 or so and Mulder turns around holding a huge cell phone(like the one from Wall Street). Mulder’s cell phone may have been bulky, but can _yours_ make a call from a buried boxcar in the middle of the desert? ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/57 "2011-03-13T04:37:08Z")
You can date movies with hotel settings by their keys- physical key or magnetic swipe cards. Similarly, you can date any alarm system readout by the advances in LED/LCD and computing (chip) power. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/58 "2011-03-13T04:39:08Z")
Most computer equipment stands out by the TV screen size/shape, presence of floppies and other peripherals. Even mainframes can be dated, although it’s a little harder to pin down the exact year. ---
**Author:** ![Sakuma\_Drops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sakuma\_Drops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sakuma_Drops)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/59 "2011-03-13T04:41:33Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > Punk rockers around that time were kind of like that, too. Mohawks and leather jackets. I can’t think of an example offhand though. There’s one of those in _Star Trek IV_ (1986) - he’s on a bus that Kirk and Spock are riding (this is the movie where they go back in time), and Spock neck-pinches him for refusing to turn off his aforementioned obligatory '80s ghetto blaster 😃 ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465/60 "2011-03-13T05:18:37Z")
IMHO, shitty wood '60’s and 70’s paneling on walls, always really reaches in and yanks me into a temporal cloud or schell. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-date-movies/574465.md?page=4)