A Harte Appetite

The late Will Rogers once observed, "the movies are the only business where you can go out front and applaud yourself." This Sunday night, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will be doing just that during the 78th annual Academy Awards ceremony in Hollywood, Calif.

After the ceremony, participants will attend a dinner catered by Wolfgang Puck -- topping off the meal will be his customary gold-dusted chocolate Oscars.

The relationship between movies and food started long before Puck began planning his menu. Though this year's nominees might not include "foodie" films like "Babette's Feast" or "Big Night," the history of Hollywood is replete with movies that have appealed as much to our stomachs as to our hearts and souls.

All kinds of food have played supporting roles or even been outright stars in films, ranging from the grapefruit wielded by James Cagney in "The Public Enemy," to the chocolate in "Chocolat." But there's one food that is inextricably linked to the cinema regardless of a film's content -- popcorn.

As a matter of fact, the most profitable business of any local movie theater is not the exhibition of films, but the selling of popcorn. Because a relatively small number of kernels produce a lot of volume when popped, theaters typically make 90 cents in profit on every dollar's worth of popcorn sold.

Popcorn and movies have remained a match pair at the theaters and at home throughout the years. Wehrenberg's West Park Cine filled up the popcorn case before opening up. (Diane L. Wilson)

Moreover, salted popcorn makes customers thirsty for soft drinks, another high-profit item available at the theater concession stand. No wonder Slate Magazine reports that because it gives customers something to do with their drink when returning to the popcorn peddler, some theater executives regard the cup holder attached to the theater seat as the most important technological innovation in movies since sound.

Ironically, movie theaters initially resisted getting into the popcorn business because it was too messy. Instead street vendors supplied the crowds as they lined up outside the theater.

Ultimately, however, with the development of the electric popcorn machine by Charles T. Manley, theaters got in on the action, and before long, entrepreneurs were pursuing a strategy of finding a good popcorn location and building a theater around it.

Popcorn and movies have remained intertwined ever since, even with the invention of the VCR, which made viewing movies at home an attractive option to many. Coincidentally, just as the VCR took hold in the early '80s, so did the microwave oven, the device in which these days the vast majority of people pop corn at home. Some say it's not only the most convenient device for popping corn but, because it heats the kernel from the inside out, the best as well.

In any case, popcorn was the first food intentionally microwaved when Percy Spencer of the Raytheon Corp. began experimenting with the magnetron, the heart of any microwave oven. (By the way, you can make microwave popcorn without any artificial flavorings or fats by simply putting a half cup of popcorn into a brown paper bag, folding it over twice, and microwaving for three minutes or until the popping stops.)

If you're looking for ways to dress up your popcorn for the Oscars, check the Web site of the Popcorn Board (yes, there really is one) at www.popcorn.org. You'll find nearly 100 recipes there, all delicious examples of pop art.

Listen to A Harte Appetite Fridays at 8:49 a.m. on KRCU, 90.9 on your FM dial. Write A Harte Appetite, c/o the Southeast Missourian, P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63702-0699 or by e-mail to tharte@semissourian.com.