It's a Saturday afternoon in 1944. You've wandered into the local movie theater for a few hours of entertainment, hoping perhaps to miss the newsreels covering recent battles in Europe or attacks in the Pacific in favor of some lighter fare. Or say it's last week, and after a spin through the dial you've paused on one of the classic film networks, again seeking something less dispiriting than what's streaming from the news channels 24-7.
You happen on an already-begun western, Tall in the Saddle starring John Wayne. Such might well have occurred during the 1940s when arrivals and departures of movie patrons didn't strictly adhere to films' scheduled show times.