Ziegfeld Theatre

Thats one of the main problems with the chains is that they no longer want to pay for a full time skilled projectionist to be on staff. Many of the long time skilled projectionists in major market have left the field because of the cut-backs the chains have made in their field. So when they worked a full 40+ hour week, they are now cut to 20-25 hours a week. The chains build bigger and bigger complexes, but they cut on the skilled staff to operate the booth. So the studios have records of problems that the major theatres have had with presentations.
I’m for seeing these series work. They should be more of an Event than just the same old films in series.

The Lafayette in Suffern does classics on Saturday morning along with their regular bookings. They run it about 30 of the 52 weeks a year with breaks in winter and summer, as wekk as two or three weekend festivals anually. The classic shows start at 11:30a. The public comes, it’s popular.

EdSolero: in addition they need a dedicated, skilled, projectionist. Someone who knows more than just threading. They need to know the entire booth, and what do do in the event of Murphy problems… Like the sound problems and the film jam. Special programs require special people. You can’t rely on the phone call to the tech people because something simple went wrong. You have a auditorium of people who are there for a ONE TIME event, and some of them may have travelled a sigificant distance/expense to come. Saying “I’m sorry” and issuing a pass good for two weeks ain’t it.

As Roxy used to say “Don’t give the people what they want, give them something better.” And boy did he know what he was talking about.

Both of those have wonderful films series and in classic theaters.
The one I’d avoid like the plague would be the sing along West Side Story. Maybe one of the most god awful ideas I’ve ever heard of in my life. To turn this film into a camp fest is pretty horrible.

I have to agree with Vincent, the list is kind of lame. There is only one film I might consider coming to see, the rest are all nothing really special [to me]. I’m still feeling burnt by my experience at the 70mm LOA perfomance last March, so I wonder what any futher 70mm performances would be like. The lists from the Paramount and Castro have some class, but they probably were not chosen by the public.

Remember:
“Also, it should be noted that all of the films that have been selected for Hollywood Classics were from the suggestion cards that were distributed at The Ziegfeld during Feb / March.”

Great post William, I would agree the prints should be projected reel-to-reel (as God intended) I would happily come out of retirement to be a part of that type of presentation again.

Well Patton played in 70MM at the Paramount Theatre in Austin. The Paramount Theatre has been restored into a Top performing arts center that still runs change-over projection. For that fact the studios and many a film libaries will not book special archival prints into platter type theatres. These restored prints cost many times more than regular prints because of the limited print runs at the lab. The Ziegfeld may be a premiere type theatre in the First Run world of film. It is not a premiere art house presentation house in their eyes. In many of the top archival presentation house the projectionist is a top operator, thats not saying that the operators at the Ziegfeld are not good operators. The projectionist at the Egyptian in Hollywood, Motion Picture Academy in Beverly Hills, Director’s Guild in Hollywood and many of the premiere houses around the world are tops in their field and are special hires to work at those locations. Those operators have to go through special interviews that are setup. One thing is that the studios have two types of prints in this type of market. The ones that go to those type of premiere archival venues and the regular prints they make available for regular theatre venues that can be plattered. Many times when newer prints or versions become available the older type A prints move down to regular venue runs. A lot of regular theatre projectionists do not know some of the extra things that go with these prints. Where I work we are cleared to run archival prints from MOMA, Kodak House and other libraries. So bottom line is that the Ziegfeld needs to start running some of those shows in change-over operations, to show they can do it without any problems.

Well heres afew of the upcoming titles that the Paramount Theatre in Austin have planned for later in August.
“Playtime” in 70MM Aug. 5 & 6
“It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” in 70MM August 5 & 6
“Sound of Music” in 70MM August 26 & 27
“Vertigo” in 70MM August 29 & 30
“Baraka” in 70MM August 31 & September 2
“Lawrence of Arabia” in 70MM September 1 & 2

The Castro in San Francisco is have a 70MM festival too. They are a change-over house too.

I read with interest of the Rodgers and Hammerstein festival in London, any thoughts of doing that here?

I have no doubt that JAWS will be a blowout of 1975-style audience-pleasing fun. All Ziegfeld doubters and naysayers: come to that show and have your minds changed.

That’s the problem today with revivals. You rarely get a chance to see some of these films on a big screen. Then the programmers don’t make the effort to get excellent prints and the opportunity is shot.
As in the last festival the Ziegfeld gets My Fair Lady and the responses made it seem as if you would have done better to watch it on DVD. So when are you going to get the opportunity again?
As I’ve said before the gods of classic cinema have played a horrible joke on us- giving New York’s best programmer the worst facilities at Film Forum.
And why do all the great french films play there on extended run and not the Paris?

I am looking forward to this series but will prbably skip “Gone With The Wind” I have seen this film on a big screen several times over the last 4 years including at the Jersey and it seems like the only print available has poor sound and picture. I wish the Ziegfeld would have screened “The Adventures Of Robin Hood” or “The Wizard Of Oz” instead because the current prints availabe for those films are spectacular.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve never seen “Casablanca” or “Gone with the Wind” on a big screen before. I am really looking forward to “Casablanca” – one of my top 10 favorite films of all time – on the big screen. I only hope that the print will be crisp and the presentation done with proper plates and matting for Academy ratio.

And these are but 8 titles out of a likely 15 (if they stick to a 5 week schedule). Let’s see what else Craig is able to book. It would be tremendous if somehow Craig could get behind the idea of going back to a dual projector change over process for these festivals. I really would like to see more 70mm presentation in this house – assuming there are decent prints to be had. New York deserves a World class forum for celebration and proper exhibition of classic 70mm films. The Ziegfeld is an ideal choice given the equipment already on site, the size of the room and its proximity to Times Square, where so many of those spectacular roadshows had their premiere engagements.

Many of the 70MM festivals are run with change-overs (two projectors), many of the studios do not want some prints run in platter houses. Many times poor operators keep cutting the leaders and tails to the point that you start lossing footage and the change-overs start looking like crap. yes, I know the Ziegfeld is equipped with two film projectors and one digital projector. But they need to regain the manual presentation part of the presentation. Over the years many projectionists have become platter operators. They put the cues on the film when they build it up on to the platters and just push the button and sit back. That is why many of the other venues get better prints because they still have projectionists that run change-over houses.