Ziegfeld Theatre

Last night “Doctor Zhivago” was presented at the perfect LOUD volume level from beginning to end. The overture played with the white curtains closed, and they opened up while the MGM lion roared. There were no commercials or trailers, only the movie – just like 1965. I wonder if the commercials are only a weekend obligation – every weeknight show I’ve attended so far in the series didn’t have them. I think there were more people there last night (a Thursday) than there were on Saturday. Probably “Zhivago” fans like me getting one last look at this beautiful epic film.

One bad thing: all “Alien” shows have been cancelled due to a print problem. More “2001” and “Close Encounters” shows have been added to replace “Alien”.

Saps: On Saturday night the entr'acte ran on a blank screen with the lights off, but since the Clearview people have been reading these comments, who knows what tomorrow night will bring? I’ll be there to see for myself.

Stan… I have to believe that Clearview and the staff at the Ziegfeld want to do better than that and have a keen interest in providing a good moviegoing experience for its patrons. They seem to have particular interest in monitoring this board and taking into consideration our suggestions and criticisms – because I think they understand that we (and others like us) are the target audience for this series and that our word of mouth is the most powerful advertising tool they have for the program.

We can be happy to have these films screened, but I think we should still keep our voices loud and the message clear that we would really like to see these movies presented as close to as originally intended as possible – meaning 70mm wherever possible and with complete overture/entr'acte and full intermission break (including appropriate curtain and house light cues). I pose it as a challenge to bring back a level of showmanship to an industry that has been sorely lacking in professionalism for far too long.

Gary… Sorry I won’t be able to make your introduction to “Close Encounters” on Friday night due to conflicting plans from which I cannot wiggle free. Good luck. I hope you find a receptive audience there (I understand they were a bit impatient towards the Time Out Magazine critic who attempted a few words prior to the “Godfather” films that kicked off the series. I plan on getting down to the Ziegfeld on Sunday and catch both “2001” and “Close Encounters” – with a possibility of making it a triple feature if I can find the strenght to stick around for “Alien”.

Bill, What you have described explains why the intermissions are so short, assuming they are running platters, they are simply splicing the beginning of part two, with the entr’acte music, onto the end of part one after the intermission tag, which means the intermission is only as long as the entr’acte music, so technically there is no real intermission. Clearview, please instruct your projection staff to stop the show at the end of part one, raise the lights, close the curtain and take a proper 10-15 minute intermission. Then, for heavens sake, start part two properly with lights dimmed half and the curtain closed until the end of the entr’acte music. If an automation system is in use, most of them can be programmed to stop and re-start the show. If the Ziegfeld automation cannot, then please just run that part of the show manually. Come on guys, these films are supposedly being shown “as they were meant to be seen” well…. almost, but no cigar.
As for the complaining woman banging on the managers door, that’s what most theatres have security for, she should have been given refund and shown out the door.

Did the overture play on a blank screen or did it play over the white traveler curtain?

I too thought the lower volume was a problem with that first reel in the second half, but I never could bring myself to get up and ask the manager to turn it up. I did consider it, but I didn’t want to miss any of the movie. Looking back on it now, maybe I should have.

I asked one of the friendly Ziegfeld employees about the sound situation when the show was over. She told me that the woman who complained did it right at the beginning of the film, and it was turned down slightly, but not enough to spoil the presentation. She then complained at least two more times because it was still too loud for her. She even banged on the manager’s door. I guess she was too much of a troublemaker for them, and the result was the lowest volume I’d ever heard for a movie at the Ziegfeld in 36 years. I truly hope this woman stays away from the theater until “Ice Age 2” opens. All the rest of the upcoming films in the Classics series need to be, in the words of Vito, real denture-rattlers.

Hi Everyone,

Although I’ve been sick all weekend and couldn’t get to any screenings, it’s great just reading your comments.As far as I’m concerned, Ziegfeld=Big Picture + Big Sound (Wouldn’t that be great on a T-shirt) I just e-mailed Craig at Clearview to take a look at these comments, so he can be apprised of them, especially the audio issues, bright and early Monday AM. With “Out Of This World Week” and “Lawrence” coming up, the sound has to be big.

I’m looking forward to meeting you all, at Devil’s Tower, for the landing, this coming Friday evening. John Williams score will SOAR!!!

HAPPY PURIM AND ST PATRICK’S DAY

GARY

Adding to Bill’s comments, I was also at last night’s “Zhivago” screening. The audio levels for the movie’s first half were cranked up a bit, but this was a case where “louder is better.” Listening to that wonderful overture (yes, there were people turning around and looking back at the projectionst’s booth with that “where’s the picture?” look on their faces), the sounds of trains roaring down the tracks (you could almost feel them whoosh by), even something as simple as the crack of a streetcar’s guidewire spark — the effect really hit you. When the audio became notably lower right after the intermission I thought there was a problem with just that reel, but then it continued through the end the end of the movie, hurting it —it sounded “less big.” Picture quality was excellent, except for maybe three spots where, for a couple of seconds, a bunch of crisscrossing black lines — like a spiderweb — popped up. The Intermission was very short — 3 minutes? — with music played over black and then the sound of a train as the black turned into a POV shot of the refugees' train coming out of a tunnel into the light. The Intermission seemed to be in the wrong place — I vaguely recalled it came right after Zhivago and Lara part at the hospital and there’s an interior shot of Zhivago going up the stairs in the background with the dying sunflowers on a table in the left foreground, instead of where the Intermission was last night, which was a few minutes later in the movie, right after the rescued peasant woman says “That’s Strelniknov!” and there’s a cut to a close-up of Tom Courtenay on his train. The movie ended with the 1999 restoration credits — “Presented By Turner Entertainment” — instead of the original 1965 release’s “An MGM Presentation.” Seeing “Zhivago” on the big screen you can again appreciate the Oscar-winning cinematography (Freddie Young), set design/art direction (John Box & Terrence Marsh) and score (Maurice Jarre), and the acting of Courtenay, Rod Steiger and the luminous Julie Christie. Looking forward to seeing it again Thursday night…and hope they leave the audio levels where they belong for the whole movie. Also saw “North By Northwest” Saturday afternoon, and while the picture quality wasn’t perfect (too many scratches on the far right-hand side of the screen), the Herrmann score and Ernest Lehman’s dialogue sounded great.

Bill, I was distrurbed by the sound level change you described during Zhivago, managenent should have monitored the situation to determine if in fact the sound was too loud, if a change is made, it is then the managers responsibility to monitor the change to be sure it was proper one. Perhaps Clearview might instuct the managers to make a determination of what level the sound should be and then instruct managers to politly explain to complaining patrons that the movie is being shown in such a way as to optimise the full impact of the story. During my management years I would never change the level of the sound or the comfort of the heat/air conditioning for one or two patrons, but rather make a determination what was best for the majority of the audience. I would rather give a refund or pass to one patron than ruin the experiece for everyone.
During management classes, which I gave in the last few years of my career, I taught the importance of paying attention to sight and sound in the theatre, I would insist on managers sitting in the theatre a few minutes every show to monitor the picture on the screen as well as the comfort of the room temperature. A theatre like the Ziegfeld needs that sort of policy.

Fever Dog: The projector light is definitely bright enough. I think that’s the way those scenes are supposed to be. It’s the way they appeared in their original theatrical release, I’m sure. “The Godfather Part II” at the Ziegfeld was noticeably darker than any video version I’d ever seen, but it’s also the way I remember it looking back in 1975 at the Clifton (NJ) Theater.

“North by Northwest” this afternoon – great. The sound was amazing. The crop duster scene was never more intense, all due to the size of the image and the sound.

“Doctor Zhivago” tonight would have been a home run but unfortunately, during the intermission, someone complained about the soundtrack. The first half was at a volume level that brought out the full power of the sound and the score, as beautifully described by Irv a few posts above. When the trains went by, it did almost feel like Sensurround. After the complaint, the volume went way down and the movie sounded like it was playing at any old multiplex anywhere. I’m hoping the same projectionist is on duty for “Zhivago” on Thursday night and keeps the volume at its original level through the whole movie, letting the Ziegfeld do what it does best. I also hope the complaining person stays out of the Ziegfeld until the Classics series is over.

I attended the Indiana Jones week and noticed that the darker scenes (The “Well of Souls” scene in Raiders) were a bit too dark. Does this have to do with the quality of print or the projector light being too low…or both?

Irv:

You just took me back to 1966, when I saw Dr. Zhivago at the Crossbay in Ozone Park (another lost theater?) An incredibly romantic and powerful movie, and that music!! My teenage fantasies were with Julie in the snow. By the way, anybody like “Demon Seed,” which finally came out on DVD last year. A really novel Sci-Fi with Julie doing incredible acting.

Monique told me that after “Lawrence,” the theater was coming back with “Ice Age 2”

But as far as “I hope this series never ends”—this is why Craig keeps emphasizing that people visit the Clearview web site and lay on as much positive feedback as possible. The top brass, i.e., his bosses, really listen. I will be emphasizing this in my intro at CE3K. I’m not kidding, after I sent my first feedback (you have to fill out a brief survey and leave comments), I got a nice thank you e-mail from Craig’s boss which was cc’d to his the whole office.

If our whole group inundates Clearview ( and wow am I happy I discovered this group) it will really make a difference. If everyone else who comes to these screenings also does it, then I really believe this can continue on some regular basis, at worst, during the slow season, which, I presume is now.

One great theater and thousands of classics- I would love to have a T shirt with that on it!!

Gary

Please post reports on the condition and presentation of Singin' in the Rain, North by Northwest, and Dr. Zhivago.