Actually, Chris, of all the cities Mike has given us so far, the average number of weeks played by 2001 was 30, so St. Louis was actually pretty typical.
Back in the late 70’s and 80’s, there wasn’t even a glass wall for the booth area…4 of the projectors sat open in the lobby, where they picked up lots of dirt and smoke (smoking was legal in lobbies then). Those 4 rooms had some of the dirtiest prints imaginable. Also there was an open area between each pair of the original rooms, so bleed through from the next room was very bad….AND, the image was projected from the rear corner of the room, so the image was always somewhat out of focus.
In any event, this theatre played almost every available 70mm film, including Alien, The Rose, 2010, The Mission and many more. Remarkably, it did not play 70mm RETURN OF THE JEDI…no theatre in Columbus did.
It also played DAMNATION ALLEY in SOUND 360, which placed speakers on the side and back walls of the theatre. This was before the general release of STAR WARS and Dolby Stereo.
They always had the best movies and they always looked really bad. But, I saw a LOT of films there.
I have heard that IMAX is thinking about differentiating between the various flavors of IMAX. Some of the names they are considering are:
IMAX Grand
Imax Traditional
The Original IMAX Experience
IMAX Digital
The current multiplex installations are fine for what they are, but they pale in comparison to original IMAX on a 60' by 80' screen!
This theatre will be adding a Digital IMAX unit in theater 12 in time for the September opening of CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS. This is one of the 4 large theatres directly off the lobby. I was told the screen would be slightly larger than the screen at AMC EASTON 30.
“One of these things is not like the other,
One of these things just doesn’t belong,
Can you guess which thing is not like the other,
Before I finish my song.”
The current PALACE theatre is located at 40 W. Broad street, so this theater would have been approximately at that location.
It is possible that this theatre was closed in anticipation of the construction of the AIU Citadel (Now Leveque Tower) at this location. That building opened in 1927 after some delays in construction.
One of my favorite film shots of all time is at the end of BATMAN where BATMAN stands on top of a building looking out onto the BAT Signal. I pulled that shot off the DVD and I use it as the wallpaper on my main monitor.
In the movie BATMAN, who is crazier…the Joker or Batman?
BATMAN RETURNS marked the beginning of the end of large scale 70mm releases. With BATMAN RETURNS came Dolby Digital, putting high quality 5.1 sound on 35mm film. Since many of the producers released in 70mm primarily for the sound, this gave them a way to get great sound at a much lower cost per print. JURASSIC PARK with DTS came along and really delivered the knock out blow.
Arnold was involved and donated an Austrian Army tank, which was stored west of the main shopping area. I believe the tank was donated to Mott’s Military Museum in Groveport, OH, just SE of metro Columbus.
So far, Mike has listed 74 theatres, which include 3 that only played THRILLARAMA and one that played 2 KINOPANORAMA pictures.
Of the theatres given so far, no theatre played all 24 CINERAMA films (Including THIS IS CINERAMA (70mm)). The IMPERIAL in Montreal played 23 of the films. That theatre also played the most “CINERAMA WEEKS” (weeks playing CINERAMA pictures) with 775.
So, it looks like things are about ½ way done. There are going to be some tough ones yet to go, though.
Cinemark bought 4 theatres from Muvico on 3/18/09 so Muvico can avoid bankruptcy. These include the Paradise 24 in Davie, Palace 20 in Boca Raton, Boynton Beach 14 (All in Florida) and the Egyptian in Maryland. Cinemark took over officially on 3/19/09. All Muvico passes and programs are supposed to continue until the end of May, 2009, and employees were offered positions with the new company. (All information from the Miami Herald)
The best website on the history of Widescreen films is Martin Hart’s Widescreen Museum (www.widescreenmuseum.com) It has information on every widescreen system. If you go there, say “Hi” to the Usherettes for me!
OKLAHOMA was a Todd-AO film produced by Michael Todd. His goal was to create a Cinerama type image with only one projector at a time. OKLAHOMA was the first TODD-AO feature. CINERAMA at that time used 3 projectors (and a separate sound unit). CINERAMA theatres could not show TODD-AO and TODD-AO theatres could not show CINERAMA films at that time.
Lynne, Mike’s list includes 3-strip and 70mm films released with the CINERAMA logo included on the film and in advertising. GONE WITH THE WIND was an MGM release, and the CINERAMA logo was never a part of that release. I realize that this is a very fine distinction, but it is an important one. There actually was almost no difference echnically between the later CINERAMA films and other 70mm Roadshow releases.
Actually, Chris, of all the cities Mike has given us so far, the average number of weeks played by 2001 was 30, so St. Louis was actually pretty typical.
I must correct the above statement. DAMNATION ALLEY came out AFTER Star Wars was released. Apologies for my mistake.
Back in the late 70’s and 80’s, there wasn’t even a glass wall for the booth area…4 of the projectors sat open in the lobby, where they picked up lots of dirt and smoke (smoking was legal in lobbies then). Those 4 rooms had some of the dirtiest prints imaginable. Also there was an open area between each pair of the original rooms, so bleed through from the next room was very bad….AND, the image was projected from the rear corner of the room, so the image was always somewhat out of focus.
In any event, this theatre played almost every available 70mm film, including Alien, The Rose, 2010, The Mission and many more. Remarkably, it did not play 70mm RETURN OF THE JEDI…no theatre in Columbus did.
It also played DAMNATION ALLEY in SOUND 360, which placed speakers on the side and back walls of the theatre. This was before the general release of STAR WARS and Dolby Stereo.
They always had the best movies and they always looked really bad. But, I saw a LOT of films there.
Cameron used the PACE Fusion Digital 3D camera for this film. It was not produced in IMAX 15/70 format.
35mm — Continent Theatre Columbus OH — No special memories, and I wasn’t all that impressed.
According to Mike’s lists so far, SEVEN WONDERS is the second most popular CINERAMA film after THIS IS CINERAMA, measured by total weeks played.
I have heard that IMAX is thinking about differentiating between the various flavors of IMAX. Some of the names they are considering are:
IMAX Grand
Imax Traditional
The Original IMAX Experience
IMAX Digital
The current multiplex installations are fine for what they are, but they pale in comparison to original IMAX on a 60' by 80' screen!
This theatre will be adding a Digital IMAX unit in theater 12 in time for the September opening of CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS. This is one of the 4 large theatres directly off the lobby. I was told the screen would be slightly larger than the screen at AMC EASTON 30.
“One of these things is not like the other,
One of these things just doesn’t belong,
Can you guess which thing is not like the other,
Before I finish my song.”
Sure is one BIG surprise in this list!
The current PALACE theatre is located at 40 W. Broad street, so this theater would have been approximately at that location.
It is possible that this theatre was closed in anticipation of the construction of the AIU Citadel (Now Leveque Tower) at this location. That building opened in 1927 after some delays in construction.
One of my favorite film shots of all time is at the end of BATMAN where BATMAN stands on top of a building looking out onto the BAT Signal. I pulled that shot off the DVD and I use it as the wallpaper on my main monitor.
In the movie BATMAN, who is crazier…the Joker or Batman?
BATMAN RETURNS marked the beginning of the end of large scale 70mm releases. With BATMAN RETURNS came Dolby Digital, putting high quality 5.1 sound on 35mm film. Since many of the producers released in 70mm primarily for the sound, this gave them a way to get great sound at a much lower cost per print. JURASSIC PARK with DTS came along and really delivered the knock out blow.
When this theatre was running 3-strip CINERAMA, was it using 1 booth or 3 separate booths.?
The South Drive-In is still open as of the summer of 2009.
Drove by there recently, and that land is still not developed.
Installed 2 Digital Cinema units in May, 2009. Both capable of showing 3-D.
Arnold was involved and donated an Austrian Army tank, which was stored west of the main shopping area. I believe the tank was donated to Mott’s Military Museum in Groveport, OH, just SE of metro Columbus.
So far, Mike has listed 74 theatres, which include 3 that only played THRILLARAMA and one that played 2 KINOPANORAMA pictures.
Of the theatres given so far, no theatre played all 24 CINERAMA films (Including THIS IS CINERAMA (70mm)). The IMPERIAL in Montreal played 23 of the films. That theatre also played the most “CINERAMA WEEKS” (weeks playing CINERAMA pictures) with 775.
So, it looks like things are about ½ way done. There are going to be some tough ones yet to go, though.
Mike,
Were they running a 70mm print of POSEIDON?
Cinemark bought 4 theatres from Muvico on 3/18/09 so Muvico can avoid bankruptcy. These include the Paradise 24 in Davie, Palace 20 in Boca Raton, Boynton Beach 14 (All in Florida) and the Egyptian in Maryland. Cinemark took over officially on 3/19/09. All Muvico passes and programs are supposed to continue until the end of May, 2009, and employees were offered positions with the new company. (All information from the Miami Herald)
I did some newspaper research on this theatre some years ago. The newspaper ads definitely said NEW FALLS.
The best website on the history of Widescreen films is Martin Hart’s Widescreen Museum (www.widescreenmuseum.com) It has information on every widescreen system. If you go there, say “Hi” to the Usherettes for me!
OKLAHOMA was a Todd-AO film produced by Michael Todd. His goal was to create a Cinerama type image with only one projector at a time. OKLAHOMA was the first TODD-AO feature. CINERAMA at that time used 3 projectors (and a separate sound unit). CINERAMA theatres could not show TODD-AO and TODD-AO theatres could not show CINERAMA films at that time.
I’m not aware of Century building any domes in Oklahoma.
Lynne, Mike’s list includes 3-strip and 70mm films released with the CINERAMA logo included on the film and in advertising. GONE WITH THE WIND was an MGM release, and the CINERAMA logo was never a part of that release. I realize that this is a very fine distinction, but it is an important one. There actually was almost no difference echnically between the later CINERAMA films and other 70mm Roadshow releases.