LuisV, you brought up a point I had forgotten to mention, the Stapleton area is in very poor condition. Most of the store fronts are boarded up and there is very little life left in that once wonderful old town. No one in their right mind would build there now. We had a glimmer of hope a few years back when the navy announced the building of a new sea port there, but that idea has died.
In fact one of my visits to the theatre was around the time there was interest in saving the theatre because of the talk of the Navy yard and revitalization of the neirborhood. Even Tappen Park was spruced up for a while. But that’s all over now and the theatre or what’s left of it just continues to deteriorate. During the time of the first crack at restoring the St. George we had hoped to salvage some objects from the Paramount to set up as a sort of tribute to the great lady in the St George downstairs lobby area. The man who bought the Paramount building from Steckman told us to “take what we wantâ€
Sadly however, over the years from the last days as a movie house through the years as a dance club, most of what the Paramount was had been removed. Even the entire projection room had been stripped of all the equipment. Likewise the stage, whish had little left to salvage. I did manage to take four marquee letters to spell out “VITO†which I have mounted in my basement.
Excellent speech, I remember when i first ran the picture wondering how mant people got that. I am afraid the message was lost to the talking apes. oh well no matter, a great film to be sure.
Jeff,
My goodness you brought back some memories of rapid cue marks flooding the ends of reels. I never understood why so many guys had to add their own “mark†to add to the existing cues. But they did, and sometimes it was quite a show. I recall mostly in the 50s when we would get a print that had played around a bit and the cues punch big holes in the print, scratch a big ole X across the frame, it was ridiculous, unnecessary and totally unprofessional.
As for the splices, Zebra tape is not necessary either, as you know generally you can tell where the reel ends by the grain of the print, looking down on a print mounted on a platter or at a 6k reel you can usually see where the reel change is. But the boys had to take the easy ay out, poor blind bastards, so we had white shoe polish painted on the edge of the print, which sometimes was applied so poorly that evidence of it could be seen on the image as it passed through the gate.
You mentioned the lab splices which are used on many prints, those are nasty buggers and should be removed, and they are not only ugly but weak as well and subject to come apart after a few runs. Some of the boys would cover over them with clear splicing tape to reinforce them. They would also cause a big POP in the sound they passed by the sound gate ion an analog print. For that matter, just about any spice would make some sort of sound as it passed through the sound gate, especially when made with a poorly aligned splicer. But in this Digital age I guess analog sound is all but dead.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with lab splices, let me explain that they are, splices made in the original stock before they are used to make prints. What happens is, a roll of stock might be about 2000 feet in length and if it were used to make a print of a reel of film that was only 1500 ft in length, the balance of the roll or 5oo feet of stock was put aside and later joined up with another roll of extra stock to make up a full roll of 2000 feet. The spices were made with a negative splicer which creates a very narrow patch and is not very strong. I don’t know if it is still done today but in my day a studio or producer could request “No Splice Stock†in their print order. That way no lab splices would be present. As I recall the cost per print was a bit higher.
I would have to disagree with you about slices being noticeable; I don’t think a splice no matter how well it was made could get by my eye. But you are right; most folks don’t see em or care about em very much. However people like us sure do.
Good for you about not removing leaders, I did the same thing with many of my 16mm prints. I did not have the heart to cut the leaders off. Some might say that was excessive, but I say no, not when you are a true lover of film.
I would like to address the question posee by Rory regarding
reel-to-reel. A changeover, when executed properly, is a seamless change from one reel to another that looks to the audience like just another scene change.
When a print is joined together with splicing tape for a platter, Mutt, or 6k reel application, often the splice can be noticeable to the eye. It is not always as smooth a change as in a reel-to-reel change. Projectionist will often mark the frames in some way in order to find the ends of the reels when breaking down the print at the end of the run. I have seen show polish or other markings made with grease pencil which can flaw the image at the point of the splice. There is a very good splicing tape which can be used to avoid having to mark the print, called Zebra Tape, which is a clear tape with a yellow marking at the edges so that the splice can be easily found. Even the most perfect splice can be noticed by the trained eye, which may be how Bill knew the movie was being shown reel-to-reel. I am sure Bill can see the splices. Or perhaps he just turned his head to look up to the booth to watch the projectors switch. So which was it Bill?
By the way, As movie534 pointed out, some studios are doing the right thing in insisting that theses prints not be put on a platter. I must say it warms my heart to know some of the classics are being run at the Ziegfeld reel-to-reel, as they should be.
Ziegfeld man, are you mentioning in your intro the fact that the audience will be enjoying the movie shown reel-to-reel as they were in the good ole days? Some audience members might enjoy knowing that.
Well this just more and more interesting to me.
I don’t know if Windjammer played in the three strip version at the Cinerama, although we were running three strip there as late as the end of 1963 before converting to 70mm.
Claude recalls seeing the film in 70mm at the Queen, and I recall being told, we I removed some of the 70mm equipment from the booth, that one of the last 70mm prints to ever play the Queen was in the late 1960s, so there may have been single strip 70mm prints.
Like I said, it’s all very interesting.
Thanks for clearing that up boys,
nenue,I guess your recall was correct, I do not remember the movie being re-released in 1962.
William, Are you telling us that Cinerama released the film in single strip 70mm, or did they actually show the film in the 3 strip cinerama process anywhere in 1962?.
You may be a bit confused nenue, Windjammer was released in Cinemiracle in 1958 and only used the one time. By 1960 all effidence of the Cinerama-wanna-be was gone, it was a complete failure. I don’t ever recall any theatres in Hawaii having installed the Cinemiracle process. Michael Coate, any info?
I stopped by as well an hour or so before they started the demolition, but I did not want to watch, it’s all to sad.
I remember watching the Royal come down, I drove there with Royal Development CEO,Herman Rosen, and after a few minures he said
“I can’t match this, lets go”
Well Bill, ya know back in the day we went backstage and pulled the curtains by hand. As a matter of fact that’s how I started in this buisness at the Paramount on Staten Island. It was never even a consideration not to use the curtains. I can not understand how they can not use them every show at the Ziegfeld, but we have beaten that horse to death.
Part of The original marquee is still under all that new covering.
It’s too bad they took they easy (cheap) way out when they covered it up instaed of restoring it.
This was not done by Rosemary’s family, it was done by a previous owner, it just looks sad. I’ll bet Rosemary, had she been a part of the thatre then, would have tried to return the marquee to it’s past glory.
opps, I meant where I spend my Winters.
I sure hope to see a festival at the Ziegfeld some day,
I always seem to be away when they present them.
I will even go up to the booth and talk the projectionists into using curtains.
Ziegfeld Man, I am still in Hawaii where I spend my summers, so I will not be seeing you tonight. I do remember fondly of when I ran “Jaws” here in Hawaii at the now demolished Waikiki #3.
Packed houses show after show, Ah, dems waz da dayz.
Ziegfeld Man, I do indeed remember running HTWWW, but it was at the Syosett, not the D-150. I can’t recall the year but it must have been either ‘63 or '64, we played the picture for almost a year,
10-11 months I believe.
I was Sorry to pick up the paper and read some sad news.
The Varsity is scheduled to be demolished by the end of the month.
Officials from the owner, Kamehameha Schools, said significant structural problems with the building has occured.
An exact date of the demolition has yet to be determined.
As we know, the theater was purchased by Kamehameha Schools last summer from Consolidated Theatres.
They were looking into preserving the building for another use, but large cracks in the ceiling, walls and columns were found during an inspection. Mold, rust and significant settling were also found.
Before the demolition plans,Laugh Factory, a comedy club,had expressed interest in holding shows at the theater, but an agreement could not be reached between Kamehameha Schools and the club.
Since the theater shut last year, homeless people have been using the site as shelter, and the building has been vandalized. Vintage movie posters and light fixtures were stolen.
Vito
commented about
Waikiki 3on
Mar 1, 2008 at 8:11 am
What a delight seeing that clip. I had the pleasure and honor of running the spotlight for Johnny D at the Waikiki #3. Johnny would usually end his set with “Blue moon†at which time I would light him with a blue spot. I hope Scott B saw this clip, he also worked the spot at #3 between shows and I am sure is as sad as I am to know that it is all gone now.
Johnny also worked as a relief manager at the theatre, and often would fire up the organ during a slow matinee to entertain the audience with an impromptu performance. I can still hear him on the intercom, “Hey Vito, I’m going to play, light me up will youâ€
That always made my day.
Claude, Of course when we write about roadshow theatre the Cinerama was the main venue. The Cinerama had a seperate box office for reserved seating advanced sales. Kuhio had many roadshows as well. We also had a couple at the Wailiki Twins (“Tora Tora Tora”),
and did you know “Funny Girl” played as a roadshow at the little Kapahulu? We also moved “Eathquake” in Sensaround there as a move over from Waikiki #3. To my knowledge The last roadshow to play in Hawaii was at the Cinerama back in 1974, we played the 70mm version
of “This is Cinerama”
This week I am heading back home to Florida for the winter and plan on coming back to Hawaii soon after. I will want to take Artie on a graveyard tour of all the theatres that are now gone.
Claude, you bring a lot of old friends to mind. I did not know Allen, but Westley was promoted to my position in the Home Office Sight and Sound division when I returned to the mainland in 1982.
Scott B and I worked many times together and he also joined the sight and sound team after I left.
Faith Tom was a dear friend; she got her training at the Cinerama while I was working there and later ran Pearlridge for a while before joining Home Office operations under Gene Atchley,
(who also trained with me at the Cinerama). She was a no nonsense kind of a gal, very dedicated to her work. I too heard and felt badly about her losing her job.
I did not work for Phil Shimins; he came in after I left, I worked under Art Gordon. Betty and John ran the film exchange and I worked with both of them. In fact when the new home office was built on Sand lane, they took a part of her office space to make an office for me, our offices were side by side.
And yes I remember the Kuhio as a roadshow theatre, “Hawaii†also played as a roadshow there. “South Pacific†did indeed play there in 1958, but Herman Rosen wanted to play it later when he Royal opened as a tourist venue. I may be wrong but I believe “Sound Of Music†played the Kuhio as well.
Claude I do not recall Close Encounters moving to #2 you have a better memory than I on that. We did play “ET” there in 70mm without Dolby encoding. As for John Allen he came in after I left Hawaii in 1982 but I am told he did some magnificent sound installations perticularly in Waikiki #3.
Did you know my sound tech, Westley?
He was a brilliant kid and did some excellent work for me upgrading and installing sound systems in our theatres.
Aside from upgrading most of the theatres on Oahu, Wes and I along with Sol Kam, did the booth installations at the triplex theatres in Hilo and Kona together as well as the theatre at Pearl Harbor.
Hello Claude, I had not yet started to work in Hawaii until 1972, but I do know in talks with Herman Rosen, about the opening of the Royal, that he wanted to open the theatre with “South Pacific†basically as a tourist attraction. That was the reason he had 70mm installed at the theatre in the first place. However, an agreement was formed with Paramount to play all their films exclusively, and that is how “Becket†was born. We never discussed why it played in 35mm or optical sound, but I can tell you magnetic prints were hard to come by in the mid to late 60s. No one cared much about them anymore. Even as late as 1976 we were having problems getting mag prints sent to Hawaii. I remember when King Kong opened at the Marina I was told that Paramount had struck some mag prints.we tried to get Paramount to send us a magnetic print, I had installed four track in the #1 house, but we could not get the print. In fact the only time we played a four track print at the Marina was with special arrangement with Warner Brothers and Consolidated to play a move over from Waikik#3 of “A Star is Bornâ€. The Royal only used it a few times the last being “Meteor†in 1979
Claude, I mispelled Artie’s name, it is of course Wheeler.
Michael, As you know, Star Wars played day and date with the Kapioloni in June 1977, I can not recall how long it ran at the Kapioloni, do you know? The sad thing was that both theatres opened the movie in 35mm with mono sound.
In your thread of the anniversary of Close Encounters you listed the picture as having played at at the Waikiki #3, you might be interested to know we had originaly wanted to play the picture at the Cinerama in 70mm, with Star Wars moving to the Varsity. but getting a 70mm print became a problem, so rather than move Star Wars out of the Cinerama it was decided to play Close Encounters in the larger Waikiki 3 in 35mm with a mono (optical) track. Consolidated had not installed Dolby in any of the theatres at the time.
Thanks for the pictures Ken.
I was surprised to see the pictures of the projector.
They are not photos of the projector that was in use in the Varisty booth, it is one of the machines we had mounted outside the Consolidated Home Office on Sand Lane before it closed. How they got to the varsity I will never know.
Well Claude, you are correct on both counts.
I was there as well on the final night at the Royal,I went with Herman Rosen who had just sold his Royal Development company which owned the theatre. It was a very sad night indead, The Royal was very special to Herman because it was the last theatre his dad built. Herman built the Marina, and made it his showcase house for Paramount pictures.
Artie Wheller is also a good friend of mine,infact we traveled together many times to Hawaii and eventuataly moved there in 1972. He is retired now and living in Hawaii Kai.
Thanks for that info, it sure looked like the ole traveler, did it not?. Oh well, maybe someday it will return. Darn shame the Hall had to suffer the embarrassment of so many failures with the bus. Quite frankly, I thought the routine was fun to look at but rather boring, all that waving and posing etc.
As for the film portion of the show, let us all hope for a return of all five projectors being used next year. Sometimes it’s just better to stick with what works. So, fire the bus and bring back projection. Ahem, at least the ole rear screen projector worked :))
I am sure you have Bob’s blessing in keeping us up to date on the backstage/booth goings on. I for one loved hearing Bob’s old war stories and look forward to yours.
LuisV, you brought up a point I had forgotten to mention, the Stapleton area is in very poor condition. Most of the store fronts are boarded up and there is very little life left in that once wonderful old town. No one in their right mind would build there now. We had a glimmer of hope a few years back when the navy announced the building of a new sea port there, but that idea has died.
In fact one of my visits to the theatre was around the time there was interest in saving the theatre because of the talk of the Navy yard and revitalization of the neirborhood. Even Tappen Park was spruced up for a while. But that’s all over now and the theatre or what’s left of it just continues to deteriorate. During the time of the first crack at restoring the St. George we had hoped to salvage some objects from the Paramount to set up as a sort of tribute to the great lady in the St George downstairs lobby area. The man who bought the Paramount building from Steckman told us to “take what we wantâ€
Sadly however, over the years from the last days as a movie house through the years as a dance club, most of what the Paramount was had been removed. Even the entire projection room had been stripped of all the equipment. Likewise the stage, whish had little left to salvage. I did manage to take four marquee letters to spell out “VITO†which I have mounted in my basement.
The Paramount is dead.
Read my previous posts.
There is nothing left of the interior, much of which has been gutted.
Excellent speech, I remember when i first ran the picture wondering how mant people got that. I am afraid the message was lost to the talking apes. oh well no matter, a great film to be sure.
Jeff,
My goodness you brought back some memories of rapid cue marks flooding the ends of reels. I never understood why so many guys had to add their own “mark†to add to the existing cues. But they did, and sometimes it was quite a show. I recall mostly in the 50s when we would get a print that had played around a bit and the cues punch big holes in the print, scratch a big ole X across the frame, it was ridiculous, unnecessary and totally unprofessional.
As for the splices, Zebra tape is not necessary either, as you know generally you can tell where the reel ends by the grain of the print, looking down on a print mounted on a platter or at a 6k reel you can usually see where the reel change is. But the boys had to take the easy ay out, poor blind bastards, so we had white shoe polish painted on the edge of the print, which sometimes was applied so poorly that evidence of it could be seen on the image as it passed through the gate.
You mentioned the lab splices which are used on many prints, those are nasty buggers and should be removed, and they are not only ugly but weak as well and subject to come apart after a few runs. Some of the boys would cover over them with clear splicing tape to reinforce them. They would also cause a big POP in the sound they passed by the sound gate ion an analog print. For that matter, just about any spice would make some sort of sound as it passed through the sound gate, especially when made with a poorly aligned splicer. But in this Digital age I guess analog sound is all but dead.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with lab splices, let me explain that they are, splices made in the original stock before they are used to make prints. What happens is, a roll of stock might be about 2000 feet in length and if it were used to make a print of a reel of film that was only 1500 ft in length, the balance of the roll or 5oo feet of stock was put aside and later joined up with another roll of extra stock to make up a full roll of 2000 feet. The spices were made with a negative splicer which creates a very narrow patch and is not very strong. I don’t know if it is still done today but in my day a studio or producer could request “No Splice Stock†in their print order. That way no lab splices would be present. As I recall the cost per print was a bit higher.
I would have to disagree with you about slices being noticeable; I don’t think a splice no matter how well it was made could get by my eye. But you are right; most folks don’t see em or care about em very much. However people like us sure do.
Good for you about not removing leaders, I did the same thing with many of my 16mm prints. I did not have the heart to cut the leaders off. Some might say that was excessive, but I say no, not when you are a true lover of film.
I would like to address the question posee by Rory regarding
reel-to-reel. A changeover, when executed properly, is a seamless change from one reel to another that looks to the audience like just another scene change.
When a print is joined together with splicing tape for a platter, Mutt, or 6k reel application, often the splice can be noticeable to the eye. It is not always as smooth a change as in a reel-to-reel change. Projectionist will often mark the frames in some way in order to find the ends of the reels when breaking down the print at the end of the run. I have seen show polish or other markings made with grease pencil which can flaw the image at the point of the splice. There is a very good splicing tape which can be used to avoid having to mark the print, called Zebra Tape, which is a clear tape with a yellow marking at the edges so that the splice can be easily found. Even the most perfect splice can be noticed by the trained eye, which may be how Bill knew the movie was being shown reel-to-reel. I am sure Bill can see the splices. Or perhaps he just turned his head to look up to the booth to watch the projectors switch. So which was it Bill?
By the way, As movie534 pointed out, some studios are doing the right thing in insisting that theses prints not be put on a platter. I must say it warms my heart to know some of the classics are being run at the Ziegfeld reel-to-reel, as they should be.
Ziegfeld man, are you mentioning in your intro the fact that the audience will be enjoying the movie shown reel-to-reel as they were in the good ole days? Some audience members might enjoy knowing that.
Well this just more and more interesting to me.
I don’t know if Windjammer played in the three strip version at the Cinerama, although we were running three strip there as late as the end of 1963 before converting to 70mm.
Claude recalls seeing the film in 70mm at the Queen, and I recall being told, we I removed some of the 70mm equipment from the booth, that one of the last 70mm prints to ever play the Queen was in the late 1960s, so there may have been single strip 70mm prints.
Like I said, it’s all very interesting.
Thanks for clearing that up boys,
nenue,I guess your recall was correct, I do not remember the movie being re-released in 1962.
William, Are you telling us that Cinerama released the film in single strip 70mm, or did they actually show the film in the 3 strip cinerama process anywhere in 1962?.
You may be a bit confused nenue, Windjammer was released in Cinemiracle in 1958 and only used the one time. By 1960 all effidence of the Cinerama-wanna-be was gone, it was a complete failure. I don’t ever recall any theatres in Hawaii having installed the Cinemiracle process. Michael Coate, any info?
I stopped by as well an hour or so before they started the demolition, but I did not want to watch, it’s all to sad.
I remember watching the Royal come down, I drove there with Royal Development CEO,Herman Rosen, and after a few minures he said
“I can’t match this, lets go”
Well Bill, ya know back in the day we went backstage and pulled the curtains by hand. As a matter of fact that’s how I started in this buisness at the Paramount on Staten Island. It was never even a consideration not to use the curtains. I can not understand how they can not use them every show at the Ziegfeld, but we have beaten that horse to death.
Part of The original marquee is still under all that new covering.
It’s too bad they took they easy (cheap) way out when they covered it up instaed of restoring it.
This was not done by Rosemary’s family, it was done by a previous owner, it just looks sad. I’ll bet Rosemary, had she been a part of the thatre then, would have tried to return the marquee to it’s past glory.
opps, I meant where I spend my Winters.
I sure hope to see a festival at the Ziegfeld some day,
I always seem to be away when they present them.
I will even go up to the booth and talk the projectionists into using curtains.
Ziegfeld Man, I am still in Hawaii where I spend my summers, so I will not be seeing you tonight. I do remember fondly of when I ran “Jaws” here in Hawaii at the now demolished Waikiki #3.
Packed houses show after show, Ah, dems waz da dayz.
Ziegfeld Man, I do indeed remember running HTWWW, but it was at the Syosett, not the D-150. I can’t recall the year but it must have been either ‘63 or '64, we played the picture for almost a year,
10-11 months I believe.
I was Sorry to pick up the paper and read some sad news.
The Varsity is scheduled to be demolished by the end of the month.
Officials from the owner, Kamehameha Schools, said significant structural problems with the building has occured.
An exact date of the demolition has yet to be determined.
As we know, the theater was purchased by Kamehameha Schools last summer from Consolidated Theatres.
They were looking into preserving the building for another use, but large cracks in the ceiling, walls and columns were found during an inspection. Mold, rust and significant settling were also found.
Before the demolition plans,Laugh Factory, a comedy club,had expressed interest in holding shows at the theater, but an agreement could not be reached between Kamehameha Schools and the club.
Since the theater shut last year, homeless people have been using the site as shelter, and the building has been vandalized. Vintage movie posters and light fixtures were stolen.
What a delight seeing that clip. I had the pleasure and honor of running the spotlight for Johnny D at the Waikiki #3. Johnny would usually end his set with “Blue moon†at which time I would light him with a blue spot. I hope Scott B saw this clip, he also worked the spot at #3 between shows and I am sure is as sad as I am to know that it is all gone now.
Johnny also worked as a relief manager at the theatre, and often would fire up the organ during a slow matinee to entertain the audience with an impromptu performance. I can still hear him on the intercom, “Hey Vito, I’m going to play, light me up will youâ€
That always made my day.
The Prudential home ofice was next door to the Gables.
Executives would screen new and unreleased movies in the mornings.
Claude, Of course when we write about roadshow theatre the Cinerama was the main venue. The Cinerama had a seperate box office for reserved seating advanced sales. Kuhio had many roadshows as well. We also had a couple at the Wailiki Twins (“Tora Tora Tora”),
and did you know “Funny Girl” played as a roadshow at the little Kapahulu? We also moved “Eathquake” in Sensaround there as a move over from Waikiki #3. To my knowledge The last roadshow to play in Hawaii was at the Cinerama back in 1974, we played the 70mm version
of “This is Cinerama”
This week I am heading back home to Florida for the winter and plan on coming back to Hawaii soon after. I will want to take Artie on a graveyard tour of all the theatres that are now gone.
Claude, you bring a lot of old friends to mind. I did not know Allen, but Westley was promoted to my position in the Home Office Sight and Sound division when I returned to the mainland in 1982.
Scott B and I worked many times together and he also joined the sight and sound team after I left.
Faith Tom was a dear friend; she got her training at the Cinerama while I was working there and later ran Pearlridge for a while before joining Home Office operations under Gene Atchley,
(who also trained with me at the Cinerama). She was a no nonsense kind of a gal, very dedicated to her work. I too heard and felt badly about her losing her job.
I did not work for Phil Shimins; he came in after I left, I worked under Art Gordon. Betty and John ran the film exchange and I worked with both of them. In fact when the new home office was built on Sand lane, they took a part of her office space to make an office for me, our offices were side by side.
And yes I remember the Kuhio as a roadshow theatre, “Hawaii†also played as a roadshow there. “South Pacific†did indeed play there in 1958, but Herman Rosen wanted to play it later when he Royal opened as a tourist venue. I may be wrong but I believe “Sound Of Music†played the Kuhio as well.
Claude I do not recall Close Encounters moving to #2 you have a better memory than I on that. We did play “ET” there in 70mm without Dolby encoding. As for John Allen he came in after I left Hawaii in 1982 but I am told he did some magnificent sound installations perticularly in Waikiki #3.
Did you know my sound tech, Westley?
He was a brilliant kid and did some excellent work for me upgrading and installing sound systems in our theatres.
Aside from upgrading most of the theatres on Oahu, Wes and I along with Sol Kam, did the booth installations at the triplex theatres in Hilo and Kona together as well as the theatre at Pearl Harbor.
Hello Claude, I had not yet started to work in Hawaii until 1972, but I do know in talks with Herman Rosen, about the opening of the Royal, that he wanted to open the theatre with “South Pacific†basically as a tourist attraction. That was the reason he had 70mm installed at the theatre in the first place. However, an agreement was formed with Paramount to play all their films exclusively, and that is how “Becket†was born. We never discussed why it played in 35mm or optical sound, but I can tell you magnetic prints were hard to come by in the mid to late 60s. No one cared much about them anymore. Even as late as 1976 we were having problems getting mag prints sent to Hawaii. I remember when King Kong opened at the Marina I was told that Paramount had struck some mag prints.we tried to get Paramount to send us a magnetic print, I had installed four track in the #1 house, but we could not get the print. In fact the only time we played a four track print at the Marina was with special arrangement with Warner Brothers and Consolidated to play a move over from Waikik#3 of “A Star is Bornâ€. The Royal only used it a few times the last being “Meteor†in 1979
Claude, I mispelled Artie’s name, it is of course Wheeler.
Michael, As you know, Star Wars played day and date with the Kapioloni in June 1977, I can not recall how long it ran at the Kapioloni, do you know? The sad thing was that both theatres opened the movie in 35mm with mono sound.
In your thread of the anniversary of Close Encounters you listed the picture as having played at at the Waikiki #3, you might be interested to know we had originaly wanted to play the picture at the Cinerama in 70mm, with Star Wars moving to the Varsity. but getting a 70mm print became a problem, so rather than move Star Wars out of the Cinerama it was decided to play Close Encounters in the larger Waikiki 3 in 35mm with a mono (optical) track. Consolidated had not installed Dolby in any of the theatres at the time.
Thanks for the pictures Ken.
I was surprised to see the pictures of the projector.
They are not photos of the projector that was in use in the Varisty booth, it is one of the machines we had mounted outside the Consolidated Home Office on Sand Lane before it closed. How they got to the varsity I will never know.
Well Claude, you are correct on both counts.
I was there as well on the final night at the Royal,I went with Herman Rosen who had just sold his Royal Development company which owned the theatre. It was a very sad night indead, The Royal was very special to Herman because it was the last theatre his dad built. Herman built the Marina, and made it his showcase house for Paramount pictures.
Artie Wheller is also a good friend of mine,infact we traveled together many times to Hawaii and eventuataly moved there in 1972. He is retired now and living in Hawaii Kai.
Thanks for that info, it sure looked like the ole traveler, did it not?. Oh well, maybe someday it will return. Darn shame the Hall had to suffer the embarrassment of so many failures with the bus. Quite frankly, I thought the routine was fun to look at but rather boring, all that waving and posing etc.
As for the film portion of the show, let us all hope for a return of all five projectors being used next year. Sometimes it’s just better to stick with what works. So, fire the bus and bring back projection. Ahem, at least the ole rear screen projector worked :))
I am sure you have Bob’s blessing in keeping us up to date on the backstage/booth goings on. I for one loved hearing Bob’s old war stories and look forward to yours.