Comments from bigjoe59

to Ed S.–

you have always been helpful so i have a question for you- do you know of a website that lists how long the exclusive 1st run engagements of prominent silent films were? the reason i ask is simple. last month in the Sunday Times they had a review of The Big Parade blu-ray disc. in said review they mention the initial roadshow run at the Astor lasted almost 2 years. but i am positive Ben-Hur which opened Dec. 1925 opened at the Astor. so how could The Big Parade have played there almost two years.

Hello to RogerA.–

many thanks for your follow up e-mail. if I might repeat myself-when roadshow runs finished films would then go to “continuous performances at popular prices” in one of the many 1st run theaters in Manhattan.in most cases the films were shortened by simply cutting out the overture, intermission, entr'acte and exit music. then went the films went to neighborhood theaters around NYC the films themselves would be tweaked. to which i don’t understand why films would be tweaked in their roadshow runs. wasn’t the whole point of the roadshow policy to have 2 shows a day? so why did it matter how long the film was?

unfortunately IAMMMMW was one of the films that was tweaked when it was still in its quite popular road- show run. something I don’t understand since again it only had 2 shows a day anyway.

other films that opened on 2 a day roadshow run that were unfortunately tweaked shortly after they premiered were Cleopatra and Lawrence of Arabia. again something I don’t get. fortunately in the case of Cleopatra the footage that was cut within weeks from the premiere roadshow print of 4hrs. 6 mins. was properly preserved so the recently released stunning blu-ray disc is the original premiere roadshow cut. sad to say this isn’t the case with any of the home video versions released to date of IAMMMMW.

its interesting most 2001 devotees probably don’t know that Kubrick’s original cut was 20mins. longer. what i’m not sure about is if the longer cut was ever actually used in the premiere roadshow run at Loew’s Capitol. if the 20mins was cut out say the day before the film’s premiere was it preserved or just tossed?

one last thought and its about an interesting fact you point out. The Sound of Music was one of the very few roadshow films that played its second run continuous performance engagements and its neighborhood theater runs with the exact same cut that played the Rivoli for a year and a half. the only difference being the film played straight thru without an intermission.

to Peter A.–

thanks for the info about roadshow run of IAMMMMW. you seem quite knowledgeable so I have a question for you. in the prime roadshow period of Oct. 1955 thru Dec. 1972 it was common practice to tweak a film after it finished its initial roadshow run and opened on a popular prices continuous performance run at another theater. this was done in many cases by simply deleting the overture, intermission and exit music. then when a film went to neighborhood runs around NYC they would actually tweak the film itself to get in more performances per day. this is where my question comes in- what in God’s name was the point of tweaking a film when it was still in its quite popular roadshow run? there were only 2 shows a day anyway. this was also done to “Lawrence of Arabia” and “Cleopatra”. makes absolutely no sense to me.

also on this page a fellow poster noted that this coming January 2014 the Criterion Collection was going to release a Blu-ray of the film in the longest version available that approximates the original roadshow cut. Amazon will often list an upcoming blu-ray disc long before the release date, sometimes 3 to 4 months. but they have no listing for a Criterion Collection blu-ray disc of IAMMMMW at all let alone one with a January date.

Hello-

it seems MGM was better at keeping their complete roadshow prints in first rate condition than other companies. my point being if the showing of IAMMMMW is the general release print which is like 40mins.? shorter than the original roadshow cut why bother?

Hello-

from reading the intro on the theaters CT’s page and reading the Guardian article i am unsure about a)if the Eden was built from the ground up as a cinema or b)it was an already exiting theater building that was used by the Lumiere Bros. to exhibit their films. if its b) that what is the world’s oldest still existing cinema build from the ground up as a cinema?

Hello-

i saw Gravity in the IMAX Theater this past Sat. at the 11:15 a.m. show and thoroughly enjoyed the sites and sounds of the film. so my question has to do with the theater itself. I am a frequent patron at the Lincoln Square’s regular theaters. now the last time I was in the IMAX theater was February of 2000 when they debuted Disney’s Fantasia 2000. I won’t bet my next paycheck but I am like 99.9% sure that at that visit Fantasia 2000 occupied the entire screen. yet while watching Gravity only the middle say 60% of the screen was being used. now I didn’t take a ruler and measure but the amount of the screen the film occupied seemed no bigger than the screen of the main Loew’s auditorium downstairs or the one at the Zeigfeld. so since it didn’t occupy the entire screen how is it IMAX?

Hello Again-

thanks for the info about the price for a 3-D IMAX film at Lincoln Square. most good old regular 2-D films aren’t worth the price theaters in Manhattan are asking so I doubt the vast majority of 3-D IMAX films are worth the hyped up price. “Avatar” released Dec. of 2009 was the juggernaut for the current stampede of 3-D films. here’s the kicker- since “Avatar” countless 3-D films have been released and in a grand total of exactly 2 count ‘em two films has the 3-D actually furthed the storytelling process- “Hugo” and “Life of Pi”.

Hello-

how much are reserved seats for a 3-D IMAX film
at Lincoln Square?

Hello-

as I said in my last post I haven’t been out to L.A. in approx. 7 years so i’m intrigued by the comments on 3-D films at the Cinerama Dome. to which my question-what essentially is the problem? is the large curved screen not optimum for showing films in 3-D or are the films just not shown correctly? when Arclight built its multiplex adjacent to the Dome didn’t they fully restore the Dome as well?

Hello to Al A.–

as always thank for the info. i have another question that i find just as fascinating. my parents took me to see the roadshow engagements of both The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm and How The West Was Won at this theater. i always assumed they had healthy roadshow runs. to which i was quite surprised to find out TWWOTBG’s lasted only 33 weeks and HTWWW’s lasted only 39 weeks. i can see MGM having to pull TWWOTBG even if it was still doing good box office to open HTWWW. but why was HTWWW pulled after only 39 weeks? the roadshow run of HTWWW in both L.A.and San Francisco lasted a lot longer than 39 weeks if i am not mistaken. so what gives?

to Tinseltoes-

i knew Liz and Dick did not attend the premiere at this theater but i had not known there was a protest by an African-American church in Harlem for casting a white actress in the title role. the interesting part of that protest is simple- regardless of what Cleopatra looked like physically ethnically/culturally she was like 99% Greek.

Hello-

I was fortunate to have seen 2001: A Space Odyssey twice at this theater during its 2 a day “in Cinerama” roadshow engagement. I believe said engagement lasted on 24 weeks due to the Capitol closing prior to demolition. but the exact same engagement moved 4 blocks south to the Warmer Cinerama where it ran
another 13 weeks. the reason I bring this up is simple. when I found this out rather recently I was shocked that the film’s Manhattan roadshow run was only 37 weeks. compare this to the 2 a day roadshow engagement at the Warner in Hollywood which lasted 103 weeks and the 2 a day roadshow run at the Golden Gate in San Francisco which lasted I believe 72 weeks. and does one explain that?