Al, you are correct in that multiplex exhibition did play a big part. However, 70mm 6 track prints were produced UNTIL DTS digital sound began. Then, studios & operators abandoned the format. As William said above, the sound was important, and once digital sound arrived….then combined with your multiplex rationale, both reasons together caused 70mm to go bye bye.
Before we get into trouble, I will add that I wouldn’t post a full article on the homepage where it is very visible and looks like news. There, a summary is better. And, if you have zillions of articles like you do with photos, perhaps better to summarize and/or link all but the most important ones. That’s my opinion. Of course, I don’t make decisions for the site.
There’s little chance, given the existing arthouses, of the Rialto once again being a daily cinema- certainly not in its original beautiful SINGLE auditorium splendor.
Here’s the text of the article including when it opened:
Lights out at the Wapa Theatre
Bart Mills | – 10.16.2007
WAPAKONETA â€" The classic marquee above the Wapa Theatre is dark but for the lettering where the weekâ€\s showing once appeared. Instead of a movie title, the marquee reads simply: “Who needs the Wapa Theatre?â€
To owner Robert Wiesenmayer the answer is obvious: nobody.
“Itâ€\s been closed about three weeks and nobody really knew it. I thought somebody would notice but not one person said a thing to me about it. That tells you about all you need to know,†Wiesenmayer said.
The century-old theater, which began life as a vaudeville house in 1904, housed its last film â€" Dragon Wars â€" about three weeks ago. The space has been a movie theater since the 1930s, but itâ€\s been a few years since itâ€\s made money.
“I always subsidized the thing because itâ€\s in my building,†said Wiesenmayer, a Wapakoneta attorney who houses his practice in the building. “I didnâ€\t mind that it didnâ€\t bring in enough to pay the lease. I didnâ€\t mind having to pay the utilities, but when it got to the point it didnâ€\t bring in enough to pay for the manager, something had to be done.â€
Wiesenmayer has owned the Wapa for nearly two decades, but in recent years the business has declined. First he lost the older children and adults, customers who either drove to Limaâ€\s big, 12-screen multiplex or stayed home and watched movies on DVD. He shifted to children-friendly flicks and kept the prices low to draw the 10- to 16-year-old set. But pretty soon they stopped coming too. By the end, the theater was drawing 100 customers a week on a good week.
“On weekends youâ€\d be lucky to have 20 on a Friday. On Saturday night you might get 50 and another 20 on Sunday. When fall sports started it got worse. You have a home game on Friday night it was like youâ€\d quarantined it,†Wiesenmayer said.
Wiesenmayer said he has no plans for the building, but hopes somebody will think of a new use for it. Until then heâ€\ll keep the building up and consider any suggestions.
“Iâ€\ve got to find if thereâ€\s another adult use for the theater. Iâ€\m not ready to tear it up and Iâ€\m not going to put plywood up over the windows or anything, I just need an alternative use for a historical location, Wiesenmayer said.
“It was sad to see it closed, but I would have to start taking a collection up to keep it going.â€
“Fully expanded” is indeed what Consolidated Theatres says, but what does it mean? does it mean the movie screens become smaller for scope films? or something else?
Below is from the Oct 17, 2007 press release. Notice is says “inspired by” NOT a replica movie palace, and that it will house an “interactive tribute.”
“ This new facility, which was inspired by Los Angeles’ historic Carthay Circle Theatre that premiered Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, will house a next generation Walt Disney Story featuring an interactive tribute to Walt’s California experiences, and his entertainment legacy that continues world-wide today.”
Among the films I recalled seeing at the Wynnewood was Being There. Shortly afterwards, Peter Sellers took very ill, and I hoped so he would recover, but he passed away.
Later, I saw at the Wynnewood in 1994 The Shawshank Redemption and Bullets over Broadway. In 1995 I saw Circle of Friends and The American President. In 1998, I saw Apt Pupil, and in 1999 Blast from the Past and Analyze This. It was always fun to enjoy movies at this single screen movie theater.
William,
I didn’t characterize it here as a “suite” and know it is a BOOTH, however, the original upstairs booth at the Boyd has several rooms including a bathroom. It does sound like a suite!
William, I know that in American English, it is a projection booth. I don’t know whether in British English (where Ken Roe is) if it is a suite, but eventually we will likely adjust that since this cinema is American.
I saw different reports on when the destruction was done. We will review that.
Actually, Vito, I suggested classics going digital is the inevtiable future.
My dream would be to see more 70 mm 6 track prints- excellent ones, and some restored ones. I saw the restored Lawrence of Arabia, but missed color corrected restored print. Robert Harris doesn’t like the “restored” Dr. Zhivago so I’d like to see a restored 70 mm print of that. I’d like to see restored 70mm prints of Ben Hur and The Bridge over the River Kwai.
Being younger than Bill, I’ve seen 70mm classics in their restored or rerun appearences at theaters especially Uptown in DC, but arrived too late for the 6 NYC movie palaces that I’ve updated. I could’ve gotten into the chopped up Criterion or DeMille, but that was after Road Show years.
Below is from the Oct 17, 2007 press release. Notice is says “inspired by” NOT a replica movie palace, and that it will house an “interactive tribute.”
“ This new facility, which was inspired by Los Angeles’ historic Carthay Circle Theatre that premiered Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, will house a next generation Walt Disney Story featuring an interactive tribute to Walt’s California experiences, and his entertainment legacy that continues world-wide today.”
when it began, for Jurassic Park, DTS was terrific and seemed better than theaters that (later) had Dolby Digital.
SDDS seemed to be the best of all. Years later, I heard Dolby Digital EX at the Chinese (Hollywood)and that seemed better than anything.
Vito, I’ve noticed I’ve seen more films recently in theaters with Dolby Digital, but until reading these comments, I didn’t realize that Dolby Digital had won out over DTS & SDDS. Dolby sound had previously set an excellent standard, but at the onset of digital sound it often seemed as if the others were superior.
I know there won’t be new 70mm films, but I do hope there will be some life in restored and vintage 70mm classics. New films will all eventually be digital, and many classics, too. Digital isn’t up yet to the quality of 70mm. I would’ve preferred the new revisions of Apocalpse Now and Blade Runner in 70 mm prints.
For those who haven’t stated their opinion yet, which of the 6 movie palaces mentioned on this thread was your favorite to see 70mm?
I recall that as soon as digital sound was in movie theaters with Jurassic Park in 1993 (DTS), 70mm’s death knell had sounded! The last new film released in the US in 70mm blowup was Titantic, but it ran in 70mm only at NYC’s Astor Plaza and in Los Angeles. I was vacationing in LA, and trying to see as many movie palaces as possible, so I saw Titantic in 70mm in both the Village and at the Chinese. Titantic didn’t run in 70mm in Philadelphia or Washington D.C. and I don’t think anywhere else. There’s a comment on the web that only 12 prints in 70mm were struck and one went to the director. I guess the other prints went overseas.
As much I try to promote the Boyd (which reopened as the Sameric with “Fiddler on the Roof” in 1971), this thread isn’t about the Boyd. Our website makes it clear Friends of the Boyd have been reaching out to secure new owners.
I updated each of these 6 movie palaces because there’s a website that tells where the World Premieres of 70mm features were held.
So far as I know, there’s not a website for 35mm World Premires, or exclusive runs of outstanding famous films like GWTW or 35mm Road Shows.
In other words, I did what I could. And, I thought it would be interesting since 70mm is the “Rolls Royce” of film presentation and many of the films mentioned are among the best beloved.
Now, if people want to Comment at each theater’s page which World Premieres, and/or exclusive local runs (regardless of premiere) of famous 35mm (“famous” because there were so many 35mm)were shown, then eventually, it is likely that the Introductions could be so updated. The volunteers have better things to do than update ONE film at a time, but once there’s a nice gathering….
Al, you are correct in that multiplex exhibition did play a big part. However, 70mm 6 track prints were produced UNTIL DTS digital sound began. Then, studios & operators abandoned the format. As William said above, the sound was important, and once digital sound arrived….then combined with your multiplex rationale, both reasons together caused 70mm to go bye bye.
GONE?
Plaster Statue of woman
http://www.flickr.com/photos/howardbhaas/90266879/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/howardbhaas/90269226/
Grillwork, plaster:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/howardbhaas/90265784/
SAD SAD SAD!!!
Good news. A compromise with tall building, but good news.
Look at the photo in the news article of the auditorium!
Before we get into trouble, I will add that I wouldn’t post a full article on the homepage where it is very visible and looks like news. There, a summary is better. And, if you have zillions of articles like you do with photos, perhaps better to summarize and/or link all but the most important ones. That’s my opinion. Of course, I don’t make decisions for the site.
And, if lacks a big enough stagehouse, maybe there’s room to expand it.
There’s little chance, given the existing arthouses, of the Rialto once again being a daily cinema- certainly not in its original beautiful SINGLE auditorium splendor.
Need mix live events in with a film series.
Lost Memory- no, but then many links break and the stuff is lost. I haven’t heard of a newspaper making a fuss….
I have also seen theater websites often scan articles & post them right on the site. For that matter, all the scanned newspaper stuff….
Here’s the text of the article including when it opened:
Lights out at the Wapa Theatre
Bart Mills | – 10.16.2007
WAPAKONETA â€" The classic marquee above the Wapa Theatre is dark but for the lettering where the weekâ€\s showing once appeared. Instead of a movie title, the marquee reads simply: “Who needs the Wapa Theatre?â€
To owner Robert Wiesenmayer the answer is obvious: nobody.
“Itâ€\s been closed about three weeks and nobody really knew it. I thought somebody would notice but not one person said a thing to me about it. That tells you about all you need to know,†Wiesenmayer said.
The century-old theater, which began life as a vaudeville house in 1904, housed its last film â€" Dragon Wars â€" about three weeks ago. The space has been a movie theater since the 1930s, but itâ€\s been a few years since itâ€\s made money.
“I always subsidized the thing because itâ€\s in my building,†said Wiesenmayer, a Wapakoneta attorney who houses his practice in the building. “I didnâ€\t mind that it didnâ€\t bring in enough to pay the lease. I didnâ€\t mind having to pay the utilities, but when it got to the point it didnâ€\t bring in enough to pay for the manager, something had to be done.â€
Wiesenmayer has owned the Wapa for nearly two decades, but in recent years the business has declined. First he lost the older children and adults, customers who either drove to Limaâ€\s big, 12-screen multiplex or stayed home and watched movies on DVD. He shifted to children-friendly flicks and kept the prices low to draw the 10- to 16-year-old set. But pretty soon they stopped coming too. By the end, the theater was drawing 100 customers a week on a good week.
“On weekends youâ€\d be lucky to have 20 on a Friday. On Saturday night you might get 50 and another 20 on Sunday. When fall sports started it got worse. You have a home game on Friday night it was like youâ€\d quarantined it,†Wiesenmayer said.
Wiesenmayer said he has no plans for the building, but hopes somebody will think of a new use for it. Until then heâ€\ll keep the building up and consider any suggestions.
“Iâ€\ve got to find if thereâ€\s another adult use for the theater. Iâ€\m not ready to tear it up and Iâ€\m not going to put plywood up over the windows or anything, I just need an alternative use for a historical location, Wiesenmayer said.
“It was sad to see it closed, but I would have to start taking a collection up to keep it going.â€
Oh, it sounds like the sink at El Capitan has too many uses!
“Fully expanded” is indeed what Consolidated Theatres says, but what does it mean? does it mean the movie screens become smaller for scope films? or something else?
The link to the theater website doesn’t work.
Below is from the Oct 17, 2007 press release. Notice is says “inspired by” NOT a replica movie palace, and that it will house an “interactive tribute.”
“ This new facility, which was inspired by Los Angeles’ historic Carthay Circle Theatre that premiered Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, will house a next generation Walt Disney Story featuring an interactive tribute to Walt’s California experiences, and his entertainment legacy that continues world-wide today.”
on a separate note, here'a link to the retail store that’s a replica already
http://www.studioscentral.com/column/why8.html
Among the films I recalled seeing at the Wynnewood was Being There. Shortly afterwards, Peter Sellers took very ill, and I hoped so he would recover, but he passed away.
Later, I saw at the Wynnewood in 1994 The Shawshank Redemption and Bullets over Broadway. In 1995 I saw Circle of Friends and The American President. In 1998, I saw Apt Pupil, and in 1999 Blast from the Past and Analyze This. It was always fun to enjoy movies at this single screen movie theater.
Photo by Rob Bender of exterior including marquee and former ticket window, as Ardmore Famers Market:
View link
Photo by Rob Bender of interior of former auditorium as Farmers Market, the clock being where projection booth would have been:
View link
Thanks for finding photo of Vinny T’s of Boston restaurant.
There’s a photo from 1991 of the exterior of the theater here, when it was still showing movies:
http://www.cinematour.com/tour/us/7058.html
William,
I didn’t characterize it here as a “suite” and know it is a BOOTH, however, the original upstairs booth at the Boyd has several rooms including a bathroom. It does sound like a suite!
William, I know that in American English, it is a projection booth. I don’t know whether in British English (where Ken Roe is) if it is a suite, but eventually we will likely adjust that since this cinema is American.
I saw different reports on when the destruction was done. We will review that.
Presumably the rest looks good?
Actually, Vito, I suggested classics going digital is the inevtiable future.
My dream would be to see more 70 mm 6 track prints- excellent ones, and some restored ones. I saw the restored Lawrence of Arabia, but missed color corrected restored print. Robert Harris doesn’t like the “restored” Dr. Zhivago so I’d like to see a restored 70 mm print of that. I’d like to see restored 70mm prints of Ben Hur and The Bridge over the River Kwai.
Being younger than Bill, I’ve seen 70mm classics in their restored or rerun appearences at theaters especially Uptown in DC, but arrived too late for the 6 NYC movie palaces that I’ve updated. I could’ve gotten into the chopped up Criterion or DeMille, but that was after Road Show years.
Below is from the Oct 17, 2007 press release. Notice is says “inspired by” NOT a replica movie palace, and that it will house an “interactive tribute.”
“ This new facility, which was inspired by Los Angeles’ historic Carthay Circle Theatre that premiered Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, will house a next generation Walt Disney Story featuring an interactive tribute to Walt’s California experiences, and his entertainment legacy that continues world-wide today.”
on a separate note, here'a link to the retail store that’s a replica already, that William mentions
http://www.studioscentral.com/column/why8.html
World Premieres at the Carthay Circle included the Disney film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” on December 21, 1937.
when it began, for Jurassic Park, DTS was terrific and seemed better than theaters that (later) had Dolby Digital.
SDDS seemed to be the best of all. Years later, I heard Dolby Digital EX at the Chinese (Hollywood)and that seemed better than anything.
Vito, I’ve noticed I’ve seen more films recently in theaters with Dolby Digital, but until reading these comments, I didn’t realize that Dolby Digital had won out over DTS & SDDS. Dolby sound had previously set an excellent standard, but at the onset of digital sound it often seemed as if the others were superior.
I know there won’t be new 70mm films, but I do hope there will be some life in restored and vintage 70mm classics. New films will all eventually be digital, and many classics, too. Digital isn’t up yet to the quality of 70mm. I would’ve preferred the new revisions of Apocalpse Now and Blade Runner in 70 mm prints.
For those who haven’t stated their opinion yet, which of the 6 movie palaces mentioned on this thread was your favorite to see 70mm?
This link says how incredibly long these Road Show 70mm films played in NYC movie palaces:
View link
I recall that as soon as digital sound was in movie theaters with Jurassic Park in 1993 (DTS), 70mm’s death knell had sounded! The last new film released in the US in 70mm blowup was Titantic, but it ran in 70mm only at NYC’s Astor Plaza and in Los Angeles. I was vacationing in LA, and trying to see as many movie palaces as possible, so I saw Titantic in 70mm in both the Village and at the Chinese. Titantic didn’t run in 70mm in Philadelphia or Washington D.C. and I don’t think anywhere else. There’s a comment on the web that only 12 prints in 70mm were struck and one went to the director. I guess the other prints went overseas.
As much I try to promote the Boyd (which reopened as the Sameric with “Fiddler on the Roof” in 1971), this thread isn’t about the Boyd. Our website makes it clear Friends of the Boyd have been reaching out to secure new owners.
I updated each of these 6 movie palaces because there’s a website that tells where the World Premieres of 70mm features were held.
So far as I know, there’s not a website for 35mm World Premires, or exclusive runs of outstanding famous films like GWTW or 35mm Road Shows.
In other words, I did what I could. And, I thought it would be interesting since 70mm is the “Rolls Royce” of film presentation and many of the films mentioned are among the best beloved.
Now, if people want to Comment at each theater’s page which World Premieres, and/or exclusive local runs (regardless of premiere) of famous 35mm (“famous” because there were so many 35mm)were shown, then eventually, it is likely that the Introductions could be so updated. The volunteers have better things to do than update ONE film at a time, but once there’s a nice gathering….