MacArthur Theater
4859 MacArthur Boulevard NW,
Washington,
DC
20007
4859 MacArthur Boulevard NW,
Washington,
DC
20007
8 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 63 comments found
SWCphotography….cool photos..thanks for posting them.
April 17, 2012
The MacArthur’s special role within the K-B chain when I was a kid in the late ’50s and early ’60s was to show British imports. My parents and I drove more than 10 miles round trip from Virginia to see low and high comedies that most often featured at least one of these players: Robert Morley, Alec Guinness, Margaret Rutherford, Alastair Sim and Peter Sellers.
Somehow, Sellers’ many male and female roles in “The Mouse That Roared” made it officially My Favorite Movie of all time — until I saw it as an adult, many years later. I guess I must have admired the early and deft satire of nuclear proliferation.
Even as a kid I knew the “Carry On” comedies were kinda cheesy, but they were British, so they existed on a higher plane than Abbott & Costello.
I don’t know if Agatha Christie enjoyed Ms. Rutherford’s interpretation of her amateur detective Miss Marple, but I came to believe that no one else had the spirit or the jowls for the role.
Guests of the MacArthur were directed to the second-floor lobby where tea and cookies were served until showtime, when the chimes of Big Ben struck and I’d brush the cookie crumbs off my clothes and we’d descend to the auditorium.
I don’t think my parents would have taken such a long drive to see French imports. Years later when friends could drive I was finally able to get to the Circle Theater downtown where I’d see the work of the great French directors Truffaut, Godard and Woody Allen.
A restored 70mm print of “El Cid” was shown in 1993 at the Avalon Theatre in Washington, D.C. If that’s when you went to college…..then perhaps that’s the theater you saw it at?
I was fortunate enough to get to a film here just before it closed while I was in college. Saw El Cid. It’s demise at the hands of CVS (not that it’s their fault) is a real shame.
There were alot nights i didn’t want to there especially with a hangover,but it never entered my mind to cancel a show because of “projector Problems”.Now if the folks came in and saw 800 empty seats and wanted a pass I certainly wouldn’t have talked them out of it. But,really all this is moot becuase there aren’t that many single screen theatres anymore.If this happened while it was a single screen and not a triple.If it was a triple I don’t see what it would matter because surely someone would be in the other theatres,So I guess it happen before the MAC was tripled.I was luckly to have worked when Union Projectionists ran the movies.I know i met several men always put on a “good show” like Buddy.
No…I didn’t start working the Mac A until the end of 1980 and was there full-time for a good bit of 1982 (I was the chief projectionist there in 1982 from the beginning of the summer until the end and was then transferred to the K-B Cinema).
Phil is absolutely correct in his memory of the people so I would believe the rest. The projectionist at the Mac A was “Buddy” (real name Herman Bierly sp?) The “chap” named Tim was Tim Taylor who was the manager in 1980 when I started there…he moved from the Mac A to the Fine Arts before 1982 and died in a Moped accident (he was riding the Moped on a rainy night between the Fine Arts and his house).
As to theatres having “problems” if there were few people there to see the movie…I have witnessed such events so again, I can certainly believe it. Note, it was NOT K-B’s policy to EVERY cancel a show. If someone came out to see the movie…even if it was just one, we showed the movie. Now sometimes a manager would entice 1 or 2 people to leave by refunding their money, giving passes…etc.
As for the “clowns”…Buddy has long ago passed on but was regarded as one of the best projectionists in the Washington DC area, ever. I never knew or knew of a Herman Owens. The only manager for the Mac A prior to my tenure there that I knew was Hal Malone.
SG
Can’t believe any one in the theatre business that really loved it would pull a stunt like PHIL MAGGIO wrote.You can bet neither one of those clowns is on CT.
I attended many MacArthur showings (mostly 70mm) after 1982. The opening weekend of event films like your Star Trek II, Return of the Jedi were sell outs with lines going around the block or extending way way down MacArthur Blvd, itself, towards the Reservoir Rd. 70mm bookings of Dark Crystal (1982, upon its triplexing), Brainstorm (1983), Amadeus (1984), White Night (1985) were spartan but the presentations were memorable.
Even as late as Witness (1985) and Total Recall (1990) there were pretty full crowds. I suppose the film bookers at Circle and later Cineplex were inclined to book the event films at the Uptown and Wisconsin Ave venues then here. Hook (1991) played at the downtown Fine Arts, with even more difficult street parking. They could have booked it here to probably greater crowds.
With regard to the night the projectionist and manager closing the theater due to not wanting to be there…Steve, was this during your tenure? :)
Steve, with regard to Star Trek II in 70mm, someone on another site is correcting me stating that the soundtrack to the film was MONO and not stereo. When I described the 6-track sound fx i.e. hearing a screw drop to the floor from the right rear of the theater, this individual states it was sound panning.
I could’ve sworn the ads were 70mm 6 track Dolby STEREO in the paper, with the 70mm 6-track logo in the Post, back in the day.
I worked at the MacArthur, only a few blocks from my house, during some of the second half of the 1970’s. The managers when i started were Mr. Chang and Chip Greenwood, a local writer. Bud was the projectionist most of the time, a wry old fellow. Sally Bowman, already in her sixties and a long time KB employee was the ticket cashier on Mondays. Herman Owens, who i think was born around 1900, was the doorman. He always had in his possession a beefy tome about American mid century politics. Two of my sisters and my brother also worked there for short periods.
As 1980 approached i liked the new managers less and worked elsewhere. A chap named Tim would send the employees home early, on a whim, even if the work schedule had been agreed before hand.
For the first few years popcorn was dispensed from a vending machine. It was surprisingly good popcorn, but people didn’t like buying popcorn from a machine so it was in stead sold via a less efficient stand, where the popcorn staled faster.
My favorite aspect of the theater was the sound. it was actually quite good, so good in fact that a whisper on stage could be understood from the back of the theater.
Attendance at the MacArthur was almost always disappointing. Common was it to show a film to fewer than a dozen people, in a theater seating 910. One night we were showing some obscure British film about fox hunting. The manager and projectionist really didn’t want to be there. They told me, that night a cashier, to tell people that the projector was broken. Wouldn’t you know it the the one couple who did come had driven in all the way from Roanoke to see this film. To this day i feel badly for lying to them.
Zink was the architect. There were competing plans to construct by different companies.
This theatre is listed in the 1945 Theatre Catalog as currently being built by John and Drew Eberson.
For Star Trek II…it was 70mm 6-track Dolby Stereo on ALL presentations…no the noise reduction would not have been on on some shows, off on others.
As to the processor…as a single, it was a K-B Theatre…as a Triple, it was a Circle theatre (and then Cineplex after Circle sold the chain).
Strictly due to the fact that the Dolby CP200 was THE 70mm processor of the industry from 1980 until its discontinuation in about 1994 (which is about when 70mm died out in favor of digital audio)…yes under Circle, there was a CP200 used in the large theatre (with CP50s in the two smaller theatres).
Steve
Jogging my memories of Star Trek II at the MacArthur, were/are there times you could turn OFF the Dolby or noise suppression system that was in place (if there was one)? I’ve seen the movie many times here during its run and remember some presentations were louder than others. When I say ‘louder,’ I mean you could hear soundtrack noise such as whistles, crackling and pop. Others when the presentation was quieter, it seemed something was missing. Personally, I enjoyed the 6-track presentation with ALL the noise because it seemed to be more engaging to me.
When it was triplexed and Dark Crystal opened, did they keep the Dolby CP200 for the main, or was it replaced and/or other systems added for the two smaller auditoriums?
Mark is correct. It was a Dolby Stereo print but it was played on an Eprad Stereo processor. The MacArthur’s house sound system was a Simplex XL…capable of up to 6-channel sound. However, for Star Trek, the Eprad was installed (Eprad was a competitor to Dolby in those days). The Eprad processor stayed their permanently until 1982, when a Dolby CP200 was installed for Star Trek II. The MacA closed later that year however.
SG
I’ll try to clarify what Steve said. According to Steve from above, who is an expert cinema technician/engineer, the STAR TREK premiere was shown in stereo, but using an Eprad processor instead of one from Dolby. To be advertised in Dolby Stereo, you have to use a Dolby unit.
The screening was in 35mm, not 70mm. There was not time to make 70mm prints in time for the opening. I read (I believe in an issue of American Cinematographer) that Robert Wise personally carried one reel to the premiere as they had just finished putting on the final touches.
In layman’s terms there was NO stereo with the first Star Trek movie or a different kind of stereo system? If there was 70mm played there as many posters have listed, are we to assume that there was at least a 4-track stereo set up there? 6-track?
A point of fact, the World Premiere of Star Trek: The Motion Picture played in 35mm on an EPRAD Starscope, not in “Dolby Stereo.” Anyone that tells you otherwise is mistaken. In fact, the MacArthur didn’t receive a Dolby processor until 1982 for Star Trek II. Star Trek II did play in 70mm.
Steve
I managed this house in the early Seventies, during the 70 MM reissue of The Sound Of Music. The picture/sound facilities were great at that time. It was the only “palace” I ever ran. I’m glad I was with KB when things were still top drawer.
The world premier of Star Trek, at the MacArthur.. per Gary Arnold of the Washington Post was December 6, 1979.. Gary Arnold states in the Dec 6 Post “Hundreds, maybe even thousands, of Trekkies are supposedly converging on Washington to surround tonight’s world premiere of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture” at the K-B MacArthur with hopeful vibrations. Producer Gene Roddenberry, director Robert Wise and all the principal cast members, including William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, are expected to attend the 7 p.m. showing, an invitational benefit for the scholarship and youth education fund of the National Space Club. A black-tie reception will follow at the National Air and Space Museum."
Can’t believe its been 30 years. I was too young to go into downtown but thoroughly enjoyed a sold out opening presentation in Langley Park, MD’s KB Langley. What an event film it was for the time, but I don’t think the movie had 70mm engagements in the DC area since the film was so rushed into theaters. I don’t think they had time to make 70mm prints in order to meet the Dec. 7 release.
The original STAR TREK:THE MOTION PICTURE had its World North American Premiere at the MacArthur Theatre. The film was shown in 70mm-6 Track Dobly Stereo. The premiere of this movie was in November before everyone else got to check it out nationally on December 7, 1979.
Other Premiere Enagements were in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston.
Here is a recent photo of the CVS.
What a conversation – I worked at the MacArthur in the early 60s. A high school friend of mine, Buddy Kearny, worked for KB and told me they need ushers. I think it was the summer of 1960. I started out working the parking lot across the alley next to the the theater. This consisted of laying on the hood of a parked car most of the evening watching the planes come down the river on the Georgetown approach on the way to National. Eventually the manager, Bill Flanagan and later Ron Pitcherello(sp), allowed me to work the lounge upstairs. Butter cookies and coffee for the folks waiting for the next show – usually a British comedy. They all played there – old and new it seems. And they were great. My favorites may be the St. Trinian’s series with Alistair Sim.
After a few months (I think), I was transferred to the Apex where Flanagan had gone for a stint. I was lucky to be there for a couple of years where I worked for Bill Hunter – just a wonderful guy – Bruce Burns, Ritch Hutchinson and many others including Marvin Goldman’s son, Ron (but thats another story).
By the way, I don’t remember there being popcorn at the MacArthur but it did make its way back to the Apex and the Baronet. My understanding of the “no popcorn” policy was that the salt ruined the carpeting and management didn’t want that to happen. A guy named Jim Sheetz took over the concession end of things for KB and must have convinced Mr. Burka that you could buy a lot of carpet with the profits from popcorn.
ALMOST ALL of the above comments miss the true legacy of the MacArthur Theater. When this theater was opened by KB in 1946, it was an immediate box office flop. They were playing the same “first neighborhood run” movies as everybody else and this was a sleepy neighborhood of stay-at-home’s watching their 8" Motorola TV’s. KB resorted to double features but without great success. Then Fred Burka and Marvin Goldman got the bright idea to have Exclusive First Runs from the British, France, Sweden, etc. The admission prices were midway between “neighborhood” and “first run downtown”.
The success was staggering. Some pictures which played dozens of weeks were A QUEEN IS CROWNED (the color documentary), THE MOUSE THAT ROARED, MURDER SHE SAID, the golden age of British comedy with films of Peter Sellers, Terry-Thomas, others. The theater was filled the night we saw Ingmar Bergman’s WILD STRAWBERRIES (the Best Movie Ever Made — sez me). This success continued for years, and KB also extended this success to the APEX in upper Northwest. BUT… but…
The supply of outstanding British and foreign films dwindled. Of course we miss the MacArthur, it’s shimmering heyday, but we also miss having quality intelligent movies to see. Behold 2008: Nothing but trash comic book nonsense. 2009 will be even worse.