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Encore showings of “The Wizard of Oz” on Nov. 17, but has it peaked in terms of its appeal?
posted by
CSWalczak
on
November 10, 2009 at 7:59 am
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The successful one-night showing of 1939’s “The Wizard of Oz” in hundreds of theaters across the country in September is prompting a second round of screenings in over 300 theaters on November 17.
Tickets for The Wizard of Oz 70th Anniversary Encore Event are available at participating theater box offices and online at www.FathomEvents.com For a complete list of theater locations and prices, please visit the web site (theaters are subject to change).
“Tens of thousands of fans nationwide celebrated the 70th anniversary of this beloved family classic in local movie theaters in September and due to the overwhelming response, we are proud to present a final opportunity for fans to gather again and experience ‘The Wizard of Oz’ on the big screen,” said Dan Diamond, vice president of Fathom.
Read the full announcement at Reuters.
However, in a recent article about the film, writer Mick LaSalle suggests that younger generations may not hold the film in quite the same esteem that Baby Boomers do. This not because of the film’s quality, which he acknowledges, but because so many Boomers shared the communal experience of having first seen the film on television (even if they saw all of it on a B&W TV set) on a once-a-year basis, wheeas youngsters today can see it just about any time they want on DVD on a big home screen. Read the whole essay in the San Francisco Chronicle
Comments (15)
nowadays you can buy it online to watch on the computer, rent it from netflix, and watch it on tcm whenever they show it. It is a movie classic that should not be remade.
And yet when I showed it at the Lafayette Theatre last year, we had over 1000 people show up for an 11:30 am showing. Many people realize that the only real way to see movies is on a theater screen.
They should strike 35mm prints for this instead of the video showings in theaters.
I agree with you there, Ken Layton.
Justin Fencsak:, Wizard of Oz is another movie that’s best shown on the great big, wide screen, in a real movie theatre, with the lights down low.
PeterApruzzese: It sounds like you guys all had a wonderful time seeing WOO at the Lafayette Theatre last year.
hey—I wish they’d do a national re-release for the film West Side Story.
I saw this on 35mm last year. The 1998 prints are still in use by Warner Bros.
Those 1998 prints are annoying in one regard, in that they printed the 1:37 image in the middle of a 1:85 frame, because so few theaters can show 1:37 anymore… but for those of us who CAN still throw 1:37 on the screen, it makes the image much smaller than it could have been. Oh, to see an old IB Technicolor print of Oz, it really is breathtaking.
The fact that WOO is sooo available is nice, but it is exactly why it isn’t as “special” anymore. I am 32 and we always planned sleep-overs etc around the yearly showing – got to stay up “late” to watch it, and it was a big event, even on TV.
And I mean this jokingly and with all respect & friendliness, but MPol, you manage to squeeze your overwhelming love for West Side Story into every page here on CT! They oughta pay you profit sharing.
Warner Bros. does have relatively new 1.37 prints in circulation in addition to the 1.85 ones. Theaters with 1.37 lenses can request these prints.
Unless it’s a special print I think one would be better off buying the Blu-ray. It’s fantastic.
Warner classics still has one 35mm full frame IB Tech print that is in good shape. We have shown it 4 times in Monterey. The last play was in July, and I was told then that the print was being removed from circulation, apparently so as not to compete with the digital “big screen” release.
MikeT is right about the new 1.37 prints. The Ziegfeld in New York City showed one in September 2006. It was quite beautiful.
Ian Judge, you’re right about this:
“but MPol, you manage to squeeze your overwhelming love for West Side Story into every page here on CT”
but I can’t resist!
Kram Sacul: blue-Ray sounds fanatastic, but expensive. Besides, one needs a special Blue-Ray DVD player, because a standard DVD player doesn’t work for Blue-Ray
Blu-ray players are not that expensive nowadays.
Oh no? Since when? I’m curious, because people really do get what they pay for these days. Often enough, the cheaper DVD players, be they the standard or the Blue-Ray ones, tend to break down much, much more often, as members of my family can and will attest, through personal experience. They ended up paying more for better DVD players, but it was worth it to them.
I’ve been reading that you can get them for $99 now. When Black Friday hits, expect even cheaper Blu-Ray players for those few hours.
I don’t know, KingBiscuits. One really does get what they pay for, especially nowadays. I wouldn’t take a chance on a cheaper DVD player, in the event that I were to get one. Better to dig somewhat deeper into one’s pocketbook and spend more money for a more reliable, more trustyworthy DVD player that won’t break down.