<<< *Michael, Are you sure the opening attraction was not “A Man For All Seasons”? * >>>
I’m certain the opening attraction was “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum” (per a microfilm check of the original newspaper ads). “A Man For All Seasons” opened a couple months later.
CWalczak…I never said your comment was “nonsensical,” only that it didn’t make sense (to me). Meaning: I was surprised you were not able to “connect the dots” or “put two and two together” in regard to recognizing the theater Rogers was recalling could not possibly be the one you thought it was.
Now having read the Albee page I can see why you thought what you did. It seems you guys came to an unknowingly faulty conclusion based on some erroneous and misleading details mentioned in that discussion. It’s too bad I hadn’t seen the Albee page sooner and chimed in because then the discussion on this page might not have spun out of control.
I do think many of you are too sensitive about being corrected. It’s as if everyone is expected to unconditionally accept and love all comments which defeats the purpose of an information resource.
I do not agree that I’m abrasive or hurtful (at least not in intent), but I will admit that I can be pretty impatient with some people on these message boards. I’ll work toward improving my interaction with others. (Contact me via email if you wish to discuss further.)
It was forty-five years ago this week that THE SOUND OF MUSIC premiered in Southern California at this theater. With a run of 94 weeks, I imagine THE SOUND OF MUSIC was the most successful film to ever play the Fox Wilshire/Wilshire/Saban.
And in case you missed it last week when first posted, here’s a little retrospective article I put together to celebrate the film’s 45th anniversary.
It was forty-five years ago this week that THE SOUND OF MUSIC premiered in Southern California at this theater. With a run of 94 weeks, I imagine THE SOUND OF MUSIC was the most successful film to ever play the Fox Wilshire/Wilshire/Saban.
And in case you missed it last week when first posted, here’s a little retrospective article I put together to celebrate the film’s 45th anniversary.
Stan… The Ritz engagement you’re asking about began Dec. 23, 1966 (and ran 16 weeks). I didn’t list this run in the article because it wasn’t a reserved-seat engagement.
And thanks for posting your reminiscences! I always enjoy reading them.
Apparently, some of you do not share my concern about the importance of credibility with websites that rely on user-submitted content. But, then, what do you know about credibility, Chuck? An alarming number of your posts are riddled with factual errors and misspellings…and you don’t seem to care…and, unfortunately, neither do the site’s owners. Whenever someone points out an error to you, you tend to either not respond or you come up with some lame explanation for why you think you’re being mistreated and end up ignoring the real issue of the accuracy of the information.
It is inevitable that some folks think I’m a jerk for offering corrections. Let’s face it…some people just cannot handle being corrected, regardless of how any corrections are conveyed. Others, though, don’t seem to have a problem with me because they understand that I care about accuracy and they appreciate that I actively participate in the exchange of information even when it entails engaging in an argument or debate.
<<< I am not sure he is wrong; on another page he indicates that the mall is off I-275, and this one is. The mall opened as The Forest Fair Mall in 1988 and the theater opened as the Forest Mall Cinemas. >>>
CWalczak… Your comment makes no sense! What does his comment about the location of the mall in proximity to the interstate have to do with anything??? He’s describing the Showcase Cinemas in Springdale, a stand-alone theater located, as MarkL explained, a few miles from where the theater described on this page is located. That he commented about 1974 showtimes on a page for a theater that opened in 1988 ought to have been the first clue that he was posting on the wrong page.
I love Rogers' enthusiasm, but I think many will agree his posts can be pretty scatterbrained if you’ve spent any time reading his Augusta theater ramblings.
The Lefrak run was 42 weeks. The reason you are recalling “The Sound Of Music” playing longer than that is because, as I pointed out in my article that was mentioned a couple of comments ago, the film was in release for over four years, and perhaps it is the seemingly endless bookings somewhere that you are remembering.
To illustrate my point, listed below, based on my research of the original newspaper promotion, is all of the engagements of “The Sound Of Music” that played in the borough of Queens during its original 1965-1969 release. (Note that the first Queens booking wasn’t until after the initial Manhattan run closed.)
12.21.1966 … Lefrak City (42 weeks)
06.21.1967 … Bayside (9 weeks)
06.21.1967 … Community (8 weeks)
MikeRogers… I think you are posting on the wrong page. The theater you are describing sounds like the Showcase Cinemas in Springdale (which I don’t think has a page here on Cinema Treasures). Showcase Springdale opened in the early 1970s; Cincinnati Mills is a newer complex.
<<< SethLewis mentioned above, in 2004, that the Columbia I & II hosted a retrospective of Columbia classics to celebrate the studio’s 50th anniversary in 1974. We had that all-night show in Pittsburgh, too, at Squirrel Hill Theater. It consisted of 10 outstanding Columbia films… I wonder how many cities had that festival and if we all had it the same night. >>>
<<< *The NY one started at 12:01am Saturday night/Sunday morning, October 12/13. * >>>
In Los Angeles this fest was shown at the Avco on Oct. 17/18, 1974. They ran the same ten films shown in New York. (See my posts of March 8 & 11, 2008 on the Avco page for more info.)
Thanks, everyone, for the comments, corrections and compliments, and for sharing your memories.
<<< Michael, the first 51 locations were 70mm. Do you have a breakdown on the remaining screenings as far as 35mm mag/70mm goes? >>>
I believe most of them were 35mm. I prefer at this time not to clutter an already detail-heavy article with even more details. Email me if you wish to discuss this matter any further.
<<< It might have played 19 weeks in AUGUSTA,Ga. but the only place to see it in 70mm was NATIONAL HILLS,not Daniel VillageTheatre. >>>
The National Hills showed it during a re-release. I correctly cited the original roadshow run as being at Daniel Village. (And what makes you think Daniel Village wasn’t equipped for 70mm presentations?)
<<< The Palace ran the 35mm stereo format on the curved Cinerama screen which had been masked for 35mm scope. >>>
Something to consider… The reason the Palace masked down their screen may have been because they were honoring their Cinerama licensing agreement. Theaters that alternated between Cinerama and non-Cinerama bookings were encouraged to project onto a smaller screen area during non-Cinerama presentations, even when showing 70mm prints.
<<< Not listed above THE SOUND OF MUSIC played at THE CRESCENT THEATRE in Nashville,Tennessee for over a year. >>>
<<< TLSLOEWS,how could they forget NASHVILLE. >>>
I did not forget Nashville. As was pointed out by a couple other readers, Nashville is on the list (listed among the June 23, 1965 batch of bookings). Your recollection about the Crescent, though, prompted me to go back and pull my original notes and advertisement photocopies to verify I didn’t goof. Nope, I correctly listed it as Belle Meade. You’re misremembering it playing at Crescent.
<<< The Cinema 70 in Colorado Springs is listed on CT. >>>
No, it isn’t. The theater in Colorado Springs where “The Sound of Music” played was the Cooper 70, not the Cinema 70. Despite the “70” designation in their names, these were two different theaters located in different parts of town.
<<< I notice that it also played at the Center in Durham on January 13,1967 as a exclusive enagement. FYI….The Center Theatre in Downtown Durham closed its doors in 1965 and moved to the suburbs at Lakewood Shopping Center in December of 1966. >>>
Thanks. The entry on the list is right but it looks like I linked to the wrong theater.
<<< A correction on the [07.21.1965 … South Portland, ME — Maine Mall Cinema I & II (68 weeks)] engagement. The Sound of Music played at the CINEMA I & II in Westbrook for it reserved seat engagement. This was the theater that showed most of the exclusive reserved seat engagements in Maine. The Maine Mall Cinemas didn’t open until 1974. I don’t even think the Maine Mall was open then. >>>
Thanks very much for catching that.
These old GCC theaters with their stupid, generic “Cinema I & II” and “Cinema I-II-III” names can be a pain to research. Conversationally, most of those theaters had a name, usually that of the shopping plaza in which they were located. In the case of this Portland area booking, no such name appeared in the newspaper advertising. I was determined, for this project, to identify by its full (if only informal) name, but, apparently, was misled by a vague address in the ads and a lack of information here on Cinema Treasures (notice it wasn’t linked) and on a couple of other theater and GCC history sites. (I’m assuming that the theater in question was a GCC; maybe I’m wrong about that, too.)
<<< I’m pretty sure I saw ‘Star Wars’ there in 1977. I had seen it a couple of times in one or two different theaters in the area and I distinctly remember seeing it there. >>>
You did not see “Star Wars” in 1977 at Loew’s Lauderhill. The first-run engagements in Broward County were at…
Dania — Hi-Way Airport 9-Plex Drive-In
Fort Lauderdale — Sunrise I-II-III
Hollywood — Cine I & II
Lauderhill — Inverrary Triplex
Margate — Lake Shore 4-Plex Drive-In
Pompano Beach — Highway Drive-In
Perhaps you saw “Star Wars” here during a second-run or re-issue engagement.
Great movie! Quite possibly my favorite of everything Scorsese has made.
I recall seeing “GoodFellas” first-run at the AMC Marina Pacifica 6 and saw it a second time in ‘91 at the GCC Galaxy 6 during a “Warner Bros. Day” grand-opening retrospective. However, my most vivid recollections of seeing it were from numerous laserdisc viewings during the 1990s. Oddly, I never have bought it on DVD or Blu-ray.
<<< From what I read the theatre played “The Sound of Music” from October 1965 thru October 1966. I don’t know the accuracy of that, but maybe someone can verify it. >>>
The claim is correct. “The Sound Of Music” played at the Moorhead for 53 weeks beginning October 20, 1965.
Regarding the showtimes (as debated above) for the original run of “Star Wars”… I can’t say there wasn’t ever a period of time where the film played round the clock, but I doubt it. The industry just didn’t do that sort of thing back then. In pulling ad photocopies from my collection, I see the showtimes on opening day (May 25, 1977) were 1:20, 3:40, 6:00, 8:20 & 10:35. Other ads I have from dates in August and December ‘77 indicate the showtimes mentioned by Colin Marcoe in his comment of Sep. 20, 2005: 1:45, 4:30, 7:15 & 10:00.
<<< Decades later, in an attempt to lure away audiences from television, a vast curved screen was installed, and the Strand Theatre became New Orleans' first movie house to screen films in the “Todd A-O” process for several years. >>>
This is correct except that at that time the theater was called the Panorama.
<<< *Michael, Are you sure the opening attraction was not “A Man For All Seasons”? * >>>
I’m certain the opening attraction was “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum” (per a microfilm check of the original newspaper ads). “A Man For All Seasons” opened a couple months later.
The original Showcase Cinemas Springdale now has a page here on Cinema Treasures.
By the way, the Showcase Cinemas that MikeRogers was thinking of now has a page here on Cinema Treasures.
CWalczak…I never said your comment was “nonsensical,” only that it didn’t make sense (to me). Meaning: I was surprised you were not able to “connect the dots” or “put two and two together” in regard to recognizing the theater Rogers was recalling could not possibly be the one you thought it was.
Now having read the Albee page I can see why you thought what you did. It seems you guys came to an unknowingly faulty conclusion based on some erroneous and misleading details mentioned in that discussion. It’s too bad I hadn’t seen the Albee page sooner and chimed in because then the discussion on this page might not have spun out of control.
I do think many of you are too sensitive about being corrected. It’s as if everyone is expected to unconditionally accept and love all comments which defeats the purpose of an information resource.
I do not agree that I’m abrasive or hurtful (at least not in intent), but I will admit that I can be pretty impatient with some people on these message boards. I’ll work toward improving my interaction with others. (Contact me via email if you wish to discuss further.)
It was forty-five years ago this week that THE SOUND OF MUSIC premiered in Southern California at this theater. With a run of 94 weeks, I imagine THE SOUND OF MUSIC was the most successful film to ever play the Fox Wilshire/Wilshire/Saban.
And in case you missed it last week when first posted, here’s a little retrospective article I put together to celebrate the film’s 45th anniversary.
It was forty-five years ago this week that THE SOUND OF MUSIC premiered in Southern California at this theater. With a run of 94 weeks, I imagine THE SOUND OF MUSIC was the most successful film to ever play the Fox Wilshire/Wilshire/Saban.
And in case you missed it last week when first posted, here’s a little retrospective article I put together to celebrate the film’s 45th anniversary.
Stan… The Ritz engagement you’re asking about began Dec. 23, 1966 (and ran 16 weeks). I didn’t list this run in the article because it wasn’t a reserved-seat engagement.
And thanks for posting your reminiscences! I always enjoy reading them.
Apparently, some of you do not share my concern about the importance of credibility with websites that rely on user-submitted content. But, then, what do you know about credibility, Chuck? An alarming number of your posts are riddled with factual errors and misspellings…and you don’t seem to care…and, unfortunately, neither do the site’s owners. Whenever someone points out an error to you, you tend to either not respond or you come up with some lame explanation for why you think you’re being mistreated and end up ignoring the real issue of the accuracy of the information.
It is inevitable that some folks think I’m a jerk for offering corrections. Let’s face it…some people just cannot handle being corrected, regardless of how any corrections are conveyed. Others, though, don’t seem to have a problem with me because they understand that I care about accuracy and they appreciate that I actively participate in the exchange of information even when it entails engaging in an argument or debate.
Chuck… It’s Springdale, not Springfield.
<<< I am not sure he is wrong; on another page he indicates that the mall is off I-275, and this one is. The mall opened as The Forest Fair Mall in 1988 and the theater opened as the Forest Mall Cinemas. >>>
CWalczak… Your comment makes no sense! What does his comment about the location of the mall in proximity to the interstate have to do with anything??? He’s describing the Showcase Cinemas in Springdale, a stand-alone theater located, as MarkL explained, a few miles from where the theater described on this page is located. That he commented about 1974 showtimes on a page for a theater that opened in 1988 ought to have been the first clue that he was posting on the wrong page.
I love Rogers' enthusiasm, but I think many will agree his posts can be pretty scatterbrained if you’ve spent any time reading his Augusta theater ramblings.
The Lefrak run was 42 weeks. The reason you are recalling “The Sound Of Music” playing longer than that is because, as I pointed out in my article that was mentioned a couple of comments ago, the film was in release for over four years, and perhaps it is the seemingly endless bookings somewhere that you are remembering.
To illustrate my point, listed below, based on my research of the original newspaper promotion, is all of the engagements of “The Sound Of Music” that played in the borough of Queens during its original 1965-1969 release. (Note that the first Queens booking wasn’t until after the initial Manhattan run closed.)
12.21.1966 … Lefrak City (42 weeks)
06.21.1967 … Bayside (9 weeks)
06.21.1967 … Community (8 weeks)
11.15.1967 … Astoria (4 weeks)
11.15.1967 … Jackson (4 weeks)
11.15.1967 … Midway (3 weeks)
12.20.1967 … Boulevard (2 weeks)
12.20.1967 … Cambria (2 weeks)
12.20.1967 … Center (2 weeks)
12.20.1967 … Crossbay (2 weeks)
12.20.1967 … De Luxe (2 weeks)
12.20.1967 … Drake (2 weeks)
12.20.1967 … Laurelton (2 weeks)
12.20.1967 … Lefferts (2 weeks)
12.20.1967 … Park (2 weeks)
12.20.1967 … Parsons (2 weeks)
12.20.1967 … Rochdale (2 weeks)
12.20.1967 … Roosevelt (2 weeks)
12.20.1967 … Town (2 weeks)
12.20.1967 … Utopia (2 weeks)
08.14.1968 … Colony (2 weeks)
08.14.1968 … Haven (2 weeks)
08.27.1969 … Astoria (1 week)
08.27.1969 … Bayside (1 week)
08.27.1969 … Crossbay (1 week)
08.27.1969 … Jackson (1 week)
08.27.1969 … Midway (1 week)
MikeRogers… I think you are posting on the wrong page. The theater you are describing sounds like the Showcase Cinemas in Springdale (which I don’t think has a page here on Cinema Treasures). Showcase Springdale opened in the early 1970s; Cincinnati Mills is a newer complex.
<<< SethLewis mentioned above, in 2004, that the Columbia I & II hosted a retrospective of Columbia classics to celebrate the studio’s 50th anniversary in 1974. We had that all-night show in Pittsburgh, too, at Squirrel Hill Theater. It consisted of 10 outstanding Columbia films… I wonder how many cities had that festival and if we all had it the same night. >>>
<<< *The NY one started at 12:01am Saturday night/Sunday morning, October 12/13. * >>>
In Los Angeles this fest was shown at the Avco on Oct. 17/18, 1974. They ran the same ten films shown in New York. (See my posts of March 8 & 11, 2008 on the Avco page for more info.)
“The Sound Of Music” opened here on December 21, 1966 and played for 42 weeks.
Thanks, everyone, for the comments, corrections and compliments, and for sharing your memories.
<<< Michael, the first 51 locations were 70mm. Do you have a breakdown on the remaining screenings as far as 35mm mag/70mm goes? >>>
I believe most of them were 35mm. I prefer at this time not to clutter an already detail-heavy article with even more details. Email me if you wish to discuss this matter any further.
<<< It might have played 19 weeks in AUGUSTA,Ga. but the only place to see it in 70mm was NATIONAL HILLS,not Daniel VillageTheatre. >>>
The National Hills showed it during a re-release. I correctly cited the original roadshow run as being at Daniel Village. (And what makes you think Daniel Village wasn’t equipped for 70mm presentations?)
<<< The Palace ran the 35mm stereo format on the curved Cinerama screen which had been masked for 35mm scope. >>>
Something to consider… The reason the Palace masked down their screen may have been because they were honoring their Cinerama licensing agreement. Theaters that alternated between Cinerama and non-Cinerama bookings were encouraged to project onto a smaller screen area during non-Cinerama presentations, even when showing 70mm prints.
<<< Not listed above THE SOUND OF MUSIC played at THE CRESCENT THEATRE in Nashville,Tennessee for over a year. >>>
<<< TLSLOEWS,how could they forget NASHVILLE. >>>
I did not forget Nashville. As was pointed out by a couple other readers, Nashville is on the list (listed among the June 23, 1965 batch of bookings). Your recollection about the Crescent, though, prompted me to go back and pull my original notes and advertisement photocopies to verify I didn’t goof. Nope, I correctly listed it as Belle Meade. You’re misremembering it playing at Crescent.
<<< The Cinema 70 in Colorado Springs is listed on CT. >>>
No, it isn’t. The theater in Colorado Springs where “The Sound of Music” played was the Cooper 70, not the Cinema 70. Despite the “70” designation in their names, these were two different theaters located in different parts of town.
<<< I notice that it also played at the Center in Durham on January 13,1967 as a exclusive enagement. FYI….The Center Theatre in Downtown Durham closed its doors in 1965 and moved to the suburbs at Lakewood Shopping Center in December of 1966. >>>
Thanks. The entry on the list is right but it looks like I linked to the wrong theater.
<<< A correction on the [07.21.1965 … South Portland, ME — Maine Mall Cinema I & II (68 weeks)] engagement. The Sound of Music played at the CINEMA I & II in Westbrook for it reserved seat engagement. This was the theater that showed most of the exclusive reserved seat engagements in Maine. The Maine Mall Cinemas didn’t open until 1974. I don’t even think the Maine Mall was open then. >>>
Thanks very much for catching that.
These old GCC theaters with their stupid, generic “Cinema I & II” and “Cinema I-II-III” names can be a pain to research. Conversationally, most of those theaters had a name, usually that of the shopping plaza in which they were located. In the case of this Portland area booking, no such name appeared in the newspaper advertising. I was determined, for this project, to identify by its full (if only informal) name, but, apparently, was misled by a vague address in the ads and a lack of information here on Cinema Treasures (notice it wasn’t linked) and on a couple of other theater and GCC history sites. (I’m assuming that the theater in question was a GCC; maybe I’m wrong about that, too.)
<<< I’m pretty sure I saw ‘Star Wars’ there in 1977. I had seen it a couple of times in one or two different theaters in the area and I distinctly remember seeing it there. >>>
You did not see “Star Wars” in 1977 at Loew’s Lauderhill. The first-run engagements in Broward County were at…
Dania — Hi-Way Airport 9-Plex Drive-In
Fort Lauderdale — Sunrise I-II-III
Hollywood — Cine I & II
Lauderhill — Inverrary Triplex
Margate — Lake Shore 4-Plex Drive-In
Pompano Beach — Highway Drive-In
Perhaps you saw “Star Wars” here during a second-run or re-issue engagement.
<<< I have heard that this was the Crescent City’s first 70mm house. >>>
No, that would be the Panorama.
<<< it’s official 20th anniversary isn’t until September 21st >>>
Actually, in some U.S. markets it opened on Wednesday, September 19 (1990).
Great movie! Quite possibly my favorite of everything Scorsese has made.
I recall seeing “GoodFellas” first-run at the AMC Marina Pacifica 6 and saw it a second time in ‘91 at the GCC Galaxy 6 during a “Warner Bros. Day” grand-opening retrospective. However, my most vivid recollections of seeing it were from numerous laserdisc viewings during the 1990s. Oddly, I never have bought it on DVD or Blu-ray.
<<< From what I read the theatre played “The Sound of Music” from October 1965 thru October 1966. I don’t know the accuracy of that, but maybe someone can verify it. >>>
The claim is correct. “The Sound Of Music” played at the Moorhead for 53 weeks beginning October 20, 1965.
Chuck…Chuck…Chuck…
1) This is a duplicate listing. The other page is here.
2) You’ve misspelled the city and theater name all fives times you mention them! Correct spelling is Moorhead (no ‘e’ after the ‘r’).
3) Moorhead is located in Minnesota, not North Dakota.
<<< I worked at the Eastwood when Star Wars opened in May 1977. The first public screen[ing] was the standard 12:45 show on a Friday afternoon. >>>
The first showtime is correct (based on how it was promoted in the local paper) but the day of the week isn’t. It opened on a Wednesday.
Regarding the showtimes (as debated above) for the original run of “Star Wars”… I can’t say there wasn’t ever a period of time where the film played round the clock, but I doubt it. The industry just didn’t do that sort of thing back then. In pulling ad photocopies from my collection, I see the showtimes on opening day (May 25, 1977) were 1:20, 3:40, 6:00, 8:20 & 10:35. Other ads I have from dates in August and December ‘77 indicate the showtimes mentioned by Colin Marcoe in his comment of Sep. 20, 2005: 1:45, 4:30, 7:15 & 10:00.
<<< Decades later, in an attempt to lure away audiences from television, a vast curved screen was installed, and the Strand Theatre became New Orleans' first movie house to screen films in the “Todd A-O” process for several years. >>>
This is correct except that at that time the theater was called the Panorama.
I believe the Panorama for part of its life was known as the Strand.