MacArthur Theater

This theatre is listed in the 1945 Theatre Catalog as currently being built by John and Drew Eberson.

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?

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.

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

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."

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.

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.

I want to say the little theatres used Kintek surrounds though they may have been Altec 312s. The main auditorium used Altec 312s and yes they were suspended via cables. The little theatres had the surrounds affixed to the side walls.

As for the booth…it was cut up. There were two booths after the split. That is the only way you could have the middle balcony. So theatres 2 and 3 shared one booth and theatre #1 had its own booth.

The screen was not enlarged.

Steve

While it was true there were “Dolby” sound systems in all three theatres. The little two were about as minimalist as you could go…three whole surrounds…two on one wall and one on the other!

The main theatre did have a decent enough system for its day though it was a bit of a hodge-podge (A4s without wings and such).

The stage in the main theatre remained unchnaged and thus the screen size remained the same too.

For me, the MacA lost much though certainly not all of its charm when it was cut up.

Steve

“Dupont closed because the downtown Landmark (E Street) shows the arthouse films.”

you can make that broad overall comment but that’s not always the case. They pick and choose their films carefully and in one case promised a film ‘Brand Upon the Brain!’ and then cancelled it’s engagement for no apparent reason. Bethesda’s films rotate so infrequently it’s a joke. Dupont had the occasional indie film that Landmark never showed, so it’s going to be interesting if and how Landmark will show more films on a weekly basis. Perusing other cities and those films that don’t have DC engagements is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the many indie/foreign films that will now, never get seen on a theatre screen – many Washingtonians will have to try to see more films at their one off museum showings (at the generally terrible mid-afternoon weekend showings) or just wait for the eventual home video release.

I think once the MacArthur was split into three theatres, it somewhat lost it’s charm, mind you it was good for the turn around and more shows, the size was obviousily diminished. It’s water under the bridge at this point, but having seen how the Avalon Theatre Project was created to saving the Avalon, the Palisades community had wished they had been more vocal and supportive of keeping the MacArthur alive, even when Cineplex Loews eventually closed it.

With the Dupont Circle 5 closing, maybe this venue could be viable once again. The other night, there was local news coverage of the closing and it was stated that there are more screens in the city than ever! I suppose they’re factoring in the large multiplexes at Gallery Place and Georgetown. But those venues are on the other side of town and I’d hardly consider them treasures by any stretch of the imagination. If the Avalon can be brought back and made a success, the MacArthur can, too, with the right support. To be honest, the MacArthur is more of a treasure than the Avalon is and, of course, holds more favorable memories. There was talk about turning the place into office space, maybe they could partially do that to make the theaters more of an economical viability. I’d think they could clear up the empty space at the top of the building and back.

Nice pictures, Howard! So..maybe after CVS lease runs out the theater will return? It seems as if it would be an easy conversion since the CVS shopping floor takes up only a small part of the theater..probably just the lobby area.

The Fairfax Square was like the Cinema in that it is underground…but unlike the Cinema…its entrance didn’t face the street but faced a parking garage and was 180 degrees from the street.

The Fine Arts…while I can’t speak to it before 1980…after 1980 it had no curtain and there were no indication one had ever existed. The shadow box went all of the way to the exit doors by the screen (that had alarms on them if you used them) so there was no place to stack the curtain. It would have been really odd to have a crtain that far in front of the screen (over 3 feet in front).