The initial bookings were:
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (opened Dec. 7 on two screens)
1941 (Dec. 14)
The Jerk (Dec. 14)
Kramer vs. Kramer (Dec. 19)
Going In Style (Dec. 25)
Here’s an update regarding the last few postings. I recently had an opportunity to sort this out via microfilm copies of Newsday, one of the Long Island newspapers.
This theater indeed re-opened as the Mid-Plaza 6 in December 1984.
The theater was closed for several weeks during the fall of ‘84 for the renovation. The debut attractions for the re-opening were “Starman” and “Dune,” on Dec. 14, both presented in 70mm. The remaining four screens were filled over the course of the following two weeks.
“The orginal theatre opened in 1960 with a reserved seat engagement of SPARTACUS.” (TomR, Oct 25, 2004)
“Spartacus” was indeed the debut attraction. However, the theater actually opened in October of 1961 according to the grand opening advertisements that appeared in The Newark Star-Ledger.
“The twin-cinema (Seattle’s first) was built in 1962 to exploit two of the postwar film business' big-screen fads, 70 mm and Dimension 150.”
“In fact, the theater opened in November of 1969.”
Okay…I looked this up recently in The Seattle Times. The real deal is: the theater opened on October 3, 1969. The debut attractions were “Easy Rider” (on the “150” screen) and “3 Into 2 Won’t Go” on the “70” screen).
veyoung,
Elaborating on my previous post…I suspect you were thinking of the Cinerama format, rather than Todd-AO, when you mentioned Philadelphia having the world’s fifth install. Philly was indeed the fifth city to get Cinerama (at the Boyd in Oct. 1953, although it was actually the sixth theatre to have Cinerama installed as by that time New York City had two).
“Pablo mentioned that ‘[the Midtown] was once a Todd-AO house.’ This was, in fact, the 5th Todd-AO installation on the planet.” (veyoung, Nov 25, 2004)
The fifth Todd-AO installation? Are you sure? My research would suggest the Midtown was around the 20th or 21st. Check out the following list and note that Philadelphia is quite a ways down the list.
“STAR WARS was only available [initially] to theatres who had 70 and or Dolby Stereo.” (Twistr54, Jun 20)
It is a myth that the initial release of the original “Star Wars” was made available only to Dolby-equipped theaters. The history of this movie’s release has really been screwed up by the faulty memories of people and the false claims made by authors of books and magazine articles on the subject.
“I attended a showing of Batman Returns at one of the multiplex screens not the original theatre” (Valencia, Aug 27, 2005)
“If memory serves, and it does so less than it used to, ‘Batman Returns’ would have played when the twin was still next door and not the current 6 plex in the new center.” (Manwithnoname, Aug 27, 2005)
I saw “Batman Returns,” the 1992 entry in the movie series, on opening night in the Chinese’s original, main auditorium. So either Valencia is confusing one “Batman” movie with another or saw the movie after it had been playing a while and the print had been moved to one of the smaller screens next door.
There aren’t enough movies being released in DLP Digital Projection format to justify only a digital projection system in screen #1’s booth. They have a projector for 35mm film presentation and another one for the DLP stuff.
For whatever reasons, I don’t believe the Camelot is showing in DLP any of the three currently available titles: “The Island,” “Sky High,” and “Valiant.”
“I grew up in Setauket on Long Island, and in 1968 a friend’s mother took my friend, his younger brother, and me to see 2001: A Space Odyssey at a theater on the Island not long after it opened.
I’ve been trying to figure out exactly which theater it was and suspect this may have been it.
Does anyone else recall seeing 2001 at this theater not long after it was released? I’d be grateful to know! Thank you.“ (60smoviekid, Dec 4, 2004)
Doubtful you saw “2001” here if you’re positive this viewing occured during 1968. “2001” was released initially as a roadshow with exclusive engagements in selected regions (the Long Island showing, which started about three months after the NYC premiere, was at the NGC Fox Eastern Twin South Cinerama in Hicksville).
The link below includes details for the New York City area showings (including arrounding counties) of “2001” from 1968-1970. (From there, one can link to a list of the film’s worldwide showings.) View link
Complex opened Dec. 7, 1979.
The initial bookings were:
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (opened Dec. 7 on two screens)
1941 (Dec. 14)
The Jerk (Dec. 14)
Kramer vs. Kramer (Dec. 19)
Going In Style (Dec. 25)
Theater opened Dec. 18, 1987.
The switch of ownership from ABC to Plitt Southern took place during November 1978.
Here’s an update regarding the last few postings. I recently had an opportunity to sort this out via microfilm copies of Newsday, one of the Long Island newspapers.
This theater indeed re-opened as the Mid-Plaza 6 in December 1984.
The theater was closed for several weeks during the fall of ‘84 for the renovation. The debut attractions for the re-opening were “Starman” and “Dune,” on Dec. 14, both presented in 70mm. The remaining four screens were filled over the course of the following two weeks.
“The orginal theatre opened in 1960 with a reserved seat engagement of SPARTACUS.” (TomR, Oct 25, 2004)
“Spartacus” was indeed the debut attraction. However, the theater actually opened in October of 1961 according to the grand opening advertisements that appeared in The Newark Star-Ledger.
“This theater, which opened in 1969”
“The twin-cinema (Seattle’s first) was built in 1962 to exploit two of the postwar film business' big-screen fads, 70 mm and Dimension 150.”
“In fact, the theater opened in November of 1969.”
Okay…I looked this up recently in The Seattle Times. The real deal is: the theater opened on October 3, 1969. The debut attractions were “Easy Rider” (on the “150” screen) and “3 Into 2 Won’t Go” on the “70” screen).
veyoung,
Elaborating on my previous post…I suspect you were thinking of the Cinerama format, rather than Todd-AO, when you mentioned Philadelphia having the world’s fifth install. Philly was indeed the fifth city to get Cinerama (at the Boyd in Oct. 1953, although it was actually the sixth theatre to have Cinerama installed as by that time New York City had two).
Yes.
“Pablo mentioned that ‘[the Midtown] was once a Todd-AO house.’ This was, in fact, the 5th Todd-AO installation on the planet.” (veyoung, Nov 25, 2004)
The fifth Todd-AO installation? Are you sure? My research would suggest the Midtown was around the 20th or 21st. Check out the following list and note that Philadelphia is quite a ways down the list.
View link
…and here:
View link
vclamp,
Are you thinking of the Cinema Westlane?
“STAR WARS was only available [initially] to theatres who had 70 and or Dolby Stereo.” (Twistr54, Jun 20)
It is a myth that the initial release of the original “Star Wars” was made available only to Dolby-equipped theaters. The history of this movie’s release has really been screwed up by the faulty memories of people and the false claims made by authors of books and magazine articles on the subject.
“We’ll probably never see a 70MM classic on the big screen again (unless we go to England)”…or L.A. Thank you American Cinematheque!
I believe the NYC roadshow run of “Young Winston” played at the Columbia.
U.S. premiere, by the way, was held at Grauman’s Chinese during FILMEX, Nov. 9, 1972. L.A. roadshow run began the following day at Loew’s Beverly.
World premiere, I believe, was in London.
Vito,
Surf the site; we do have some IMAX content posted. What kind of list were you thinking of?
I believe this theater was located in West Allis, rather than Milwaukee proper.
The original, first-run, roadshow engagement of “2001: A Space Odyssey” in 1968 was held at Cinema 1.
I believe any first-run Sensurround prints of “Earthquake” distributed in the U.S. were 35mm.
Other classics that ran at Southtown in 70mm were “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return Of The Jedi.”
Theater was run by Marcus (at least during the early ‘80s; not sure about any other period of time).
Dimension-150 did not exist in 1962.
“I attended a showing of Batman Returns at one of the multiplex screens not the original theatre” (Valencia, Aug 27, 2005)
“If memory serves, and it does so less than it used to, ‘Batman Returns’ would have played when the twin was still next door and not the current 6 plex in the new center.” (Manwithnoname, Aug 27, 2005)
I saw “Batman Returns,” the 1992 entry in the movie series, on opening night in the Chinese’s original, main auditorium. So either Valencia is confusing one “Batman” movie with another or saw the movie after it had been playing a while and the print had been moved to one of the smaller screens next door.
“The Ziegfeld is the only theatre in the country equipped with 6-track stereophonic sound.”
Don’t you just love the outrageous hype present in that “2001” ad?!
There aren’t enough movies being released in DLP Digital Projection format to justify only a digital projection system in screen #1’s booth. They have a projector for 35mm film presentation and another one for the DLP stuff.
For whatever reasons, I don’t believe the Camelot is showing in DLP any of the three currently available titles: “The Island,” “Sky High,” and “Valiant.”
Neither link worked for me.
Wasn’t the largest screen in the Upper Mid-West the one at the France Ave. Drive-In?
“I grew up in Setauket on Long Island, and in 1968 a friend’s mother took my friend, his younger brother, and me to see 2001: A Space Odyssey at a theater on the Island not long after it opened.
I’ve been trying to figure out exactly which theater it was and suspect this may have been it.
Does anyone else recall seeing 2001 at this theater not long after it was released? I’d be grateful to know! Thank you.“ (60smoviekid, Dec 4, 2004)
Doubtful you saw “2001” here if you’re positive this viewing occured during 1968. “2001” was released initially as a roadshow with exclusive engagements in selected regions (the Long Island showing, which started about three months after the NYC premiere, was at the NGC Fox Eastern Twin South Cinerama in Hicksville).
The link below includes details for the New York City area showings (including arrounding counties) of “2001” from 1968-1970. (From there, one can link to a list of the film’s worldwide showings.)
View link
Another AKA for this theater is the Majestic Crest.
This is one of a few theaters in the Century circuit to feature DLP Digital Projection presentations (of selected features).