Ziegfeld Theatre
141 W. 54th Street,
New York,
NY
10019
141 W. 54th Street,
New York,
NY
10019
131 people
favorited this theater
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That filter is a part of the preamp and is a
self-contained module that can be replaced. The idea was to be able to turn the 4th channel off when not in use to avoid any unwanted popping or hiss coming from the surrounds when they were not being used.
As Jeff mentioned I have also seen this happen by damage to the track as well. A tech would need to run test loops to determine which of those problems it actually is. Perhaps Zeigfeld management could determine the problem and if it turns out to be a notch filter
the could replace it for the next time. That pitch can be very annoying and distracting.
“Downgraded” to run reel-to-reel? Whatever…
Foster Hirsch started speaking right after 8 PM, for around 10 minutes. There was a 10 minute intermission, and after the show Hirsch interviewed Hope Preminger and the man who owned the print. The entire show ended at 11:08 PM.
I didn’t hear anything coming out of the surrounds, and I sat right underneath one just for that purpose. After intermission I moved up to the third row to take full advantage of that big screen. I didn’t notice the high pitched noise Bob mentioned.
It was shown reel to reel, and one changeover missed a second or two. Hirsch made a point to mention it, saying the Ziegfeld’s projection booth had to be “downgraded” for this show.
The audience applauded several times: for Dorothy Dandridge and Otto Preminger in the credits; after the song “My Man’s Gone Now”, because it was sung so beautifully and we just naturally reacted to it; and after Sammy Davis Jr.’s big number “It Ain’t Necessarily So”.
Unless you have a notch filter or low pass filter on the 4th magnetic channel, you’ll hear the 12 kilohertz tone that was used to trigger the surround amplifiers to come on. In this case, it’s best to just keep the surround channel off. Depending on how old the print is, and if the track has been attenuated from exposure to stray magnetic fields, this tone may be very weak, or quite loud.
Perhaps for your show tonight, they’ll keep the surrounds turned off.
The owner of the print will only allow it to be shown reel to reel.
Somebody on another site mentioned a high-pitched noise during the musical numbers. That would be the tone meant to trigger the surrounds. Apparently, the mag is working but not the 4th channel
Bill, I forgot to ask, how did the audience react to the movie?
Often, in an event such as that, folks will applaud at diffent times during the show, etc.
I will never forget opening night at WSS, the crowd applauded every musical number, like it was a live broadway show.
I mentioned the reel-to-reel because I thought it may have been mandatory in order to acquire the print, assuming it was, how well were the changeovers executed?.
Gee Bill it sounds like the projectionists were only a little baffeled by how to properly execute the show.
BUT, It sounds like they really tried, and that’s terrific.
You mentioned the use of the mag sound, which I had hoped they would do, can you tell us, was the movie shown reel-to-reel.
Roadshow, thanks for that overture information, I had forgotten all about that.
What time last night was it over?
Did they use the 4 track sound?
Just got back from the show. It was quite an evening. Foster Hirsch, author of a book about Otto Preminger, spoke before the movie and called “Porgy and Bess” the best Preminger film. I wouldn’t go that far – I don’t even think it’s the best film he made in 1959, which would be “Anatomy of a Murder” – but it was definitely one of his most unusual. The lack of cutting, close-ups and camera movement would probably drive a contemporary audience crazy, but it somehow fit here. It felt like you were watching it being performed in an opera house. It was shot in Todd-AO and there was always plenty of stuff going on in the background and all around the edges of the screen. Best of all, the singing and choral work were among the finest I’ve ever heard in a Hollywood musical, beautifully rendered in magnetic sound. And Dorothy Dandridge was heartbreaking just to look at her.
Otto’s wife and son, aome other Preminger relatives, Ira Gershwin’s nephew and the guy who owned the print and brought it here personally from L.A. were all introduced from their seats in the audience.
The presentation had some problems. The curtains were closed during the overture and opened right on cue, but they left the lights on during the credits until Otto Preminger’s name came on, when the lights went off all at once as if someone pulled out the plug. It seemed like the projectionists were working very hard to keep the film in focus, but they did their best. At the start of Act II (the Intermission title card was taken from a print of “Doctor Zhivago” for some reason) the movie was projected over the closed curtains for about 20 seconds. And as the curtains closed over “The End”, they stopped halfway and then opened again when the cast list appeared. Maybe whoever was in charge of the curtains was nervous with all those Gershwins and Premingers in the house.
As for the logos and onscreen curtains, there were none in the beginning (it started off with “Samuel Goldwyn Presents”), but an onscreen curtain did close over the cast list at the very end. It looked blue to me, but I’m color blind. It was most likely green, like Veyoung said above.
The audience was quite large. Center section was almost full except for the first few rows. Hirsch asked how many audience members had seen the film at the Warner in 1959, and quite a few hands went up.
Roadshow: To my knowledge, the link is active. Try typing the site name into your browser. You’ll find a link to my e-mail on the starter page. Thanks again.
Mr. Wise didn’t want the WSS overture firing through a closed curtain, so he asked Saul Bass to create an image for the overture so he could have the curtain open. What Bass created appears to be an abstract image that changes colors as a legit show would do with a show scrim. The genius of Bass' “show scrim” design was that it seemlessly transitions into the feature, where you discover what the image really is.
David M: I tried that link from your profile and it didn’t work.
Roadshow: A link to my starter web page (site is being built) is in my profile. That page provides my e-mail address. Please send the link to the Roadhsow Message Board and any others you’d like to share.
DavidM and Frankie, I remember a “greenish” curtain effect. (Goldman theatre roadshow, Philly)
Another quick overture story; it was the man himself, Robert Wise, who asked that for “West Side Story "the curtains should remain closed until after the whistles.
He did not want the curtains opening on a blank screen while the whistles played. The first whistle was to be played with full house lights followed by gradual dimming as the second whistle played.
I remember it like it was yesterday. Of course you all remember the overture for WSS had a picture image, as did "My Fair Lady”
Bob: I’d say, based on the Classics shows, that the doors open around 7:30.
I hope you’ll be able to tell US some of those Otto stories. I once met Carol Lynley at a sci-fi/horror convention. She was extremely nice, and she had nothing but good things to say about Otto! I figure she was in the minority :)
DavidM, i can give you the link to the Roadshow message board (among others) by email.
We have a group attending tomorrow night, including a gentleman that built and maintained Otto Preminger’s private screening room. (And does he have stories to tell!)
Does anyone know what time the doors open?
“(that is if you mean that people -couldn’t- care less)”
That is what I meant. And you are also RIGHT ON with “Audiences don’t care because they have been given nothing to care about.”
However, I still think that in this day and age, they still would not care even if presented properly. Their cell phone/ blackberry/iPhone/iPod/text messenger is more important to them.
I’m definitely going tonight ! My memory of seeing P & B at the warner when I was 16 is that the Overture played to a blue background. Could this be right ? I will NEVER forget the sound of that Overture ! Can’t WAIT !
Jeff, I heartily disagree. (that is if you mean that people -couldn’t- care less) Audiences don’t care because they have been given nothing to care about. They are used to crap because crap is all they have ever had. And careless venues with careless presentation have produced generations of careless patrons who don’t behave any better than they do at home because there is nothing special about the experience anymore.
The moviegoing experience has been downgraded terribly, but it is no excuse to use bad presentation just because everyone else does and the patrons don’t know any better. Have a look at the El Capitan. 3 different curtains, timed with music and light cues, and just opening them is a SHOW. People may not know what they’re missing but they sure think it’s cool when they see it.
Where is this “Roadshow” message board?
Vito, we are devinitely birds of a feather. Love to see more of your comments on the new Roadshow message board that’s just begun elsewhere. I was prepping a theatre to open a while back and was coming up with some sort of theatre signature image to open the curtain on so we wouldn’t have any debate with the studios…
Vito, keep in mind that except for a select group of us here that know what a “proper presentation” is, the audience of today could care less. So, it’s not a lost art, it’s a lost interest. The audience of today is expecting to walk into a auditorium and hear elevator music, or a DJ type presentation with dirty, out of focus, or light faded still slides dimly hitting the wide open screen, most times not even filling it to the masking. The audience of today also ignores all that preshow crap on the screen anyway.
I agree with your last sentence, vito. Newer theaters that opened in the last few months, such as the one I go to regularly, don’t know how to make a movie picture perfect. AMC does a bad job of doing this. Clearview, on the other hand, does a great job showing movies in sharp projection, whether it’s digital or film.
The studio boses often attended technical rehersals (dry runs) for most of the roadshows I played.
They ALL had opinions about how the openings should be handled.
It'a all a matter of what each person believes looks best. I went along for the most part with what they asked for, but I drew the line at a white screen. Bosses be damned, that was not going to happen. After all, I was dealing with a studio exec not the film maker. So after the rehersal, and we were rid of he execs, we ran the movie as we saw fit, the right way!
The most memorable for me was “Hello Dolly”, these two kids from Fox wanted the curtain half way open before the, silent as I recall,
Fox logo hit.
I argued, but they insisted, so Joseph Kelly, chief technicial for the at UA theatre circuit at the time, told them
(as he gave me a wink), “no problem, we will run it just as you say”. We ran it that way at both rehersals, then on opening night the curtain opened at the same time as the logo hit the screen.
As far as the speed of the curtain went, since we had very few manual curtains, we would often slow down or speed up the curtain motor(s)to coencide with length of the logo.
Proper presentaion was a lot of fun, sadly a lost art today.