Interesting, I had always heard that the 70mm prints were not made until a month or two into the run. However it appears from your information that my recollection about the showing at the Cine Capri is correct. They started with a 35mm release on May 25, 1977; 70mm began Sep. 14, 1977. I doubt at the time that they were able play the optical Dolby stereo track on the 35mm print assuming it wasn’t one of the mono prints. Having seen Star Wars about 10 or 15 times over the year that it ran at the Cine Capri I do remember how dramatic change in the sound was when they finely got the 70mm print.
My understanding is that Star Wars had NO 70mm prints for the first 3 or 4 months of its release. The Studio had no faith in the movie at all and didn’t want to spend the money on a 70mm blow up. After it was clear that it was a hit, only then did 70mm prints become available.
What was seen for the first 3 or 4 months of its run at the Cine Capri was a 35mm print either mono or Dolby Stereo encoded. Dolby Stereo encoded prints could be run on a mono optical reader. You would not have heard stereo with Star Wars at the Cine Capri until they got the 70mm prints sometime in late August or early September of 77.
Michael Coate,
Interesting, I had always heard that the 70mm prints were not made until a month or two into the run. However it appears from your information that my recollection about the showing at the Cine Capri is correct. They started with a 35mm release on May 25, 1977; 70mm began Sep. 14, 1977. I doubt at the time that they were able play the optical Dolby stereo track on the 35mm print assuming it wasn’t one of the mono prints. Having seen Star Wars about 10 or 15 times over the year that it ran at the Cine Capri I do remember how dramatic change in the sound was when they finely got the 70mm print.
My understanding is that Star Wars had NO 70mm prints for the first 3 or 4 months of its release. The Studio had no faith in the movie at all and didn’t want to spend the money on a 70mm blow up. After it was clear that it was a hit, only then did 70mm prints become available.
What was seen for the first 3 or 4 months of its run at the Cine Capri was a 35mm print either mono or Dolby Stereo encoded. Dolby Stereo encoded prints could be run on a mono optical reader. You would not have heard stereo with Star Wars at the Cine Capri until they got the 70mm prints sometime in late August or early September of 77.