I am having a great time reading the above comments regarding Philadelphia’s old Boyd Theater. The only movie I saw at The Boyd was DOCTOR ZHIVAGO in March of 1966. I was 17 at the time and lived in nearby Moorestown, NJ. If I remember correctly, the theater’s interior was an all red motif: walls, floor and the huge curtain that covered an enormous wide, curved screen. Watching DOCTOR ZHIVAGO at The Boyd was an unforgettable visual and aural experience. Those who tend to dismiss ZHIVAGO as a bland, expensive soap opera have no idea how visually overpowering that movie was in its 70mm presentation at The Boyd. Director David Lean was by that time (from the late 50’s on starting with THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI) making spectacular, lengthy film epics and ZHIVAGO was a directorial masterpiece. I’ll never forget watching the early sequence when the young Yuri witnesses his mother’s burial. The stunning, brooding cinematography enveloped the movie audience, as did the sound: the men hammering the casket closed, the casket slowly lowered into the earth, clumps of dirt hitting the coffin and one chilling shot of the young boy’s mother’s corpse lying interred in her final resting place: it sent chills down the spine. The epic train ride to The Urals was another mesmerizing sequence among many others.
I went back to The Boyd several times to see ZHIVAGO. Subsequent viewings of the film during its non-roadshow, nation wide release were fine but couldn’t compare to the 70mm presentation at The Boyd.
Moviegoing just isn’t the same anymore. Mall cinemas have no personality whatsoever and audience behavior now is beyond rude in many cases. Event movies such as GONE WITH THE WIND, BEN-HUR, ZHIVAGO seem to be things of the past, although great movies are still being made. (BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, the two recent Clint Eastwood war films, VOLVER, LITTLE CHILDREN and PAN’S LABRYINTH are cases in point). I’m lucky enough and old enough to remember when moviegoing was fun and often a great experience. And The Boyd Theater and that first viewing of DOCTOR ZHIVAGO will always be a fond memory for me.
I am having a great time reading the above comments regarding Philadelphia’s old Boyd Theater. The only movie I saw at The Boyd was DOCTOR ZHIVAGO in March of 1966. I was 17 at the time and lived in nearby Moorestown, NJ. If I remember correctly, the theater’s interior was an all red motif: walls, floor and the huge curtain that covered an enormous wide, curved screen. Watching DOCTOR ZHIVAGO at The Boyd was an unforgettable visual and aural experience. Those who tend to dismiss ZHIVAGO as a bland, expensive soap opera have no idea how visually overpowering that movie was in its 70mm presentation at The Boyd. Director David Lean was by that time (from the late 50’s on starting with THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI) making spectacular, lengthy film epics and ZHIVAGO was a directorial masterpiece. I’ll never forget watching the early sequence when the young Yuri witnesses his mother’s burial. The stunning, brooding cinematography enveloped the movie audience, as did the sound: the men hammering the casket closed, the casket slowly lowered into the earth, clumps of dirt hitting the coffin and one chilling shot of the young boy’s mother’s corpse lying interred in her final resting place: it sent chills down the spine. The epic train ride to The Urals was another mesmerizing sequence among many others.
I went back to The Boyd several times to see ZHIVAGO. Subsequent viewings of the film during its non-roadshow, nation wide release were fine but couldn’t compare to the 70mm presentation at The Boyd.
Moviegoing just isn’t the same anymore. Mall cinemas have no personality whatsoever and audience behavior now is beyond rude in many cases. Event movies such as GONE WITH THE WIND, BEN-HUR, ZHIVAGO seem to be things of the past, although great movies are still being made. (BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, the two recent Clint Eastwood war films, VOLVER, LITTLE CHILDREN and PAN’S LABRYINTH are cases in point). I’m lucky enough and old enough to remember when moviegoing was fun and often a great experience. And The Boyd Theater and that first viewing of DOCTOR ZHIVAGO will always be a fond memory for me.
I am having a great time reading the above comments regarding Philadelphia’s old Boyd Theater. The only movie I saw at The Boyd was DOCTOR ZHIVAGO in March of 1966. I was 17 at the time and lived in nearby Moorestown, NJ. If I remember correctly, the theater’s interior was an all red motif: walls, floor and the huge curtain that covered an enormous wide, curved screen. Watching DOCTOR ZHIVAGO at The Boyd was an unforgettable visual and aural experience. Those who tend to dismiss ZHIVAGO as a bland, expensive soap opera have no idea how visually overpowering that movie was in its 70mm presentation at The Boyd. Director David Lean was by that time (from the late 50’s on starting with THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI) making spectacular, lengthy film epics and ZHIVAGO was a directorial masterpiece. I’ll never forget watching the early sequence when the young Yuri witnesses his mother’s burial. The stunning, brooding cinematography enveloped the movie audience, as did the sound: the men hammering the casket closed, the casket slowly lowered into the earth, clumps of dirt hitting the coffin and one chilling shot of the young boy’s mother’s corpse lying interred in her final resting place: it sent chills down the spine. The epic train ride to The Urals was another mesmerizing sequence among many others.
I went back to The Boyd several times to see ZHIVAGO. Subsequent viewings of the film during its non-roadshow, nation wide release were fine but couldn’t compare to the 70mm presentation at The Boyd.
Moviegoing just isn’t the same anymore. Mall cinemas have no personality whatsoever and audience behavior now is beyond rude in many cases. Event movies such as GONE WITH THE WIND, BEN-HUR, ZHIVAGO seem to be things of the past, although great movies are still being made. (BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, the two recent Clint Eastwood war films, VOLVER, LITTLE CHILDREN and PAN’S LABRYINTH are cases in point). I’m lucky enough and old enough to remember when moviegoing was fun and often a great experience. And The Boyd Theater and that first viewing of DOCTOR ZHIVAGO will always be a fond memory for me.
I am having a great time reading the above comments regarding Philadelphia’s old Boyd Theater. The only movie I saw at The Boyd was DOCTOR ZHIVAGO in March of 1966. I was 17 at the time and lived in nearby Moorestown, NJ. If I remember correctly, the theater’s interior was an all red motif: walls, floor and the huge curtain that covered an enormous wide, curved screen. Watching DOCTOR ZHIVAGO at The Boyd was an unforgettable visual and aural experience. Those who tend to dismiss ZHIVAGO as a bland, expensive soap opera have no idea how visually overpowering that movie was in its 70mm presentation at The Boyd. Director David Lean was by that time (from the late 50’s on starting with THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI) making spectacular, lengthy film epics and ZHIVAGO was a directorial masterpiece. I’ll never forget watching the early sequence when the young Yuri witnesses his mother’s burial. The stunning, brooding cinematography enveloped the movie audience, as did the sound: the men hammering the casket closed, the casket slowly lowered into the earth, clumps of dirt hitting the coffin and one chilling shot of the young boy’s mother’s corpse lying interred in her final resting place: it sent chills down the spine. The epic train ride to The Urals was another mesmerizing sequence among many others.
I went back to The Boyd several times to see ZHIVAGO. Subsequent viewings of the film during its non-roadshow, nation wide release were fine but couldn’t compare to the 70mm presentation at The Boyd.
Moviegoing just isn’t the same anymore. Mall cinemas have no personality whatsoever and audience behavior now is beyond rude in many cases. Event movies such as GONE WITH THE WIND, BEN-HUR, ZHIVAGO seem to be things of the past, although great movies are still being made. (BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, the two recent Clint Eastwood war films, VOLVER, LITTLE CHILDREN and PAN’S LABRYINTH are cases in point). I’m lucky enough and old enough to remember when moviegoing was fun and often a great experience. And The Boyd Theater and that first viewing of DOCTOR ZHIVAGO will always be a fond memory for me.