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Unfortunately, I've pretty much lost the battle at my theater; one of our eight screens had a V8 (the other seven are Simplexes), but V8 parts are a bit expensive, it was harder to teach the ushers to run the booth (teaching them two different projectors) and there's just no first-run 70mm product.

So, after a problem with the intermittent, the "powers that be" decided to get rid of the V8 rather than fix it. We just opened a new theater in Maryland, and had a few Simplexes left over from the older theater we closed; so we will use one of those- 35mm only. I couldn't talk them out of it, and while I don't totally agree with their reasoning, I really have see their point.

Management's points were; Our screen is too small to make a difference (we've talked about this fallacy before, so I won't repeat why it's a stupid reason)

-They are afraid to let an usher destroy a $20,000 (of course, management has painted themselves into a corner by killing off the projectionist profession, but it is a real reason)

There has simply been too few features avaiable in the last 10 years, and none have been announced in the future, so why maintain something that will probably not be used? That's the biggest arguement I have no answer for.

I came in, and the ushers were genuinely excited, saying; "They got rid of that "bad" projector; isn't that great?"

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Congratulations! Glad to hear of your success in running 70mm. Not surprised that a 1989 print still can look and sound that good. Most prints since 1982 should be in pretty good shape, unless they were abused or damaged by theatres, or stored improperly. Be interesting to know what other gems reside on the racks of ETS and TES.

Over on the rec.arts.movies.tech Newsgroup, there has been alot of recent discussion about whether bringing back 70mm "classics" like "Ben Hur", "The Sound of Music", etc. would be a money-maker. Bob Harris (who restored films like "Lawrence of Arabia", "My Fair Lady", "Spartacus" and "Vertigo" for 70mm re-release) makes a good case that spending a few million dollars to restore a movie like "Ben Hur" and have 70mm prints available would be a wise investment. He has actually issued a "challenge" to distributors. I know that I seek out "The Splendor of 70mm" whenever I travel, and long for the heyday of 70mm in smaller cities like Buffalo and Rochester.

I hope you post your theatre's good experience on r.a.m.t to let others know it can be successful, and that audiences DO notice the difference.

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com

I have seen the films in 70mm as John mentions above, plus many others that still reside in 70mm here in Australia.

I would really like to see a full restoration of "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" in fabolous Ultra Panavision. My spools of this film are now unrunable due to good old VS.

This is one of my favorites and in Australia it immediately followed 3-strip Cinerama (West Was Won) into the Cinerama theatres.

Are any other 70mm restorations currently under way or about to commence?

David

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The management people were supposed to have this conference at our theatre so my boss asked me if I knew a good SRD film to impress the hell out of these people. Better yet, I told him, I know this 70mm short that's going to blow their brains out, it's so good.

What's 70mm, he asked.

Anyone who has experienced "The Splendor of 70mm" doesn't have to ask "What's 70mm?". The quality jumps off a large screen, making an immersive and memorable experience. If you have 70mm capability, ask your management and bookers to try to get prints to "keep the flame alive" and introduce a new generation to the big screen quality only 70mm can deliver. Old 70mm prints vary greatly in quality, depending upon how they were used and stored. Some are damaged, faded or smell of vinegar (magnetic striping made triacetate prints more prone to "vinegar syndrome"). Others are as good as new. The only way to get new prints is to keep asking for them, and actively promote the showings to get the business they deserve.

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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com