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» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Community   » Film-Yak   » 70mm in the roadshow era (Page 1)

 
This topic comprises 3 pages: 1  2  3   
Author Topic: 70mm in the roadshow era
Paul Linfesty
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1383
From: Bakersfield, CA, USA
Registered: Nov 1999

- posted 09-07-2002 11:01 AM      Profile for Paul Linfesty   Email Paul Linfesty   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Does anyone know if theatres would receive two 70mm prints for a particular film (one for back-up)? And did the studios routinely replace prints for the exceptionally long-running engagements (Sound of Music, Ben-Hur, 2001, etc.)?

And would they actually drop a 70mm print if they went off reserverd seats and to the continious performance at popular prices schedule? (Hello Dolly, for example, seemed to play close to a year at the Chinese in Hollywood. Only the first six months or eight (or somewhere around that) was it a reserved seat engagement. The ads in the LA Times would say "Produced in Todd-AO". The day the film switched to Popular Prices, that Todd-AO mention disappeared from that day's and future ads).

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Gordon McLeod
Film God

Posts: 9532
From: Toronto Ontario Canada
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 09-07-2002 11:09 AM      Profile for Gordon McLeod   Email Gordon McLeod   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Sound of Music ran 2 years on the same print at the Eglnton theatre in Toronto on its opening on the Bauer U2's then there

At the University there was sometimes a backup 70 but usually a 35

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Claude S. Ayakawa
Film God

Posts: 2738
From: Waipahu, Hawaii, USA
Registered: Aug 2002

- posted 09-07-2002 12:34 PM      Profile for Claude S. Ayakawa   Author's Homepage   Email Claude S. Ayakawa   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
"THE SOUND OF MUSIC" played about a year and three months at the Kuhio Theatre in Honolulu. It opened in 70mm in 1965 but the print had to be replaced after a year because it was in very poor condition.The replacement was a 35mm mono print and I believe the picture was still a road show engagement.

-Claude

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 09-07-2002 01:25 PM      Profile for Mark Gulbrandsen   Email Mark Gulbrandsen   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Claude,
What kind of projectors did they use there? I sonder if the print getting trashed was due to projector problems or projectionist problems???
Mark @ Claco

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Claude S. Ayakawa
Film God

Posts: 2738
From: Waipahu, Hawaii, USA
Registered: Aug 2002

- posted 09-07-2002 03:12 PM      Profile for Claude S. Ayakawa   Author's Homepage   Email Claude S. Ayakawa   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Mark,

I was wondering the same thing because I have heard that if a print was well handled, it can last much longer than a year as Gordon as stated in his post regarding a two year run of "THE SOUND OF MUSIC" at his theatre. With two showing a day during it's road show, the print would have made about 732 passes in the projector and I know films have a much longer life than that if it was well handled. I do not know what kind of 70/35 projection equipment the Kuhio had but I am sure it was not the equipment. I suspect who ever ran the film at the Kuhio never did enough PM with his equipment and that is why the 70mm 'died' and had to be replaced with a 35mm. This is not unusial with some local projectionist because two 70mm prints were damaged duing their Honolulu engagements. One was "BATMAN" and the other one was "WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT". The 70mm print of"ROGER RABBIT" was damaged so badly that when I finally had a chance to see it, I was forced to warch a Dolby A 35mm print.

-Claude


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Gordon McLeod
Film God

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From: Toronto Ontario Canada
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- posted 09-07-2002 03:50 PM      Profile for Gordon McLeod   Email Gordon McLeod   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
2001 did about the same span at the Glendale with one print
both theatres ran continous operation as well
I rember reading in a old theatre Catalogue about a print that held the record in an ad for Norelcos DP70

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 09-07-2002 04:35 PM      Profile for Mark Gulbrandsen   Email Mark Gulbrandsen   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Gord, I remember that ad, the print was Sparticus with over 800 runs on it. Don't remember what theatre it was at though.
Mark

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John Walsh
Film God

Posts: 2490
From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way
Registered: Oct 1999

- posted 09-07-2002 05:42 PM      Profile for John Walsh   Email John Walsh   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I would guess that (even with proper handling) the mag tracks would wear first, forcing you to replace the print even if the image was still OK.

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Robert Throop
Master Film Handler

Posts: 412
From: Vernon, NY USA
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 09-07-2002 09:53 PM      Profile for Robert Throop   Email Robert Throop   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The Norelco ad for "Spartacus" was for the Pantages theatre in Hollywood.
Kallet's Shoppingtown theatre in Syracuse, NY ran "Sound of Music" for a 18 months with just one 70mm print. I remember that they had a letter of commendation from Fox for the condition of the print at the end of the run.

------------------
Bob Throop

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 09-07-2002 10:25 PM      Profile for Mark Gulbrandsen   Email Mark Gulbrandsen   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Actually, the lifespan of the mag tracks is entirely dependent on tension against the head, and head condition. If both are looked after the tracks will last the entire life of the print, which is alot of runs as you can see by how long some prints played. One will notice that you get high end roll off, and a slight increase in noise before anything else starts to happen. This is usually after 250 to 500 runs though.
Mark @ Claco

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System Notices
Forum Watchdog / Soup Nazi

Posts: 215

Registered: Apr 2004

- posted 01-13-2007 12:23 AM      Profile for System Notices         Edit/Delete Post 

It has been 1588 days since the last post.

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Michael Coate
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1904
From: Los Angeles, California
Registered: Feb 2001

- posted 01-13-2007 12:23 AM      Profile for Michael Coate   Email Michael Coate   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
Sound of Music ran 2 years on the same print at the Eglnton theatre in Toronto on its opening on the Bauer U2's then there
quote:
"THE SOUND OF MUSIC" played about a year and three months at the Kuhio Theatre in Honolulu.
quote:
2001 did about the same span at the Glendale with one print
quote:
the print was Sparticus with over 800 runs on it.
"The Sound Of Music" roadshow run in Toronto: 146 weeks
"The Sound Of Music" roadshow run in Honolulu: 81 weeks
"2001: A Space Odyssey" roadshow run in Toronto: 72 weeks
"Spartacus" roadshow run in Los Angeles: 61 weeks

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Ron Curran
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 504
From: Springwood NSW Australia
Registered: Feb 2006

- posted 01-13-2007 08:59 PM      Profile for Ron Curran   Author's Homepage   Email Ron Curran   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
... and these were all before FilmGuard.

Would Filmguard extend the life even further? Would the mag tracks benefit?

I remember running retrospectives with some so-so 35mm prints when we ran a mag print of Alien that looked and sounded perfect. Those tracks were like safety rails for the image.

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Mike Heenan
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1896
From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

- posted 01-14-2007 12:41 AM      Profile for Mike Heenan   Email Mike Heenan   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
During it's first engagement at the Cine Capri in Phoenix, a reel of Star Wars in 70mm was damaged... they ended up having to use a 35mm as backup, and I believe they did get a replacement reel, but they didn't have it in the both as a backup.

edit: (I just realized this wasn't the "roadshow" era, sorry)

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Christian Appelt
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 505
From: Frankfurt, Germany
Registered: Dec 2001

- posted 01-15-2007 09:44 AM      Profile for Christian Appelt   Email Christian Appelt   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I remember a Philips/Norelco ad for the DP70 and an article in the German magazine PHILIPS KINOTECHNIK about SOUTH PACIFIC running at the Dominion Theatre, London. They claimed that after 1.600 runs the print was still in excellent condition - in total, SOUTH PACIFIC ran 4 years and 22 weeks at the Dominion.

Cinema Treasures - Dominion Theatres

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