|
|
This topic comprises 6 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6
|
|
Author
|
Topic: Happy 30th, Star Wars!
|
Michael Coate
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1904
From: Los Angeles, California
Registered: Feb 2001
|
posted 05-25-2007 12:13 AM
Thirty years ago today, "Star Wars" was released.
Did any film-techers actually see it on opening day?
Here's where it opened (From my retrospective article May 25, 1977: A Day Long Remembered):
quote:
ARIZONA
Phoenix: Plitt Ciné Capri
CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles: GCC Avco Center (70mm-Dolby)
Los Angeles: Mann Chinese (70mm-Dolby)
Orange: Plitt City Center (70mm-Dolby)
Sacramento: Syufy Century 25
San Diego: Mann Valley Circle
San Francisco: UA Coronet (70mm-Dolby)
San Jose: Syufy Century 22
COLORADO
Denver: Cooper Highland Cooper (Dolby)
DELAWARE
Claymont: Sameric Eric Twin Tri-State Mall
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Washington: RKO/Stanley-Warner Uptown (Dolby)
ILLINOIS
Milan: Redstone Showcase (Dolby)
INDIANA
Indianapolis: Y&W Eastwood (Dolby)
KENTUCKY
Louisville: Redstone Showcase (Dolby)
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston: Sack Charles (Dolby)
MICHIGAN
Southfield: Nicholas George Americana (Dolby)
MINNESOTA
Roseville: Northwest Roseville 4 (Dolby)
St. Louis Park: GCC St. Louis Park
NEW JERSEY
Edison: GCC Menlo Park
Lawrenceville: Sameric Eric Twin Lawrenceville
Paramus: RKO/Stanley-Warner Triplex Paramus (70mm-Dolby)
Pennsauken: Sameric Eric Twin Pennsauken
NEW YORK
Hicksville: Mann Twin South (70mm-Dolby)
New York: Loews Astor Plaza (70mm-Dolby)
New York: Loews Orpheum (70mm-Dolby)
OHIO
Springdale: Redstone Showcase (Dolby)
OREGON
Beaverton: Luxury Westgate (Dolby)
PENNSYLVANIA
Fairless Hills: Sameric Eric Twin Fairless Hills
Monroeville: Redstone Showcase East (Dolby)
Philadelphia: Sameric Eric's Place
UTAH
Salt Lake City: Plitt Centre
WASHINGTON
Seattle: UA Cinema 150 (Dolby)
Plus, it opened in the following on Thursday & Friday, May 26 & 27:
quote:
Opened Thursday, May 26, 1977:
KANSAS
Overland Park: Dickinson Glenwood (Dolby)
Opened Friday, May 27, 1977:
ILLINOIS
Calumet City: Plitt River Oaks
Chicago: Plitt Esquire (Dolby)
Lombard: GCC Yorktown
Northbrook: Lubliner & Sterns Edens (Dolby)
IOWA
Des Moines: Dubinsky River Hills (Dolby)
MISSOURI
Creve Coeur: Wehrenberg Creve Coeur (Dolby)
NEBRASKA
Omaha: Douglas Cinema Center (Dolby)
OHIO
Dayton: Chakeres Dayton Mall (Dolby)
TEXAS
Dallas: GCC Northpark I&II
Houston: GCC Galleria
So here's the challenge: can a discussion take place here with a focus on recollections of seeing "Star Wars" for the first time back in its original 1977-78 release? In other words, is it possible to discuss the original film and '77/'78 timeframe without drifting to any discussion of what "Star Wars" became over the course of thirty years? Obviously to many folks, "Star Wars" and George Lucas have worn out their welcome, but surely, even the most ardent Lucas haters and non-fans cannot deny the impact and impression the original movie made on moviegoers and the industry when it was brand new.
| IP: Logged
|
|
Monte L Fullmer
Film God
Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004
|
posted 05-25-2007 03:59 AM
quote:
UTAH
Salt Lake City: Plitt Centre
...great venue to watch all of the original SW's in 70mm ... on a FLAT screen no less. This downtown SLC palace finally came down a few years ago for downtown reconstruction since Crapaplex Odeon had it .. but those two Bauer U2 machines ran the 70m prints with exceptional quality with those big STRONG Futura 13.6mm rotator carbons giving out the great light to fill that monstorous flat screen..
(I saw "Logan's Run" in 70mm at this theatre the year before..)
I remember reading about the magnitude of lines going around the block in SFO at the Coronet. Danged movie wasn't supposed to take off like it did, but it surprised all...
...and Universal has been kicking themselves ever since they turned down this story and film concept from Lucas, even though Lucas did "American Graffitti" and was released by them in 1973.
My biggest memory with "SW" was the blurbs that were showing up the weekly "Boxoffice" magazines back then. "What is this 'StarWars', everyone around town would say.." "Just another campy space/science fiction, Roger Corman-type of a movie?" Even myself, I had my doubts of this wondering what this 'Star Wars' was all about...I was proven wrong that opening Wed night in the middle of June. Yet, what waws funny was the first week, the movie really didn't take off like it should. It was the 2nd week that word got around how great this movie was and then we were busy from then on.
Granted, Spielberg gave us "JAWS" two summers ago that really surprised us to no end. Summer of '76 was "Logan's Run" and a host of other famous, and not so famous fliks..
Studios at this time were churning out wannabees to get them out of misery since nothing was really doing good for them (woo..remember 1976's Delaurentiss's "King Kong" with Jeff Bridges...did help out Paramount some...).
FOX was in this quagmire and really needed something to bail itself out of the red ink that it was seeing. "Sure, we'll float this Lucas fellow $10m and see how his project floats...nobody else wanted to take the plunge with this space opera story..."
We were one of the theatres that received the later mid-June release when more prints were struck due to the high demand.
From then on for the six month duration (in which I needed another replacement print in July due to the acetate in one reel had began to get brittle more quicker than normal and I was having sprockethole fractures on a continual basis, plus massive shedding from emulsion drying out so bad.. (I had a Simplex XL/Peerless Magnarc booth ), running that film in my booth with open ports, I became very tired of this film - mainly due to I had practically every frame and all of the soundtrack memorized
That movie changed us all from then on.... - Monte
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mike Blakesley
Film God
Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99
|
posted 05-25-2007 10:13 AM
I saw it in Billings, Montana at the Fox Theatre, a 1450 seat house which was converted in 1982 to a performing arts theater.
I know the movie played in Billings for over a year, but I think it moved mid-run to the Rimrock 4, a multiplex that was new at the time (and is now gone).
Some friends and I had gone to 3 different movies that day, with SW being the last. Not being much of a sci=fi fan, and tired from watching all those movies, I fell asleep sporadically in Star Wars. So I can't say it changed my life all that much.
We never played it at the Roxy in the initial run -- at that time, there was a drive-in in town and they got first run rights to all Fox pictures. The drive-in closed in 1980 so we played all the later movies in first run, although the only one we opened on the break was Episode III. We did play the original movie in a reissue in 1982, and of course we played the 1997 Special Edition.
| IP: Logged
|
|
Tim Reed
Better Projection Pays
Posts: 5246
From: Northampton, PA
Registered: Sep 1999
|
posted 05-25-2007 10:51 AM
I ran it that summer, at the Leeds Theatre, in my hometown of Winchester, KY. I was 15, and so enamored with projection booths that I was never really interested in watching the movies.
Star Wars was different, however. It caught my attention immediately. From the very first shot, when the Star Destroyer chases the rebel ship across the frame... and it just keeps coming - and coming - and coming, until it fills the frame. The perceived scale was fantastic.
I soon found myself sitting at the porthole between my two Simplex Supers, monitor blaring away, watching this movie. The dynamic visual effects really floored me and the story was simply non-stop action. It was very exciting to say the least. I was so captivated that I had a difficult time pulling myself away to check the trim or make changeovers.
That's a summer I'll never forget. (Thanks, George!) ![[thumbsup]](graemlins/thumbsup.gif)
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
John Wilson
Film God
Posts: 5438
From: Sydney, Australia.
Registered: Dec 1999
|
posted 05-25-2007 02:35 PM
Even though it was released in Australia on October 27th, 1977...Star Wars (still without the 'Episode IV' tile) wasn't released in my town until June of 1978. Yes, 1978. My first experience with Star Wars was finding out (at age 12) that this film was doing BIG business at the hard-top in town. My first observation to my projectionist father of that was 'It must be a really long movie'. For some reason, in my head, only long movies were that successful...'Gone With The Wind', 'Lawrence Of Arabia' etc.
I never saw it though until August of '78 when it came to my Dad's drive-in. I remember it had already been to the Bowen Drive-In which is a pretty small town currently responsible as the location to Baz Lurhman's follow-up to 'Moulin Rouge' but I digress...we received this print of SW with all tails and leaders joined onto the wrong reels. (You see? It happened in those days too ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif) ) Between us, we managed to work out which reel was which and it made it to the screen as the second feature that night to Robert Shaw's 'Diamonds'. I have to say...and I'm not sure what possessed me to do it, but I taped on this screening on cassette the audio of the film (I doubt anyone's going to care too much at this point, right?) and must have played it almost every day for the next month or so...I loved this film and along with JAWS is my outstanding memory of going to the movies up to that point in history.
I'll never forget it and George, as much as I bag you out for the new ones...you'll always be forgiven...simply because you gave us that first scene with the Imperial Cruiser.
You had it...no doubt, and Goddamn it...not in the Star Wars vein as it's already been done, but I wish you'd do something as risque just one more time.
Loved it...love it...will always.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
Edwin Graf Diemer
Film Handler
Posts: 47
From: Red Bank, NJ, USA
Registered: Jul 2000
|
posted 05-25-2007 10:09 PM
DELAWARE
Claymont: Sameric Eric Twin Tri-State Mall
I grew up in Wilmington DE, so I was lucky to live 10 minutes away from this theater-the Sameric chain always seemed to have "the big ones", vs. their competititon, Budco. It was absolutely insane that first weekend. The theater was at the rear of the mall, and the line went snaking from the theater through the mall until it hit the mall entrance and back again. "Star Wars" was the last picture to play in the massive 1,400 seat screen one before it was divided-nobody expected what was going to happen of course, and "Star Wars" only played for about a month there before being moved to the much smaller screen two. They showed it in 35mm mono, although the large house was Norelco 70mm equipped. Once the dividing was completed (920 seats in the large house), and the theater a triplex, the film returned to the larger screen. A very successful location, "The Empire Strikes Back" opened in 70mm here as well on the opening break, but by "Jedi", the area surrounding the theater had deteriorated so rapidly the film bypassed it entirely.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
All times are Central (GMT -6:00)
|
This topic comprises 6 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6
|
Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM
6.3.1.2
The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion
and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.
|
Home
Printer-friendly view of this topic