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Back in the early 90's I was lucky enough to be at Londons Empire Leicester Square for a preview of the magnificent 70mm restoration of SPARTACUS.
The thrill of that opening fanfare to Alex Norths overture took me back to the days when certain films were regarded as events and treated accordingly.
It must have been wonderful to be at a 'hard ticket' presentation of, say, THE SAND PEBBLES, early in it's run, with the houslights going to half and JG's overture starting.#
Does this strike a chord with anyone else?
Forgive me if this is 'well trodden ground'.
Regards,
Frank.
Well, it may be a topic that's been discussed before but I never tire of reminiscing about this period. It was Wonderful, Indeed!
My first Roadshow experience was a Bus Trip with my 8th Grade Class to see "Ben Hur". I sat in the Front Mezzanine of the Boyd Theatre in Philadelphia (now the subject of a controversial fight to save it from demolition) with my classmates and marveled at what I was seeing and hearing. I especially remember the Storm during the Crucifixion Scene and the sound of the Thunder and Rumbling through the Theater's Stereo Surround System. And of course Miklos Rozsa's Music in Glorious Stereophonic Sound.
My next experience was my first Trip alone to Center City Philadelphia to see "West Side Story". As the lights dimmed, you heard the famous "West Side Story" whistle coming from the back speakers followed instantly by the crashing first chord of the Overture.
I'm sorry you missed it. But in a way, "Lord of the Rings" could be a similar experience. It's just that everything is in Stereo today, so it ceases to be special.
Hope others chime in. I'd enjoy hearing other reminiscences.
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I think my first roadshow was also BEN HUR; I couldn't have been more than 10 or 11. Later, I saw all of them, the musicals and the dramas, and still have their souvenir programs to show for it. I even saw a few as roadshows, shortly before they were cut for mass consumption, like THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. (Now THAT was a memory! My best friend and I had looked forward to that for months, and we went to the first Saturday matinee performance - in those days, the roadshows only played at 2 and 8 every day. I can remember we were both completely bowled over when the camera panned up to those ominous gray clouds, then suddenly it was the brightest blue, behind a victorious statue, and Tiomkin's fanfare literally blaring all over the theatre! We kept looking at each other as the triumph scene continued, amazed at what we were seeing!)
For years, roadshows were mere nostalgia. Now a lot of them have reappeared, because of DVD, with a lot of restored footage. I NEVER thought I'd see JOAN OF ARC, let alone actually own it! And who ever knew that FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS would be restored and available! (And it really does seem better with the added footage.) And the DVD of the original LOST HORIZON is a completely different experience from the film I trekked to see in outoftheway places for years!
But seeing them all in my living room can't even approach the experience of going to the theatre, buying the program in the lobby, being ushered to your assigned seat, then seeing the lights dim with the beginning of the overture, then finally darkening completely, as the event begins.
It was all part of an era now long gone.
And who knew?
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joec , my aunt took me to PHILA . to see JUDGEMENT AT NUREMBERG , and there was an INTERMISSION at the end of the scene you mention.
Michael
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I understand DIARY was originally released as a roadshow; the later evidence of Overture, Entr'acte and Exit cues supports this. But I know it was not a roadshow when it reached Pittsburgh, where I was living. As for ROOTS, CHEYENNE, and PATTON, I don't think any of these was ever released as a roadshow. CHEYENNE was rumored to be longer, and there were tales of deleted scenes, but it was not a success when first released. Now that we have viedo releases, those deleted scenes were put back in; apparently the intermission was to have come after the debacle when Stewart and Kennedy go out of town to meet the Indians.
I could be wrong, but I also never heard of PATTON and ROOTS being released as roadshows. I saw PATTON in its first run, and it was not a roadshow, though it was long enough to be one.
An addendum to my previous post: I did see roadshows earlier than BEN HUR. My family went to both the original roadshows of AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS and, more interesting, SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD, in Cinerama.
WONDERS has become a virtually "lost" film since then; apparently the only extant copy I've heard of was shown by that guy who created a Cinerama projection room in his mid-West home, complete with 3 projectors! However, I understand the copy of WONDERS he was showing had deteriorated to mostly red tones. That was a spectacular show! I still remember the colossal Colossus of Rhodes, in a sort of spoken prologue by Lowell Thomas, in a kind of minimally animated image at night, with the torch sending out sparks against the clouds! The score was great, too, written by David Raksin and Jerome Moross. I actually have an lp of soundtrack excerpts from it, and from CINERAMA HOLIDAY and THIS IS CINERAMA, on the Nikreis label, whatever that was. I found it in a rummage sale in Boston decades ago; it;s definitely from the original soundtrack, but it includes narration and sound effects.
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Posted: |
Oct 24, 2004 - 4:44 PM
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By: |
manderley
(Member)
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.....I understand DIARY was originally released as a roadshow; the later evidence of Overture, Entr'acte and Exit cues supports this. But I know it was not a roadshow when it reached Pittsburgh, where I was living. As for ROOTS, CHEYENNE, and PATTON, I don't think any of these was ever released as a roadshow. CHEYENNE was rumored to be longer, and there were tales of deleted scenes, but it was not a success when first released. Now that we have viedo releases, those deleted scenes were put back in; apparently the intermission was to have come after the debacle when Stewart and Kennedy go out of town to meet the Indians.
I could be wrong, but I also never heard of PATTON and ROOTS being released as roadshows. I saw PATTON in its first run, and it was not a roadshow, though it was long enough to be one.....
The whole subject of "roadshows" is a fascinating one----and one we all love to talk about, it seems.
John Archibald's question/statement also seems to reflect that we might need a discussion on what, exactly, constitutes a "roadshow".
A roadshow, by my own personal definition, is a film defined not by its creative aspects, but by its business aspects. To me, it would be a film (of any length), presented in no more than 2 performances a day, screened exclusively in a single theater in a specific town for an extended period of time, for which reserved seat tickets for ADVANCE screenings were sold.
Thus, a roadshow, by my personal definition, WOULD NOT necessarily have to have an overture, intermission, or exit music, be a specific length, or have programs available.....(although all of this is neat!)
Selected films were having very specialized screenings going all the way back to the teens and '20s in the US. But many, including those in the '50s and '60s were what were referred to as "two-a-day" screenings, in which the film was run in the afternoon and the evening at "advanced" ticket prices, but you simply walked-up to the boxoffice and did not arrange for reserved seats for some future date. (This does not mean that if there were unsold seats at a "reserved-seat" engagement you could not walk up to the boxoffice and get one immediately that way, either. I often did that in the old days. Nobody planned very far ahead to get reserved tickets to "The Last Valley"!  )
A "roadshow" engagement also implies that the film does not run continuously throughout the day. Some long films, even when run in 70mm, did.
(Incidentally, I think the EARLIEST "roadshow" films we currently have on DVD, in presumably their close-to-original formats, are GONE WITH THE WIND, THE GREAT ZIEGFELD, FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS, and FANTASIA. Although programs exist for things like ROMEO AND JULIET (1936), SINCE YOU WENT AWAY, FRENCHMAN'S CREEK, and A SONG TO REMEMBER, among many others, I don't imagine all of these were presented as roadshows.)
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Posted: |
Oct 24, 2004 - 5:42 PM
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By: |
Doug Raynes
(Member)
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I understand DIARY was originally released as a roadshow; the later evidence of Overture, Entr'acte and Exit cues supports this. But I know it was not a roadshow when it reached Pittsburgh, where I was living. As for ROOTS, CHEYENNE, and PATTON, I don't think any of these was ever released as a roadshow. CHEYENNE was rumored to be longer, and there were tales of deleted scenes, but it was not a success when first released. Now that we have viedo releases, those deleted scenes were put back in; apparently the intermission was to have come after the debacle when Stewart and Kennedy go out of town to meet the Indians.
I think John is correct in saying that Cheyenne Autumn, despite being shown in 70mm, was not presented as a Roadshow ie reserved seats/advance booking presentation, which would account for the lack of a souvenir booklet. I certainly don't remember seeing it as a Roadshow when I saw it in London where it was the first film to open the newly refurbished plush Warner theater (now alas just another multiplex).
The film certainly had an Intermission and I think there was an Overture and Exit music as well. Cheyenne Autumn looked fantastic in 70mm (it wasn't a 35mm blow up). I don't think I've ever seen such a sharp image. You could almost see every grain of sand in the desert!
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Posted: |
Oct 24, 2004 - 8:05 PM
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By: |
joec
(Member)
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A "roadshow" engagement also implies that the film does not run continuously throughout the day. Some long films, even when run in 70mm, did.
(Incidentally, I think the EARLIEST "roadshow" films we currently have on DVD, in presumably their close-to-original formats, are GONE WITH THE WIND, THE GREAT ZIEGFELD, FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS, and FANTASIA. Although programs exist for things like ROMEO AND JULIET (1936), SINCE YOU WENT AWAY, FRENCHMAN'S CREEK, and A SONG TO REMEMBER, among many others, I don't imagine all of these were presented as roadshows.)
You are wrong about the 1936 ROMEO AND JULIET, it was presented as a 2 a day reserved seat attraction in major cities before the general release to secondary markets. In NYC it played at the ASTOR Theater in Times Sq, home to many of MGM's early roadshow attractions.
True, advance sale reserved seat movies date back to the teen's thru 1930s. There were few during 1940s and made a big comeback with widescreen epics during 1950s and 60s.
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I think our moms were worried we'd be corrupted. Glad I got to
