A Few Words About A few words about...™ It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[rsmithjr]

At the Cinerama festival at the Cinerama Dome in late September, a 70mm print of IAMMMMW was shown. It was extremely dark and dingy looking. I was told that the studio had two prints, one reasonably timed and the other very very dark, and that MGM had sent the dark one. (Anyone on this forum ever hear of MGM messing up?) I suspect this is also the one that was on display in NYC.
Of course, the big issue really is the presentation. In the golden age of roadshows, things were done properly. We would often take several days of prepping to get all adjustments made properly. Studio representatives were often there, and would assist with adjustments. Sometimes reels of the film would be replaced if they were suboptimal or did not match the color timing of the rest. I was fortunate enough to see IAMMMMW at the Indian Hills Cinerama a number of times during original release. This was purportedly the best Cinerama house ever built and the presentation was fantastic in every respect.
Today, at a film festival, there really isn't time to get it right, especially when it is a special format presentation. The Cinerama festival I referred to was running 5 separate features a day, including a number in 3-panel Cinerama. Some of the prints were archive and barely ran.
In discussing this general problem, I should note that I was fortunate enough to see the presentation of Napolean with the Brownlaw restoration and the Carl Davis score with orchestra this last spring at the Paramount in Oakland. The theatre is a perfectly restored art deco masterpiece, and the presentation was done very correctly and with a huge amount of preparation (including getting the 3 projectors required to work properly from their specially-built booths). Once in a while, we are fortunate enough to see a classic shown properly in this manner. Hurrah!
In terms of normal 35mm, I should observe that the Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto has been showing a lengthy series of Universal classics. December saw all of the films of Deanna Durbin in beautiful new prints, shown in changeover projection and with an organ at intermission (which is their custom). The Stanford does it properly even with the constraints of repertory.
When it works, we should be very grateful. When it doesn't, we should be understanding.

 

[Techman707]

To Paul Rossen:
I think you’ve summed it up perfectly. I’m glad there are still people around that can still remember how a 70mm roadshow presentation looked like and when people dressed formally to see a roadshow on a Saturday night. I worked as the chief projectionist at the DeMille until the fire in 1973, when The Walter Reade Organization pulled out. Over the years I also worked vacations at the Criterion, State, Rivoli and Warner Cinerama. I was also involved in installing the 70mm Cinemechanica Victoria 8 projectors for “Goodbye Mr. Chips” at the Palace. Because of the steep throw from the old booth, it was unsuitable for 70mm projection and a temporary projection booth was setup in the balcony. That was extent they would go to in order to have proper projection. I was also involved in the installation of the original Zeiss Ikon 35/70mm projectors and automation at the Ziegfeld, the first of its type in the U.S. at the time. However, it soon proved to be unsuitable for projectionists that liked slamming the lens turrets, which caused the picture to shift off the screen and the Zeiss projectors had to finally be removed. I think it was shortly after that time that projection really began to deteriorate in NYC. Today, because all the spectacular Broadway movie theatres in New York City have all been demolished, they have to use a dump like the Ziegfeld for virtually all premieres, a sad statement indeed. At least in L.A. and the surrounding area, whether opened or closed, at least their great theatres are still standing.
Your statement that “These theaters knew how to put on a good show. Overtures and curtain raising were properly timed. The prints were immaculate. Sound presentations were state of the art.” makes me feel good knowing that there are STILL people that remember what a PROPER presentation looked like. I’m sure that all the past Broadway projectionists, and all the partners I've worked with and who have since passed away, would be proud to know that although the technology of motion pictures have advanced, their skill and showmanship has yet to be surpassed.
=============
To rsmithjr:
While the print shown at the Walter Reade Theatre might have been responsible for “some” of the problems, I know it didn’t even look like a 70mm print because it had poor resolution, in addition to being out of focus in the center, I believe that the xenon lamp’s wattage was insufficient for their screen size when the spot size is adjusted to evenly illuminate a 70mm aperture. As for your question “Anyone on this forum ever hear of MGM messing up?”, I would answer that....if I could stop laughing.
The most pleasing thing this week was, after buying three DVD copies of “Lawrence Of Arabia”, including a “super bit” copy, was finally watching the Blu-ray on my 8.5 foot HT screen. That really LOOKED LIKE I was running a 70mm print. A truly great transfer.
A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL ! ! !

 

[Matt Hough]

Let me add my voice of praise for projectionists who kept me royally entertained during decades of once or twice-a-year trips to NYC. I couldn't begin to count the hours of pure pleasure attending roadshow engagements at the Rivoli and Criterion and Ziegfeld theaters during the 1950s and 1960s (and That's Entertainment at the Ziegfeld in the 1970s) not to mention, of course, Radio City Music Hall. What wonderful, treasurable memories!

 

[Robert Harris]

Let me add my voice of praise for projectionists who kept me royally entertained during decades of once or twice-a-year trips to NYC. I couldn't begin to count the hours of pure pleasure attending roadshow engagements at the Rivoli and Criterion and Ziegfeld theaters during the 1950s and 1960s (and That's Entertainment at the Ziegfeld in the 1970s) not to mention, of course, Radio City Music Hall. What wonderful, treasurable memories!

"Time to be great again..."

 

[RolandL]

At the Cinerama festival at the Cinerama Dome in late September, a 70mm print of IAMMMMW was shown. It was extremely dark and dingy looking. I was told that the studio had two prints, one reasonably timed and the other very very dark, and that MGM had sent the dark one. (Anyone on this forum ever hear of MGM messing up?) I suspect this is also the one that was on display in NYC.
Of course, the big issue really is the presentation. In the golden age of roadshows, things were done properly. We would often take several days of prepping to get all adjustments made properly. Studio representatives were often there, and would assist with adjustments. Sometimes reels of the film would be replaced if they were suboptimal or did not match the color timing of the rest. I was fortunate enough to see IAMMMMW at the Indian Hills Cinerama a number of times during original release. This was purportedly the best Cinerama house ever built and the presentation was fantastic in every respect.
Today, at a film festival, there really isn't time to get it right, especially when it is a special format presentation. The Cinerama festival I referred to was running 5 separate features a day, including a number in 3-panel Cinerama. Some of the prints were archive and barely ran.
In discussing this general problem, I should note that I was fortunate enough to see the presentation of Napolean with the Brownlaw restoration and the Carl Davis score with orchestra this last spring at the Paramount in Oakland. The theatre is a perfectly restored art deco masterpiece, and the presentation was done very correctly and with a huge amount of preparation (including getting the 3 projectors required to work properly from their specially-built booths). Once in a while, we are fortunate enough to see a classic shown properly in this manner. Hurrah!
In terms of normal 35mm, I should observe that the Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto has been showing a lengthy series of Universal classics. December saw all of the films of Deanna Durbin in beautiful new prints, shown in changeover projection and with an organ at intermission (which is their custom). The Stanford does it properly even with the constraints of repertory.
When it works, we should be very grateful. When it doesn't, we should be understanding.

I was at the 60th Anniversary of Cinerama at the Dome but skipped the showing of IAMMMMW when it was listed as being shown in 2K. I thought the Cinerama Dome staff did a great job on the films I saw.

 

[Ray Faiola]

The print I saw at Walter Reade was NOT extremely dark, nor was it muddy. A tad heavy in contrast in a couple of reels, but not so that only an aficionado would notice. It was very sharp. And very enjoyable except for the aforementioned phantom advance tracks (again - probably only Richard Haines and myself noticed). The only dirt that I really noticed was in the negative, prior to the jump cut where the police copter lifts off after Knotts picks up Silvers. The dirt vanished on the cut (same shot - just elimination of delay frames).

 

[Techman707]

Don't let it be forgot that once there was a spot .....
This is a view of Loew's Capitol BC (before Cinerama).
This is a view of the Capitol after 1000 seats were curtained off for 3 projector Cinerama
and the projection booths moved downstairs. After 3 projector Cinerama phase ended,
the center booth under the loge remained as a projection booth and the original booth
at the top of the balcony was never used for projection again.
This is a view of the Capitol's Cinerama stage curtain from the orchestra.
This is a view of the Capitol's proscenium and new screen installation from the loge. This was when 1.65:1 and 1.85:1 were first introduced.
were first beginning to be popular formats.
This is a view of the Capitol's screen from the loge for single projector Cinerama (Ultra Panavision). Notice the false ceiling that was installed, which prevented the upper part of the balcony from being used.
.....For one brief shining moment

 

[Bob Furmanek]

The Capitol was one of the first Times Square movie palaces to install a panoramic widescreen, first seen on June 10, 1953.

 

[Frankie_A]

The print I saw at Walter Reade was NOT extremely dark, nor was it muddy. A tad heavy in contrast in a couple of reels, but not so that only an aficionado would notice. It was very sharp

So what show did you attend? For the 6pm Thursday (28) screening, I agree the print was NOT dark, but neither were the colors correct, and it certainly wasn't in focus across the entire image...no question it was soft IN THE CENTER.

 

[Paul Rossen]

The Capitol was one of the first Times Square movie palaces to install a panoramic widescreen, first seen on June 10, 1953.

The Capitol/Cinerama was a glorious theatre. Perhaps the most beautiful of the roadshow theatres of the1960's. I recall seeing The Dirty Dozen non roadshow as well as such roadshow films as Brothers Grimm, HTWWW, 2001, Cheyenne Autumn, Doctor Zhivago, Circus World, Hallelujah Trail and perhaps a few others I've forgotten about.

 

[rsmithjr]

I was at the 60th Anniversary of Cinerama at the Dome but skipped the showing of IAMMMMW when it was listed as being shown in 2K. I thought the Cinerama Dome staff did a great job on the films I saw.

IAMMMMW was unquestionably shown in 70mm.
The story about the 70mm print being dark was told to me by David Strohmeier. He also said that he saw a test loop on the 70mm projector and the light was fine for that.
The print was dark, dingy, and yellow, but otherwise perfect.

 

[Techman707]

The print I saw at Walter Reade was NOT extremely dark, nor was it muddy. A tad heavy in contrast in a couple of reels, but not so that only an aficionado would notice. It was very sharp. And very enjoyable except for the aforementioned phantom advance tracks (again - probably only Richard Haines and myself noticed). The only dirt that I really noticed was in the negative, prior to the jump cut where the police copter lifts off after Knotts picks up Silvers. The dirt vanished on the cut (same shot - just elimination of delay frames).

With all due respect, I guess you’re just not very discriminating. If you didn’t see the dirt and scratched in cue marks at the end of every reel, you must have seen a different print than me. While I never used the word dark, it had a muddy look, like a print timed for 6000k that was projected with a light source having a color temp of 3200K, causing it to appear muddy and yellow/brownish. I don’t know how many 70mm presentations you’ve seen, but, I can tell you that there’s no purpose going to the trouble of seeing a film in 70mm if it looks like what was projected at the Walter Reade. In addition, the changeover was out of frame between reel 6 & 7, you must have seen that? I can’t even remember the last time I heard of a 70mm presentation being out of frame, or the Chinese laundry run- out at the end of the film.
The ONLY saving grace with that presentation is that Mad World is such a funny film that the audience enjoyed the picture despite the poor presentation.

 

[Techman707]

The Capitol/Cinerama was a glorious theatre. Perhaps the most beautiful of the roadshow theatres of the1960's. I recall seeing The Dirty Dozen non roadshow as well as such roadshow films as Brothers Grimm, HTWWW, 2001, Cheyenne Autumn, Doctor Zhivago, Circus World, Hallelujah Trail and perhaps a few others I've forgotten about.

If I recall, The Hallelujah Trail was the last UP70 film ever run at the Capitol.

 

[Frankie_A]

Techman707 -- thanks for the splended pictures; they certainly take one back to a very different time. As you say, one brief shining moment...it certainly was -- the Golden Age of the Movie Palaces, and we were lucky enough to get a chance to experience it and work in it. Very lucky people are we. Pitty the souls today whose only theatre-going experience is in those character-less, utilitarian, assembly-line, down-right uninspiring things they call multiplexes. If they took you into a dozen of them blind folded, you would be hard pressed to identify what multiplex you were in. Today there's no WOW, no Grandure, no Magic, not to mention some of them are small enough that I might as well be in my home theatre.
Again, thanks for the pictures -- people really need to remember what going to the movies was all about. Back when I was a kid and I am sure you as well, we never EVER heard the mantra that one hears so often today --"I HATE going to the movies." Take a look at what a typical multiplex looks like today and then look again at the pictures of the Capitol and it's easy to see why.

 

[RolandL]

Pictures of the Capitol on my web site - http://cineramahistory.com/ctlowes.htm

 

[Paul Rossen]

Pictures of the Capitol on my web site - http://cineramahistory.com/ctlowes.htm

Thank you and Techman707 for the wonderful pictures of the long gone Loew's Capitol/Cinerama Theater. As noted earlier perhaps the most beautiful of the Roadshow houses on Broadway in the 60's.

 

[Robert Harris]

Originally Posted by lark144
Bruce, thanks so much of those photos of the revered Capitol theatre, where I used to go in the afternoons in the late 60's instead of high school. I was not able to attend the screening of IAMMMMW at the Walter Reade, but I did see MY FAIR LADY the next day. Yes, some reel changeovers were out of focus for a second or two, but this was corrected quickly. At one point the sound cut out of the far left surround speaker for less than a minute, but again, this was quickly corrected. Every other reel was warped, so the projectionists were continually riding focus, and although the image did occasionally go soft, this was usually corrected in a few seconds, except for one instance during the scene where Elsa is repeating vowels where there was a bad patch of the film continually going soft over and over for about a minute. However, it was clear that the projectionists were doing everything they could to fix this problem. During the intermission, the manager made an announcement about the warped reels, and apologized, saying that the projections were aware of the problem and were riding focus. They waited until everyone was in their seats before beginning the Entre'acte music, which was shown with the screen dark and the house lights on dim. I also noticed that during the screening the manager and also an assistant would walk through every ten minutes or so checking on the film and also being available for any customer complaints. At the changeover to the last reel, the film caught in the projector gate and began to burn. Again, this was handled very professionally, with an announcement, and the film was back up and running in less than two minutes.
Watching MY FAIR LADY in 70MM was for me a revelation. I used to think that as far as George Cukor's personal cinematic signature was concerned, MY FAIR LADY was decidedly minor, being more of a Jack Warner production. I have now completely changed my mind. Audrey Hepburn's incarnation of Eliza Doolittle is of a piece with other women in Cukor's films, such as Sylvia Scarlett or Linda Seton (in HOLIDAY), a dreamer who occupies a shadowy thin line between two inhospitable worlds. This is made very clear in the way Ms. Hepburn is shot and directed, especially in the last half hour of the film, where she stands in the shadow beside an art nouveau lamp after the ball, and then walks across a plank covering a trench near Convent Garden -- Cukor frames her in the center of the frame surrounded by fog that makes the other people and buildings in the shot shadows -- when she attempts to return to her former way of living. (Please excuse me for writing about MY FAIR LADY in a thread dedicated to IAMMMMW, but since the projection in 70mm at the Walter Reade was in question, and a number of members asked what the other screenings were like, I thought this was the best place to post.)
This is the third time I have seen MY FAIR LADY in 70mm, but this particular screening really hit home. I personally think that may be due to the intimacy of the Walter Reade theatre. The audience, also, was very enthusiastic, applauding at the end of the first half and also after the Entre'acte, in addition to a loud burst of applause when Mr. Harris' name appeared at the end. The print, which was from the Academy in LA, was fantastic-looking, the sound system in the theatre was excellent, and except for those instances that I have noted above, I though the presentation was great. (By the way, I was a manager of a cinema on the East Side of Manhattan for more than a decade, and I am very picky when it comes to projection and showmanship.)
I also saw RYAN'S DAUGHTER in 70mm the next day, and that, projection wise, was perfect. Although I did see RYAN'S DAUGHTER in 70mm in its initial run at the Ziegfeld, this screening at the Walter Reade was also a revelation. I now think this may be one of David Lean's best films, certainly his most personal, using a technique of stream-of-consciousness, which is very unusual for David Lean, through an enhancement and exaggeration of image and detail, depending on which character's viewpoint the film is taking. Right now, to my great surprise, I'm thinking that RYAN'S DAUGHTER may be a masterpiece. In any case, RYAN'S DAUGHTER is a film that desperately needs to be re-evaluated and re-seen.
Anyway, that was my experience of seeing two of the 70mm series at the Walter Reade!

Ryan's Daughter was the final episode of DL's trilogy, encompassing snow, sand, and sea.
Beautiful film, and also possibly Maurice Jarre's finest work.
RAH

 

[Ray Faiola]

Well, Bruce, I guess I'm not as discriminating as some others, nor am I any kind of an expert when it comes to 70mm. I certainly noticed the out-of-frame changeover but was so amazed that they corrected it right away (most NYC operators would leave it that way for the entire reel!!!) that I forgot about it. And, yes, there was end of reel schmutz but c'est la filme. I was just so delighted that my wife was enjoying herself so much that I was in a very forgiving mood.
I'm glad that Richard complained about the low sound level as it was soon corrected.
BTW - someone added Wally Brown and Howard da Silva to the film's IMDB credits. Can anyone confirm those two appearances (even in deleted scenes)???

 

[Stefan Andersson]

Hi Ray!
Howard da Silva has been listed as playing an "Airport Official" in at least one or two published cast lists that I´ve seen, One list, in the Monthly Film Bulletin, a British journal of record published by the British Film Institute, also inaccurately listed Jackie Mason in the part eventually played by Arnold Stang. Maybe both the Howard da Silva and Jackie Mason info is based on an inaccurate cast list, printed and distributed before release.
Howard da Silva does not AFAIK appear in any deleted scenes.
In the screenplay, there is a brief dialogue on the stairs of the airport control tower between Paul Ford and an airport official, who has maybe one or two lines of non-comedy dialogue.
Re: Wally Brown -- the Trivia section on the film´s ImdB page lists Brown, along with his former comedy partner Alan Carney, as one of several comedy duos appearing in the film -- the point being that they only appear separately and don´t share any scenes together. Brown, who passed away in Nov. 1961, was originally planned to appear in the film, as reported here (with allowances for inaccuracy):
http://petekellysblog.blogspot.se/2010/01/wally-brown-and-alan-carney-b-movie.html (scroll down almost to end of text)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wally_Brown
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It's_a_Mad,_Mad,_Mad,_Mad_World

 

[Paul Rossen]

Ryan's Daughter was the final episode of DL's trilogy, encompassing snow, sand, and sea. Beautiful film, and also possibly Maurice Jarre's finest work. RAH

Saw Ryan's Daughter twice during its 70mm engagement at the Ziegfeld. What a beautiful film! That said I never made the connection to 'the sea' as part of a DL trilogy. Would have preferred a DL version of THE Bounty. Oh, well...