A Few Words About A few words about...™ Oliver! -- in Blu-ray (2 Viewers)

[SteveJKo]

....my understanding is that most (if not all) Blu-ray Discs with an intermission only run it for a couple of minutes instead of the 15 or 20 it would have had originally....

Steve, the entr’acte (the piece of “intermission” music you’re referring to) was never played for the entire length of the intermission. The intermission was as long as the theatre management thought it needed to be, let’s say 20 minutes. If the entr’acte was four minutes and thirty seconds long, then fifteen and a half minutes into the intermission the entr’acte would start. It was usually at this time that, like in the legit theatre, the lights in the lobby would be flashed to let the audience know it was time to get back in their seats.

 

[Richard Gallagher]

Steve, the entr’acte (the piece of “intermission” music you’re referring to) was never played for the entire length of the intermission. The intermission was as long as the theatre management thought it needed to be, let’s say 20 minutes. If the entr’acte was four minutes and thirty seconds long, then fifteen and a half minutes into the intermission the entr’acte would start. It was usually at this time that, like in the legit theatre, the lights in the lobby would be flashed to let the audience know it was time to get back in their seats.

That's how I remember it. First the intermission card would appear, then the house lights would come up and the audience would head for the restrooms and/or the concession stand.

 

[ahollis]

Movies I recall seeing with an Intermission in TheatresOLIVERGONE WITH THE WINDDOCTOR ZHIVAGOICE STATION ZEBRATHE SOUND OF MUSICHOW THE WEST WAS WONGOODBYE MR CHIPSHELLO DOLLY 2001: A SPACE ODDESYRYAN'S DAUGHTERLAWRENCE OF ARABIATHOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN AND THEIR FLYING MACHINESTHE BLUE MAXPEPEMY FAIR LADY HAWAII i do enjoy a good film with an intermission.

 

[Yorkshire]

The film I recall with an intermission was Monty Python and the Holy Grail.





















I'll get me coat.

Steve W

 

[Rob_Ray]

The first movie I ever saw with an intermission was "Oklahoma!" I couldn't have been more than four years old, and the ominous thunder heard near the end of the Act I ballet finale woke me out of a sound sleep. Just when I started getting frightened by the conclusion of Laurie's nightmare, the lights came up for intermission and, thankfully, Act II was much more benign.

My copy of Oliver! arrived yesterday. It was a nice touch having the overture start against a blank screen with no FBI warning, after hitting the play button. I've never seen nor heard the picture sound better than what's on this release from Twilight Time. Beautiful!

 

[John Maher_289910]

What a lot of people either don't know or don't remember, is that drinks were not allowed in theaters, during those road show days. In addition to the bathroom and smoke break, the Intermission afforded you an opportunity to get a soft drink, which had to be consumed in the lobby.

 

[ahollis]

What a lot of people either don't know or don't remember, is that drinks were not allowed in theaters, during those road show days. In addition to the bathroom and smoke break, the Intermission afforded you an opportunity to get a soft drink, which had to be consumed in the lobby.

I didn't experience that. I guess the south didn't have those polices. We always got more drinks and another bag of popcorn and enjoyed them in the theatre.

 

[TravisR]

I wasn't alive during the era of intermissions so maybe its allure is lost on me but the idea of stopping a movie in the middle seems absolutely terrible to me. If I'm into the movie, I want to keep watching it and I don't want to wait ten minutes so people can eat a Zagnut bar or take a leak. They should have done that before the movie started.

 

[Rob_Ray]

I didn't experience that. I guess the south didn't have those polices. We always got more drinks and another bag of popcorn and enjoyed them in the theatre.

Where I grew up, it depended on the theatre. The big, lush downtown movie palaces had the strict no food policies. But when the larger neighborhood theatres, such as Houston's Tower and Alabama, were converted to roadshow venues, the formality wasn't so strict. At least in Houston anyway.

I remember when Houston's Loew's State Theatre started allowing sodas and popcorn in the auditorium and ushers disappeared. We all knew that an era was over and that it was just a matter of time...

 

[Rob_Ray]

I wasn't alive during the era of intermissions so maybe its allure is lost on me but the idea of stopping a movie in the middle seems absolutely terrible to me. If I'm into the movie, I want to keep watching it and I don't want to wait ten minutes so people can eat a Zagnut bar or take a leak. They should have done that before the movie started.

The allure was to make going to the movie as big a deal as going to the theatre still is today. And the type of movie that had an intermission tended to be more of a pageant (The Ten Commandments, My Fair Lady) than a seat-of-your-pants thriller. For example, you would never have stopped a Hitchcock picture unless it was the 3D version of Dial M for Murder, where there was no choice.

 

[JPCinema]

The TT Blu Ray is significantly better than the Blu Ray that is available in Europe. Overture and Intermission music played over black screen as opposed to The European Blu with a still with "Overture". Authoring and production houses make all the difference!! Thank you TT!

 

[ahollis]

The TT Blu Ray is significantly better than the Blu Ray that is available in Europe. Overture and Intermission music played over black screen as opposed to The European Blu with a still with "Overture". Authoring and production houses make all the difference!! Thank you TT!

Yes there is a lot of love shown on the TT releases. More expensive but to me worth the cost.

 

[Charles Smith]

Yes there is a lot of love shown on the TT releases. More expensive but to me worth the cost.

My feeling exactly. And if you want to have some extra goodies that are on some other release of the same film, get that one, too! I've got my share of dupes on the shelves. But never a needless one.

 

[bgart13]

The TT Blu Ray is significantly better than the Blu Ray that is available in Europe. Overture and Intermission music played over black screen as opposed to The European Blu with a still with "Overture". Authoring and production houses make all the difference!! Thank you TT!

What makes TT's authoring better than the UK disc? I'm curious, not arguing. Higher bitrate? Something else? Sony did the UK one, I can't imagine TT's would be much different in a technical sense. A black screen for intermission VS a still from the movie isn't a big deal in and of itself.

 

[WilliamMcK]

I did double dip... but I ordered late, so my TT OLIVER! hasn't even shipped yet (they claim they're not out of them though). Knowing that there is a "Chapter Menu" and that the Overture and Entr'acte are played over black/blank screens were what tipped the scales in Twilight Time's favor. I'm really hoping though, that I see a discernible difference in the picture quality (not expecting it to be huge... just noticeable if you're looking for it and/or do a back to back comparison). My only solace is that I've already watched the German blu-ray I bought months ago four times... That comes to $5.50 a screening, so at least I got my money's worth...

 

[WilliamMcK]

I wasn't alive during the era of intermissions so maybe its allure is lost on me but the idea of stopping a movie in the middle seems absolutely terrible to me. If I'm into the movie, I want to keep watching it and I don't want to wait ten minutes so people can eat a Zagnut bar or take a leak. They should have done that before the movie started.

I agree to the extent that adding an intermission for an intermission's sake is tantamount to interrupting for a commercial. But movies can be structured to be played in two parts... and when they are, they play much better if you observe the natural intermission. I grew up in the '60s, but mostly in small towns, so I didn't get a chance to see more than a couple of road shows (and have hazy, at best, memories of those -- THE SOUND OF MUSIC and OLIVER!)... but in the 70s I saw the re-releases of Gone With the Wind, The Sound of Music and Doctor Zhivago multiple times... some theaters presented them with their intended intermissions and some didn't... not only did all three films play better to the audience with an intermission break, they felt faster and more tightly paced. Gone With the Wind in particular begins to drag if you cut the intermission and play the movie straight through -- rather like sitting through a stage production of HAMLET without any breaks.

 

[Lromero1396]

In a forum such as this, the biggest single cliche is: you're entitled to your opinion. In your case, we'll have to amend that to: you're lucky you're entitled to your opinion!

Since I think MY FAIR LADY is one of the worst films ever made, I'm glad that I know OLIVER! to be far superior, in every way. On its way, and I'm looking forward to this Blu!

John; to second Robin's statement, you're very lucky to be entitled to an opinion here, since most of the people posting here (including myself) would likely disagree with your statement.

 

[bryan4999]

In many cases, I think an intermission can heighten the drama. I vividly remember seeing The Sound of Music as a kid and being devastated that Maria was leaving the children. And then the lights came up and it was very dramatic for me, even after seeing that film multiple times. . In addition, for those big roadshow movies like SOM, Oklahoma, Hello Dolly, Funny Girl, Oliver, etc., the Broadway shows they were based on included an intermission and the narrative is structured in basically the same way in the film versions.

 

[Mark-P]

Goodness gracious! It's like some of you have never been to a Broadway show (they do tour the country, you know), since you are baffled by the notion of reserved seating, intermissions, and no food or drink allowed! I'll bet you didn't even know that for Roadshow presentations you were also expected to wear your Sunday best.

 

[Charles Smith]

I guess the "simple" answer to those who don't understand why an intermission should be retained on home video releases, or why the musical portions of a roadshow presentation are better played over a black screen than over some arbitrary image, would be:

They're part of the film. It's all just part and parcel of the way ALL films would be presented, in a perfect world, on whatever our best home video format happens to be at a given time. We want film to look like film. We want the colors, framing, and audio to be correct. We want original logos retained. We want the original theatrical experience preserved and replicated to the best extent possible.

If you've never experienced roadshow films and you don't understand or like these elements of presentation, then by all means use the chapter skip or fast-forward button to your heart's content. But don't ask that these things go away. (I'm not sure anyone WAS asking that they go away. Not accusing anyone of anything here, just hoping to contribute to an explanation.)

As for the very existence of intermissions, and the genius of planning the best position for them in the service of actual suspenseful situations, look no further than those of Doctor Zhivago and 2001: A Space Odyssey. I treasure the memories of audiences audibly gasping at these moments. Talk about inspiring good intermission conversations... They knew how to do it.