My all-time favorite movie process (1 Viewer)

[Brian Kidd]

The audiences were so gullible back in the fifties ,that they were none the wiser.

They haven't gotten any wiser. How many people these days pay a premium to go to an "IMAX" screening that is simply two 2K projectors firing at once as opposed to the wonderful film-based system that gave the company its name?

 

[Worth]

They haven't gotten any wiser. How many people these days pay a premium to go to an "IMAX" screening that is simply two 2K projectors firing at once as opposed to the wonderful film-based system that gave the company its name?

Not sure about that. I'll see something in an IMAX cinema knowing full well it's 2K because the screen is larger and more immersive, and the laser projection is superior.

 

[Matt Hough]

[BTW Capri was a common name for roadshow houses in the 1960's.]

It sure was. The premiere attraction at Charlotte's brand new Capri Theater in 1964 was My Fair Lady which I saw there twice (paying $2.50 for reserved seats).

 

[PMF]

It sure was. The premiere attraction at Charlotte's brand new Capri Theater in 1964 was My Fair Lady which I saw there twice (paying $2.50 for reserved seats).

You paid a total of 5 bucks?
Matt, for just an extra 15 USD you could have owned it outright;
that is, if you were willing to wait another 30 years.
I wonder if they had a Capri in Boston?
At the now gone palace theaters of Beantown, I thrilled to the original 70mm showings of "The Sound of Music" and "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines". We had to travel a bit, but the Roadshows meant Road Trips. Reserved Seating, of course.

 

[Matt Hough]

Yes, $5 over the course of my two trips to the Capri weeks apart. I had seen the show on Broadway in 1958 and had worn out the cast albums (NY and later the stereo London one) afterwards, so to say that this film was important to me is a vast understatement. I'm also thinking it was early in 1965 when I saw it for the first time rather than 1964. I do have my hardback souvenir program I also bought on that first trip, but I stupidly didn't save my ticket stub inside it.

 

[haineshisway]

Not a fan of IMAX - never have been right from the beginning. It's a shame Trumball never got his off the ground - kind of a game changer.

I LOVED and love VistaVision - even the 35mm prints were extraordinary.

Cinerama was thrilling in any of its proper venues. And I hate to say it, the Dome, which couldn't even show three-panel Cinerama until, I believe, the late 90s, is not a proper venue, as it has never had the proper louvered screen and the projection is always too dim because of it.

Todd-AO, the original, was unbelievably great. I don't think many here actually remember it or even saw it. It was breathtaking. No other 70mm process has come close to the 30fps Todd-AO.

Ben-Hur in Ultra-Panavision - again, if it was a proper theater it looked fantastic.

But I was a sucker for any 70mm process.

 

[Dick]

Super-8 cropped to 2.35:1.

Vincent

I actually did this when projecting a few filmed-in-2.35:1 Super 8mm films that were panned and scanned. Of course, a lot was lost on top and bottom, but it still looked pretty cool. I used masks attached to the projector just a bit in front of the lenses (dual projectors). Did this for ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (which, like a bunch of other Paramount films, was released full length by Mountain Films (their home entertainment subsidiary) back in the day and a few others.

Incidentally, for anyone complaining about the price of Blu-rays, that 4x3 Super 8 print of OUATITW cost me about $300. Set me back for months. I probably sold it for no more than $25.00.

 

[Dick]

I LOVED and love VistaVision - even the 35mm prints were extraordinary.

While I attended a private school, I was one of two in the A.V. Club who projected weekly movies, and we rented all of our 16mm prints from Films, Inc., which carried Paramount titles. I clearly recall at the time wondering why many of those Paramounts looked better than the MGM or Fox prints.

Todd-AO, the original, was unbelievably great. I don't think many here actually remember it or even saw it. It was breathtaking. No other 70mm process has come close to the 30fps Todd-AO.

My parents took us kids to see OKLAHOMA! on B'way when it was first released. I was only five and not a fan of musicals then (it can be an acquired taste, as I love them now) but was struck by the curved screen and the amazingly sharp, you-are-there image quality. I'd love to see those wonderful 70mm processes make a comeback, but in this era of streaming and crap formats, it probably wouldn't have a chance.

 

[RolandL]

Cinerama was thrilling in any of its proper venues. And I hate to say it, the Dome, which couldn't even show three-panel Cinerama until, I believe, the late 90s, is not a proper venue, as it has never had the proper louvered screen and the projection is always too dim because of it.

The Dome did have a louvered screen when it opened in 63 till the mid 70's.

 

[haineshisway]

Well, Roland, you read the same quote from JSittig that everyone uses. Others I've talked to disagree.

 

[RolandL]

Well, Roland, you read the same quote from JSittig that everyone uses. Others I've talked to disagree.

He is/was the Director of Sight and Sound for Pacific Theatres so, I thought he would know.

 

[haineshisway]

It would seem as if he'd know, yes. And yet others I've spoken to, who should also know, say otherwise. I'm happy to go with Sittig, though.

 

[john a hunter]

Battle of the River Plate was shown I true V-V at the Plaza along with the short V-V visits Norway.
Can- Can was a major disappointment for Fox after Todd-AO's terrific run of megahits.
For me ,although I will never forget Ben- Hur at the Empire in Camera 65, it was South Pacific in wonderful Todd-A0 at the Dominion which soon became a favourite haunt.
South Pacific together with the Miracle of Todd-AO. What a combination!!

 

[Les Mangram]

Battle of the River Plate was shown I true V-V at the Plaza along with the short V-V visits Norway.
Can- Can was a major disappointment for Fox after Todd-AO's terrific run of megahits.
For me ,although I will never forget Ben- Hur at the Empire in Camera 65, it was South Pacific in wonderful Todd-A0 at the Dominion which soon became a favourite haunt.
South Pacific together with the Miracle of Todd-AO. What a combination!!

The Battle of the River Plate played at the Odeon Leicester Square, not the Plaza.

 

[Bernard McNair]

I have always loved Cinerama. We had a cinema in Sydney called the Plaza that had a magnificent screen and sound system. The thrill of a seven year old boy seeing How The West Was Won on that screen is a never to be forgotten joy.
I also loved Super Panavision 70; these experiences took me to new places and experiences.

 

[cinemiracle]

Not a fan of IMAX - never have been right from the beginning. It's a shame Trumball never got his off the ground - kind of a game changer.

I LOVED and love VistaVision - even the 35mm prints were extraordinary.

Cinerama was thrilling in any of its proper venues. And I hate to say it, the Dome, which couldn't even show three-panel Cinerama until, I believe, the late 90s, is not a proper venue, as it has never had the proper louvered screen and the projection is always too dim because of it.

Todd-AO, the original, was unbelievably great. I don't think many here actually remember it or even saw it. It was breathtaking. No other 70mm process has come close to the 30fps Todd-AO.

Ben-Hur in Ultra-Panavision - again, if it was a proper theater it looked fantastic.

But I was a sucker for any 70mm process.

I too was a sucker for seeing any film in 70mm .I saw 176 feature films projected in 70mm .Many were blow-ups. This did not include Imax . You are wrong -there are a lot of us who remember seeing films in TODD-AO.I worked in a 70mm cinema (60 ft wide, curved screen). Seeing SOUTH PACIFIC and SOUND OF MUSIC over 100 times each in TODD-AO were unforgettable memories. They were just 2 of the many Roadshow films that we screened in 70mm. Sadly those days are gone and 70mm films to-day are mostly projected onto cinemascope sized screens in multiplexes. That is not the way to see a 70mm. film. 2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY is showing in 70mm on a 62ft wide screen but that is a 12 hour drive from where I live so I will have to give that a miss.

 

[Matt Hough]

Can-Can had also garnered all of that infamous publicity when Nikita Khrushchev and his wife visited the set and were (or pretended to be) scandalized by the sexy title dance sequence which was being filmed. (He also raised a ruckus when he wasn't allowed to go to Disneyland due to security concerns.)

 

[cinemiracle]

I have always loved Cinerama. We had a cinema in Sydney called the Plaza that had a magnificent screen and sound system. The thrill of a seven year old boy seeing How The West Was Won on that screen is a never to be forgotten joy.
I also loved Super Panavision 70; these experiences took me to new places and experiences.

I too saw HTWWW at the plaza. I saw two much bigger Cinerama screens in New York (90 feet wide).The Sydney Plaza had a 76 ft wide screen-later slightly reduced in 1966 for 70mm films. The cinema was originally built for Grandeur70 but that process by-passed Australia. Now the cinema is a MacDonald's outlet. Melbourne had 5 cinemas equipped for Cinerama but 4 were for 70mm. only and never advertised the Cinerama name when showing films on their screens.

 

[cinemiracle]

Battle of the River Plate was shown I true V-V at the Plaza along with the short V-V visits Norway.
Can- Can was a major disappointment for Fox after Todd-AO's terrific run of megahits.
For me ,although I will never forget Ben- Hur at the Empire in Camera 65, it was South Pacific in wonderful Todd-A0 at the Dominion which soon became a favourite haunt.
South Pacific together with the Miracle of Todd-AO. What a combination!!

THE MIRACLE OF TODD-AO was originally made for screening with OKLAHOMA in the USA. It was released with SOUTH PACIFIC several years later and slightly shorter in it'srunning time.

 

[Nick*Z]

Somebody forgot to mention Technirama, with its superb clarity and gorgeous Technicolor hues beating the pants off of Cinemascope's Color by DeLuxe; also, Todd A-O, and later, Panavision. Other favs already mentioned, Dimension 150 and VistaVision. I think each process brought something new and fresh to movies; also, Camera 65, only utilized for 2 features (Raintree County and Ben-Hur), but wow! - what a presentation!