Twilight Time Announces January/February 2014 Releases (1 Viewer)

[lionel59]

Hi Anthony. I don't remember whether we went to Hillier's when going to movies at the Plaza/Regent.
I used to get specially made shoes in the Betsy Pryam Shoe shop in the lane just up from those cinemas. I would always gaze at the posters and on one of these occasions I noticed the poster for THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD and begged my dad to take me to see it. My most vivid memory from that viewing is the scene of the slaughter of the infants. (Claude Rains is superb as Herod- those scenes were directed by David Lean, who had just worked with Rains on LAWRENCE OF ARABIA).
Re the long runs, I find it hard to believe that a New York theatre would keep a movie on for practically a year (43 weeks) if it wasn't doing good business. There were certainly more than 5 in the Plaza when I went (and a good crowd when it played in 35mm at the Astor Theater in St. Kilda a few years ago).
According to the imdb, the movie cost approx. $20m and grossed just over that in US and international rentals.I'm sure TV and Home Video sales have put it into the black by now. By '65, the public was tiring of epics and good ones such as this film and THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE did not do as well as the studios had hoped they would. Fox had begun planning to make this movie as far back as 1955- when CinemaScope was still new.It was publicized at one stage as being shot in CinemaScope 55, which utilized the old 65mm Grandeur cameras from '29/'30. The delays allowed the "thunder" of such a production to be stolen by Samuel Bronston's KING OF KINGS (Which has its merits, but which I believe is the lesser film. Certainly less faithful to the New Testament- Judas and Barabbas never teamed up for one thing...).
I caught KHARTOUM in a cinema in Queenscliff. I don't know if it played in 70mm in Melbourne, but in that seaside resort it was shown in 35mm. Years after the Plaza had closed I was invited into the projection room and told that 4 projectors had to operate simultaneously for Cinerama projection, one playing the soundtrack. My hat goes off to the men who laboured to play Cinerama there in synch- I was informed that it became a nightmare if one reel tore and had to be patched up. For memory there was a revival of HOW THE WEST WAS WON in 1970 or 1971 just before the Plaza closed down. The end of a golden era....

 

[john a hunter]

Hi Anthony. I don't remember whether we went to Hillier's when going to movies at the Plaza/Regent.
I used to get specially made shoes in the Betsy Pryam Shoe shop in the lane just up from those cinemas. I would always gaze at the posters and on one of these occasions I noticed the poster for THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD and begged my dad to take me to see it. My most vivid memory from that viewing is the scene of the slaughter of the infants. (Claude Rains is superb as Herod- those scenes were directed by David Lean, who had just worked with Rains on LAWRENCE OF ARABIA).
Re the long runs, I find it hard to believe that a New York theatre would keep a movie on for practically a year (43 weeks) if it wasn't doing good business. There were certainly more than 5 in the Plaza when I went (and a good crowd when it played in 35mm at the Astor Theater in St. Kilda a few years ago).
According to the imdb, the movie cost approx. $20m and grossed just over that in US and international rentals.I'm sure TV and Home Video sales have put it into the black by now. By '65, the public was tiring of epics and good ones such as this film and THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE did not do as well as the studios had hoped they would. Fox had begun planning to make this movie as far back as 1955- when CinemaScope was still new.It was publicized at one stage as being shot in CinemaScope 55, which utilized the old 65mm Grandeur cameras from '29/'30. The delays allowed the "thunder" of such a production to be stolen by Samuel Bronston's KING OF KINGS (Which has its merits, but which I believe is the lesser film. Certainly less faithful to the New Testament- Judas and Barabbas never teamed up for one thing...).
I caught KHARTOUM in a cinema in Queenscliff. I don't know if it played in 70mm in Melbourne, but in that seaside resort it was shown in 35mm. Years after the Plaza had closed I was invited into the projection room and told that 4 projectors had to operate simultaneously for Cinerama projection, one playing the soundtrack. My hat goes off to the men who laboured to play Cinerama there in synch- I was informed that it became a nightmare if one reel tore and had to be patched up. For memory there was a revival of HOW THE WEST WAS WON in 1970 or 1971 just before the Plaza closed down. The end of a golden era....

It is not unusual for a film booked into a theatre to run for the contracted time even if it is playing to an empty theatre. Studios often book a specific theatre and then they are only liable for the rent as did Paramount when it booked London's Astoria for a year's run of "Paint your Wagon". They were lucky and the film was very successful there if not in the U.S.

Story almost brought U.A. to its knees two decades before " Heaven's Gate". Luckily, then they had the fantastic success of Mr Bond to help them out.

Fox advertised "Story" as a future roadshow in Todd AO. but then sold the project on to U.A and we got " Cleopatra "instead. In its restored length a much better bargain, I think.

 

[Douglas R]

According to the imdb, the movie cost approx. $20m and grossed just over that in US and international rentals.

Gross, of course, is considerably more than what the studio receives in rentals.

 

[Doug Bull]

I caught KHARTOUM in a cinema in Queenscliff. I don't know if it played in 70mm in Melbourne, but in that seaside resort it was shown in 35mm. Years after the Plaza had closed I was invited into the projection room and told that 4 projectors had to operate simultaneously for Cinerama projection, one playing the soundtrack. My hat goes off to the men who laboured to play Cinerama there in synch- I was informed that it became a nightmare if one reel tore and had to be patched up. For memory there was a revival of HOW THE WEST WAS WON in 1970 or 1971 just before the Plaza closed down. The end of a golden era....

"Khartoum" played in 70mm (as single lens Cinerama) at the Plaza Theatre in Melbourne during 1967.

It followed both "The Greatest Story Ever Told" (January 67) and "The Hallelujah Trail" (April 67) which were both run the same way.

At that stage 2 to 3 month runs had become the norm.

"Khartoum" opened in Sydney in March 1967, almost a year after it's world premiere at the Casino London on 9/6/1966.

The Plaza ran a technical crew of 5 (on a yearly contract) for their 3 strip Cinerama features.

While I may well be wrong, I have no recollection or can I find any reference to "HTWWW" being revived in it's original 3 camera Cinerama format at the Plaza.
It seems most unlikely, as the Screen had been altered in size and projection equipment dismantled when they adapted to single lens 70mm presentations.
The last 70mm presentation before it closed down was "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" in February 1970.

In it's original run "HTWWW" opened on 1/1/1963 and ran for 102 weeks.

Doug,

 

[ahollis]

Gross, of course, is considerably more than what the studio receives in rentals.

Yep back in those days the studios received about 40 to 50 percent of the Boxoffice with the theatre keeping the rest. Today the average film rental is between 55 and 58 percent. However if the film was 4-walled, then the studio paid the theatre a set rental and keep all the Boxoffice. Warner's in the seventies used to 4-wall several of their films. Re-releases of BLAZING SADDLES and WHAT'S UP DOC along with the 1st run of DOC SAVAGE were just a few. Dreamworks also did it with AMISTAD. It would make perfect sense for the majors to 4-wall a roadshow in the top 10 to 20 cities. They did do it back in the teens and twenties where they would rent broadway Theatres to roadshow their "Premire" titles.

 

[john a hunter]

Yep back in those days the studios received about 40 to 50 percent of the Boxoffice with the theatre keeping the rest. Today the average film rental is between 55 and 58 percent. However if the film was 4-walled, then the studio paid the theatre a set rental and keep all the Boxoffice. Warner's in the seventies used to 4-wall several of their films. Re-releases of BLAZING SADDLES and WHAT'S UP DOC along with the 1st run of DOC SAVAGE were just a few. Dreamworks also did it with AMISTAD.It would make perfect sense for the majors to 4-wall a roadshow in the top 10 to 20 cities. They did do it back in the teens and twenties where they would rent broadway Theatres to roadshow their "Premire" titles.

And that's how Mike Todd released "AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS" for its road show release and then sold the 35mm release rights to U.A.

 

[lionel59]

On a different note, I'd like to suggest that the Twilight Time "powers that be" consider two interesting 20th Century Fox CinemaScope movies with great musical scores which have never had studio releases on any fomat as far as I know: BLUE DENIM (Brandon deWilde, Carol Lynley. Bernard Herrmann score) and THE VIEW FROM POMPEY'S HEAD (Richard Egan, Dana Wynter, score by Elmer Bernstein). Both are well acted dramas with controversial -for their day- elements.I recall Twiilight came on the scene with the goal of primarily releasing Fox 'Scope movies of the '50's+ '60's, in particular, those with great scores. Both of these (excellent) scores have been released by FSM- in fact on the one CD.
I realize that TT have branched out with new agendas, but it would be nice to see a return to a few titles which fit the original agenda of the company. I would much rather see these titles on Blu Ray with (hopefully) stereo soundtracks than relegated to the abyss of Fox Cinema Archives, where "pan-and-scan rules". I have also long wished to see+ hear Philip Dunne's PRINCE OF PLAYERS in CinemaScope + stereo. That one even shows up panned-and-scanned on HD broadcasts! I have read that -despite being a box office disappointment- it received the best reviews of any Fox 'Scope title up until the time of its release. Surely a viewable Wide Screen master could be found or made up by the people at Fox.There would have to preservation negatives in the vaults for this and every other title made in the Eastman color era.

 

[John Hermes]

I would like to see these, as well as one of my favorites, The Young Lions, put out in Blu-ray by TT. Great score by Hugo Friedhofer and camerawork by Joe MacDonald.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

Remember, TT only works with existing masters that have to meet quality standards. if Fox doesn't do the restoration/new scan to Blu standards then the title can't happen.

 

[RolandL]

No, I don't think so. It appears nowhere among the Top 20 releases for either 1965 or 1966. Those long bookings may have been guarantees the theaters had to agree to in order to book the film (thinking it would be a hit based on Stevens' reputation and the subject matter).

I can tell you we went to see it on July 3, 1965, in Philadelphia (we were there for the 4th of July celebrations the next day before heading off to NYC for the World's Fair). It was a hot, rainy night, and there may have been five other people in the theater with us. I had wanted to go to The Sound of Music, but my aunt and uncle had already seen it (so had I) and wanted to see something new.

Boxoffice Gross
3,000,000 Khartoum
4,000,000 The Hallelujah Trail
15,000,000 The Greatest Story Ever Told

 

[Paul Rossen]

Boxoffice Gross
3,000,000 Khartoum
4,000,000 The Hallelujah Trail
15,000,000 The Greatest Story Ever Told

Trouble with The Greatest Story Ever Told was that it supposedly cost a lot more than it's gross. In short it was not a commercial success.

 

[Robin9]

What has happened to Twentieth Century Fox CinemaScope movies, the initial publicized purpose of Twilight Time? Nothing wrong with adding other genres/studios etc, but a shame to appear to be abandoning the original "raison d'etre" of this series.

Fox themselves will release this one in February:

I'm buying and perhaps you should too!

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Press Release 02/01/2014

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Twilight Time announces the exciting First Time ever BLU-RAY release of John Guillermin’s long-awaited epic aerial masterpiece… ​

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“THE BLUE MAX”​

Limited Edition BLU-RAY Release​

Only 3,000 units available at​

www.screenarchives.com​

Once they are gone – they are gone!​

RELEASE DATE: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11TH, 2014​

“An entertaining WWI flying saga…beautifully mounted…it features stunning aerial scenes and sumptuous cinematography.”

—Glenn Erickson, DVD Talk​

“The little things that bring a motion picture to life…are caught brilliantly by the director, John Guillermin. They blend to make…this film remindful of the past glories of the screen and memorable in their own right.” —The New York Times

“Uniformly fine performances…an exciting visual sense.”—Variety

Directed by John Guillermin and starring George Peppard, James Mason, and Ursula Andress, The Blue Max (1966) is based on Jack D. Hunter’s perennial best-seller about an ambitious young German soldier (Peppard) who, from the muck of the World War I trenches, becomes determined to join the aristocratic ranks of his country’s heroic fliers. The film details his journey as he moves up the ladder and into the skies, providing along the way some of the most thrilling sequences of aerial combat ever committed to the screen. Featuring music by Jerry Goldsmith (available on this Twilight Time release as an isolated track) that has taken its place as one of the greatest film scores of all time.

​

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LIKE TWILIGHT TIME ON FACEBOOK​

www.facebook.com/twilighttimemovies​

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Press Release 02/01/2014​

​

Twilight Time are pleased to announce the exciting First Time ever BLU-RAY release, of Woody Allen’s masterful gem… ​

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“CRIMES & MISDEMEANORS”​

Limited Edition BLU-RAY Release​

Only 3,000 units available at​

www.screenarchives.com​

Once they are gone – they are gone!​

RELEASE DATE: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11TH, 2014​

​

“Who else but Woody Allen could make a movie in which virtue is punished, evildoing is rewarded and there is a lot of laughter? The movie generates the best kind of suspense, because it's not about what will happen to people—it's about what decisions they will reach.” —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

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“It has the richness and breadth of a novel, told with the concision of a densely packed short story…The film cuts back and forth between parallel incidents and between present and past with the effortlessness of a hip, contemporary Aesop.”

—Vincent Canby, The New York Times​

​

Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) is a rare combination of film noir and black comedy, about an esteemed New York ophthalmologist (Martin Landau) whose affair with a flight attendant (Anjelica Huston) puts the careful construct of his life in jeopardy. As he contemplates a permanent solution to his problems, we are also treated to an interwoven story about another kind of moral crisis: a struggling documentary filmmaker (Allen) considers selling out by making a doc about a Hollywood jackass (Alan Alda), with the situation further complicated by the appearance of an entrancing TV producer (Mia Farrow). Highlighted by cinematography from the incomparable Sven Nykvist, the film was nominated for three Academy Awards®.

​

LIKE TWILIGHT TIME ON FACEBOOK​

www.facebook.com/twilighttimemovies​

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Press Release 02/01/2014​

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Twilight Time announces the exciting First Time ever release on BLU-RAY, in a beautifully restored Limited Edition version, of the unforgettable…​

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TYRONE POWER & KIM NOVAK​

“THE EDDY DUCHIN STORY”​

Limited Edition BLU-RAY Release​

Only 3,000 units available at​

www.screenarchives.com​

Once they are gone – they are gone!​

RELEASE DATE: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11TH, 2014​

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“Director George Sidney has worked out some exquisite scenes that have fine imagery and feeling in color and on the CinemaScope screen…A strong taste for sentimentality should be nicely gratified…it should satisfy the choosy with its abundance of richly played old tunes.” —Bosley Crowther, The New York Times

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“One of the best Hollywood weepies of the 50s, comparable to the best of Douglas Sirk in both its imaginative mise en scène and its strong feeling.” —Jonathan Rosenbaum, The Chicago Reader

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Directed by veteran George Sidney and shot by the great Harry Stradling, Sr., The Eddy Duchin Story (1956) stars Tyrone Power as the charismatic pianist who came out of nowhere to become one of the 1930s’ top bandleaders and Kim Novak as the society dame who helps, loves, and marries him. Stratospheric success is laced with tragedy in this real-life story brought to the screen in superb Hollywood studio style topped by stunning location footage of a magically romantic Manhattan.

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LIKE TWILIGHT TIME ON FACEBOOK​

www.facebook.com/twilighttimemovies​

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Press Release 02/01/2014​

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Twilight Time are pleased to announce the exciting First Time ever BLU-RAY release, of Martin Ritt’s & Woody Allen’s lost treasure… ​

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“THE FRONT”​

Limited Edition BLU-RAY Release​

Only 3,000 units available at​

www.screenarchives.com​

Once they are gone – they are gone!​

RELEASE DATE: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25TH, 2014​

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“Martin Ritt, the director, and Walter Bernstein, the writer, have made a moving, haunted film…even in its comic moments, The Front works on the conscience”
—Vincent Canby, The New York Times

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“A smart and funny film…it takes something that in no way should be funny and somehow manages to humanize and bring out the humor in it.”
—Erik Beck, The Year in Film: 1976

“Director Martin Ritt manages to add a visual sense of encroachment…that enhances scriptor Walter Bernstein’s layers of irony into a cinematic one-two knockout.”—Eric Henderson, Slant Magazine

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The Front (1976) stars Woody Allen in his first dramatic role as Howard Prince, a nebbishy cashier/part-time bookie who, during the McCarthy-era communist witch-hunt, does a favor for an old school friend, a blacklisted TV writer (Michael Murphy). As his pal’s “front”—representing the scribe’s work as his own and collecting ten percent of the profits—the apolitical schlemiel is soon enjoying not just the money but the perks, including the love of a sophisticated young producer (Andrea Marcovicci). But in an atmosphere of fear, nobody’s above suspicion, and Howard’s growing friendship with another unfairly accused blacklistee (Zero Mostel) brings down the wrath of HUAC—and a confrontation with his own burgeoning conscience.

​

LIKE TWILIGHT TIME ON FACEBOOK​

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[Ronald Epstein]

Press Release 02/01/2014​

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Twilight Time announces the exciting First Time ever BLU-RAY release of Michael Cimino’s signature masterpiece… ​

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“THUNDERBOLT & LIGHTFOOT”​

Limited Edition BLU-RAY Release​

Only 3,000 units available at​

www.screenarchives.com​

Once they are gone – they are gone!​

RELEASE DATE: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11TH, 2014​

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“A funny, tough-fibered crime comedy with an unobtrusive edge of drama…consistently entertaining and interesting…freshly turned in characterization and plot, amusingly ribald and neatly paced.”

—The New York Times​

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“Hilariously vulgar…Debuting director Michael Cimino obtains superior performances from Clint Eastwood, George Kennedy, Geoffrey Lewis, and especially Jeff Bridges.” —Variety

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“A crisp, well-written caper movie sporting some stunning landscapes and a fine core of performances…told in fine detail with richly developed characters.”
—TV Guide

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Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) marked the directing debut of screenwriter Michael Cimino (The Deer Hunter, Heaven’s Gate), working under the meticulous guidance of star/producer Clint Eastwood. Eastwood plays a typically laconic loner, a big-time thief in hiding who hooks up with a goofy young drifter (Jeff Bridges, giving an Oscar®-nominated performance). First attempting to escape from a couple of vengeful former partners (George Kennedy, Geoffrey Lewis), then joining forces with them to pull off a risky robbery, Eastwood and Bridges give us an ultimately touching portrait of masculine friendship. Superbly photographed in Montana’s Big Sky country by Frank Stanley, and featuring a score by Eastwood regular Dee Barton.

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[cocophone]

When will crimes and misdemeanors be available for preorder? I've never order from screen archives before.

 

[Robin9]

That press release doesn't mention it, but is it safe to assume that The Eddy Duchin Story BRD will also have a music only sound track?

 

[Yorkshire]

When will crimes and misdemeanors be available for preorder? I've never order from screen archives before.

I think TT say their films are usually available for pre-order about 25 days prior to release.

That'd make this available for pre-order on or around the 17th January.

Steve W