Simple reason – the first shot of reel two is colored to look like sepia, not black & white. If reel one is in sepia tone, the two reels match perfectly and you do not know that a switch to color will be taking place. When the straight black & white reel one changes over to reel two, the audience knows that you’re in for a switch to something and the transition is jarring. There’s no way a changeover from a black & white reel one to the first shot of reel two would ever have the same effect as the sepia version.
Yes, all of the Kansas sequences were photographed in black and white. As I posted above, the original 1939 release prints had those sequences printed in sepia tone; I don’t know if it was tinted stock or actual sepia toning. Those scenes were always intended to be viewed in sepia – when a print with the tones is projected (and if the changeover is smooth), you can’t tell when you’ve switched to Reel 2 (which starts with her running towards the door). That shot was photographed on a specially-painted set with a double wearing a dyed dress to match the sepia tone of the previous reel. When the door opens, the Technicolor bursts through and then Judy Garland walks into the frame in her full-color costume. Reissue prints (the one you ran) and the television prints printed those scenes in straight black and white, ruining the intended effect.
The original 1939 release prints had the “black & white” sections printed as sepia tone (so that the audience wouldn’t know the switch to color was coming). Later re-issues (and the broadcast TV and early video versions) presented those scenes incorrectly as straight black and white. The 1999 reissue and newer LaserDisc & DVD versions restored those sequences to the correct sepia tone.
Come up to the Lafayette Theatre in Suffern this Saturday morning when we screen CITIZEN KANE. You’ll also get Chapter One of the vintage cliffhanger serial “The Crimson Ghost”.
They will, of course, have to have 35mm projectors also since it will be years before the studios release all films as digital-only releases.
As for digital’s quality, I’ve seen the Ziegfeld’s setup running at its optimum (as well as numerous other installations in the NY metro area). The Zieg’s looked very good – better than I expected – but not as good as a film presentation there. There’s still a ways to go before digital projection has the color space and black level needed. They’ll get there eventually, but it’s a ways off.
Just an update – we’ve made a change to the above schedule:
On December 16 – instead of Polar Express – we’ll be showing the full-length uncut version of the Laurel & Hardy classic BABES IN TOYLAND (aka MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS).
bufffilmbuff: yes, The Pink Panther was shot in Technirama, but is, of course, presented in Panavision .
The fall season of Big Screen Classics shows are listed below, showtime is 11:30am.
Please note, our website will be updated with these shows later this week, this is just a little teaser for our friends at Cinema Treasures:
September 16: CITIZEN KANE â€" Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten
September 23: THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING â€" Michael Caine, Sean Connery (new print, presented in Panavision)
September 30: THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH â€" Marilyn Monroe, Tom Ewell (presented in CinemaScope and stereophonic sound)
October 7: THUNDER BAY â€" James Stewart, Joanne Dru (presented in dye transfer Technicolor)
October 14: BECKET â€" Richard Burton, Peter O’Toole (presented in Panavison and dye-transfer Technicolor)
October 28: WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? â€" Bette Davis, Joan Crawford
November 4: SHANE â€" Alan Ladd, Jack Palance
November 11: THEY WERE EXPENDABLE â€" John Wayne, Robert Montgomery
November 18: NOW, VOYAGER â€" Bette Davis, Paul Henreid
November 25: HORSE FEATHERS â€" The Four Marx Brothers
December 2: THE BIG SLEEP â€" Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall
December 9: THE PINK PANTHER â€" Peter Sellers, David Niven, Robert Wagner (presented in Panavision)
December 16: THE POLAR EXPRESS â€" Tom Hanks
Also, the Horror & Science Fiction Festival is coming October 20, 21, 22 (schedule announcing around Labor Day)
We also have a special “Road Show” week: Gone with the Wind on October 23 & 24 and Dr. Zhivago on October 25 & 26
Yes, as far as I know Warner does not have any prints of the original 1978 version – either 35mm or 70mm. The only 35mm prints they have of Superman are the revised “Director’s Cut” of the 1978 version (from the limited reissue in 2000), the same version I played at the Lafayette a couple of years ago.
The biggest AMC complex in New Jersey – the Clifton Commons – does not have digital capability. They only have the low-end digital video for the commercials and this is what they also used for “The Final Cut”. Yes, a number of their other locations have a Digital Cinema installation.
A 2K digital cinema projector DLP installation – which is the only acceptable (barely) level of digital video for commercial theatres – is in the $100,000 range right now. In the next two years, it will be obsoleted by the 4K projectors. Why would we spend that money when the studios are the only ones who save significant money by doing away with film prints? There’s a reason why there are under 300 DLP installations in the USA – and the majority of those were paid for by Texas Instruments, Kodak, and/or Boeing to beta-test their gear.
Yes, for non-profit/college/festival use, an inexpensive video projector is fine; but not for commercial exhibition. The paying audience deserves the best quality image.
It cost under $10,000 for the lab to create a 35mm negative and answer print for the film I mentioned above. They ultimately had 4 or 5 additional prints struck. I don’t know how many more bookings they got, but by simply having 35mm prints, they increased their chances of commercial showings from near-zero to 30,000.
The indie film was a full-length feature documentary and they wanted to get wider distribution in theatres. Since there are so few theatres that can show digital (and even fewer that would consider DVD quality acceptable), they needed to go to the theatrical standard of 35mm.
As for a film on DVD, it’s only enhanced standard-definition NTSC video, and not even HDTV quality. Again, my standards of the look may be different from yours, but I expect a film in a theatre to look like 35mm. DVD, consumer-level digital video, and even most HDTV are not up to the resolution of 35mm film – I saw “The Final Cut” in an AMC Select presentation (a low-cost “digital” presentation using their pre-show video projectors) and was appalled at the quality.
For a indie film, however, a digital release is the way to go for limited distribution. What might work would be for you to come up with a formula to rebate the exhibitor a portion of the cost of the digital projector rental from your box office take.
I’ll see if I can find out what it cost for the transfer and prints.
A DVD looks pretty bad blown up to anything over a 12 foot wide screen. Last year we got the distributor of a locally-made indie film to strike a couple of 35mm prints from their digital master so we could show it at one of our venues and they were able to get numerous other theatrical bookings for it because of that. I believe the total cost including the negative and prints was less than a tenth of your half-million quote. If you’d like I can find out who did the lab work and forward that information to you. Feel free to take this to e-mail and write me at info@bigscreenclassics.com
You should consider getting a couple of 35mm prints made as there will be far more theatrical venues available to you that will only run film. It would be a nice addition during one of my special event weekends at the Lafayette Theatre.
Too bad – in the original polarized format not only do you get the correct looking black & white image (the polarized glasses don’t add any color distortion, unlike the anaglyph glasses) but the depth effects are notably enhanced.
Sounds cool, Jerry. Was the screening in the original dual-strip polarized format or was it one of the reissue prints made in the anaglyph (red & blue) system?
No deal that’s been presented to us as far as I know. The studios have floated some plan where we pay for everything and they rebate us the cost over a 10 year period, but they’ve still never even sent anything on paper about it. Vaporware.
The majority of the currrent installations were paid for by Texas Instruments, Kodak and the other digital cinema makers as a way to demo their equipment. With a per-location failure rate hovering just under 10%, these demos aren’t convincing many theatre owners to pay up.
Interesting thread, longisland. As predicted, there is no good game plan for the implementation of digital in theatres. When theatre owners realize that the studios will be able to control how-when-where they get to screen a movie, there will be a big backlash. That and the fact that the current 2K gear is NOT upgradable, yet 60 year old 35mm gear is!
As of now, digital is non-starter unless the studios absorb all costs of installation. This is only fair since they are the only ones who realize a savings by not making prints.
Warner struck a couple of new 70mm prints of 2001 in 2001, but those have circulated a lot over 5 years, and not always to facilities that handle film properly. Sounds like the AMMI ran one of those.
There was no flickering present on the new 70mm prints (I saw them several times in 2001 & 2002), nor was there any on the new 35mm print I ran in 2004 at the Lafayette Theatre. Any flickering is likely a mechanical/electrical issue at the AMMI.
I’ve been lucky in running my Lafayette Theatre shows and have only had one or two films come in with dodgy leaders. As with you, I knew the film and was able to correct it when inspecting the print; that’s one of the reasons I always pre-screen the film prior to the public show. I even had to reassemble the main titles to My Darling Clementine because someone had “repaired” some broken sections in the titles and put it together out of order. That was fun…
Your best bet to getting answers is to read the forums and ask questions over at www.bigscreenbiz.com , which is dedicated toward small independently operated theatres.
No, you can’t play any movie you want. All titles are subject to 35mm print availability and terms. Every area is different. You will need a film booker in your area to help you.
Food service is subject to local laws/restrictions, but most anything would go. Be aware that traditional candy, soda, and popcorn are the most profitable. Boutique fare such as specialty coffee, cakes, etc., are low-profit items.
The listing should now be changed to “Closed/Renovating.” The original building is scheduled for demolition next week and a larger one will take its place. Current plans are for there to be a three-screen theatre as part of the building on the ground floor. The second floor will house a restaurant and the third floor will be office space. Projected re-opening is November 2006.
Simple reason – the first shot of reel two is colored to look like sepia, not black & white. If reel one is in sepia tone, the two reels match perfectly and you do not know that a switch to color will be taking place. When the straight black & white reel one changes over to reel two, the audience knows that you’re in for a switch to something and the transition is jarring. There’s no way a changeover from a black & white reel one to the first shot of reel two would ever have the same effect as the sepia version.
Vito:
Yes, all of the Kansas sequences were photographed in black and white. As I posted above, the original 1939 release prints had those sequences printed in sepia tone; I don’t know if it was tinted stock or actual sepia toning. Those scenes were always intended to be viewed in sepia – when a print with the tones is projected (and if the changeover is smooth), you can’t tell when you’ve switched to Reel 2 (which starts with her running towards the door). That shot was photographed on a specially-painted set with a double wearing a dyed dress to match the sepia tone of the previous reel. When the door opens, the Technicolor bursts through and then Judy Garland walks into the frame in her full-color costume. Reissue prints (the one you ran) and the television prints printed those scenes in straight black and white, ruining the intended effect.
The original 1939 release prints had the “black & white” sections printed as sepia tone (so that the audience wouldn’t know the switch to color was coming). Later re-issues (and the broadcast TV and early video versions) presented those scenes incorrectly as straight black and white. The 1999 reissue and newer LaserDisc & DVD versions restored those sequences to the correct sepia tone.
Ed:
Come up to the Lafayette Theatre in Suffern this Saturday morning when we screen CITIZEN KANE. You’ll also get Chapter One of the vintage cliffhanger serial “The Crimson Ghost”.
They will, of course, have to have 35mm projectors also since it will be years before the studios release all films as digital-only releases.
As for digital’s quality, I’ve seen the Ziegfeld’s setup running at its optimum (as well as numerous other installations in the NY metro area). The Zieg’s looked very good – better than I expected – but not as good as a film presentation there. There’s still a ways to go before digital projection has the color space and black level needed. They’ll get there eventually, but it’s a ways off.
Just an update – we’ve made a change to the above schedule:
On December 16 – instead of Polar Express – we’ll be showing the full-length uncut version of the Laurel & Hardy classic BABES IN TOYLAND (aka MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS).
bufffilmbuff: yes, The Pink Panther was shot in Technirama, but is, of course, presented in Panavision .
The fall season of Big Screen Classics shows are listed below, showtime is 11:30am.
Please note, our website will be updated with these shows later this week, this is just a little teaser for our friends at Cinema Treasures:
September 16: CITIZEN KANE â€" Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten
September 23: THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING â€" Michael Caine, Sean Connery (new print, presented in Panavision)
September 30: THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH â€" Marilyn Monroe, Tom Ewell (presented in CinemaScope and stereophonic sound)
October 7: THUNDER BAY â€" James Stewart, Joanne Dru (presented in dye transfer Technicolor)
October 14: BECKET â€" Richard Burton, Peter O’Toole (presented in Panavison and dye-transfer Technicolor)
October 28: WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? â€" Bette Davis, Joan Crawford
November 4: SHANE â€" Alan Ladd, Jack Palance
November 11: THEY WERE EXPENDABLE â€" John Wayne, Robert Montgomery
November 18: NOW, VOYAGER â€" Bette Davis, Paul Henreid
November 25: HORSE FEATHERS â€" The Four Marx Brothers
December 2: THE BIG SLEEP â€" Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall
December 9: THE PINK PANTHER â€" Peter Sellers, David Niven, Robert Wagner (presented in Panavision)
December 16: THE POLAR EXPRESS â€" Tom Hanks
Also, the Horror & Science Fiction Festival is coming October 20, 21, 22 (schedule announcing around Labor Day)
We also have a special “Road Show” week: Gone with the Wind on October 23 & 24 and Dr. Zhivago on October 25 & 26
Hope to see you all at a show!
All of the MGM/UA films – including West Side Story – are now back in the hands of MGM, not Sony.
The full story contains a few factual errors – just another case of people not checking for the correct information, especially regarding 3-D.
Yes, as far as I know Warner does not have any prints of the original 1978 version – either 35mm or 70mm. The only 35mm prints they have of Superman are the revised “Director’s Cut” of the 1978 version (from the limited reissue in 2000), the same version I played at the Lafayette a couple of years ago.
Jim:
The biggest AMC complex in New Jersey – the Clifton Commons – does not have digital capability. They only have the low-end digital video for the commercials and this is what they also used for “The Final Cut”. Yes, a number of their other locations have a Digital Cinema installation.
A 2K digital cinema projector DLP installation – which is the only acceptable (barely) level of digital video for commercial theatres – is in the $100,000 range right now. In the next two years, it will be obsoleted by the 4K projectors. Why would we spend that money when the studios are the only ones who save significant money by doing away with film prints? There’s a reason why there are under 300 DLP installations in the USA – and the majority of those were paid for by Texas Instruments, Kodak, and/or Boeing to beta-test their gear.
Yes, for non-profit/college/festival use, an inexpensive video projector is fine; but not for commercial exhibition. The paying audience deserves the best quality image.
It cost under $10,000 for the lab to create a 35mm negative and answer print for the film I mentioned above. They ultimately had 4 or 5 additional prints struck. I don’t know how many more bookings they got, but by simply having 35mm prints, they increased their chances of commercial showings from near-zero to 30,000.
The indie film was a full-length feature documentary and they wanted to get wider distribution in theatres. Since there are so few theatres that can show digital (and even fewer that would consider DVD quality acceptable), they needed to go to the theatrical standard of 35mm.
As for a film on DVD, it’s only enhanced standard-definition NTSC video, and not even HDTV quality. Again, my standards of the look may be different from yours, but I expect a film in a theatre to look like 35mm. DVD, consumer-level digital video, and even most HDTV are not up to the resolution of 35mm film – I saw “The Final Cut” in an AMC Select presentation (a low-cost “digital” presentation using their pre-show video projectors) and was appalled at the quality.
For a indie film, however, a digital release is the way to go for limited distribution. What might work would be for you to come up with a formula to rebate the exhibitor a portion of the cost of the digital projector rental from your box office take.
I’ll see if I can find out what it cost for the transfer and prints.
Jim:
A DVD looks pretty bad blown up to anything over a 12 foot wide screen. Last year we got the distributor of a locally-made indie film to strike a couple of 35mm prints from their digital master so we could show it at one of our venues and they were able to get numerous other theatrical bookings for it because of that. I believe the total cost including the negative and prints was less than a tenth of your half-million quote. If you’d like I can find out who did the lab work and forward that information to you. Feel free to take this to e-mail and write me at info@bigscreenclassics.com
Jim:
You should consider getting a couple of 35mm prints made as there will be far more theatrical venues available to you that will only run film. It would be a nice addition during one of my special event weekends at the Lafayette Theatre.
Is the film available in 35mm prints?
Ken:
According to some articles on their website, they show DVDs for your $12 ticket.
Too bad – in the original polarized format not only do you get the correct looking black & white image (the polarized glasses don’t add any color distortion, unlike the anaglyph glasses) but the depth effects are notably enhanced.
Sounds cool, Jerry. Was the screening in the original dual-strip polarized format or was it one of the reissue prints made in the anaglyph (red & blue) system?
The theatre reopened tonight (three screens operating, the rest to follow over the next couple of weeks) as part of the Galaxy Theatre Corp.’s chain.
The new name is the HUDSON CINEMAS.
DFC:
No deal that’s been presented to us as far as I know. The studios have floated some plan where we pay for everything and they rebate us the cost over a 10 year period, but they’ve still never even sent anything on paper about it. Vaporware.
The majority of the currrent installations were paid for by Texas Instruments, Kodak and the other digital cinema makers as a way to demo their equipment. With a per-location failure rate hovering just under 10%, these demos aren’t convincing many theatre owners to pay up.
Interesting thread, longisland. As predicted, there is no good game plan for the implementation of digital in theatres. When theatre owners realize that the studios will be able to control how-when-where they get to screen a movie, there will be a big backlash. That and the fact that the current 2K gear is NOT upgradable, yet 60 year old 35mm gear is!
As of now, digital is non-starter unless the studios absorb all costs of installation. This is only fair since they are the only ones who realize a savings by not making prints.
Warner struck a couple of new 70mm prints of 2001 in 2001, but those have circulated a lot over 5 years, and not always to facilities that handle film properly. Sounds like the AMMI ran one of those.
There was no flickering present on the new 70mm prints (I saw them several times in 2001 & 2002), nor was there any on the new 35mm print I ran in 2004 at the Lafayette Theatre. Any flickering is likely a mechanical/electrical issue at the AMMI.
MBD –
I’ve been lucky in running my Lafayette Theatre shows and have only had one or two films come in with dodgy leaders. As with you, I knew the film and was able to correct it when inspecting the print; that’s one of the reasons I always pre-screen the film prior to the public show. I even had to reassemble the main titles to My Darling Clementine because someone had “repaired” some broken sections in the titles and put it together out of order. That was fun…
Your best bet to getting answers is to read the forums and ask questions over at www.bigscreenbiz.com , which is dedicated toward small independently operated theatres.
No, you can’t play any movie you want. All titles are subject to 35mm print availability and terms. Every area is different. You will need a film booker in your area to help you.
Food service is subject to local laws/restrictions, but most anything would go. Be aware that traditional candy, soda, and popcorn are the most profitable. Boutique fare such as specialty coffee, cakes, etc., are low-profit items.
The listing should now be changed to “Closed/Renovating.” The original building is scheduled for demolition next week and a larger one will take its place. Current plans are for there to be a three-screen theatre as part of the building on the ground floor. The second floor will house a restaurant and the third floor will be office space. Projected re-opening is November 2006.