Arlene did talk about James Mason. She said he wasn’t easy to work with at first, and she also heard from a crew member that he didn’t want her to play the role. He thought she wasn’t good enough as a actress. But she’d already been cast – in fact producer/co-writer Charles Brackett was a good friend of hers and created the character of Carla (who doesn’t appear in the Jules Verne novel) with her in mind.
When she heard what James thought of her, she figured she’d have to be extra good in her scenes with him. She worked extra hard and eventually earned a compliment from James: “You know, you’re pretty good”. She said hearing that from him meant more to her than an Academy Award would have.
She also talked about Bernard Herrmann, as you can hear in the YouTube clip, calling him a musical genius. He visited the set more than once, and seemed to take inspiration from those visits – the score really captures the feeling of what it’d be like to descend into the interior of the earth.
Arlene also talked about the locations: they shot in Carlsbad Caverns NM and the surrounding area for three months, then back to the Fox studio in Hollywood for three more months. She mentioned the large number of bat caves at Carlsbad. She was afraid of them, but Pat Boone liked them so much he earned the nickname “Bat Boone”. She also complimented Pat on his acting. She was impressed at how hard he worked on his performance.
All in all, a great evening with an extremely charming lady. And the CinemaScope print was perfect.
As expected, the Loew’s Jersey’s cavernous echo made the score for “Journey to the Center of the Earth” sound better than it’s ever been heard before (by me, anyway). Arlene Dahl is an incredibly nice, gracious person. Her post-screening interview with Foster Hirsch was extremely entertaining. I didn’t get to ask Rory’s question about the Blu-Ray release, but I did get her autograph:
About 2 or 3 years ago Diane Baker appeared at a Motion Picture Academy screening of “The Diary of Anne Frank” in NYC, together with Millie Perkins and Richard Beymer.
I saw “The Best of Everything” at the Chelsea Cinemas in NYC a couple of years ago. They show it about once a year. They have a weekly series of camp classics like “Valley of the Dolls”, “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?”, etc.
Thanks, Lost Memory. Too bad they spelled the name of the star of the movie wrong in 1979. I know some people who still refer to her as Sally “Fields”.
Bob: It was 1:85, and did look great. The audience reaction really made the screening special. I’d only ever seen it on television and video. My family always laughed in all the right places, but it was a thrill to hear so many other people doing it too.
They did make amends for their mistake by showing “Isle of the Dead” (quite a good ‘40’s horror substitute for “The Uninvited”) and charging no admission for it. “The Uninvited” is tentatively scheduled to be shown at the end of May.
Tonight at the Loew’s Jersey I felt like I’d gone back to 1947, watching the film at Radio City Music Hall. I’d seen it countless times on TV and video, but never in a theater. And what a theater to see it in for the first time. Even before the show started I had a great “Mrs. Muir” experience walking around the upstairs gallery, with its heavy velvet drapes and large ornate mirrors, as Bernard Herrmann’s most beautiful score played from unseen overhead speakers. I must’ve spent a half hour up there and didn’t even notice.
Later that evening came “The Innocents”, in a breathtakingly beautiful black and white CinemaScope print. Under the right circumstances, the Loew’s Jersey can be quite a scary place when the lights go down – that huge empty overhead space, the booming echo chamber effect – perfect for “The Innocents”. No wonder the audience screamed and gasped at all the right moments.
Coming April 25th: a 50th anniversary screening of “Journey to the Center of the Earth”, with special guest Arlene Dahl in person. The Loew’s echo is going to work wonders for that particular soundtrack.
In 1965 a group of concerned parents picketed outside the Rivoli Theater in Rutherford NJ because they were showing “Goldfinger” on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, when children could see it. My parents got worried and started to think the movie might not be suitable for me (age 10), so they went to see it themselves on Saturday night, to pre-screen it since I was planning to go the next day. Their verdict: go. You’ll love it!
“I do not think the older crowd will be as bent out of shape regarding the "racier” films as some pessimistic posters think."
Reminds me of when “Midnight Cowboy” was a current release. It still carried the X rating, and my parents went to see it without me since I was only 14. My older aunt and uncle went along – they were the oldest members of the family and I was sure they’d be offended by it just from what I’d read in the newspaper reviews (and that X rating). To my surprise, they liked it a lot – in fact, everybody liked it. A good movie is a good movie after all. I had to wait till I was 18 and see it on a re-release.
When “Midnight Cowboy” came out 40 years ago, some of the scenes it presented had never been seen before in mainstream movies, much less TV. But any seniors who have premium cable should not be shocked by anything they see in any of these scheduled movies.
I’m very happy about the inclusion of “Marty”. Of my all-time favorite Top 10 movies, that’s the only one I’ve never seen in a theater. Now I get a good chance to rectify that.
You’re welcome, Kieran. I’m proud to say I saw 70mm Cinerama there, once: “Krakatoa East of Java” in 1969. Sure wish it was “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World”, though.
Good question, Rory. I’ve seen photos of the Capitol showing “2001” (probably my favorite of all the pictures I’ve seen on the internet) and “Doctor Zhivago”, but so far no “Planet of the Apes”.
Thanks, veyoung. Too bad they never finished “Deluxe Tour” – it would’ve been something to see. Paul Mantz was an amazing aerial photographer. Some of the best moments of “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” were his work. He even gave his life for his profession – an accident while filming “The Flight of the Phoenix”.
I stand corrected: after reading the Martin Hart article, it seems that the clarity and definition of the 35mm prints reduced from CinemaScope 55 were a big, noticeable improvement over the previous CinemaScope films. No matter how they were shown, I still wish I’d been able to see both those films at the Roxy, and I hope I can someday see them at the Ziegfeld.
The power of suggestion: all the people in that ad were fooled into thinking they were seeing some new motion picture breakthrough (“the process is the best I have seen to date”; “a tremendous advance”, etc.), and they really weren’t. It makes me wonder whether those quotes were actually written by the Fox publicity department. But even on DVD, that is a beautifully photographed film. I’m sure it would’ve fooled me as well. And I’m totally with that guy who came in “all the way from New Jersey” (East Orange) to see it – if I’d been old enough in 1956 I’d have done the same thing.
The old non-anamorphic DVD of “Carousel” had the “Introducing CinemaScope 55” title card at the beginning, but the new improved DVD just says “A CinemaScope Picture”. Apparently all prints of “The King and I”, even the ones shown on TV, say “A CinemaScope Picture in CinemaScope 55”.
Martin Hart’s American Wide Screen Museum has a section devoted to CinemaScope 55:
It was 20th Century-Fox’s “Carousel” that Frank Sinatra walked off the set of, refusing to shoot the picture twice unless he was paid twice. It was the first film in CinemaScope 55, and they were going to shoot it again in CinemaScope 35 for theaters outside the big cities. After Sinatra quit and Gordon MacRae replaced him, Fox discovered a way to reduce the 55mm version to a 35mm print, so the film was only shot once after all.
The next (and last) film shot in CinemaScope 55 was “The King and I”. Both films played the Roxy in NYC in 1956, but I believe neither one was actually shown in CinemaScope 55, even though they were advertised as such:
Thanks, Vito. I’ve never seen “Oklahoma” in a theater. If it played the Ziegfeld in 70mm I’d be there like a shot.
The DVD of the Todd-AO version of “Oklahoma” came out all blurry for some reason. I’m surprised the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization let that get released. I’m hoping for a corrected Blu-Ray edition sometime in the future.
Another funny thing Arlene told us: she only had one stand-in, but Gertrude the Duck had three!
Arlene did talk about James Mason. She said he wasn’t easy to work with at first, and she also heard from a crew member that he didn’t want her to play the role. He thought she wasn’t good enough as a actress. But she’d already been cast – in fact producer/co-writer Charles Brackett was a good friend of hers and created the character of Carla (who doesn’t appear in the Jules Verne novel) with her in mind.
When she heard what James thought of her, she figured she’d have to be extra good in her scenes with him. She worked extra hard and eventually earned a compliment from James: “You know, you’re pretty good”. She said hearing that from him meant more to her than an Academy Award would have.
She also talked about Bernard Herrmann, as you can hear in the YouTube clip, calling him a musical genius. He visited the set more than once, and seemed to take inspiration from those visits – the score really captures the feeling of what it’d be like to descend into the interior of the earth.
Arlene also talked about the locations: they shot in Carlsbad Caverns NM and the surrounding area for three months, then back to the Fox studio in Hollywood for three more months. She mentioned the large number of bat caves at Carlsbad. She was afraid of them, but Pat Boone liked them so much he earned the nickname “Bat Boone”. She also complimented Pat on his acting. She was impressed at how hard he worked on his performance.
All in all, a great evening with an extremely charming lady. And the CinemaScope print was perfect.
As expected, the Loew’s Jersey’s cavernous echo made the score for “Journey to the Center of the Earth” sound better than it’s ever been heard before (by me, anyway). Arlene Dahl is an incredibly nice, gracious person. Her post-screening interview with Foster Hirsch was extremely entertaining. I didn’t get to ask Rory’s question about the Blu-Ray release, but I did get her autograph:
View link
and a picture with her:
View link
Here is a poor quality 60-second video from my digital camera where she talks about Bernard Herrmann’s score for the film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7w8wROTOdE
Finally, the Loew’s marquee by day and by night:
View link
View link
About 2 or 3 years ago Diane Baker appeared at a Motion Picture Academy screening of “The Diary of Anne Frank” in NYC, together with Millie Perkins and Richard Beymer.
I saw “The Best of Everything” at the Chelsea Cinemas in NYC a couple of years ago. They show it about once a year. They have a weekly series of camp classics like “Valley of the Dolls”, “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?”, etc.
Rory: I’ll do it, if I can. I hope to get some pictures of her also. If I’m successful, I’ll post links to them here.
Thanks so much, Al. All those Cinerama ads on display in one place -wow! And an ongoing thanks to you, Michael, for this wonderful series.
Thanks, Lost Memory. Too bad they spelled the name of the star of the movie wrong in 1979. I know some people who still refer to her as Sally “Fields”.
Bob: It was 1:85, and did look great. The audience reaction really made the screening special. I’d only ever seen it on television and video. My family always laughed in all the right places, but it was a thrill to hear so many other people doing it too.
They did make amends for their mistake by showing “Isle of the Dead” (quite a good ‘40’s horror substitute for “The Uninvited”) and charging no admission for it. “The Uninvited” is tentatively scheduled to be shown at the end of May.
Somehow it got mixed up with the 2009 release “The Uninvited”, which came and went from theaters a couple of weeks ago.
This afternoon I read the original New York Times review of “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” from June 1947:
View link
Tonight at the Loew’s Jersey I felt like I’d gone back to 1947, watching the film at Radio City Music Hall. I’d seen it countless times on TV and video, but never in a theater. And what a theater to see it in for the first time. Even before the show started I had a great “Mrs. Muir” experience walking around the upstairs gallery, with its heavy velvet drapes and large ornate mirrors, as Bernard Herrmann’s most beautiful score played from unseen overhead speakers. I must’ve spent a half hour up there and didn’t even notice.
Later that evening came “The Innocents”, in a breathtakingly beautiful black and white CinemaScope print. Under the right circumstances, the Loew’s Jersey can be quite a scary place when the lights go down – that huge empty overhead space, the booming echo chamber effect – perfect for “The Innocents”. No wonder the audience screamed and gasped at all the right moments.
Coming April 25th: a 50th anniversary screening of “Journey to the Center of the Earth”, with special guest Arlene Dahl in person. The Loew’s echo is going to work wonders for that particular soundtrack.
In 1965 a group of concerned parents picketed outside the Rivoli Theater in Rutherford NJ because they were showing “Goldfinger” on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, when children could see it. My parents got worried and started to think the movie might not be suitable for me (age 10), so they went to see it themselves on Saturday night, to pre-screen it since I was planning to go the next day. Their verdict: go. You’ll love it!
Peter said:
“I do not think the older crowd will be as bent out of shape regarding the "racier” films as some pessimistic posters think."
Reminds me of when “Midnight Cowboy” was a current release. It still carried the X rating, and my parents went to see it without me since I was only 14. My older aunt and uncle went along – they were the oldest members of the family and I was sure they’d be offended by it just from what I’d read in the newspaper reviews (and that X rating). To my surprise, they liked it a lot – in fact, everybody liked it. A good movie is a good movie after all. I had to wait till I was 18 and see it on a re-release.
When “Midnight Cowboy” came out 40 years ago, some of the scenes it presented had never been seen before in mainstream movies, much less TV. But any seniors who have premium cable should not be shocked by anything they see in any of these scheduled movies.
I’m very happy about the inclusion of “Marty”. Of my all-time favorite Top 10 movies, that’s the only one I’ve never seen in a theater. Now I get a good chance to rectify that.
You’re welcome, Kieran. I’m proud to say I saw 70mm Cinerama there, once: “Krakatoa East of Java” in 1969. Sure wish it was “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World”, though.
It’s listed under its original name, the Strand:
/theaters/2975/
Thanks Mikeymike – looking forward to once again seeing the inside of the theater where I saw “Mary Poppins” in 1964.
Thanks, Warren. Full issues of Boxoffice magazine are available on the web – I should check there.
Good question, Rory. I’ve seen photos of the Capitol showing “2001” (probably my favorite of all the pictures I’ve seen on the internet) and “Doctor Zhivago”, but so far no “Planet of the Apes”.
Thanks, veyoung. Too bad they never finished “Deluxe Tour” – it would’ve been something to see. Paul Mantz was an amazing aerial photographer. Some of the best moments of “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” were his work. He even gave his life for his profession – an accident while filming “The Flight of the Phoenix”.
I stand corrected: after reading the Martin Hart article, it seems that the clarity and definition of the 35mm prints reduced from CinemaScope 55 were a big, noticeable improvement over the previous CinemaScope films. No matter how they were shown, I still wish I’d been able to see both those films at the Roxy, and I hope I can someday see them at the Ziegfeld.
The power of suggestion: all the people in that ad were fooled into thinking they were seeing some new motion picture breakthrough (“the process is the best I have seen to date”; “a tremendous advance”, etc.), and they really weren’t. It makes me wonder whether those quotes were actually written by the Fox publicity department. But even on DVD, that is a beautifully photographed film. I’m sure it would’ve fooled me as well. And I’m totally with that guy who came in “all the way from New Jersey” (East Orange) to see it – if I’d been old enough in 1956 I’d have done the same thing.
The old non-anamorphic DVD of “Carousel” had the “Introducing CinemaScope 55” title card at the beginning, but the new improved DVD just says “A CinemaScope Picture”. Apparently all prints of “The King and I”, even the ones shown on TV, say “A CinemaScope Picture in CinemaScope 55”.
Martin Hart’s American Wide Screen Museum has a section devoted to CinemaScope 55:
http://widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/wingcs6.htm
Vito: did you see “Carousel” and/or “The King and I” at the Roxy?
It was 20th Century-Fox’s “Carousel” that Frank Sinatra walked off the set of, refusing to shoot the picture twice unless he was paid twice. It was the first film in CinemaScope 55, and they were going to shoot it again in CinemaScope 35 for theaters outside the big cities. After Sinatra quit and Gordon MacRae replaced him, Fox discovered a way to reduce the 55mm version to a 35mm print, so the film was only shot once after all.
The next (and last) film shot in CinemaScope 55 was “The King and I”. Both films played the Roxy in NYC in 1956, but I believe neither one was actually shown in CinemaScope 55, even though they were advertised as such:
View link
Thanks, Vito. I’ve never seen “Oklahoma” in a theater. If it played the Ziegfeld in 70mm I’d be there like a shot.
The DVD of the Todd-AO version of “Oklahoma” came out all blurry for some reason. I’m surprised the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization let that get released. I’m hoping for a corrected Blu-Ray edition sometime in the future.
If you go to Roland Lataille’s excellent Cinerama website:
View link
you will count 141 theaters in the United States that showed Cinerama (3-strip and/or 70mm) at one time or another.