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Here is a website from Queensland Australia that has the original notations on royalties paid per movie from the 1930s onwards from many theatres that had the representatives from many movie studios calling on them..you may have to search through a few to find the information, interesting to note the local Bank Manager was employed by the studios to check the number of people in attendance.
http://www.gu.edu.au/centre/qsc/qldpic/qmthome.htm

I talked to one man who sat in the same seat for almost sixty years. He and his wife met in grade school. They and all their friends from Greathouse Elementary walked to the Vogue every Saturday afternoon. THe place was then run by the Allen Bros., who had a strict sense of discipline. Women were afraid of incurring their wratch, but the boys considered being kicked out of the Vogue a rite of passage.

"The Robe" opened in NY and only two months later the Vogue installed a wide screen. We suspect that they installed the two Simplex X/Ls at the same time (the theatre had originally been equipped with Motiographs.). Note: it ran changeovers until it closed in 1998.

One feature no one can figure out is the pair of glass windows from the inner lobby (concession area) to the auditorium. We thought they must be for parents with crying children who wanted to watch the film without disturbing other patrons, but I'm told that they were usually covered with red velvet curtains. There WAS a speaker box in the inner lobby, but surely they wouldn't go to the trouble and expense of installing all that glass just so the concessionnaire could check on the film.

As if the big-box theatres and film-done-wrong aren't killing the exhibition industry quickly enough, I read the other day that engineers are working on true 3-d sound (controlling azimuth, elevation & depth) using computers for home theatre applications. If some of the technology that's out there now gets cheaper and more widely available, there won't be any reason for most people to go to the movies.

Off-topic: I haven't worked in a theatre in a few years, but I need some extra income. You can be sure I'll be devouring every tip to do film (or concessions, for that matter) right--especially considering some of the awful presentation I've encountered here locally.

PS--Would I get fired from the multiplex if, when a patron who'd stood in the concession line for 20 minutes couldn't make up his mind, I gently said, "The Milk Duds are especially good this evening, sir."?

The answer is "Film Done Right" -- a properly presented modern 35mm scope print with digital sound will far exceed the quality of those early CinemaScope prints.

I agree with John Walsh, shooting 65mm negative and showing 70mm prints with digital sound would be the ultimate in quality. Kodak makes the 65mm/70mm films, some labs specialize in 65mm/70mm, DTS has the sound format, hundreds of theatres have the projectors and sound systems... but today's movie industry seems to lack the passion for Showmanship. Where are Michael Todd, Darryl Zanuck or Lowell Thomas when you need them most?:

Cinerama
CinemaScope
70mm Todd-AO

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

My very first memory of going to the movies was in the early 60's when my mother took me to see Walt Disney's "Bambi" at the small 1920's vintage single screen theatre in my home town. I was only about four years old but I swear I can remember the plush red carpet on the steps in front of me as we ascended the stairs to our seats in the balcony. I can also vaguely remember the movie on the screen (yes, I did cry when Bambi's ma got shot, in case you were wondering). The magic of seeing that film at such a young age, in that tiny single screen movie house, really sparked a flame with me that has lasted to this day.

While it was not the Roxy by any stretch of the imagination, the theatre was still architectually interesting and intimate. As I went to movies there throughout my childhood and teen years, I'd often find myself forgetting about the films as I got caught up in studying the plush wall coverings, the light sconces that added a sense of warmth by splashing a dim golden light against the auditorium walls, the pattern of the pressed tin ceiling tiles, you name it. Of course I was also very curious about who was running what type of equipment behind those four little windows that I could see in the rear balcony wall. Sometimes I would walk to the stage (yes, a real stage!) before or after a show and stare up at those ports and wonder exactly what was in that room (Simplex Supers with RCA soundheads and Peerless arc lamps ).

That old theatre became an old friend as I spent a significant part of my youth there escaping the realities of life and being transported to other places, times, and even worlds. Several other movie houses in a larger town about 35 miles away, including some actual movie palaces, joined my circle of friends when I got my driver's license and could explore beyond our town limits. All gave me the feeling that the experience of seeing a movie there was a very special experience.

Now as an adult I find that going to movies at a modern plex is a completely different experience. While I appreciate the modern architectural styles of todays cinemas, and I'm fascinated by the new projection and sound technology, today's movie theatres do not for me offer anywhere near the same special experience as the old houses did. They are not as intimate feeling and the experience of seeing a movie is not the same. The screen image and sound may be great but gone are the days of shorts and cartoons and (for the most part) ushers that walked the auditoriums with flashlights to make sure that the moviegoing experience was pleasant for all.

In my honest opinion, which seems to echo those of others on this thread, moviegoing at a lot of multi-plex theatres has become a lot like going to modern retail stores. They are big, boxy, and in many cases starkly decorated. They are also louder with their video arcades in or near the lobbies and in some theatres you can hear the sountrack of the movie in the auditorium next door. A few years ago my wife and I were going to see a movie at a new 13 plex that had just opened and we realized that the lobby was loud and busy and actually made us feel stressed. It didn't invite us to "leave our cares at the door" like a lot of the old houses did.

The movie experience itself is also often marred by people talking aloud as if the theatre is their living room and as if they are the only people there. Cell phones, of course, are also occasionally a distraction. I miss the days when ushers actually patrolled the premises, shined flashlights in the faces of offenders, and even tossed them out if necessary! Now days you usually have to try to find a theatre employee when something goes wrong.

I still find that I can get that special movie experience at some of the smaller theatres, usually vintage theatres, usually run by independants. Several years ago I went to a little family-run movie house in North Carolina and struck up a very nice conversation with the owner. I got a full tour and a chance to learn about the family's nearly 80 years in the business. Not long after I visited a chain-operated multi-plex that had just added 12 more screens and when I asked the manager a friendly question about how they added the additional screens, he gave me a quick answer and then muttered something about "not having time," before dashing off. A big difference! I know that this is like comparing apples to oranges. The plex manager was running 14 screens compared to the family-operated theatre's one. But still it left me with an unwelcome feeling.

I understand that the economics of the industry have changed and that to decorate cinemas as lavishly as they used to be decorated and to have one or two ushers dedicated to each auditorium is not possible. Still, I don't find large modern operations as much of an escape as I found the single screen palaces and neighborhood theatres. I wish this wasn't the case. We all need a place where we feel like we can get lost for awhile every now and then.

If and only if...

The prints are made properly (not contact printed at each phase), Most of the prints I come across nowadays are shaky blur fests, regardless of what the theatre does. They might do alright on smaller screens but don't cut it on the big screen.

I also find the sound of today's films rather unispiring as compared to yesteryear. Not all of them but enough that they all seem to be reading off the same cue sheet...dialog up front and center, music out of the Left/Right (and maybe surrounds) and too loud, surround usage today seems better and subwoofers are overused today...my opinions.

Steve