my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Film Handlers' Forum   » It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World 70mm showing (Page 3)

This topic comprises 4 pages: 1  2  3  4

Author Topic: It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World 70mm showing Paul Linfesty Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1383 From: Bakersfield, CA, USA Registered: Nov 1999 posted 08-28-2003 02:53 PM                     An update from the Arclight Cinemas It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett and more... Director: Stanley Kramer Rating: G Running Time: 2 hrs. 45 min. Genre: Adventure/Family/Action/Comedy In the fall of 1963, two icons were born - the Cinerama Dome and Stanley Kramer's classic comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. This October 17-19 our historic Cinerama Dome will showcase a 40th Anniversary Special Edition print presented in 70mm and, for the first time, in digital sound with the legendary intermission and "police calls" voiced by Spencer Tracy and Terry-Thomas.  |  IP: Logged Robert Harris Film Handler Posts: 95 From: Bedford Hills, NY, USA Registered: May 2003 posted 08-28-2003 08:35 PM                     Paul, The "police calls" were not voiced by either Tracy or Thomas. They were recorded by a number of character actors / voice artists to be run after a ten minute intermission and before the Entr'acte. We supplied this material to MGM in 6 track. Also, if your friend loaned his print ten years or so ago for the laser, it was a major error as the folks in charge totally mishandled the film elements and damagaed his print along with all of the other trims... and the long print of The Almamo, which is also heavily vinegared. RAH  |  IP: Logged Michael Coate Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1904 From: Los Angeles, California Registered: Feb 2001 posted 09-10-2003 11:47 PM                     I recently returned from a trip to Arizona which provided me an opportunity to spend some time investigating the "Did Star Wars Play in 70mm In Tucson" and "Did Star Wars Begin Its Run In Phoenix In 70mm" topics discussed in this thread. Here is an update. Before I begin, let me say that I apologize for causing the thread to drift given that the initial topic concerned a different movie. Actually, I take that back since I didn't cause it to drift, though I will admit to contributing to it staying in drift mode. But, can you blame me? Re Will Kutler's memory of seeing Star Wars in Tucson in a 70mm presentation. Perhaps it did, but Will has yet to present any convincing proof. I feel he's going to have to come up with some better evidence than his memory. I've checked two different Tucson newspapers through the entire run of the film there and can see no evidence that the engagement was advertised in 70mm at any point during the run. It ran from August 1977 (5th, like I stated earlier; not Kutler's claim of the 17th) through May 1978. I also checked during the summer 1978 and 1979 re-releases, and again, no 70mm was being advertised. And before some of the naysayers chime in with the "it could've run in 70mm unadvertised" rhetoric, I'll just come out and make the bold claim of: I don't believe you. And as I stated earlier, evidence in Dolby Labs' records indicate the El Dorado Theatre wasn't even equipped with a Dolby sound system until after the original Star Wars run ended. (I realize the theatre could've had a non-Dolby-brand processor, which could explain the theatre's absence from the Dolby list, but then we're back to the issue of why it wasn't advertised in the local newspaper ads.) If it appears I've been a bit harsh on Mr. Kutler, well, perhaps it is due to the repeated questions asked that have gone unanswered, both here in the thread and in separate private emails. Moving on to Phoenix. Re Floyd Newton's claim in the thread that Star Wars began its Phoenix engagement in 70mm when I've claimed here and in my "Star Wars Original Engagements" article that it began in 35mm, switching to 70mm a few months into the run. Well, I met up with Mr. Newton and we spoke about his projectionist experience and his time spent working at the famous Cine Capri Theatre. During my enjoyable visit, Floyd thought about the situation and revised his claim made earlier in this thread, revealing to me that Star Wars did in fact begin its run at the Cine Capri in 35mm. Hopefully, my post here has cleared up any confusion or unresolved questions. OK, returning the discussion to It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World....  |  IP: Logged Paul Linfesty Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1383 From: Bakersfield, CA, USA Registered: Nov 1999 posted 09-23-2003 06:32 PM                     quote: OK, returning the discussion to It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World.... OK. Additional engagement at Austin's Paramount Theatre in late November.  |  IP: Logged Martin Brooks Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 900 From: Forest Hills, NY, USA Registered: May 2002 posted 09-24-2003 11:42 AM                        They say it's a new 70mm print, but wasn't IAMMMMW originally presented in Ultra-Panavision at 2.75:1? Will it be presented this way or in a cropped 2.2:1 AR?  |  IP: Logged Paul Linfesty Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1383 From: Bakersfield, CA, USA Registered: Nov 1999 posted 09-24-2003 02:06 PM                     The claim at the Dome and others is this is a genuine Ultra-Panavision print (anamorphic lenses coming from Panavision). I may be wrong in this, but I think almost all the original 70mm prints were not in UP70 format; rather they were rectified for projection on deep-curve Cinerama screens.  |  IP: Logged John Stewart Film Handler Posts: 67 From: Austin, TX, USA Registered: Sep 2001 posted 09-24-2003 10:55 PM                     Paul, the word I got here at the Paramount was that we would be getting lenses from Panavision. I haven't heard anything else about the print other than it will be DTS. John  |  IP: Logged Martin Brooks Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 900 From: Forest Hills, NY, USA Registered: May 2002 posted 09-24-2003 11:05 PM                        According to the info I have, five of the eight films shot in Ultra-Panavision were for Cinerama. So I think they were anamorphic as well as being rectified for the deeply curved Cinerama screen. Those films were: It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World Battle of the Bulge The Hallelujah Trail The Greatest Story Ever Told Khartoum In addition, UP films not for Cinerama were: Mutiny on the Bounty (1962 version) The Fall of the Roman Empire and possibly The Big Fisherman (I have conflicting info on this. One source says UP, Variety reported it as being shot for Super Panavision 70. There were also films produced in Super Panavision 70 and used for Cinerama. Those were: Grand Prix Ice Station Zebra 2001: A Space Odyssey Krakatoa, East of Java Song of Norway SuperPan 70 films not for Cinerama were: Exodus West Side Story Lawrence of Arabia Cheyenne Autumn My Fair Lady Lord Jim Is Paris Burning (last reel supposedly only Panavision 70 blowup) War & Peace Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Mackenna's Gold Ryan's Daughter Tron Brainstorm (And yes, I know about Far & Away, but that was called Panavision Super 70 or something of the sort and used different lenses, I think.) I'm sure someone will claim I've got something wrong. Fire away...  |  IP: Logged Paul Linfesty Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1383 From: Bakersfield, CA, USA Registered: Nov 1999 posted 09-24-2003 11:31 PM                     quote: they were anamorphic as well as being rectified for the deeply curved Cinerama screen. Well, technically, for the Cinerama presentations, the anamorphic squeeze was entirely removed, then a progressive squeeze was added back in starting with no squeeze in the center, with some squeeze on the sides to allow for screen stretch. It was the screen, however, that undid the squeeze, not the projection lens. There may very well have been some actual anamorphic UP70 prints of some of these titles, but some claim not. quote: In addition, UP films not for Cinerama were: Both RAINTREE COUNTY and BEN-HUR were shot in MGM Camera 65, which became Ultra-Panavision 70 (although COUNTY was only released in 35mm scope). As a matter of fact, the initial previews for MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY show an MGM Camera 65 credit. This was changed to UP70 by the time the film was released. FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE was shot in UP70 but was released in standard spherical 70mm. THE BIG FISHERMAN was SP70 (the first). I've never heard of IS PARIS BURNING? having ANY SP70 photography. And of course, TRON, Mackenna's Gold, and BRAINSTORM only had sequences shot in SP70. For that matter, some sequences in FAR AND AWAY had some VistaVision shots (the land rush scene). And Kenneth Branaugh's HAMLET was also shot in Panavision Super 70.  |  IP: Logged Martin Brooks Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 900 From: Forest Hills, NY, USA Registered: May 2002 posted 09-25-2003 12:48 PM                        quote: Well, technically, for the Cinerama presentations, the anamorphic squeeze was entirely removed, then a progressive squeeze was added back in starting with no squeeze in the center, with some squeeze on the sides to allow for screen stretch. It was the screen, however, that undid the squeeze, not the projection lens. There may very well have been some actual anamorphic UP70 prints of some of these titles, but some claim not. I'm having a hard time conceiving how that would work properly and it's hard to tell from the few printed examples I've seen of such "corrected" prints exactly what's going on. If the film was shot with a 1.25 squeeze, even though it's being projected onto a deeply curved screen, wouldn't the images in the center of the screen looked squeezed, especially if the object was relatively narrow, if anamorphic lenses weren't used in projection? It seems to me that such prints would have to have the 1.25 squeeze, anamorphic projection, as well as rectification for the deeply curved Cinerama screen. Am I incorrect?  |  IP: Logged Mark Lensenmayer Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1605 From: Upper Arlington, OH Registered: Sep 1999 posted 09-25-2003 01:21 PM                     Marty Hart has an excellent description of this including a rectified frame at his Widescreen Museum. Rectified 70mm Cinerama  |  IP: Logged Martin Brooks Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 900 From: Forest Hills, NY, USA Registered: May 2002 posted 09-25-2003 08:07 PM                        Yeah..thanks. I should have remembered that I've seen that page before. What still doesn't make sense to me is that from the audience perspective, an Ultra-Panavision presentation with an anamorphic print projected on a relatively flat screen, would appear 25% wider than the UP negative printed optically corrected without the squeeze, projected on a deeply curved Cinerama screen, right?  |  IP: Logged Bill Gabel Film God Posts: 3873 From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 10-17-2003 05:29 PM                     Cinerama Dome Celebrates 40th Year. Here is an article from Wednesdays Hollywood Reporter. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/film/feature_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=2002137  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-17-2003 05:50 PM                     The 70mm print I ran at home years ago was a rectified print and did not requirte any 1.25 Ultra Panavision lenses at all to run. The center third was not squeezed at all. It was squeezed only on the sides and this sort of squeeze is evedent on the "restored" laser disk version. These prints were meant to unstretch themselves on a deeply curved Cinerama screen just by utilizing the depth of the curve at the sides alone. Mark @ CLACO  |  IP: Logged David Kilderry Master Film Handler Posts: 355 From: Melbourne Australia Registered: Sep 1999 posted 10-18-2003 08:18 AM                        Glad to see people looking at Marty Hart's excellent AWSM site. The amount of information on this site is huge and on the money as far as facts go. For years most in the biz could not even tell you the difference between Ultra Panavision and Super Panavision. David  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 4 pages: 1  2  3  4

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.