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Author Topic: most times you've shown the same title? Robert E. Allen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1078 From: Checotah, Oklahoma Registered: Jul 2002 posted 05-31-2007 10:44 AM                     Years ago (back in the late 60s) I was the projectionist at the Bijou Theatre in Palo Alto, California and whenever the owner wanted to do business he would book the Beatles movie "Help". Those Stanford students came out in droves and filled the place. I was there for about six months and we must have booked that film at least three times (for a week each). I understand the theatre is no longer there (it was a single screener built in a former auto repair shop) but I'll bet that film would still do business in Palo Alto (or actually just about anywhere else).  |  IP: Logged Ben Wales Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 602 From: Southampton. England Registered: Jul 99 posted 05-31-2007 03:20 PM                     The film I shown the most times was the 70mm DTS short "Blackadder - Back & Forth" at the Millennium Dome in London in 2000. It was screened in two 2500 seater Cinemas and that was screened about 6 times daily in each screen, so no escape, even now 6 years on I can still remember the script and the running time of this film. We did try to organize some other 70mm screenings at Skyscape, but all they organized was a screening of "Abba - The Movie" in 35mm (Mono) and I had to arrange to collect the print from a Film Carrier at a Motorway Service Station!  |  IP: Logged Aaron Burgess Film Handler Posts: 24 From: norfolk, va / usa Registered: Jul 2006 posted 05-31-2007 03:43 PM                     I ran RHPS for the 150th time last week. Ugh  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 05-31-2007 06:15 PM                     quote: Aaron Burgess I ran RHPS for the 150th time last week. Ugh (lol)-If you've ran RHPS that long, how are the prints been like - like the 'scratched prints' in "Grindhouse"? Back in the late 70's til the mid 80's, I ran RHPS almost weekly-and almost the same print that would be shipped to us...(and tons of water and trash on the floors afterwards...) 2nd and 3rd are the durations of "Heavy Metal" and "Pink Floyd's-THE WALL" for me for mid showings. Ran those two almost every other week after the demise of RHPS.. -Monte  |  IP: Logged Gracia L. Babbidge Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 709 From: Bowdoin, Maine Registered: Aug 2000 posted 06-01-2007 10:55 AM                        For a little bit longer than three years, I've been at a single screen outfit - doing changeovers on 2k reels. There's a small handful of titles that I may have projected at least 100 times. Those titles would be: Fahrenheit 9/11, What The F@#! Do We Know?, An Inconvenient Truth, Little Miss Sunshine, The Queen. And there is a much longer list of others that I didn't run as many times - but enough that I could do the changeovers by listening to the audio!  |  IP: Logged Martin McCaffery Film God Posts: 2481 From: Montgomery, AL Registered: Jun 99 posted 06-01-2007 06:12 PM                        Just to add to the history. Other places I relieved, but thankfully didn't have to run the film every day: The Shirley Duke/Foxchase (Alexandria, VA) ran The Opening of Misty Beethoven for well over 5 years on Super Simplexes with platters. Several shows a day. I think they went through about 3 prints in that time. I know when I shipped it out for the last time, the print was so oil soaked I couldn't get the splicing tape to stick. The Biogragph(DC) ran midnight shows of Pink Flamingos for several years. Legend has it that the projectionist threw the print down the stairs when it was finally gotten rid of. I think it was a 16mm print, so not as dramatic.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 06-02-2007 06:39 AM                     Though they are not active on Film-Tech...I'm sure the projectionists at the Williamsburg Visitor's Center would win this one hands down. Since 1957 showing The Story of a Patriot...first in VistaVision and now in 70mm with some of the projectionist there going back to at least the '60s. How do you top that? They are honest to God projectionists that monitor the picture and sound on each and every performance and clean the projectors between each showing.  |  IP: Logged Paul Mayer Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under! Posts: 3836 From: Albuquerque, NM Registered: Feb 2000 posted 06-02-2007 01:48 PM                        I imagine special-venue doesn't count here, but what the heck. Ran a 15-minute 70mm short called Thrillsphere from '75 to '77. It showed at Circus Circus in Las Vegas, then went on the road playing the state fair circuit. I ran it at Circus and with both road units. Don't have my logs anymore but I'd say I ran it over 2200 times, all manually. The Circus booth used a Westrex then went to a Norelco. Both machines went into the road units the following year. Same with IMAX. The Caesars Palace Omnimax would typically run a title for six months. The operators usually worked 8- or 12-hour shifts getting in up to 11 showings a day of a typically 40-minute title. Again, no logs but I've screened titles like To Fly, The Dream is Alive, Grand Canyon: Hidden Secrets, Speed, Flyers, Beavers, We Are Born of the Stars/Skyward, Niagara: Miracles, Myths and Magic, Wings of Courage, and Yellowstone hundreds of times each. In live shows I've done over 700 performances each of Starlight Express, The Folies Bergere, An Evening at La Cage, and Jubilee as a spot operator, board operator, projectionist, or house sound mixer. [ 06-04-2007, 02:06 PM: Message edited by: Paul Mayer ]  |  IP: Logged Demetris Thoupis Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1240 From: Aradippou, Larnaca, Cyprus Registered: Apr 2001 posted 06-02-2007 02:38 PM                     2000 When Ridley Scott gave Gladiator to the public, showed for 7 solid weeks, 2 shows a night so that makes in a two screen cinema with changeovers 7 x 2 x 7 = 98 Shows. Demetris  |  IP: Logged Tony Bandiera Jr Film God Posts: 3067 From: Moreland Idaho Registered: Apr 2004 posted 06-02-2007 04:22 PM                     Knott's Berry Farm, many years ago: In the Cloud Nine Ballroom, a hideous 3-D short film called "Sea Dream" (AKA "Wet Dream", "Sea Scream" etc.) Running time of 22 minutes. Used the over/under prints with polarized glasses. Original prints were 35mm mag, later switched over to optical after I sold and installed an Ultra*Stereo processor to them. Ran on Century MDAW projectors, first with a Potts Alpha Puker, then later an ELF. When on the Potts we had eight prints spliced and cued so there was only one thread-up daily. LP Assoc. Automation. 5-8 shows a day, every day for a year. You do the math. I still remember our post-show exit tag and most of the narration from that classic. We ran it from the tech booth, above the projection booth. The early mag prints had a pre-show narration, that we muted at the sound console while the house ushers did the pre-show live, then the cue would hit and open the dowser and we were on screen. It was really interesting when the ushers would mess up and I cut them off with the film, or worse on the few occaisions where the film would break during that spiel, then a mad dash downstairs to fix it while the usher would ad-lib. I actually had a print of the old mag version, but lost it when it was never returned from a certain cinema companies "Film Academy" some years ago.  |  IP: Logged Rick Raskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1100 From: Manassas Virginia Registered: Jan 2003 posted 06-02-2007 04:31 PM                     quote: Martin McCaffery Legend has it that the projectionist threw the print down the stairs when it was finally gotten rid of. I think it was a 16mm print, so not as dramatic. Its True. His name was was Mike Johnston and unfortunately he was killed in a motorcycle accident in the late 70s. The Biograph liked him so much the had a benefit show in his honor. Mike used to tell the story of when John Waters and Devine were in the booth and he asked Devine if he actually ate the real stuff in the final scene. Devine replied that in fact it was real and would he like to see him eat some now. Mike declined the offer. I do believe the print of Pink Flamingos was 35mm.  |  IP: Logged Jeremy Jorgenson Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1002 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: Feb 2005 posted 07-09-2007 04:29 PM                        Though I DO keep track of films I run, I've never kept track of the number of times I've run a particular print/title. I'm guessing you mean feature length films, right? For me would probably be Fantasia/2000 in IMAX or Beauty and the Beast in two different locations, one IMAX, one 8/70.  |  IP: Logged

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