Did you run "LAWRENCE OF ARABIA" in 70mm or 35mm?

Paul,

For many years after "HAWAII" was shown in 35mm Mono during it's Hawaiian road show engagement, I always thought it was presented that way at all theatres. I recall reading about George Roy Hill, the director wanting to shoot the movie in 65mm but settled on 35mm to cut cost but I was very surprised and very disappointed that the movie was shown in 35mm mono during it's local road show engagement. It was only after I had bought the laserdisc of "HAWAII" that I had learned that there were indeed 70mm stereo prints and available only in cities such as Los Angeles and New York. The laserdisc which I still have is superb and presented in the original 35mm Panavision 2.35.1 aspect ratio with Dolby Pro Logic sound. Although the laserdisc is very good, I cannot wait to get my hands on the DVD when it is eventually released by MGM/UA with a remixed 5.1 stereo soundtrack.

-Claude

I re edited my original post on this topic and did comment about the reason why some films were edited for general release. Please go back and read it.

What happened to your laserdisc of "HAWAII" when you said "had"? I have had several good offers from some of my other friends who also have a leserdisc library for my copy but I just cannot part with it. I think the reason has a lot to do with my father playing an actual part in the production of the film when he helped with the construction of the sets.

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For example, I only have 35mm capability in my theatre, but when I run 2001, to use Paul's example, I guarantee my presentation is every bit as "special" as the recent 70mm restored presentation that I saw at the Loew's Astor Plaza in NYC. They had no curtain, they cut the intermission and ran the first three or four minutes out of frame; when they "corrected" the misframe, they didn't center the image fully and the bottom frameline (replete with splice flashes) was visible throughout the entire film. How nice that they got it ALMOST in focus. The sound had very bad flutter from the first frame to the last. They had coming attractions and (Mr. Kubrick, please forgive us our tresspasses) showed screen ads before the film. There was no projectionist in the booth (except on Fridays, I was told).

This was a roadshow title and a fully restored roadshow print to match (at least before the Loew's hatchetmen cut it up, planted dirt all over it and put big emulsion gashes in it), but it certainly was not a roadshow presentation.

I only have 35mm 4 track mag, but with lots of years of work and tweaking, it sounds breathtaking. My focus is as good as can be gotten with a 35mm print which, in the case of 2001, was struck before the era of high speed prints and multiple interstage steps, so all those early titles shot on 65mm neg look really spectacular when reduction printed to 35mm. In short, my 35mm presentation of 2001 is as "roadshow" as you can get.

When I ran CAMELOT, it was the full verson print (there were some versions floating around for years that had almost 40 minutes deleted) with 4trk mag and IBTech, but the music-in-black (pre, inter, and exit) were missing. I went so far as to burn those sections from the Laserdisc onto CD and used them via non-sync, covering the sections missing from the print. Did this for each and every show.

There is a sign up on the wall in our rewind room -- MAKE VERY SHOW LOOK LIKE A ROADSHOW. It helps to have an art-deco, 2500 seat single screen theatre with curtains, curtain warmers and a staff that goes the extra mile to make the patron feel like we actually WANT them in our theatre.

Roadshow today is mostly attitude.

You are absolutely correct about road shows not limited to 70mm presentations because there were couple that were released in flat 35mm. One film that comes to mind was even in black and white and that was Stanley Kramer's "JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG" in 1961. Another one was George Steven's "GIANT" released the same year as another road show "THE TEN COMMANDMENTS" in 1956. As I had mentioned in my original post yesterday, there were many in the forties that were all flat long before 70mm and 35mm scope films. A few others that I did not mention yesterday was "IVANHOE" in 1953 starring Robert Taylor and "PORTRAIT OF JENNIE' with Joseph Cotton in 1949. Because I was very young, I never saw these road show pictures during their premiere engagements at the Kuhio but I did get to see them all when they went into general release at my hometown theatre, the Waipahu.

BY the way, Frank

The industry needs more people like you. If I only lived near you, your theatre is the one I will frequent the most because I know I will be able to count on a very professional film presentation.

-Claude

The Hawaii laserdisc (and VHS) was a remix to stereo from the original stems. The theatrical release was indeed mono, and MGM/UA Home video even stated this in the press release for the laserdisc, that it was the first time the movie was ever released or heard in a stereo format. The 70mm prints were in the standard 6-track mag stripe format, but only contained a mono mix. Whether that mono mix was put on one, three, or all five of the stage channels, I don't know.

-Claude

And Claude, thanks for the compliment. It really is just about trying to capture the fascination and wonder that I experienced as a kid. Successive generations shouldn't be robbed of what we had. Those of us old enough have seen it done to perfection know what that movie-going experience was like back then; for me, it's just a matter of trying to do it just as well today.

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Did all the sub-runs in Canada and second tier markets play Tommy in Quintaphonic?

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