Needless to say, the print was gone over with a fine tooth comb before threading, and we used a lo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ng leader.

If the other two films hadn't been doing business, I might have considered adding them in as well, although we did have a few empty seats in one of the auditoriums.

I did get a real chuckle from one audience member. This theatre was known for a problem with customers crossing over, so, practical joker that I am, I told the manager and staff not to be too concerned that night. One kid in particular was memorable. He came out of Batman on the end auditorium, gave a furtive look around and snuck down the hall into ... Batman ... confused, he went to the next auditorium and snuck into ... Batman ... Now really confused, he walked down the hall and peeked into the next door and saw ... Batman. He then walked across the hall to where one of the other films was scheduled, but found the auditorium empty because it was between shows. He then bounced back across the hall to another auditorium showing ... Batman. At that point, he walked out the back exit, swearing to himself.

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If you have common HEIGHT masking, an auto-lens change can be a beautiful thing. The picture goes black and the curtains open and this huge picture hits the screen. I have actually been in an auditorium and heard the audience gasp when the feature comes on screen.

One thing that I think that is wrong with the cinema industry is that it contains too few entrepreneurs and too many accountants.

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In that theatre, the projectionist had to walk down the center aisle of one auditorium and go behind the screen, then up either a laddre or stairs to get to a booth for another auditorium. Yours does seem pretty nasty, though. Is it one of the old SBC houses? One SBC booth I ran was so small that the reel to reel operation couldn't be converted to platter, because there wasn't room. I don't know how it ever passed fire code inspection for the C.O..

I also disagree with the comment that movies aren't as much of a social experience any more. That's the BIGGEST reason for theatres' continued existence.

I'll agree that there wasn't the amount of entertainment available back then, but people didn't have much time for entertainment either. Dances, church activities, local sports, and school functions all vied for the entertainment dollar and limited time available.

I agree about video sales being predicated on success at the boxoffice, and am thankful. Without that, the pressure to cut theatres out of the loop would be mounting. At various times, distribution direct to cable, ppv, or tape have been tried. Each attempt was a rousing dud.

As I said, I used to think the social experience part was important. With stadium seating placing each viewer into a virtual cocoon, and people loving it, I just can't continue to hold that position.