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Author
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Topic: 70MM ad thread
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Robert Harrison
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 239
From: Harwood Heights, Illinois, USA
Registered: Jun 2005
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posted 03-23-2011 05:53 PM
Hey, thanks for the answers, fellas!
Also, thanks for letting me know that Chicago got gypped on "Towering Inferno." It opened exclusively at the Chicago Theater downtown in 35MM mono, unless someone made a big boo-boo and forgot to advertise otherwise.
It has always been catch as catch can with 70 prints in Chicagoland. There have been occasions where the entire first run was in 35 and then some place like the well equipped Tivoli Theater in Downers Grove would get hold of a 70 print for second run, as they did with "Back To The Future."
The Edens Theater #2 in Northbrook was another venue where 70 prints might show up for the first time in this neck of the woods months later as a one week fill-in, as happened with "The Blue Lagoon" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Special Edition." I believe the McClurg Court in the city was operated by the same local company; they showed "The Right Stuff" in 70 months after its all 35 run.
While I am pontificating, I was wondering why Dolby is always coming up with marketing names for their sound advances, yet they never really came up with anything, advertising-wise, for their 70 split surround format. When "Apocalypse Now" opened, I was working at the aforementioned Golf Mill Theaters, and split surround was installed for the 70 engagement of that film. Yet, if one were to check the newspaper display ads, there was absolutely no mention of this (at the time) new format. I mean, they hawked "MEGASOUND" for the 70 engagements of "Altered States," and now the 7.1 thing, so any thoughts, or facts, anybody on why this was so?
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Michael Coate
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1904
From: Los Angeles, California
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 03-24-2011 02:21 PM
quote: Robert Harrison
I was wondering why Dolby is always coming up with marketing names for their sound advances, yet they never really came up with anything, advertising-wise, for their 70 split surround format. When "Apocalypse Now" opened, I was working at the aforementioned Golf Mill Theaters, and split surround was installed for the 70 engagement of that film. Yet, if one were to check the newspaper display ads, there was absolutely no mention of this (at the time) new format. I mean, they hawked "MEGASOUND" for the 70 engagements of "Altered States," and now the 7.1 thing, so any thoughts, or facts, anybody on why this was so?
I think it was Warner Bros., not Dolby, that pushed the MegaSound thing. It was, essentially, an attempt to standardize (and promote) the "baby boom" aspect of the sound presentation. At least three films were presented in "70mm Six-Track Dolby Stereo + MegaSound."
As for the split surround thing, on Page 11 of this thread I posted what I believe to be a rare example of such promotion. I think Dolby's attitude was that the split surround thing wasn't a bona fide format, but, rather, an enhancement of the "Six-Track Dolby Stereo" format and thus didn't require any additional (and potentially confusing) promotion. Similarly, there was never, to my knowledge, any promotional distinction made for those "Six-Track Dolby Stereo" films that included/excluded "baby boom" content or used five, instead of three, screen channels.
I believe Dolby felt that most of the promotion of their presentations was the responsibility of the distributor and exhibitor. The one issue on which Dolby was rigid was if a theater used an audio processor from a competitor, the word "Dolby" was to be removed from advertising. Some exhibitors, such as SamEric, got pretty creative with this sticking point.
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Okay, today's entry:
San Francisco Chronicle, January 20, 1984.
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Robert Harrison
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 239
From: Harwood Heights, Illinois, USA
Registered: Jun 2005
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posted 03-24-2011 04:51 PM
Thanks, Michael. Maybe Bobby Henderson can come up with a logo for Split Surround, if he hasn't already, just for fun's sake?
And now, a couple of ads from Chicago's Dimension 150 theaters back in the late 1960s:
First up, a roadshow for "Oliver."
Next, another case of a film showing in 70 in a later run. "Where Eagles Dare" originally opened downtown at the Chicago Theater, but played in 35 mag. Note the old "M" rating, the precursor to "GP" which eventually became "PG."
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