quote: Tom Petrov

---

The Runnymede theatre had two prints of Another 48hrs. One was playing at 7 and 930pm in the downstairs theatre and the second print was playing at 730 and 1000pm in the upstairs theatre.

---

Ummmm, in 2001 Studio Movie Grill Plano ran Pearl Harbor on 2 screens with the showtimes spaced 40 minutes apart (for example: 7:00 and 7:40). The only difference is that it was done with one print.
 

---

Posted by Cory Isemann (Member # 2517) on 06-29-2006, 10:35 AM:
 

quote: Brad Miller

---

The only difference is that it was done with one print.

---

quote: Cory Isemann

---

How the hell do you do it with a 40 minute gap?

---

Either with the mother of all accumulators, or else it is possible to run off a platter while building up on the same platter. You just have to be careful.
 

---

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 06-29-2006, 12:26 PM:
 
40 minutes x 90 feet per minute = 3600 feet of film.

Perhaps a very large loop "tree", or piling the film into a clean container from the top, and pulling it out from the bottom -- done carefully, the pile of film won't tangle.
 

---

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 06-29-2006, 02:44 PM:
 
(prob had a setup using 6k reels ... with that first reel being rewound for that 7;40 show)
 

---

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 06-29-2006, 03:12 PM:
 
Some pics have been posted before actually. It's called a crapload of rollers on the ceiling and some creative CA21 setup, as the system was never rethreaded between shows.

(Monte - all platter booth)
 

---

Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 06-29-2006, 03:25 PM:
 
I doubt these were the earliest examples of two or more prints of the same title in the same complex, but they pre-date the examples given here thus far.

The GCC Menlo Park in Edison, NJ had two prints of the orignal "Star Wars." They opened with one print in May '77 and added a second engagement a couple of weeks later.

Pacific Winnetka Drive-In in Chatsworth (L.A.), CA also had two engagements of "Star Wars," and for a while I believe one was in English and the other in Spanish.

Another original "Star Wars"...Festival in Fresno, CA had two.

1980: Syufy Cinedome in Orange, CA had two simultaneous 70mm engagements of "The Empire Strikes Back."

1982: Mann Westwood in Westwood Village (L.A.), CA had three prints of "Tron."
 

---

Posted by James Westbrook (Member # 3690) on 06-29-2006, 10:46 PM:
 
I was told by a UA manager in the 80's the only way to get 2 prints of a movie was in theatres like the Prestonwood where one print was 70mm and the other one was 35mm.
However, he couldn't explain how Mann Theatres' Slide Road theatre across the street from us got 2 prints of Ghostbusters in 84. That theatre ran 35mm only.
My first dealing with 2 prints was Batman in 89...at least this is the earliest I can recall.
 

---

Posted by Caleb Johnstone-Cowan (Member # 3710) on 06-29-2006, 10:49 PM:
 
I believe that the cinema in the Swiss Centre on Leicester Square (recently closed) opened with the same film in all four screens. My guess would be via interlock though, think there was one booth with some of the screens reached using mirrors.
 

---

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 06-29-2006, 11:08 PM:
 

quote:

---

if a print is interlocked, the film companies will charge an extra rate to the theatres for screening one print on two screens -

---

quote:

---

Sometimes we need a translator on this forum.

(snip)

I have pobably misinterpreted this question.

---

quote: Richard P. May

---

Go back far enough, and it wasn't at all unusual for the major showcase theaters to be supplied with two prints just in case of damage.

---

That's still relatively common. Even our lowly theater, while running a sneak screening of "The Village" received a total of six prints to run on four screens. I wanted to run the shows (all starting at the same time) with one or two prints, but the studio wouldn't have it.

[ 07-02-2006, 01:06 AM: Message edited by: Mark J. Marshall ]
 

---

Posted by Thomas Dieter (Member # 2507) on 06-30-2006, 04:22 PM:
 
Here's the link with Brads interlock with 40 min lag between starts. But I don't think that it's Pearl Harbor, if it is then these are the pics he was refering too.

Interlock with 40 Minute lag.

As you read, you'll see it's actually 20 min lag as it's threaded between 3 projectors with 20 min. start times.
 

---

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 06-30-2006, 05:26 PM:
 
Yup, that's a very old version of the system, and I never really did get good pictures of it.

The system could be set up in 10 minute increments. As such you coiuld do 5 screens each 10 minutes apart, or 3 screens 20 minutes apart, or 2 screens 40 minutes apart, or any other combination such as 3 screens with a 10 and 30 minute difference.
 

---

Posted by Charles Greenlee (Member # 3856) on 06-30-2006, 09:33 PM:
 
Yeah, none of the plexes I worked at have ever received backup prints, at least during my reign. We rarely ever interlocked, so almsot always had the same number of prints as we had screens showing that movie. However, what I hate, is when you schedule multiple movies on the same sceen. You had to remember which print you had to thread. And it's real easy to go on autopilot, and just wrap the tail of the finished print, and then turn around and rethread it, like you normally would.
 

---

Posted by Caleb Johnstone-Cowan (Member # 3710) on 07-01-2006, 11:06 PM:
 
Multiple films in one screen is a pretty common occurence probably happens to us every other week. Had three in one screen once. Once had a film move booths which for the projectionist and myself wasn't fun.
 

---

Posted by Charles Greenlee (Member # 3856) on 07-02-2006, 02:11 AM:
 
Yeah, I'm kinda glad we have a single consolidated booth. The old Tara had 3? Booths, each one you had to go downstairs to get to the stairs of the other. And they were spiral stairs fit into a room the size of my linen closet, 5x5 maybe. I'd hate to have had to move a built film between them, and they had platters, so it wasn't a pair 2k reels or changeover. I really feel for those guys that worked it. BTW, I think the projector in the large screen may have been carbon arc. I didn't open the lamphouse. But it was about the size of a 50gal drum on it's side. Cast iron with a door that bolted down. The projector/lamphouse was all that was on the stand, the automation and electronics were on a panel just below the booth window. I wanna say it was a century.
 

---

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 07-03-2006, 03:54 PM:
 
Multiple prints? Interlock running a single print on two screens in the same theatre? That's wussy. How about "in the day" we BICYCLED prints between two THEATRES, two reels at a time! THAT'll put hair on your chest.
 

---

Posted by Caleb Johnstone-Cowan (Member # 3710) on 07-03-2006, 06:43 PM:
 
Just like Cinema Paradiso
 

---

Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 07-04-2006, 12:53 AM:
 
Anyone familiar with the Juliet 1&2 in New York City, ca. early 1970s? Reel-to-reel or platters?

Anyway, came across a New York Times ad from December 1970 touting Disney's "The Aristocats" on both of the Juliet's screens. That the film was showing on two screens was emphasized in the ads as if it was a unique or new method of exhibiting a film. Showtimes were every hour on the hour, so I suppose if the theater was running changeovers, it is conceivable that a single print could've been used.

Of course, this begs the question: when did platters and automation start becoming common?
 

---

Posted by Ron Curran (Member # 3631) on 07-04-2006, 02:42 AM:
 
I first heard about platters and Xenons in 1969. the Metro circuit were trialling Xenons and the talk in the trade was that the colour temp was wrong and the light was inferior to carbons.

The story went something like this … The projectionists union in Melbourne was making demands so they were treated to a demo of a working platter and “automated” set up to cool them down.

My first view of a platter was at Zeiss in Sydney in (I think) 1970 where they showed a Christie in operation. It was the same platter that we bought used some years later. It was replaced with a Cinemeccanica as soon as possible. We still have most of theChristie bits if anybody wants to collect them.
 

---

Posted by Cameron Glendinning (Member # 3516) on 07-04-2006, 04:32 AM:
 
The first time that I personally remember multiple prints here in australia was at village cinema city, Gremlins 2, 3 screens of 6, one was 70mm in a 700 seat with dress circle and THX sound, and 2 35mm cinemas, one of which only had 200 seats, postcard sized screen and was mono with surrounds (eprad starlet).

I remember thinking how unlucky you would be, not seeing it in 70mm and that the odds were against you 2 to 1 in seeing it that way!

I should mention that I have run the same movie in two cinemas with a delay using C/Os many times.

And used cabs to swap prints one 6000 at a time to share a print with a cinema up to 20 km away. The spools would always turn up in the nick of time.
 

---

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 07-04-2006, 05:48 AM:
 
Cameron

Batman pre-dates that one in the same complex. In the six-screen complex there were three prints of Batman (one in 70mm in the 700 seater/THX/wonderful) cinema you mentioned. The second was in the RED cinema (#2) and the third in the "postcard sized screen and was mono with surrounds"

At the same time in the same copmplex: Village Cinema City, Dead Poet's Society took up another 2 screens.

Can't recall what the film was that held the sixth screen.
 

---