This is topic What's the longest time you've spent watching movies in a theatre in one go? in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Michael Swarbrick (Member # 1108) on 10-13-2003, 10:34 AM:
 
I was thinking about the 11 or more hours I may be spending watching the extended versions of the Lord of the Rings trilogy this Christmas, and I remembered spending 15 hours watching the first 7 Star Trek films at the Empire in 1995 (9am til midnight for £15!)

So, what's the longest some of you have spent at a theatre watching a bunch of movies in one go? That's sitting down watching the whole movie, not doing a 15 hour shift at your theatre (we've all done that)! [Smile]

What did you see, when, and how much was it?
 
Posted by Scott D. Neff (Member # 185) on 10-13-2003, 12:44 PM:
 
I think I did 4 movies in one day... but at different theatres. I still don't think that adds up to 11 hours though.
 
Posted by Evans A Criswell (Member # 381) on 10-13-2003, 12:45 PM:
 
Two movies in a row (about 4 hours) is my record, and I don't think I could take much more than that without getting a headache.
 
Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 10-13-2003, 12:54 PM:
 
Try running the entire Planet Of The Apes series like I did in a carbon arc two projector drive-in from dusk to dawn. When I left the booth that morning, my knuckles were dragging on the ground while I was walking to the car. [Big Grin]

I don't know if running this can be construed as watching it in these manual houses. With the tasks at hand at hand such as change-overs, threading, rewinding, and replacing the carbons which takes about two or three minutes if you drag your feet, the rest of the time the projectionist is sitting on his ass in such a manner as he can keep the carbons in trim and watch the movie.
 
Posted by Paul Linfesty (Member # 214) on 10-13-2003, 01:08 PM:
 
While I can no longer do this, I did see one triple feature in one sitting (Planet of the Apes, Benetah the Planet of the Apes, and Escape from the Planet of the Apes), and some VERY long double features (Gone With the Wind and How the West Was Won; The Ten Commandments and The Greatest Story Ever Told; and Cleopatra and The Robe). I have seen as many as 5 movies in one day on seperate bills (example: Ordinary People, The Elephant Man, Startdust Memories, and a double-bill of The Tin Drum and My Brilliant Career). I also had many 4 single features in one day back in the 80's (ET, The Thing, Blade Runner, Firefox, all in one day, all in 70mm in Hollywood). My last FULL DAY of movies was last fall, when I caught Lawrence of Arabia, 2001: a Space Odyssey, and Hello, Dolly, all in 70mm).

But two in one day is my usual MAXIMUM today. They all begin to run into another in my mind if I see more.
 
Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 10-13-2003, 01:27 PM:
 
I think my longest day in one cinema was when I watched one Woody Allen movie (I don`t remember which one, they are more or less all the same anyway), and then both parts of Bertolucci`s "1900" (318 minutes).
 
Posted by Jeffry L. Johnson (Member # 453) on 10-13-2003, 05:40 PM:
 
The Case Western Reserve University Film Society has a Science Fiction Film Marathon that has been an annual event since 1976. There is a brief intermission between each feature. Plus interesting trailers, cartoons, and other oddities. The first feature begins at 8:00 PM Friday and the last feature ends about Midnight Saturday (usually it's later, like 2:00 AM Sunday).

I attended every Marathon from 1980 to 2002. I've helped program it since 1981. Sundance now interferes with my attendance. Some of the Marathon projectionists and programmers tell me that Sundance should change its dates because the Marathon started before Sundance did.
 
Posted by Jeff Stricker (Member # 224) on 10-13-2003, 05:52 PM:
 
When I was a kid in the 50's, we would go to the local theater for the Saturday matinee about 1 PM. (Mom mom used to fix me a sandwich and snacks that we sneaked in. Plus 25 cents for snack bar stuff) This was all continuos showing. We would watch the matinee through twice, then the evening double feature, plus cartoons, trailers, shorts, etc. and head home about 11 PM.

Paul---the only "Apes" film that I thought was worth a darn was the original "Planet of the Apes".
 
Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 10-13-2003, 07:26 PM:
 
I know that I've been in the audience to watch four features in a row and maybe five during film festivals. This isn't the ideal way to watch anything (I like to have some after a screening to "digest" a particular film), but many festivals only show each feature once.

I'm sure that lots of us have done long shifts in the booth; my longest was probably something like noon until 2:00am (with carbons and changeovers).
 
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 10-13-2003, 07:38 PM:
 
My record for running booth was around 36 hours (give or take an hour or two, I didn't pay exact attention to the clock). I have done many, many 24+ hour shifts getting a new theater open.

I think the longest I've ever spent in an auditorium was 3 features in a row, because there was no one else available who could QC check them.
 
Posted by Ron Keillor (Member # 1790) on 10-13-2003, 11:06 PM:
 
Maybe not the longest, because the features are short, but one of the best was a dusk-to-dawn drive-in program of A Hard Days Night, Help, Yellow Submarine, and Let It Be.
 
Posted by Jim Leko (Member # 1287) on 10-14-2003, 03:42 AM:
 
Back when I was 13, and getting a $7 a week allowance, I used to theater-hop at the Del Amo MANN 9. I was in there from 10am till a little after midnight. I did that about once a month. Some of that time was playing arcade games, but I would usually watch about 4 movies.

The upcoming LOTR marathon will be my longest stretch since then. If Return of The King is 3:30, as I have been told, the Marathon should take 12 hours, 45 minutes (counting the hour break between movies). Although it isn't as long in the theater (compared to my childhood), it will be the most amount of movie I have watched in a 13 hour time period.
 
Posted by Carl Martin (Member # 1146) on 10-14-2003, 04:11 AM:
 
it's not that unusual for me to see 4 films in a day. 5 is really pushing it, and hard to do logistically. i see around 10 films a week these days. a few years ago it was more like 15. i have a number of friends that i see only when we show up to see the same films.

carl
 
Posted by Sean Weitzel (Member # 244) on 10-14-2003, 04:10 PM:
 
In 1991 I went to see the first 5 Star Trek movies in a row (with 20 min breaks in between) At the end was the trailer for ST 6. I think the event went from 12 noon on Saturday to 1am Sunday.
 
Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 10-14-2003, 08:42 PM:
 
I often showed "dusk-to-dawn" shows at the drive-in. Five features and cartoons.
 
Posted by Chris Hipp (Member # 1788) on 10-14-2003, 09:15 PM:
 
Well, It wasnt in a theatre, but I watched the first 8 star trek movies together once.
 
Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 10-14-2003, 11:43 PM:
 
There were a few times in New York where I liked a movie enough to sit through it twice (and the ushers didn't kick me out). I remember one long day that started out with a 70mm screening of "Batman" at Cinema One on 3rd Avenue. I was so disappointed with that one that I walked a few blocks over to the Ziegfeld to watch a real 70mm movie, "Lawrence of Arabia." I had to redeem myself.

Thinking awful hard about it, I suppose my personal record for longest movie going day had to be a jaunt down to Dallas in late 1995. I watched an afternoon show of "Toy Story" at the Casa Linda 4 theater. After that, I headed over to the AMC Grand 24 to watch "Heat" in SDDS. Once that 3 1/2 hours was up, there was still time to watch a late show of "Jumanji" in SDDS at the then-new Cinemark Tinseltown Grapevine theater. It was well after midnight when that show was done. It was raining like hell and I had to drive 200 miles back home without falling asleep behind the wheel. [sleep] [Eek!] [sleep]
 
Posted by Chris Hipp (Member # 1788) on 10-15-2003, 08:43 AM:
 
A little off topic:

When I was an usher and I saw people sleeping while I was cleanign the auditorium, I would always leave them alone hoping that they would wake up in the middle of the next show. It never worked though, if they slept through the downtime then they would usually wake up when the next show started.
 
Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 10-15-2003, 10:14 AM:
 
Does the 3D film festival count?

10 Days, 34 features, plus rarities, shorts, and a trailer show, plus also seeing How The West Was Won in Cinerama during that same 10 day period. Hell, also T2 3D and Shrek 4D were in there somewhere. Not exactly all one sitting, but it sure did feel like it when it was all done!
 
Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 10-15-2003, 01:34 PM:
 
During the 25th Anniversary of the Cinerama Dome. I spend one Saturday afternoon watching 3 features. And then waiting till the 10pm show of something.

I would spend time down in the Grind houses along Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles during the 80's. Many of them were large 1500 to 2000 seat size palaces. I would see the triple feature at the State on some Saturdays. The lucky patrons of the Cameo and the Arcade Theatre on Wednesday got to see 8 features for $1.50. They were opened all night till 4am and they would change films on Wednesdays. So if you were there when they opened, they would play the first 4 features and then start the new weeks program later that night till 4 am. [sleep] [sleep]

During this time the other theatres in the area ran more than one feature. These were english features and some with spanish subtitles. The rest of the theatres ran spanish features.

Double Features
Triple Features
Four Features

 
Posted by Gracia L. Babbidge (Member # 582) on 10-17-2003, 09:53 AM:
 
At some point soon after I first became a cinema employee, I caught the special edition Star Wars films, in one day, in order. [Big Grin]
A second matinee showing of 'A New Hope', first evening showing of 'Empire Strikes Back', and the second evening showing of 'Return of the Jedi'.
That was fun, and it worked out to be a 45 minute break between the end of one show, and the start of the next.

Then one day, much later, when I was relatively bored, I went into work watched 'The Perfect Snore' ... err 'The Perfect Storm' (first evening show), 'What Lies Beneath' (second evening show), and then 'The Cell' (after hours "q.c. print check", with the relatively bored assistant manager).
Not quite as much fun as the Star Wars marathon, but interesting that all three films involved people drowning / being drowned. [uhoh]
 
Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 10-17-2003, 06:24 PM:
 
I used to be a member of the Film Forum in NYC. Its repertory series are mostly double features and I did my fair share of them -- especially with a blaxploitation retro in '95. No triple features, though.

From time to time I've done 2 movies in different theaters on the same day. One Saturday in April '98 I did a Manhattan arthouse double feature: some boring film at the Lincoln Plaza, then I Think I Do (on its opening weekend) at the Quad. I Think I Do sold out -- thanks to The Partridge Family [Smile] on the soundtrack and the newspaper reviews.

A few years earlier I just missed seeing 3 in one day. It was on a Saturday in July '93 during the most brutal heat wave to hit the Northeast. I caught Menace II Society at the Amboy Multiplex, then doubled back for the re-release of Snow White at the GCC Bridgewater Commons. Would have stayed around for another film at the GCC but all the night shows sold out -- even a sneak preview of some forgettable Bette Midler movie.

I saw Star Wars Episodes 4, 5 and 6 in that order on their '97 re-release, though not all on the same day.
 
Posted by Alan Plester (Member # 852) on 10-18-2003, 11:18 AM:
 
longest day was starting at midday with normal films and then doing an all nighter until sunday morning, finished at 7.30.
 
Posted by Dennis Udovich (Member # 1066) on 10-19-2003, 02:40 PM:
 
Usually 2 to 3 times a month, I go to two movies in one evening. I've sat through three different films in one day. This happens when I "have to catch up" and my movie going.

Back in the '70's and working at an outdoor theatre, we had many movie marathons from dusk to dawn. We would show 4 to 5 films. I remember 007, Pink Panther, Clint Eastwood westerns, beach party bingo movies, and of course horror film marathons.
 
Posted by Robert D. LaValley (Member # 1867) on 10-19-2003, 02:52 PM:
 
I think the longest I spent in a theatre was watching "the postman" ... oh maybe that just felt like the longest! :-D
 




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