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One thing i always liked in a theatre was a curtain on the screen. It added a touch of class to the theatre. Whether it was a traveller curtain (opened from the middle) or a waterfall curtain (opened from the bottom). The Tower Theatre in Houston had a waterfall curtain that opened from the top! When the movie was playing, the curtain was on the ground. When the movie ended, it was raised to hide the screen!
Curtains seemed to go away with the advent of the multiplex. I guess it would be hard to screen ad slides onto a curtain.
One thing i always liked in a theatre was a curtain on the screen. It added a touch of class to the theatre. Whether it was a traveller curtain (opened from the middle) or a waterfall curtain (opened from the bottom). The Tower Theatre in Houston had a waterfall curtain that opened from the top! When the movie was playing, the curtain was on the ground. When the movie ended, it was raised to hide the screen!
Curtains seemed to go away with the advent of the multiplex. I guess it would be hard to screen ad slides onto a curtain.
I remember the transition. It happened during the "twinning" era. That said, in the real early days, stereopticons were used with larger glass slides to advertise local businesses during the transition from vaudeville. The practice died out, probably for many reasons, including paying a union projectionist to stand and manually change slides and keep the lamp trimmed.
What brought them back was the automatic carousel slide projector, which allowed unattended automatic operation with a timing circuit. At first, the image on the screen was always dark, focus might be off on some slides, sometimes the images didn't fit the screen, and it was a poor presentation.
During those days, the slide show was stopped, the curtains closed, and then the real presentation began. In the circuit where I first worked, the logo reel (and fanfare) showed the logo appear on a red waterfall curtain, so it was started with the red traveler closed, the dowser slowly opened revealing the logo, with the opening of the traveler timed so that it reached the widescreen setting (1:1.85) of the masking right at the end. It made a nice beginning of the preview reel. We also had movable black side masking.
What was even better was if the feature was scope. It allowed us to do a very small version of the "This is Cinerama" opening schtick. As the last preview was fading out, the traveler was fully opened (it was pretty noiseless, and in the dark nobody noticed it). The audience was prepared for the feature being in widescreen. The opening scene would start, and only then was the masking button hit, opening the screen up to the full 1:2.1 scope, giving an immersion into the screen experience. (The scope trailers always messed that up.)
A few times I was privileged to follow the show start routine in the palace type theatres, where it was more elaborate and involved white traveler scrims and a waterfall curtain. Truthfully, that could be a little over-the-top with some features.
The real killers of the curtains were the rolling stock ads. I remember the first one we got was a recruitment ad for the Army, and it was to be played after the preview reel. The audiences were incensed. "We didn't pay to watch TELEVISION!" I didn't blame them in the slightest, as it was a breaking of a trust in a time when ads on TV were getting worse. More ads came, and the ad reel got moved to the front of the previews, but were still universally hated. That was about the time the curtains began to remain open all the time. Any attempt at showmanship was dead and gone, killed by bean counters and attempts to increase income that the film companies couldn't touch.
When I saw my first General Cinema shadowbox "screen" I was horrified. Naked, jutting out from the wall, absolutely no way to properly show BOTH widescreen and scope, let alone Academy, those things were just nasty. FWIW, GCC never followed proper conventions for displaying one-sheets either. Posters had to be folded or improvised matting used.
I remember the transition. It happened during the "twinning" era. That said, in the real early days, stereopticons were used with larger glass slides to advertise local businesses during the transition from vaudeville. The practice died out, probably for many reasons, including paying a union projectionist to stand and manually change slides and keep the lamp trimmed.
What brought them back was the automatic carousel slide projector, which allowed unattended automatic operation with a timing circuit. At first, the image on the screen was always dark, focus might be off on some slides, sometimes the images didn't fit the screen, and it was a poor presentation.
During those days, the slide show was stopped, the curtains closed, and then the real presentation began. In the circuit where I first worked, the logo reel (and fanfare) showed the logo appear on a red waterfall curtain, so it was started with the red traveler closed, the dowser slowly opened revealing the logo, with the opening of the traveler timed so that it reached the widescreen setting (1:1.85) of the masking right at the end. It made a nice beginning of the preview reel. We also had movable black side masking.
What was even better was if the feature was scope. It allowed us to do a very small version of the "This is Cinerama" opening schtick. As the last preview was fading out, the traveler was fully opened (it was pretty noiseless, and in the dark nobody noticed it). The audience was prepared for the feature being in widescreen. The opening scene would start, and only then was the masking button hit, opening the screen up to the full 1:2.1 scope, giving an immersion into the screen experience. (The scope trailers always messed that up.)
A few times I was privileged to follow the show start routine in the palace type theatres, where it was more elaborate and involved white traveler scrims and a waterfall curtain. Truthfully, that could be a little over-the-top with some features.
The real killers of the curtains were the rolling stock ads. I remember the first one we got was a recruitment ad for the Army, and it was to be played after the preview reel. The audiences were incensed. "We didn't pay to watch TELEVISION!" I didn't blame them in the slightest, as it was a breaking of a trust in a time when ads on TV were getting worse. More ads came, and the ad reel got moved to the front of the previews, but were still universally hated. That was about the time the curtains began to remain open all the time. Any attempt at showmanship was dead and gone, killed by bean counters and attempts to increase income that the film companies couldn't touch.
When I saw my first General Cinema shadowbox "screen" I was horrified. Naked, jutting out from the wall, absolutely no way to properly show BOTH widescreen and scope, let alone Academy, those things were just nasty. FWIW, GCC never followed proper conventions for displaying one-sheets either. Posters had to be folded or improvised matting used.
We had the shadowbox screens at the GCC theatre I started at. Cinema I, the bigger of the two theatres had 958 seats In 1980 they split it in two. They put widescreen screens with electric movable maskings with the top coming down for Scope! The Scope picture was much smaller than the wide screen. They didn't rearrange the chairs in the front, so they didn't face the screen very well. It closed in 1983. It was a sad end to a theatre that was the town's premier theatre twenty years before.
We had the shadowbox screens at the GCC theatre I started at. Cinema I, the bigger of the two theatres had 958 seats In 1980 they split it in two. They put widescreen screens with electric movable maskings with the top coming down for Scope! The Scope picture was much smaller than the wide screen. They didn't rearrange the chairs in the front, so they didn't face the screen very well. It closed in 1983. It was a sad end to a theatre that was the town's premier theatre twenty years before.
Yeah, that is consistent. Any way to save pennies on the physical plant, while the senior managers were preening. I think a lot of senior management thought it could get away with anything. There is no excuse for not reworking the seats. I forget what the parts used were called, but they were cheap and a seating crew rarely took more than a night to do three or four auditoriums.
Oh man, you just reminded me that big Al was out of that area. He and his wife, another relative and an employee or two used to do seats and screen hanging and cleaning. If you ever went to Showest, he was the huge guy walking around in the full bleached buckskin Indian regalia. Really nice guy, but a bit overpowering (think Brian Blessed) and had a penchant for the harmonica.
Some of the auditorium splits around the country were pretty wild, and it wasn't just GCC. I think it was Miami Lakes where one of the iterations had the projectionist having to walk through one of the auditoriums and up some sort of steep stairway or ladder (that never should have passed fire code) to get to one of the far booths.
There's a lot to be said about seeing a movie in a crowded theatre. I had seen "Casablanca" many times on TV and enjoyed the movie very much. A theatre in town ran it a few years back with a brand new film print. The theatre was packed, and the audience and I really got into the picture. Even though everyone had probably seen it before, the laughs, cheers, and tears were genuine.
All the memories in this thread--priceless! We've also given up going to the theater for all the reasons stated in this thread, but we do miss the communal experience. One of the best cinema moments for us was at a revival theater in Hollywood some 20 years ago. They were showing Lawrence of Arabia, and the theater was packed. To watch that perfect movie up big in the company of like-minded enthusiasts was simply wonderful!
All the memories in this thread--priceless! We've also given up going to the theater for all the reasons stated in this thread, but we do miss the communal experience. One of the best cinema moments for us was at a revival theater in Hollywood some 20 years ago. They were showing Lawrence of Arabia, and the theater was packed. To watch that perfect movie up big in the company of like-minded enthusiasts was simply wonderful!
I agree. It didn't matter what type of film was playing, if there was a crowd in that auditorium, the movie was more enjoyable. I was sitting in the balcony of a sold out 1200 seat theatre when I saw "Jaws" the first time. The gasps that sounded when that shark finally jumped out of the water were quite loud.
Back in 1974, I ran "That's Entertainment" in a theatre I was managing. It was made to celebrate MGM's 50th anniversary. It did very well. The customers loved it. That was 50 years ago! If MGM is still in business, it is their 100th anniversary this year! I have a feeling there won't be enough memorable scenes from their films of the last 50 years to even make a short subject.
I showed "Jaws" in a theatre. Comment to my D.M. at the time?
"We're going to need a bigger theatre."
I remember single screen palaces in Canada where guys had to wear a sports jacket and tie to be allowed in.
I, also saw Jaws in the theater and when Jaws came out of the water it felt like it was coming through the screen ! I went running out of the theater ! Then waited by the door for a while before I went back in.
I, also saw Jaws in the theater and when Jaws came out of the water it felt like it was coming through the screen ! I went running out of the theater ! Then waited by the door for a while before I went back in.
I gasped when Richard Dreyfuss was underwater, checking out the hole in the boat that sunk. It had a shark tooth imbedded on the hole. As he worked to get the tooth loose, a human head floated out!
Yes I have fond memories of youth we had one of the old single theaters which sometime in late 70s early 80s was split in half to create two but after that seemed to only get lower distribution priority as the mall multiplex took majority based on their affiliations whether General Cinema or Regal.
First movie I remember seeing by myself was a Saturday showing of Disney's King of The Grizzlies. Recall seeing other Disney movies (re released), and The Lincoln Conspiracy. Star Wars was at the Mall complex. Once the multi theater at the mall was upgraded most people went there. Recall seeing Lost Horizon 1973 version at mall theater as well as most releases of Disney movies and Star Wars.
The old strip center that had the one large Theater near one end and complement of small businesses everyone frequented, and often on the night to see a show. Excellent old style delicatessen, (the owner was a kindly patrician man who always had treats for kids to select from, single proprietor Pizza place, ice cream parlor (I am too young to remember soda fountain as it had already been removed) - and an arcade through which you attained access to the bowling alley and large parking lot behind complex.
Recall the ushers keeping order and having to chase me and friend during one particularly boring show where we had more pleasure watching the 'couples' make out LOL. We started tossing milk duds around which prompted our game of hide and seek amongst the many rows from the usher. The other thing i distinctly remember was the long incline of the theater and countless rows. By high school other classmates figured out how to buy a few tickets but then time/prop the exit doors to let others in.
Movies I recall as child were the Kurt Russell Disney movies: Now You See Him Now You Don't, Strongest Man in the world, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes etc.. The World's Greatest Athlete Jan Michael Vincent and Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica. The Sci -fi movies were perfect for the big screen and the surround sound.
In the 90s when I lived in another location the movies were a nice treat when i was not traveling for my work and I would get the AAA partner discount tickets. The old style single theaters were still around in a few locations and often sold discount tickets for second release and old classics. It was fun way to relax as I recall having the theaters mostly to myself. By late 90s the movies in the mega-multiplexes already started having issues based on clientele who felt the need to "interact" with movie and treat the screening as a reason to have a running commentary. The last movie I saw in theater was 2001.
The first movie I saw in a theatre was "Bambi" in 1957 or so, when I was four. It was playing at an old theatre that closed soon after. My aunt and I rode on the bus (another first for me) to the theatre. When Bambi's mother was killed, I started crying, and my aunt took me to the lobby until I stopped. That theatre stood vacant for more than twenty years before it was finally torn down, but it is still remembered fondly by this 71 year old man.
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