Roadshow Memories

[CineSight]

Who remembers what it was like to see a movie presented in a roadshow engagement? What was the movie, where was it? What was your impression? How did the experience compare to what you find in cinemas now?

[Brighton Bourne]

As a teenager in the 1970s, I attended many roadshow presentations and, during my gap year, I worked at a cinema that was generally used exclusively for roadshows, so maybe I can give you some idea what is was like.

The first roadshow engagement I attended must have been Lawrence of Arabia in 1962 but my recollections are hazy this far back so I will go to 1966 when I had a part-time job as an usher at a London cinema that road showed The Sound of Music for over four years (The Dominion, Tottenham Court Road). I shall take you on a tour, starting outside the cinema, which was adorned with huge billboards advertising the film. I do not know the correct terminology but the billboards etc were nothing like you see today. For starters, the normal film poster was blown up to about 120ft x 60ft and mounted just above the readograph. In the same lettering that appeared on the poster, “The Sound of Music” was spelt using custom-made lettering (each letter about 4ft) that were illuminated from the inside. There was no doubt which film was playing at the cinema!

There were two separate performances daily (except Sundays) with doors open at 2.00pm for the matinee that started at 2.30pm, and doors open at 7.00pm for the evening performance that started at 7.30pm although the theatre’s bar was open from 6.30pm. All seats were bookable in advance and the box office was open from 11.00am until the evening performance. Seats were numbered for all performances. The box office was busy throughout the day and I remember that there was an information board telling people which performances were sold out – quite a few. IIRC there were just under 1,700 seats in the theatre. There was an upper circle but as the sightlines from here were restricted this was closed and boarded off discretely.

The duty manager drilled all staff before every show, making sure our appearance was pristine and we knew our duties! We were given about 50 souvenir programmes each, a small float, and told to make sure we offered the programmes for purchase to every patron we seated. Souvenir programmes were also sold in the stalls and circle foyers, along with soundtracks of the film and sales were excellent. Each patron had to be escorted to his or her numbered seats, and we were all given a section of the auditorium to handle. There were two sets of curtains, the heavy outer curtains drawn at the start of the performance and at the end of the film, the lighter inner curtains drawn when the picture was displayed only. Generally, nobody was admitted after the overture started and we had to close all doors as the house lights were dimmed so the screen was well lit up. It always gave me goose pimples when the main film started, presented on a huge 90ft screen in full glorious 70mm and 4-track stereophonic sound. Unlike today, it was not necessary to make any announcements for people to remain quiet or avoid using cameras etc. The audience always behaved, and many people wore suits or even evening dress. Two rows of seats in the front circle (called the Royal Circle) were kept empty – these were house seats and available for guests and a reserve in case there was a mix up with seat numbers (which happened quite often). The duty manager held on to tickets for these seats and would only issue them a few minutes before the overture started.

There was always a 15-minute intermission in the film at which ice cream sales took place. We had to be ready with our trays and move into positions the minute the curtains closed. We were told that as soon as the entr’acte started (music before the second part of the film), we must get out of the auditorium! Patrons also used the bar in the intermission and they could place orders for their drinks beforehand so they were ready at the intermission. Cinema staff also checked all toilets before the intermission, not only to make sure they were spotless but also to fill hand-washing basins with hot water!

It was strange that when the film ended most patrons stayed seated whilst the credits played – there was no rush to get out. The house lights did not come on until the very end of the credits and then we were told to flog more souvenir programmes to patrons as they left. The finale played as soon as the house lights came up and patrons left in an orderly manner. When most patrons had left the projectionist turned on the cleaners lights and we had to go round and pick up litter before the evening show or to make the cleaners’ job in the morning easier.

How did it compare with today? For starters, the audience was always well behaved. Talking patrons were very rare and I can only recall one person having to be ejected over a 2-year period. The atmosphere was more like that of live theatre. Ushering staff were professional – they knew how to direct patrons to their seats using torches, which they never shone in people’s faces. Any ushers caught talking unnecessarily in the auditorium were instantly dismissed. There were always two projectionists on duty, one of whom made regular visits to all parts of the auditorium during the film to check the quality of the picture and that sound levels were perfect. We often had unannounced visits from technicians at 20th Century Fox who made sure standards of presentation were high. On top of this house technicians were always checking the temperature in the auditorium, making adjustments as necessary.

As the cinema was a West End showcase, and admission prices were higher than normal, there was a spare 70mm print that was run silently in conjunction with the main print, so in the event of any technical breakdown there could swap projectors in seconds and minimise any inconvenience. The managers were everywhere – at peak performances we had a front-of-house manager, a box office manager, a duty manager patrolling the stalls and another patrolling the circle, all reporting direct to the general manager who greeted patrons as they arrived. Uniformed doormen were stationed at the doors, opening them for patrons as they arrived.

[CineSight]

Bravo! Encore! ...And at some point the director, Robert Wise, came to visit. Years later. he told how the projectionist, wearing white gloves, showed Mr. Wise that the Dominion had been playing the same print for four years, and it was still in pristine condition, because of the great care the British staff took in handling it. Then after four years, SOUND OF MUSIC moved, to continue its roadshow engagement in another cinema, and the Dominion closed, to be renovated for the World Premiere of the next Robert Wise Musical Roadshow... Back to you: Have you any details about a particular regular patron who always took the same seat, figuratively, then literally? Love hearing the details, and am particularly interested in hearing more about this theatre. Have you any photos, by any chance?

PS: SOUND OF MUSIC never had an overture. Did the Dominion play something recorded from the stage show before the film??

[Brighton Bourne]

PS: SOUND OF MUSIC never had an overture. Did the Dominion play something recorded from the stage show before the film??

I've checked the soundtrack and you are correct there was no overture, but the projectionist did play something, albeit rather short, that certainly sounded like an overture (the same music that was used in the opening scenes with the aerial shots of the Austrian landscape, or was it the music that they used in the Abbey scenes before/after the nuns prayed?) before the main feature started with the screen lit up and the house lights dimmed. It was, however, over 40 years ago and sadly I cannot remember the finer details. Will ask around to see to anyone else can remember.

After showing for 4 continous years, despite good box office takings and regular full houses at weekends, 20th Century Fox pulled the Sound of Music from the Dominion to make way for the Julie Andrews' film about Gerturde Lawrence - Star! Despite high expectations, The Sound of Music still pulled in more patrons at performances after four years than Star! could in its first few weeks.

The Dominion Theatre still exists today with its foyers and auditorium almost intact. However, it is now used for live shows and I think it must have been over 20 years since films have been shown there.

[CineSight]

Does anyone remember any experiences with roadshow engagements of FUNNY GIRL? Since it seemed to be competing with STAR! (side by side at the same new twin theatre in the nearest big city) I didn't even consider asking to see it until after STAR! was gone. By the time FUNNY GIRL made it to our local theatre, the overture had been shortened to just a fanfare and a couple scenes were missing.

[MillieDil]

An older cousin of mine took me to see the roadshow of FUNNY GIRL and I have only the fondest memories of the experience and of the film itself. It was, of course, projected on an enormous screen (some 60 feet wide) in a large auditorium that had been recently built and featured state-of-the-art sound and projection capabilities. However, I do not recall if the seats had been reserved (I do recall that they were for other roadshow experiences I had with films like THE CARDINAL, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, and THE SAND PEBBLES). I did purchase a souvenir programme which is now lost somewhere.

As far as FUNNY GIRL is concerned ... although only 14 at the time, to this day I distinctly recall a scene in Fanny's dressing room right before the big bridal number where she is panicked and gets the idea to put the pillow under her wedding gown. Since then, in all vhs and dvd releases, as well as showings on network television, this scene has entirely disappeared, so that the viewing audience sees "the pregnancy reveal" at the same time the people in the story see it. I even went to a special big-screen revival of it about 4 years ago and thought--at last, I am going to see that scene again to prove to friends who think I made it up somehow--and ... it was missing again. Does anybody else recall a print with this scene in it?

This does bring up a point that may be worth discussing. In a number of instances, I have seen the same film in separate venues at different times and the prints differ. This is possibly the result of intentional cutting (shall we not discuss the debacles involving the 1954 A STAR IS BORN or STAR!), but sometimes it is a print error or the result of careless maintenance of film reels as they were managed at a theatre before being returned to the studio. I have seen at least three versions of HAWAII that differ not only in running time (notoriously--after its initial roadshow some 30 minutes was cut to provide more frequent showings per day) but in a more subtle although tangible way: there are a few sequences in which the Hawaiians speak to each other in their native language whilst sub-titles appear at the bottom of the print. I have see English translations of the Hawaiian differ in spellings from one print to another! Again, it is subtle but bewildering, since one would have assumed a master print was preserved from which all subsequent prints were struck. Perhaps, perhaps not.

I lament the passing of such big-screen spectaculars being showcased in such perfect settings, and I also lament what another poster has so correctly mentioned--that too many people seem no longer aware of proper or respectful behavior in public. I guess I expect young kids to misbehave, and I can deal with that, but I am always shocked and perturbed when I look around to find it's a middle-aged couple with their feet up on the seats, chattering loudly to each other with no sense of propriety or care for their neighbors who paid, after all, to see the film and not to listen to their issues during it.

In addition to the filmsI cited above, I recall seeing the following in their original roadshow engagements: MY FAIR LADY, THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD, FINIAN'S RAINBOW, OLIVER!, HELLO, DOLLY!, THE GREAT RACE, and re-issues of GONE WITH THE WIND, WEST SIDE STORY, and BEN-HUR, and cinerama productions of HOW THE WEST WAS WON and 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. I also recall my parents seeing CLEOPATRA, BECKET, MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY, DOCTOR ZHIVAGO, and THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE without us in tow (the subject matter had been considered either too adult or not of interest to us). I also recall having zero interest in seeing DOCTOR DOLITTLE so, like most of the planet, we did not go to see it.

Finally, I did, of course, see MARY POPPINS upon its original release but I do not recall it ever having an intermission. Can anyone else confirm that? Also, although initially intended as roadshow engagements, both DARLING LILI and ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER were not released with intermissions. i saw both of them as soon as they were released in the summer of 1970 but I think it was a general release pattern and not a roadshow per se. And both were gone from the cinemas within a few short weeks.

Thanks and best to all,

Milliedil.

[CineSight]

Hey, MillieDil, we'd love to read your specific experiences with each of those movies you mentioned.

I know that an intermission was considered for MARY POPPINS just after "Stay Awake." I think I've seen the title card somewhere, but no it wasn't released as a roadshow. It was sort of booked like one, though. In my area it ran for months before being ousted by SOUND OF MUSIC.

I remember cuts to FUNNY GIRL's overture, and have heard there are various cuts to the Swan Lake sequence, but I've never been aware enough to remember specific scenes being cut.

By the time DARLING LILI and ON A CLEAR DAY were released, Paramount had lost a fortune on the roadshow of PAINT YOUR WAGON, so those subsequent musicals were released as regular features. Streisand fans have spoken for years about a huge number or fantasy sequence being cut from CLEAR DAY, along with a song sung by Jack Nicholson (who may have had evidence of it burned!) Ironically, DARLING LILI was cut severely, years after the initial release - by the director! The fans don't like his cut because he removed some of the star's best moments.

So, could you tell us anything about FINIAN'S RAINBOW, and what roadshow movies you'd like to see featured next? We're always looking for pictures of the theatres playing roadshows.

PS: does anyone know either of the "not the only movie" references in the Funny Girl article?