Posted by Jed @ 08/12/2002 10:17 AM PST

But I DO know from being the
first unseemly poster. Huzzah!

Posted by Jed @ 08/12/2002 10:18 AM PST

I'm only but 25 years old, so
I'm afraid I don't know from
such "road shows."

Posted by Jason @ 08/12/2002 10:25 AM PST

Jed...how would you feel if we started our own topic? Wouldn't that be scandalous? What should it be? Instead of "Road Shows," perhaps we could discuss Side Show. Or Side Show Bob. Or Bob Newhart. Or Mary Hart, for that matter...

Posted by Jason @ 08/12/2002 10:29 AM PST

Probably my most favorite, not because of any inherent quality (though I think it's been underrated), but more because I was at a very impressionable young age, was "Sweet Charity." I can still remember the thrill of the great brass "Big Spender" vamp, then the choral "ba-ba"'s over the Universal logo in splendiferous stereo. I'm hoping the coming DVD release will include the alternate European-release "happy" ending, which I've never seen.

Posted by JMK @ 08/12/2002 10:31 AM PST

My hometown was not a huge city, but it was a city and we had roadshow presentations.

Oddly, "Lawrence of Arabia" did NOT play as a roadshow presentation. but "Mutiny on the Bounty" did. I loved both films.

"Cleopatra" was a road show. But did we get the "roadshow version"? No, we did not. We got the version that had already been trimmed, possibly several times.

"The Sound of Music" played as a road show -- reserved seats, etc. It played in my hometown for more than three months -- I saw it several times, including the first night. That first night, I dressed in my Sunday best, I did. I had a perfectly great seat dead center halfway up the central section of seating. I had great sound and picture quality and I was enthralled.

"Doctor Zhivago" played as a road show, too.

Others included "Funny Girl," "Camelot" and "Gone With the Wind" (on its umpty-squath re-release, but this time in "widescreen" and processed "stereophonic" effect -- a really AWFUL thing they did to the film to bring in audiences).

These presentations were wonderful, though. And even though "Lawrence of Arabia" played "at popular prices," it did not stop the theater from dimming the lights to half-brightness and playing the entire "Overture" prior to the film's starting.

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/12/2002 10:32 AM PST

My road show experiences are rather limited, not due to age but due to having to go into "the city" to see a roadshow attraction. Getting from the suburb to the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis took lots of work (choosing a date (on the calendar, not with a person) calling up and reserving the ticket, etc.) especially if I ended up taking the bus. I did get to see West Side Story. I wanted to be a Jet when I grew up. I also had a MAD crush on Elliot Feld as Baby John. I see him now in Chelsea as he goes about the business of running his dance company and think what a gem of a movie that was/is. I also saw The Sound of Music (although I didn't want to grow up to be Julie Andrews) and loved it. Those are my road show experiences.

Posted by Ben @ 08/12/2002 10:47 AM PST

Did they ever do a road show of "Mary Poppins?" That's the only movie I remember seeing as a child...and I think the only reason I remember that is because a.) I wanted my umbrella to make me fly and b.) a tornado hit Louisville that night and we had to leave the theatre mid-show. This was, of course, a re-release of the film, seeing how I wasn't even a sprig of a twig of a lad...or a sprig of a twig of a spermazoa...in 1967 or whatever. But I remember seeing it again in London in '81 or '82. I still love that movie.

Posted by Jason @ 08/12/2002 10:50 AM PST

I remember roadshows. I loved THIS IS CINERAMA when it first came out in the fifties and remember that when it was reissued in the seventies it was in a normal one-screen wide screen and it lost its effect. I also really enjoyed the roadshow of AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, but it does not hold up. But my favorite roadshow was the Russian 8 hour WAR AND PEACE shown in two parts over two nights. I thought I would be totally bored but (not unlike NICHOLAS NICKLEBY on stage) I have seen two hour films that seemed like eight hours whereas this was eight hours that seemed like two.

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 08/12/2002 10:50 AM PST

I distinctly remember driving from our little town of Cheshire CT and into wild and wooly New Haven to see The Sound of Music and later Doctor Dolittle in their complete-including-intermission glory. I still have a very soft spot for both those films.

Posted by Philip Crosby @ 08/12/2002 11:02 AM PST

The Sound of Music played about four years in its Road Show Engagement at the Seville Theater in Montreal. Saw it three about three times. Also Saw Oliver!, Funny Girl, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Man of La Mancha and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Never saw a film in Cinerama process althoug I remember asking my parents many times to take me.

Was the single camera cinerama true cinerama or just a 70mm film?

Posted by Michael Shayne @ 08/12/2002 11:38 AM PST

Whether a film was roadshow or not, many films had Souvenir Programs which were sold in the lobby of the theaters. I have a nice collection of these programs -- many through eBay auctions -- and wonder if anyone else has a similar collection.

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/12/2002 12:05 PM PST

Cinerama was originally three projectors and a 180 degree screen. After about ten films someone apparently bought the name and applied it to a one projector process. It was then similar to Todd AO and other widescreen processes and was no longer as special.

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 08/12/2002 12:15 PM PST

I’ve been very busy the last week, what with a 17-year-old visitor from Germany coming to stay with my wife and me for two weeks, finishing up our belated tax returns and holding auditions for a new Gershwin revue which I will be directing in Queens this November. Sad to say, only one person even noticed my absence (thanks Ron). But, sorry – I’M BACK!

Rather than pad the day out with lots of little response, here in one swell foop are my answers to the various topics of the day I missed:

August 8 – My favorite Barry Manilow song is “A Linda Song,” one of his most obscure. It’s never included on his “best of” compilations and can only be found on the Even Now album. I have always been moved by the sentiments in that lyric.

August 9 – Worst movies? Well some of the worst movies are still a lot of fun to laugh at/with (i.e., At Long Last Love, Ishtar, Lost Horizon-the Musical), but others are just boring or painful to watch. When Heaven’s Gate opened in New York to a scathing review by Vincent Canby, I rushed to the theatre to make sure I saw the film before it was withdrawn. Cimino’s film was so expensive and had such a good cast that there was simply no excuse for it to be so mind-numbingly confusing. Richard Masur’s lengthy scene with Kristofferson included a lot of exposition that was probably necessary for the audience to hear (coming right after the ludicrous Harvard/Oxford opening sequence), but the train sound effects were so loud that we couldn’t hear a line of dialogue. Whatever may have been fixed in subsequent releases and videos, the original New York print was BAD. Many of the other really bad films (lots of sequels) were already mentioned, so I won’t.

August 10 – CDs and DVDs. I’m still on my copying kick, so most of my CDs are actually old lps. In the past week I listened to Man With A Load of Mischief (terrific score), The Student Prince (the 1952 and 1963 Columbia studio versions), Carol Channing in Show Girl and her live on tour album, Brigadoon (Cassidy and Jones), the London cast of Godspell (Jeremy Irons, David Essex and Marti Webb), and Dom DeLuise in Half-Past Wednesday. As far as DVDs go, I haven’t watched anything in the past few weeks since TFNM and Slipper and the Rose. I tried to rent two at Blockbuster today, but their two-day/five-day policy is so confusing I ended up putting the films back until they are no longer “new.” Still have a number of new DVDs I purchase more than a month ago, but I haven’t watched them yet -- they’re all of classic movies which I’ve already seen, so I have to wait until the mood strikes me to see them again.

August 11 – Free for all. Sorry, I missed my chance.

August 12 – Oh, that’s today! Well, I still remember how astonished I was to pay $4 to see Funny Girl at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. But it was worth it, I guess. I certainly remember seeing The Sound of Music (a gift for my 13th birthday). I saw the road show versions of Sweet Charity, Finian’s Rainbow, Doctor Dolittle and most of the other big musicals of the late 60s. The Cinerama Dome offered the original three-camera versions of The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm and How The West Was Won. It really wasn’t a “road show” version, but I saw At Long Last Love the week it opened and the very next week it was playing on the second half of the bill at a regular price theatre (with quite a few cuts). As bad as that film is, I really enjoyed what Bogdanovich was trying to do and I’m glad I have the soundtrack album (which will NEVER see a reissue on CD unless some madman licenses it from RCA).

And Ron, yes, I have quite a collection of original movie program books I bought when they were new – Funny Girl, 1776, Star!, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Fiddler on the Roof, Sweet Charity, Finian’s Rainbow and MANY more. My Fair Lady actually had a hard bound program book. What a shame that movie distribution has so little class today – and we’re paying $10 a ticket!

Posted by Robert Armin @ 08/12/2002 12:45 PM PST

Sorry to add one more but I just heard that Peter Matz died. A great arranger wh will be missed.

Posted by Robert Armin @ 08/12/2002 12:53 PM PST

Sorry to add one more but I just heard that Peter Matz died. A great arranger who will be missed.

Posted by Robert Armin @ 08/12/2002 12:53 PM PST

Oh, great! I added TWO (now three more)!

Posted by Robert Armin @ 08/12/2002 12:53 PM PST

Robert Armin: Acutally, no three camera Cinerama presentation ever played the Dome. It was always a one-projector system there. West and Grimm both premiered at the Warner Cinerama on Hollywood Blvd. (later the Pacific's) - I saw them both multiple times. The Dome has JUST installed the three projector system for the first time, and will be showing authentic three projector Cinerama starting in October. The only problem is, that the way the Dome is built, the screen is not as high as it should be, so it won't exactly be true Cinerama.

As to our younger Dear Readers, I knew some of you hadn't experienced road shows, and I thought it would be fun for you to read about.

Posted by bk @ 08/12/2002 12:55 PM PST

bk - I stand (actually sit) corrected. Your memory of theatre names far exceeds mine. I knew there was a reason I didn't like the Dome that much.

Posted by Robert Armin @ 08/12/2002 12:58 PM PST

Other movie programs in hard cover books were for SOUTH PACIFIC (the color in the book was as bad as the color on the screen) and AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS.

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 08/12/2002 01:09 PM PST

Other hard-cover books include "Spartacus," "The Big Fisherman," "Ben-Hur," "El Cid," "King of Kings", "Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm," :Mutiny on the Bounty" and "How the West Was Won." ("Ben-Hur," "Wonderful World of Brothers Grimm,""King of Kings" and "Mutiny on the Bounty" were included in the deluxe boxed LP editions MGM put out. "Bounty's" was the last boxed set LP issue). The books were also sold in theaters.

The movie program for "Can-Can" was soft cover, but it was HUGE -- it's the only program I cannot file with the rest of my collection.

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/12/2002 01:21 PM PST

the only program I habre from that era is the hardcover editon of Around the world in 80 Ways. And no I did not see it in the original run.

Posted by Michael Shayne @ 08/12/2002 01:46 PM PST

I really AM old enough to remember road shows. There was one weekend in particular that I remember, a road show weekend.

My father did government work, basically as the engineer who communicated between other engineers and test pilots. For some reason, neither engineers nor test pilots could speak the same language, each group having their own dialect, and my father was the only person around who was bi-lingual. (Bi-dialectual? Whatever.) As a result, there were times when he would have to be away for weeks at a time, translating between the two groups.

Much as my father enjoyed his job, he didn't enjoy having to be away for these long periods of time. So he was naturally upset when he found that he would have to be away not just for weeks, but for a few months on this one trip. To make it up to my sister and me, and especially to my mother, he decided to make a big weekend of movies and dining. The two movies we saw were "The Sound of Music" and "Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines," complete with assigned seats! This was a big deal, let me tell you! These movies actually had intermissions, printed programs, the whole kit and kaboodle.

I don't remember what we had for dinner the second night, but the first night, after Julie sang about hills being alive (and that's pretty frightening), we went to a Japanese restaurant somewhere in the Hollywood hills. Not sushi, no one knew what sushi was back then. No, no one could sing "If you knew sushi like I know sushi," not at all. We were instead taken to a private room, where we had to take off our shoes, and sat at very low tables on very solid cushions, and were first served a clear but flavorful broth, and then some veggies tempura style. Finally, a woman in a kimono came in and prepared for us sukiyaki, tableside. It was one of the best meals I had ever had, up to that point. And that was how my father made sure we all knew he loved us.

Of course, I could have done without the stiff legs from sitting at that very low table on those very solid cushions, but that's a quibble. It's also a quibble that "Those Magnificent Men..." has aged terribly as a film. Julie Andrews never ages, which more than makes up for the rest.

Posted by S. Woody White @ 08/12/2002 01:52 PM PST

What the hell did I type!!! It should have said:

The only programme I have from that era is the hardcover edition of Around The World In 80 Days. And no I did not see it in its original engagement.

Posted by Michael Shayne @ 08/12/2002 01:53 PM PST

I just love "Those Magnificent Men....."

You really took me back a few years.

Your Japanese restaurant scenario brought fun images from "A Christmas Story" and that family's Christmas dinner in a Chinese restaurant, complete with the duck's head being hacked off with an axe at the table...and everyone screaming in horror and delight!

And the decidedly NON-PC "fa-ra-ra-ra-ra ra-ra-ra-ra!"

You'll put your eye out! (By the by...the actor who plays the younger brother in the Fox sitcom "Titus" is the all-grown-up redheaded bully from "A Christmas Story.")

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/12/2002 02:02 PM PST

The Japanese restaurant in the Hollywood Hills is Yamamoto, and is still there, nearby to the Magic Castle.

Posted by bk @ 08/12/2002 02:10 PM PST

How very odd.

There's a line in "Those Magnificent Men...." that reads:

"It's Yamamoto!"

Chills run up and down my spine!

Robert: Yes, I missed you something fierce, and nobody would commiserate! [pout].

I don't know if you've noticed, but freedunit is MIA, too, although someone thinks he may be in Vegas. It puts me in mind of that saying, "You can lead a horticulture, but you...."

No, that's not it.

Wait!

Something about the woods? If a tree falls in the woods and nobody is around, does it scream? Or is that "does it make a noise"?

At any rate, if a board member ups and leaves the forum for a few days or longer without so much as a farewell, will anyone notice he or she has gone?

I was never great at analogies, but Robert, you are a great fallen tree...I heard you scream...and I fretted for you.

Now you're back. I keep trying to hear freedunit scream, but I think he's simply having too much fun.

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/12/2002 02:21 PM PST

And I thought Road movies had Hope and Crosby! The road concept is not known to us in Oz.I did see all the cineramas up until The Bros Gimm. Souvenier booklets - I still have the ones for "Tommy" and "Bridge On The River Kwai".

Scary coincidences. I had a phone call last evening from a grade school teacher (not known to me) who wondered if I had a copy of the Four Freshmen's version of "Those Magnificent Men.. " that I could put on Cd for her. Her class wants to learn it for a concert. I do have it.I also have "Those Magnificent Men in Their Jaunty Jallopies" (Durante). I have always had impeccable taste in pop music. I recently had an email from a lurker at this site who wanted the words to "Pepino The Italian Mouse". It is so nice to be wanted (but not all alone in the world).

Welcome back Robert. Where is freedunit?

Posted by Tom from OZ @ 08/12/2002 03:07 PM PST

BK, your wealth of knowledge continues to amaze me. I hope before you die someone manages to download your brain onto a hard drive or 50.

Posted by William F. Orr @ 08/12/2002 03:13 PM PST

For those of you who remember the illegal antics of producer Adela Holzer, there's an interesting story on her at http://theatremania.com/news/tmnews/index.cfm?story=2461&cid=1

Seems she's off to jail again -- for many, many years.

Posted by Robert Armin @ 08/12/2002 03:26 PM PST

Charming woman! At least Leona Helmsley was openly "who" she is.

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/12/2002 04:06 PM PST

I loved those roadshows growing up. Something about the reserved seats and the intermissions made each movie seem a bit more important than some of them really deserved.
Three stand out in particular:
THE SOUND OF MUSIC at the glorious Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, New Jersey;
HAWAII in Norfolk, Virginia;
and STAR! at the Broadway Theatre in San Antonio (I was an Air Force brat so I travelled a lot in those days; happily, my parents were both movie fans and also indulged my huge crush on Julie Andrews).
The sad thing about STAR! is that my mom and I saw it opening weekend and there were, maybe, twenty other people in the theater. So sad.
At that same show palace I also saw road-show engagements of DR. DOLITTLE, HELLO DOLLY! and SWEET CHARITY; the latter was particularly thrilling. To this day I still think it's a pretty wonderful movie.
(Memo to JMK: American Movie Classics has shown the alternate "happy ending" to CHARITY... and it's not bad.)
Happy memories, too, of FUNNY GIRL, OLIVER! and 2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY.
Does anyone have recollections of seeing any of these big roadshow movies in a drive-in or other not-so-appropriate venue?
I first saw CLEOPATRA at the Family Drive In Charleston Indiana, THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE at the Valley Hi Drive In in San Antonio and WEST SIDE STORY in an auditorium in Ankara, Turkey. (While in Turkey I also saw THE SOUND OF MUSIC in a local cinema where they cut out almost all of the scenes with the nuns and hacked out most of the songs. It started with the opening number then cut immediately to Maria knocking on the Von Trapp's door.
Ninety minutes later, it was all over.)
The last time I bought advance tickets for any movie was in the 1980's when BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ first hit these shores. It was in one of the tiny cinemas across from Lincoln Center, spread out in five screenings over five weeks. The first screening was sold out.... by the time we got to the last two hours (week #5) there were, perhaps, a dozen people there.
Not unlike STAR!

Posted by Tim H. @ 08/12/2002 04:08 PM PST

Tim: What a life it must have been. I have fond memories of visits to Turkey -- to Incirlik, Karamursel, and Istanbul (on several occasions). Most of my time was spent in Italy, plus a few precious months in Athens, Greece!!!

How well I know what bewildering things can happen to films in countries not our own! All the Nazi stuff was cut out of "The Sound of Music" for its initial West German engagements. "Funny Girl" was banned in Egypt because it dared to show an Arab man kissing a Jewish woman!

And I was in a play -- "Come Blow Your Horn" -- while stationed in Vicenza, Italy. Someone got the idea that this play would be good "on the road" and the commanding general gave us his plane and two pilots for two weeks (they also served as backstage crew) and we travelled around Italy, Turkey and Greece performing this play for both U.S. forces audiences AND host nation audiences. To say we were funny to them was an understatement -- it was maddening most of the time, but they certainly enjoyed the suggestiveness of some of the scenes in the play, so at least they got something out of it!

Am I drifting, or what??

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/12/2002 04:58 PM PST

I am also too young to remember Road Shows, but it seems to me that the recent re-release of "Funny Girl" was going to take that route... the Road Show route that is. Did that ever happen? It's a sad era that is no longer with us. Along with the Road Shows dissapearing, the theatres that use to house them are getting extinct, also. Which is even more sad. Let's take a moment, shall we?

Posted by Matthew @ 08/12/2002 05:10 PM PST

Is anyone getting a little fahrklempt? Or is it just me?

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/12/2002 05:40 PM PST

I love all these stories, as I knew I would. I think the world isn't as much fun as it used to be and I think it's important to remind ourselves every once in a while how special it was, movie-wise.

Posted by bk @ 08/12/2002 06:32 PM PST

Ah, Bruce, the memories you stir!

Thanksgiving treat for me and five cousins: MARY POPPINS at the Nixon Theater in beautiful downtown Pittsburgh. Living 20 miles out of town, we had to schlepp onto a bus, then onto a STREETCAR(!), had lunch at a Woolworth's counter (!), and had assigned seats for the movie.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC also at the Nixon Theater, and, the first time I became aware of the power of film. Of course, we were seated in the tippy-top row of the balcony, and those helicopter shots, and that twirl, and that music, and those children, and those nuns and nazis! That was the first of my initial eleven theatrical viewings of SOM.
Even though I was too young for the Road Show of HOW THE WEST WAS WON, my nice parents brought me home the hardbound souvenir book. I did later catch up with WT3xW on a Cinerama screen, and at a tender age the raging rapids made me want to toss my popcorn!
Had advance tickets for the premiere of FUNNY GIRL at the Fulton Theater, and the usherettes were dressed as Ziegfeld Girls, the ushers in tails, tons of yellow roses adorning the lobby. It was also on a school night, and even though my father abhors Barbra (even then he abhorred her), he came along for the movie, and liked it! I know that it was waaaaay after midnight when we got home, pretty nifty for a sixth or seventh grader!
I too, have a massive collection of movie souvenir books, and I think that the last one that I purchased at a theater was at the Warner Theater (now, The Benedum Center) for THE GODFATHER, PART TWO.

Posted by td @ 08/12/2002 06:37 PM PST

To Matthew:
The re-release of FUNNY GIRL played one theatre in New York, the Ziegfeld. It was not a roadshow or reserved seat engagement and did no business. The prime 9:00 showing on the first Saturday night attracted less than 50 people in a very large theatre with the best picture and sound in NYC. It's a shame as this movie shows how talented Mrs. Brolin used to be before she became the joke she is today. By the way, Cablevision who owns the Ziegfeld is selling it. I assume AMC or Lowes will buy it and cut it up into 12 tiny theatres instead of one big one.

Posted by William E. Lurie @ 08/12/2002 06:58 PM PST

Ron:
You may be drifting but your story is quite charming. The first time I saw COME BLOW YOUR HORN was in a production at Lackland Air Force Base .. courtesy of, who else?, the Lackland Little Theater Players.
The little theater group at the Turkish American Association in Ankara was where I saw my first productions of GUYS AND DOLLS and THE MARRIAGE GO ROUND.
Now I'm starting to drift; this has nothing to do with roadshows....
I remember a few more from the foggy faraway days of my youth.... there was this wonderful theater in Louisville , KY where I saw MARY POPPINS and HOW THE WEST WAS WON. Also saw THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN there, but I don't recall if that was a roadshow engagement or not. Still, the movie (as viewed at that tender age) was really quite something.

Posted by Tim H. @ 08/12/2002 07:59 PM PST

Tim H.: Would that wonderful theater in Louisville, Kentucky have been the Palace Theater downtown? That's where I saw Cats! (I'm originally from Louisville, should you have forgotten.) :-) Small world, ain't it?

Posted by Jason @ 08/12/2002 08:12 PM PST

Ron -- something else we have in common. Come Blow Your Horn was my first professional acting job (after my "debut" in Gone With The Wind). My brother was played by an actor in the original company of Oh, Calcutta! (William Knight) and my father by a terrific actor named Leo Tepp. God, I was SOOOO young.

Posted by Robert Armin @ 08/12/2002 08:15 PM PST

True roadhsows? I think "Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" at the Kachina theatre (in downtown Scottsdale--the theatre, which had a three panel Cinerama screen. is no longer there) was a roadshow. "Sound Of Music" at the Vista theatre (in downtown Phoenix-- this theatre is also gone). My family went a few times to this over the tow years or so it played that theatre. I don't know if "My Fair Lady" was a roadshow or not, but it certainly felt like it with all the advance press and the overture playing while the lights played over the curtain. Saw that at the Palms theatre (alos torn down). I got tickets for Christmas to see the roadshow of the rerelease of "Gone With the Wind" in 1968 at the Bethany West theatre (alos torn down). These were very special events, and as kid felt very lucky to go to these things. I think "How the West Was Won" was also a roadhshow. saw that at the Kachina too.

Posted by Kerry @ 08/12/2002 08:42 PM PST

Ahh, reveries...browsing through time and re-looking at our mental photographs....

I assure you, Robert...our production of "Come Blow Your Horn" was a FAR cry from the one you experienced!! :)

We did have fun, though! And it provided me with my first trip (in this lifetime) to Athens!

: )

Anybody wanna go THERE? (And don't anyone dare call me Shirley).

Hey! When did Streisand become a joke? How did I miss that? I've always believe her to be the consummate voice of her generation and a gifted entertainer. I'm sad she isn't as busy as she used to be...what's going on that people find her funny now?

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/12/2002 09:12 PM PST

The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm: Saw it in Denver and bought the hardbound souvenir book just so I could forever look at my cute Russ Tamblyn dancing with Yvette Mimieux.

Funny Girl: The first act finally on the tugboat blew me away and still does.

Hello, Dolly!: My mother said, "Oh, now I finally understand it." We had previously seen the road company with Ginger Rogers in Dallas, and the acoustics were so bad my Dad complained to the manager, and we had our seats changed, but even that didn't help.

Gypsy: In high school in Denver. Told my parents I was taking my date to Jumbo, because my mother thought a movie about a stripper was not appropriate for me to be taking a girl to.

2001, saw it on a visit to NYC from Madison. The friend I was visiting in Ft. Lee told me there was this science fiction movie that had just opened he wanted to see. As a diehard fan of real (i.e. written) science fiction, I scorned "sci-fi" movies. The posters of men on the moon in the subways did not impress me. The film, however, was a religious experience. I was in total awe. I next saw it in Milwaukee, Dallas, San José, and on a ship in the middle of the Atlantic.

Posted by William F. Orr @ 08/12/2002 09:21 PM PST

Was "Thoroughly Modern Millie" a roadhsow? I think it was a regular run here. Although I didn't see them at the time, I know "Dr. Zhivago" was done as a roadshow. Wasn't "West Side Story" presented that way, too? I swear I see the hardback program in used book stores a lot. And wasn't "Hawaii" done that way too? Some of the films presented as roadshows were definitely worth it; others just went for the hype.

Posted by Kerry @ 08/12/2002 09:46 PM PST

Jason:
The Palace sounds right. All I remember is that is was downtown on a street with a few other theatres.
Same theeatre where my dad took my little brother and me to see A HARD DAY'S NIGHT (NOT a roadshow, but quite a memorable afternoon at the movies...). He picked us up at school and brought our Beatles t-shirts for us to change into.
This is really turning into Memory Lane tonight.

Posted by Tim H. @ 08/12/2002 10:01 PM PST

I remember seeing "The Music Man" in Asheville, North Carolina, with my Aunt Belle! I was visiting her and my Uncle George for a week and she took me to see this movie! I was in heaven. Sheer rapture! I didn't know from Broadway musicals or movie musicals except what I'd seen on TV on Sunday afternoons (all the old Alice Faye and Betty Grable musicals).

Not much later, I saw "Gypsy" -- and what an awesome experience THAT was. The overture totally blew me away!.

Of course, that was 1962...and that was the year of "To Kill A Mockingbird"...and it took me weeks after seeing the film several times (and having no allowance left over) to save enough money to buy the soundtrack album for $3.79. My allowance had to do a number of things and I couldn't just blow it all at once. I paid $.75 a week for five weeks toward the layaway of that album. I still have the same monaural LP, although I have many other versions of the score, as well.

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/12/2002 10:32 PM PST

Speaking of "Funny Girl," no one I knew wanted to see it. (I was in the 6th or 7th grade.) So, I went alone. My father drove me to the Palms Theatre on a Saturday, and I watched it alone. My favorite part is still the whole Ziegfeld sequence in "Beautiful Bride" with "Don't Rain on My Parade" second.
The first movie I went to see alone was "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" (my friends considered it too juvenile). I had a ball.

The first time I saw "Cabaret" (also at the Palms) was with my mother. I liked it so much I had to go see it again by myself.
So, some of my first solo cinematic experiences were "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," "Funny Girl" and "Cabaret." And my parents were surprised a few years later when I came out! Go figure!

Posted by Kerry @ 08/12/2002 10:55 PM PST

Jason,
Some people learn to fly through life without an umbrella!

Posted by Kerry @ 08/12/2002 10:56 PM PST

Kerry, and everyone: Road Shows were truly something special. I have no idea when the first ones were done, but you'd think some of those 1950s extravaganzas probably had them -- at least, initially. I know "South Pacific" was a road show presentation for a while, as was "Ben-Hur."

What most folks don't realize who weren't around back then is that films didn't open wide like they do today. They'd open in "key cities", sometimes playing in those cities for months at a time before moving on into the smaller markets. That's how they saw the vast majority of America -- a "smaller" market. All the major revenue was thought to come from the big city runs. Many times, road shows were only done in the big cities. After all, it only meant that you'd have extra paraphernalia on the marquee and in the lobby designed for that film, plus the much-coveted "reserved seat" that you got to pick yourself. that made it seem so much more like "an event."

For those who didn't live in "Metropolis," we got the film "at popular prices," meaning we could see it for less than the folks who got the reserved seats on the dates of their choice.

A lot of times, you'd have great word-of-mouth buildup about those road shows and it would be an event no matter when it opened in America.

Even regular films that weren't road shows always opened first in the major cities. But instead of months, it would open in the wider market in a matter of weeks. Sometimes, the premiere of the film would happen just days before we'd get the film in Greenville, South Carolina. I know that "Goldfinger" opened in New York a mere week before it opened in Greenville. The theater sold out every night for two weeks, but matinees were great.

"West Side Story" certainly was a road show picture, as was "El Cid" and "King of Kings." But only in the larger cities. By the time they'd made it to the smaller cities, they'd be at popular prices. We didn't get "West Side Story" in Greenville until after its Oscar wins, which pretty much guaranteed hot box office. But just imagine, the suits at United Artists were pretty much satisfied with the film's performance well before it ever reached my town.

Today, film's open in 3,000 theaters nationwide. Theaters that serve several communities much, much smaller than my hometown was are taken as seriously, if not moreso, as any theater in a major city.

There's a whole different way of looking at film grosses now...a whole different way of getting box office bucks...and dressing films up in niceties, with overtures and intermissions is not something anyone in Hollywood would ever take seriously again. Heck, even Jack Warner caved back in 1954 and, during the New York run of "A Star is Born" butchered that film right out of contention for major Academy Awards just so theaters could get in extra daily showings. He stole the heart of the film, which was restored by Ronald Haver a number of years ago. That version is on DVD and is one of the great testaments for film preservation.

There were many films that did not deserve "road show" treatment, but nobody knew that while the films were being made. Films were planned to be big -- big stars, big budgets and the treatment had to be big -- it was obligatory. "Hawaii" did not last long in its "road show" engagements. Ditto "Star." When that film finally arrived in my city, it was called "Those Were the Happy Days," only there wasn't anything in evidence that could have been called happy.

The really rare events were the films that were big hits...and had wider "road show" openings. "The Sound of Music" probably has the best track record of any film -- it opened in more cities as a road show -- and lasted longer in the road show mode -- than any film in history. It played in London for four years at the Dominion Theater ("South Pacific" had played that same theater for several years, too). "The Sound of Music" had been in release several months when it finally arrived as a "road show", but that knowledge did not dim the luster of the event for anyone who went to see it. I think I went six times. I know the audience burst into applause at the end of each showing I attended. The next time I saw that happen was when "Star Wars" was filling the theaters some 12 years later.

There were other "road shows" that remain memorable to me -- "Funny Girl," of course (and it was "My Man" in that all black, with only her neck, head and hands visible that got me), "Camelot" (or, how many more musicals can they give to Josh Logan to ruin on screen) saved somewhat by the luminous quality of Redgrave, the sets, the costums and the glorious musical score. Far more appealing to me, at popular prices, were "Finian's Rainbow" and "Goodbye, Mr. Chips."

I don't know when road shows "officially" ended. I remember that "CinemaScope" died in 1966. 20th-Fox just announced that such-and-such would be its last 'Scope film, and that was that. I believe "road shows" continued into the early 70s..."Patton," "Fiddler on the Roof," "Nicholas and Alexandra" and, maybe, "Cabaret"? By then, I was in Europe in the military and would not return until 1977. Road shows were dead then, disco was in, and two fellows named Lucas and Spielberg had stepped up to bat!

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/12/2002 10:59 PM PST

Oh, yes..."The Unsinkable Molly Brown" did not play as a road show. MGM opened it at Radio City Music Hall where it set records that lasted for about two decades (last I heard, that is). It's one of those rare films that opened wide and stuck around...made MGM a small fortune and revitalized Debbie Reynolds' career.

Also, "How the West Was Won" was a road show as a Cinerama film. I always thought it was a tricky thing for MGM because they must have figured the film would play out and then they would place CinemaScope prints out in the smaller markets "at popular prices". ("The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" was doing well as a 'Scope film, but didn't fare well as a Cinerama draw). But HWTW had legs, and they had to send out the 'Scope prints while the film was still showing in Cinerama in cities where that process could be shown -- it became an event among folks in my town to head down to Atlanta and cath HWTW while they were down there!

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/12/2002 11:08 PM PST

Kerry: Without an umbrella, maybe. But there's always Dumbo's Magic Feather.

Posted by William F. Orr @ 08/13/2002 05:06 AM PST

This brohgt back memories......

"Mary Poppins" in my early years.

"Hair" in my teens - went to the opening in Manhattan with a couple of friends. Waited forever on line. The theatre was pretty seedy, especially for a premiere. Sound system sucked (and it was supposedly in Dolby Sound) - seemed pretty tinny while the muzak was playing. Or so we thought. Lights down, movie starts.....hippies in the park.....and then the high C's from the trumpet as "Age of Aquarius" opens - WOW!

And the ticket was only $3 or so.

Posted by Phil @ 08/13/2002 06:21 AM PST

Ohhhhh....Let's go fly a kite
Up to the highest height...
Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring
Up through the atmosphere,
Up where the air is clear!
Oh! Let's go...fly a kite!

Posted by Jason @ 08/13/2002 06:26 AM PST

I imagine there's a few members on this here Unseemly Message Board who remember having "hair" in their teens...but not so much now!

: )

Posted by The Joker @ 08/13/2002 08:56 AM PST

Hey, you don't have to be in your thirties or forties to start losing your hair...just remember that.

Posted by Jason @ 08/13/2002 09:13 AM PST

I'm Batman...and this is my "right hand" man, Robin.

Posted by Batman @ 08/13/2002 09:13 AM PST

Hiya, Batman!

Hiya, Robin!

How's tricks???

Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 08/13/2002 09:27 AM PST

These Trix ain't for kids...Wink, wink, nudge, nudge

Posted by Batman @ 08/13/2002 09:34 AM PST

Well, I see people are still posting on yesterday's column.

No, Jason, you didn't scare me off on Sunday - I was asleep. When it's evening in New York, it's sleepytime in England.

And I'm about to leave work for home now - how much longer have y'all got to work??

Posted by Allan @ 08/13/2002 09:44 AM PST

Allan...good to see you again. I personally have about 4 1/4 hours left to go at work. I'm just about to go on my lunchbreak, and while I'm out I'll stop by the Virgin Megastore in Times Square to pick up a copy of Hairspray, as it is being released today. Yay!!

Is Bruce still in bed, wrapped up in those new sheets with his cleaning lady?

Posted by Jason @ 08/13/2002 09:49 AM PST