In praise of (nearly extinct) big curved-screen 70mm theatres

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by MLutthans, Oct 13, 2010.

  1. Collector Man

    Collector Man Well-Known Member

    THE original Melbourne State Theatre was a credited "in conjuction with others" John Eberson building- as an atmospheric Arabian Dream style theatre. It actually seated 3371. It is a National Trust registered building and cannot be ever pulled down by any developer . If you go to Google listing to search for further information go for it- under "Melbourne State Theatre 160 -162 Flinders Street Melbourne". Disregard the other listing for Melbourne State Theatre (the Melbourne Arts Centre - live theatre-concert hall complex) which is across the city's Yarra River - which is a newer building from around the mid 80's.

    The Melbourne Regent Theatre complex around on Collins Street - still in existence- also has an interesting history. The Regent itself which had a massive central chandelier , seated over 3200 The Regent Theatre up a lot of wide grand stairs at the entrance 'sat directly on top' of the Plaza Theatre (originally meant as a balroom ) which was below ground level . so to speak in the Regent's basement.Two main theatre entrances alongside each other. The Plaza, you descended and descended down stairs 'going into centrally direct under the Regent. The Plaza's screen itself I estimate was 3 levels below street level, It was there down in the Plaza, that one had the full Cinerama experience. The curve from 'straight flat' of the screen I remember reading had a 27 feet depth-curve.
    The Regent-Plaza wurlitzer's console (and operator) could descend or rise between the two theatres and thus service both venues.

    The two theatre complex was closed in 1969, stripped of their fittings and left to ruin for many years. After a very acrimonious public bun fight, the complex was saved, kept intact , fully restored and opened in 1996. Now the Regent is a thriving live theatre for the big musicals and sometimes special film festivals / screenings, The Plaza is now back, used in its original intended guise -for receptions / and as a ballroom. And lo behold if anyone tried to touch it ever again.
     
  2. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff Thread Starter

  3. greelywinger

    greelywinger Osmondia

    Location:
    Dayton, Ohio USA
    Found a flyer from the grand opening.

    [​IMG]

    Darryl
     
  4. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff Thread Starter

    I've been under the impression that the largest non-Imax, indoor movie screen ever installed was at the Indian Hills Cinerama in Omaha, Nebraska, measuring 35x105', with a 146-degree curve. Well, I just spotted this blurb about a theatre in Germany that boasted the largest screen in the world for Cinemiracle, at about 41 x 108', (likely a) 120-degree curve.
    gruga.jpg
    That's the Grugahalle in Essen, Germany, installation completed in 1959. Cool!
     
  5. pescholl

    pescholl Active Member

    Location:
    Texas, USA
    Growing up, we had a twin dome 70 mm theater called Cinedome 70.
    http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/826
    It was built in 1970, when I was 10 years old.

    The first film I saw there was Patton. Many other films included Jaws, Star Wars, Close Encounters, E.T., Raiders of the Lost Arc, and Alien.

    When I went to see Alien, I had no idea what the film was about. I went alone to a matinee and was surrounded by a gaggle of teenage girls. I will never forget that experience.

    Anyways, the theater was demolished and replaced by a car dealer a couple of years ago. I will always have fond memories of it.

    If you go to Google Images and search for Cinedome 70 there are many pictures of it.
     
  6. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff Thread Starter

    Yeah, there was quite a to-do when that place closed down; a very popular theatre. Someplace, I've seen photos of the interior, showing the screen, and it was very impressive, as I recall. Here's a shot taken just a few days before demolition, after the theatre had sat dark for about 10 years:
    Cinedome70UtahLastTour.jpg
    ...and a great blog post with photos here: https://bjaminwood.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/if-i-had-a-million-dollars/

    Clearly, it was based on the Century/Syufy designs that are all over California and Arizona. Similar, but not identical.

    Oddly, Seattle had a non-Century dome theatre, the UA-150, now long-gone. This was my 2nd favorite place to see a movie locally for many, many years:

    UA150CONTACT4SHTV.jpg
     
    yesstiles likes this.
  7. pescholl

    pescholl Active Member

    Location:
    Texas, USA
    Thanks for the article. I remember as a child looking up to the ceiling inside the domes and wondering why they didn't finish covering them. It was just pink insulation within a wooden framework. I thought they must have run out of money and would finish them later.
     
  8. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff Thread Starter

  9. Downsampled

    Downsampled Senior Member

    Well, they are thinking about tearing it down and replacing it with a Dick's Sporting Goods store.
     
  10. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff Thread Starter

    That's a shame. I've been there twice, and it's a very cool place to catch a show, and certainly a dying breed. Please keep us posted!
     
  11. Downsampled

    Downsampled Senior Member

    For what it's worth, there's a petition to save it here. It looks like anyone can sign it! (I just did.)
     
  12. tommy-thewho

    tommy-thewho Senior Member

    Location:
    detroit, mi
    Some great photo's.... Thanks for sharing everyone....
     
  13. Downsampled

    Downsampled Senior Member

    Not to belabor the plight of the Pleasant Hill dome, but there is an interesting article (with a bit of history) updating the situation.
     
  14. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff Thread Starter

    From that article: <<Actually, one way the Dome could have easily been saved if it were eligible for listing under the California Register of Historical Places. But, alas, it would need to be more than 50 years old. Damn, built in 1967, the Dome missed this "historical" marker by four years. >>

    That's actually a major problem for preserving theatres that are "post-Movie-Palace" in age, in other words, and theatre from the Cinerama/D-150/Todd-AO era. They are often architecturally interesting, or culturally important, or historically important, or "old," but the are rarely old ENOUGH. Very frustrating. We tried going the historical landmark route in Seattle back in 1997, but that theatre was "only" 34 years old -- way too new for that approach. Had to look elsewhere. Meanwhile, in Omaha, we got as far as getting the Indian Hills Theatre there declared a LOCAL landmark by city council in the end, but with no over-riding preservation powers. At that time, the theatre was about 41 years old.


    One more tidbit from that article: <<Syufy erected several domed theatres in many western cities from the 1960s through the mid-1980s, and Raney designed all of the Syufy Century theaters through the early 1990s.>>

    Well, sure, that's true insofar as it goes, but it really downplays the fact that there are two Syufy/Raney designs that were unique at the time and remain unique today: The Century 21 in San Jose and the Century 21 (later Century 5, later Cine-Arts) in Pleasant Hill. The San Jose one was the only Syufy/Raney design specially created to accommodate Cinerama, and I'm pretty sure the Pleasant Hill one was the only Dimension-150 theatre that they did. (Oddly, Raney also designed the D-150 for United Artists Theatres in Colorado Springs and in Seattle. There's a book about Raney that features the full-color architectural sketch of Seattle's UA-150 right there on the cover, and I just about wet my pants when the book arrived from Amazon.com, and there was one of my all-time fave theatres right on the cover!) If the gang at the save the theatre crowd wants to point out the theatre's unique character, they should be playing up the fact that there just is no other theatre like it, but instead they make it sound like these places were all over the map, and I'm here to tell you that the other Syufy/Raney domes have relatively little in common with the one in Pleasant Hill. In fact, if some group were to re-install the now-removed D-150 screen, it would be the only such facility in the entire country.

    I hope Pleasant Hill can be preserved. I've been there, and it's a great place to see a show. Nothing else like it in the area, that's for sure, and if they were to reinstall the D-150 screen, it could be a real draw for "big screen" film festivals, etc.

    Matt
     
    kronning likes this.
  15. apileocole

    apileocole Lush Life Gort


    Not that many of the movie palaces of any age in the US have ever seemed safe from demolition. :sigh:
     
  16. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff Thread Starter

    True dat! It's always an uphill climb, but if the building is under 50 years old, it's even tougher.
     
  17. Downsampled

    Downsampled Senior Member

    Well, the Pleasant Hill dome was lost. Next up, the Century Theater (21, 22 and 23) domes in San Jose. Everyone, please sign the petition if you are so inclined:

    https://www.change.org/petitions/save-the-winchester-domes

    Having grown up in the South Bay, I have a lot of really cherished memories from here. Having said that, I think personal nostalgia is not the right approach to save these theaters. They have to be recognized as significant and unique architectural, cultural landmarks. Honestly, once they are gone, will anything like them ever exist again?
     
  18. MLutthans

    MLutthans That's my spaghetti, Chewbacca! Staff Thread Starter

    Very sad. I've been to all of those theatres, and both of the original "Century 21" theatres are/were great. The movie exhibition biz deserves whatever rot comes its way.
     
  19. Downsampled

    Downsampled Senior Member

  20. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    The latest casualty of movie theaters appears to be the ticket counters. Not many theaters I visit in LA have anybody at the ticket booth anymore; the poor popcorn guy has to sell them instead. And they've (mostly) eliminated the ticket-takers, too. I suspect the theater owners are trying as hard as they can to figure out a way to eliminate all humans from their staff, and just make the entire concession stand self-serv, and find a way to track your entrance with RFID credit cards or something.
     
  21. apileocole

    apileocole Lush Life Gort

    ^ Making the theater experience as disposable and impersonal as possible is the most short-sighted and foolish approach a business trading on hosting an in-person experience can take. So you're probably right.
     
    Vidiot and Mark Nelson like this.
  22. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    I have to say, the upscale theaters (Arclight, etc.) do go out of their way to have actual human beings, but you pay a premium for this. I believe they're up to about $20 for a 3D Imax/Liemax screening in LA.
     
  23. dbsea

    dbsea Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    dprokopy likes this.
  24. dprokopy

    dprokopy Senior Member

    Location:
    Near Seattle, WA
    They haven't announced the full line-up yet, but they did post this on Facebook on Thursday:

    In years past, they've shown some genuine three-strip Cinerama films (usually This Is Cinerama and How the West Was Won). Hopefully they'll do the same again this time around.
     
    dbsea likes this.
  25. dbsea

    dbsea Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    mdm08033 and budwhite like this.

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