Singin' In The Rain-On The Big Screen

I took my family to the Orpheum Theater in Memphis to see Singin' In The Rain yesterday.
It's one of my 9 year old son's favorite movies-he loves the part where Gene Kelly dances in the rain, and when Donald O'Conner sings Make 'Em Laugh.

I've probably seen this movie 20 times over the course of my life, and I have to say it was like seeing it for the first time. The Orpheum will seat 2500, and just about every seat was taken. After each song/dance routine, the audience would break out in applause, which I was quite amused by.

The Orpheum is a beautifully restored theater in Downtown Memphis at the corner of Bealle and Main Street. They have some really good shows there. So far I've seen 1964: The Tribute twice, Johnny Mathis (awesome show) Diana Krall, Nora Jones, and am planning on seeing Carole King on the 23rd.

Just thought I'd post this great time my family shared.

 

I was there 3 years ago. Isn't it right next to a trolly stop?
Nice big theater. Coming from Los Angeles, Memphis is a nice and quiet downtown.

 

Unfortunately the 2.35:1 (widescreen) aspect ratio is not available on DVD. Too bad! I bought it on DVD though just to have in my collection.

 

Yes, the Trolley runs right in front of the Orpheum. We actually took the trolley tour, and got to see a lot of the new developments underway downtown. I remember back in the 70's there's no way in hell I would have gone downtown Memphis, but it's really changed for the better.

Was Singin' In The Rain even shot in widescreen ratio? I was thinking it was pre-widescreen...?

 

That's because it was not shot for widescreen. It is presented in its correct aspect ratio.

John K.

 

Thanks John. So did you have vertical black bars on either side of the image in the theater?

 

Correct: shot in basic 1.33:1. CinemaScope's use began the next year, in 1953.

 

Sure hope he did! I've seen some 1.33:1 films on a wide screen, and when projected correctly, the sides will be dark. But this wasn't always so: reissues of many films in 1.33.1 were shown in a wider aspect(God knows why!), but to do this, you lose important information at the top and bottom of the original camera image. I saw several movies in this ridiculous fashion: SHANE, WIZARD OF OZ, GWTW, to name three.

On the other hand, viewing a vintage film in the theater can be helpful. I didn't get to see THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE until around '87 or '88, when it finally resurfaced. It wasn't an anamporhic widescreen film, but had an aspect ratio wider than the standard 1.33:1., more of a 1.85:1, perhaps. So when it was first issued on LD, was surprised that it was in full frame, meaning some left/right info was missing(the next edition did not make this mistake, and the current DVD is also letterboxed).

 

My son and I went through Memphis a couple of years ago on a trip to Michigan. Lots of very bad drivers, but man, there's lot's of very cool historic things to see there! I definitely would like to go to Memphis again someday.

 

Ken,

Please correct me if I'm wrong here. I believe, as you stated, "The Robe" was the first feature released in Cinemascope. But TCF's "How to Marry a Millionaire" was the first film shot using the Cinemascope process and released after "The Robe."

-Steve D.

 

Thanks Steve,

I know were getting off the original topic here, but did they use Deluxe color for these films?
Certainly not 3 strip Technicolor.


-Steve D.

 

Rendezvous. Don't they open up at 5pm?
If its the same place, I told the guy(The waiter) I wanted beef ribs.
He looks down and me and says, nobody eats beef ribs. He Basically ordered pork ribs for me.
They were ok.
BTW, Best ribs I have had are right here in Los Angeles at Mr. Cecils on Pico near the 10 freeway and there other location in the Valley.

 

By "theater" I'm assuming you mean the theater down the street, not your Home Theater.

This was partially answered already, but to add a bit more: at the time SITR was new I would guess there were very few theaters that had a widescreen; most would have been in what is called the "Academy Ratio" of 1.33:1. As widescreen formats became more the norm, I remember having been in theaters where there were moveable sides to the screen that moved in or out to fit the aspect ratio.

All you'd ever want to know about widescreen: http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/index.htm

John K.

 

The stuff memories are made of, keep up the good work Dad

Been to Memphis twice in the last year, spent some time downtown last time around, had breakfast at the venerable Empire diner downtown. Great city.

 

We're only about 90 miles from the city limits of Memphis, and I really need to get up there more often. Memphis has some really interesting places, but it's hard to navigate sometimes. They are not the best at marking streets, and it's easy to get lost.

There's parts of Memphis it's not advisable to travel into, and I'm fearful of getting lost in one of those areas with my children. I think as long as we stay in the downtown area, we are OK...lots of police around.

I'd also love to find a good record store that still carries vinyl up there. I think the well has run dry in Tupelo.

 

But at the time nobody had any idea that Eastman prints would fade after all those years, therefore the cost-savings were justified. Eastman also simplified the processing and printing processes. It wasn't until 1982 when Kodak introduced the LPP print stock that the fading problems got fixed with Eastman prints.

-Aaron

 

A local community theater is showing Casablanca on the big screen in August...we're planning on going. They are putting on Sunday matinees every other week, featuring classic films. I'll keep on going if they keep the schedule fresh.

 

Great! The local college used to do the same, but in recent years they will show some contemporary foreign imports, but not what I want, which is the old classics.

 

Some of these films just look so different, so awesome on the big screen. You can just get lost in them. Anything that you can see on a big screen, as long as it's presented with care, I'd recommend seeing it. It's that much different. I saw "The Hustler" from '62 about 20 years ago on a big screen and I never forgot it. Ditto with most of the Hitchcock stuff. They never look the same on even a really nice video monitor. Maybe it's the size?

Even cartoons: Years ago I went to a multi-weekend animation festival in Los Angeles. Every week-end was dedicated to a different movie studio, I think Disney had two week-ends. Anyway, I will never forget the impression I got from seeing these cartoons on the big screen, just unbelieveable!! Even with our current "high-resolution" home video systems, clean film on a big screen will never be matched. Breathtaking!