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Roadshow theatrical release

February 15, 2024

A roadshow theatrical release or reserved seat engagement is the practice of opening a film in a limited number of theaters in major cities for a specific period of time before the wide release of the film. Roadshows would generally mimic a live theatre production, with an upscale atmosphere as well as somewhat higher prices than during a wide release. They were commonly used to promote major films from the 1920s–60s and build excitement.

Roadshows had a number of features that distinguished them from normal releases. There would be an intermission between the two "acts" of the film, with the first act usually somewhat longer than the second. Films selected for roadshow treatment were typically longer than the usual motion picture, lasting anywhere from slightly more than two hours to four hours or more, counting the intermission. There would be no short subjects accompanying the film, and rarely any promotional trailers. Screenings would be limited to one or two a day, sold on a reserved seat basis, and admission prices were higher than those of regular screenings. Souvenir programs containing photos from the film, photos and biographies of its cast and principal crew, and information on the film's production would be sold, occasionally along with other merchandise. Similar to touring theater productions, films would be presented in a city for a limited number of weeks before the physical filmstock was moved to another city. Finally, while not every roadshow was intended for this, roadshows would sometimes act as a predecessor to modern focus groups to measure audience reception. When this was done, audience members would be encouraged to write their thoughts and feedback on cards, and producers would use the feedback as well as monitoring the audience to gauge which parts of the "long" version of a film should be cut for shorter runtimes during the wide release.

Roadshows were profitable and effective in the early years of cinema, when films spread by word of mouth and releases were more gradual. Societal changes in the 1960s and 70s dulled the prestige of the "event" style, however. Fewer ornate theaters in the style of movie palaces existed by the 1970s, with more movie theaters adjusting for efficient but unromantic buildings unsuitable for fancy events. Roadshows evolved into limited releases after the 1970s, as the faux live theatre appeal began to wear off and more films opted for a "blockbuster" approach of opening to as many theatres simultaneously as possible.

U.S. releases edit

The roadshow format had been used since the days of silent films, but the rise of widescreen and stereophonic sound in the 1950s made it especially attractive to studio executives, who hoped to lure audiences away from television by presenting films in a way that an audience at that time could never hope to see at home. Possibly, the first film ever shown in a roadshow engagement was the French film Les Amours de la reine Elisabeth in America in 1912, a 53-minute motion picture which starred the stage actress Sarah Bernhardt.

Films shown in a roadshow format before 1951 included:

Selected notable British releases edit

British films that were shown as roadshow attractions in the US included:

Distinguishing features edit

In a roadshow release, a large-scale epic film would open in larger cities in an engagement much like a theatrical musical, often with components such as an overture, first act, intermission, entr'acte, second act, and exit music. The overture, distinguished from the main title music, was played before the beginning of the film, while the lights were still up and the curtains were still closed. As the lights dimmed, the overture ended, the curtains opened, and the film began with its main title music and opening credits. The exit music was played after the film had ended, following the closing credits, while the auditorium lights were on and the curtains were closed. Many movie theaters until the 1980s had curtains which covered the screen, and which would open when the show actually began and close when it ended.

Some roadshow scheduling mimicked the performance schedule of live theatre such as Broadway theatre. Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays would have two screenings, while during the rest of the week, the films would be shown only once a day.

Examples edit

An early example of this form of presentation was used for Gone with the Wind (1939). Running almost four hours in length, the film was divided into the above components.

The original theatrical release of Walt Disney's Fantasia, presented in Fantasound in selected large cities in the United States, never had an overture, entr'acte, or exit music. Still, Fantasia was first released in the roadshow format, included an intermission in its first run, and was originally presented without on-screen credits to perpetuate a concert-going experience—the printed souvenir program, given out to patrons as they entered the theater, presented the film's credits.

The original New York run of the English-language film Cyrano de Bergerac (1950), starring Jose Ferrer and based on Edmond Rostand's 1897 French play, was likewise presented in a roadshow format (that is, one or two performances a day), although the film is only two hours long, was not produced on a large budget, and does not contain an intermission.[5]

The color version of Show Boat (1951) was also shown in a roadshow format in some theaters, despite being less than two hours long, and not having an overture, intermission, entr'acte, or exit music.[6]

1950s to 1970s edit

From around 1952 to the early 1970s, with audiences switching to television, studios tried to entice movie audiences back to theaters by making widescreen epics and using the "roadshow" means of presentation and promotion. Films shot in 3D were sometimes also shown in a roadshow format with intermission, regardless of actual length, as well as many films shot in widescreen processes, such as CinemaScope, Todd-AO, MGM Camera 65, and Super Panavision 70, and films that were blown up to 70mm from the 35mm negative. As a result, there was an avalanche of roadshow films during those decades, often more than one in a single year.

Among them were:

Not all of these post-1951 roadshow releases were hits. Several of them, especially the musicals, were box-office flops that lost money for the studios, even if they had previously been hits as stage shows.

Some of the films, such as the Olivier Othello or the Burton Hamlet, were not intended to be box-office hits, but were created as a means to bring these productions to a wider public than could have seen them onstage, much as American Film Theatre would do in the mid-1970s.

Many of these roadshow releases, including Disney's Sleeping Beauty, were shown in six-track stereophonic sound, a then non-standard feature of motion pictures. West Side Story, although shown in 70mm and six track stereophonic sound, was shown with an intermission with all 70mm prints as well as its 70mm re-releases, but was, in most areas, shown without one in order to increase the tension in the plot—an idea recommended by the filmmakers themselves.

Some films like The Guns of Navarone (1961) were often occasionally shown as roadshows for international releases, even if they weren't intended as roadshows for domestic release.[8]

The King and I (1956), which had originally been shown in 35mm 4-Track stereophonic sound and without an overture, intermission and exit music, was re-released in 1961 in the 70mm format with an overture, intermission and exit music, remixed into six-track stereophonic sound, and shown in a roadshow format. The film had originally been made in Cinemascope 55 and through advances in technology was now able to be re-released in a process called Grandeur 70.[9]

Films made in three-camera Cinerama always received roadshow releases to show off the technology. The special requirements needed to show films in Cinerama—a theater with a huge, ultra-curved screen, three projectors running simultaneously, and seven-track stereophonic sound—made it impossible to show its films in wide release unless the picture was converted to standard one projector format (i.e. Panavision).

Since most of those cut off the sides of the original combined picture, eventually, with the advent of anamorphic lenses, a number of Cinerama roadshows were able to be compressed onto normal 5-perf 70mm film and with the extra-wide screens installed, normal 70mm theaters were able to play these reformatted Cinerama titles.

Exceptions edit

There were some notable exceptions to the standard roadshow release format, three of them Shakespeare productions. One was Othello (1965), which was essentially a filmed visual record of the Laurence Olivier 1964 London stage production, shot in a movie studio, but on enlarged stage settings. The nearly three-hour color film, made in Panavision and shown in 35mm and mono sound in many areas, was shown in 70mm and six-track stereophonic sound in exactly one engagement - in London in 1966,[10]

Being a film that lay somewhere between a photographed play and a true motion picture, the film did not make sufficient use of the spectacular vistas that 1960s widescreen epics usually boasted. In addition, while it had no overture, entr'acte music, or exit music, it was still shown on a two-performance-a-day basis with an intermission, as nearly all roadshow releases were. However, it was shown in U.S. cinemas for an extremely limited release: only two days,[11] in contrast to the customary and lengthy months-long engagements enjoyed by most roadshow films.

The same was true of the Richard Burton Hamlet, which was presented in the same type of extremely limited engagement as Othello. Filmed over two days in a black-and-white process called Electronovision, which resembled a 1960s videotaped broadcast, this three hours plus production featured none of the epic features that were a standard of roadshow theatrical release – no impressive scenery, no gorgeous color, no beautiful costumes, or stereophonic sound, only an intermission halfway through the performance. It was not even, strictly speaking, a full-scale film version of the play, but merely a visual recording of a performance of it at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, with a live audience. At three hours and eleven minutes, it was then the longest film version of Hamlet.

Another exception was Franco Zeffirelli's version of Romeo and Juliet (1968), which, although photographed in beautiful settings and certainly having the look of an epic, was shown in most areas in monaural sound (although its three soundtrack albums were all made in stereo) and was projected at a screen aspect ratio of 1.66:1; that is, roughly the dimensions of today's average movie screen or HDTV screen, not the very wide screens required for films made in Ultra Panavision, CinemaScope, Todd-AO or any of the other widescreen processes invented in the 1950s meant that the film lacked many of the customary roadshow elements of the period. However The Mexican release of the picture, did feature a six-track stereo surround mix and was shown with its original 1.66:1 aspect ratio matted to a 2.2 in standard 70mm.)[12]

Similarly, the first film version of The Lion in Winter (1968), although a roadshow release filmed on location with gorgeous color and beautiful scenery, instead of being released in 70mm and 6-track stereo sound - even though it was shown in Technicolor, it was only from 35mm Panavision (anamorphic) film and mono sound. Only in Australia and in its 1973 London re-release was the picture shown in both 70mm and stereophonic sound.[13][14] Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), another roadshow release, was also shown in 70mm 6-track only in Europe, while its U.S. release was in regular Panavision with monophonic sound.[15][16]

In addition to the above, The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), The Longest Day (1962) and Is Paris Burning? (1966) were four epics that were made in black and white instead of color. Before then, roadshow epics alternated between getting released in black and white or color.

Edited versions and restoration edit

It was common practice for studios to cut some of these epics for general release in order for theaters to book more showings a day and present the film at reduced "popular prices", especially if the film ran longer than two hours. Sometimes this was done to a successful film, such as South Pacific, but more often to one that had been a significant flop, in an effort to make it a success on its second run. As a result, some of these films have not been seen in their entirety since their first release, as the original edited footage is either missing or no longer exists. With the work of film preservationists and restoration, such roadshow flops as A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), Mourning Becomes Electra (1947), Joan of Arc (1948), A Star Is Born (1954) and Fantasia (1940), along with the films For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), Spartacus (1960), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Around the World in 80 Days (1956) and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), all of which had significant footage missing, have been restored in recent years to match the filmmakers' original intent. However, several long films, such as Gone With the Wind and The Ten Commandments, have never been released in edited form, and were nearly always shown on a two performance-a-day basis.

In Old Chicago, despite its roadshow presentation running only 110 minutes, was edited down to 95 minutes for general release, but restored to its full length on DVD.[17]

Frequently, unless the film was exceptionally long, the intermission, along with the overture, ent'racte music, and exit music would be eliminated when it went into general release, in order to save twenty minutes and possibly squeeze in more showings, and the film would be shown just like any other motion picture. Often too, the souvenir programs that were a part of the roadshow release of the films were no longer given out during the wide release.

Rise of the limited release edit

The practice of roadshow presentation began dying out in the 1970s, partly because of sequence of costly box-office flops, and partly due to the rise of the multiplex. As multiplexes began to increase in number, and as more and more skyscraper hotels and office buildings took the place of the oldtime movie palaces, theater exhibitors began showing long films in a more informal format. Francis Ford Coppola's Oscar-winning epics The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974), for instance, were made with mono sound, shown without intermissions, and were given more than two performances a day, despite their extreme length. Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon (1975) was shown more than twice a day, but included an intermission.

Although some very long films such as Gone with the Wind, which was re-released in 70mm and six track sound in 1967, would always be shown with an intermission and some films like Huckleberry Finn (1974) would be released with overtures until 1979, "reserved seat" showings of new films became extremely rare. The last film musical to officially receive a reserved seat engagement was Lost Horizon (1973), a financial and critical disaster.

In the late 1970s, only three films (two popular and one a legendary disaster) received a reserved seat engagement. Michael Cimino made the successful film The Deer Hunter (1978), which was a commercial and critical success, winning the Oscar for Best Picture. In its initial run, it was enlarged to 70mm film and given a roadshow release.[18] Francis Ford Coppola, director of The Godfather, made Apocalypse Now (1979), another three-hour epic which received some favorable reviews and is now considered one of his best. The film had a difficult production history, and after five years of production it premiered in a U.S. reserved seat engagement in 70mm.[19] It became a great financial success, and made even more money years later when the director's cut was released. Cimino's next film was Heaven's Gate (1980), which was one of the biggest ever box-office failures. It had a roadshow release and premiered in a 70mm version with an intermission. The roadshow engagement was the shortest in history, for only three theaters held the screenings. Its New York run lasted three days, the Toronto run was shown once, and the Los Angeles engagement was cancelled.

One development that diminished the novelty of the modern roadshow release was that, beginning with Star Wars (1977), stereophonic sound began to be used more and more in films, even films that were not really big-budget spectaculars. Most films, however, were at that time still released only with mono sound. Jaws, for example, made a mere two years before Star Wars, was originally released in this format.[20] However, Gandhi (1982) and Scarface (1983) originally received releases with intermissions, due to their extreme lengths, but while Gandhi received a 70mm engagement, Scarface did not.[21][22]

By 1984, the entire roadshow format had also largely been abandoned, as the rise of the multiplex and competition from cable TV and home video began forcing changes in the nature of film industry. For example, Carmen (1984), an uncut two-and-a-half hour film version of the Georges Bizet opera, was not released as a roadshow nor shown with an intermission, despite the fact that the film was so faithful to the opera that it kept the stage version's original division into four acts. This version of Carmen was also filmed in six-track stereo and on location, like many epics.

Even though the format had died out, Gettysburg (1993), Hamlet (1996) and Gods and Generals (2003) were screened with intermissions due to their extreme lengths on their original releases. While all three films had no official overture, entr'acte or exit music, cinemas choose to show the films accompanied with the commercially available film soundtracks playing as the audience entered and exited theaters. Gettysburg and Hamlet were screened with two screenings a day while Gods and Generals was not. Titanic (1997) was 195 minutes long, prompting some cinemas to add a short mid-film break or to screen it without commercials for health and safety reasons. It has been restored twice (in 70mm and later 3D 4K) and rereleased in a limited engagement format each time.[23]

Today, a practice of first premiering a film in larger cities is more common, mainly towards the end of the year, in order to qualify for film award consideration, including the Academy Awards. Such recent films that have gone the limited release route include Million Dollar Baby (2004), The Aviator (2004), March of the Penguins (2005), and the Disney film The Princess and the Frog (2009); these and other such limited release films eventually opened wide. Sometimes this is done to allow a film to receive a wide release shortly after the first of the year, while qualifying for the previous year's Academy Awards. Often, smaller films (often art and independent) will receive an initial release in New York and Los Angeles, and later expand to other cities based on results; this is called "platforming" or a platform release.

Occasionally roadshow releases are done for special event films. In 2006, the film Dreamgirls, based on the Broadway stage musical, was given a three-theater road show release, with reserved seats and program guides. Tickets were significantly higher priced than normal, at $25. The film itself was not shown with an intermission.[24]

In 2008 and 2009, the four-hour biopic Che, starring Benicio del Toro as Che Guevara, was shown in a roadshow format for a limited time in a number of large cities.

Quentin Tarantino, who remembers the roadshow era fondly, released The Hateful Eight in selected theaters on Christmas Day before expanding into a wide release on December 30, 2015. Tarantino shot the film in anamorphic 70mm (specifically the single-strip 6-track stereo Cinerama format described above) and managed to get the film booked in roughly 100 theaters worldwide that were provided 70mm projectors and lenses to equip the theaters to cope with the Cinerama format by The Weinstein Company to screen the film as the director intended. Deadline Hollywood referred to this release as a roadshow presentation, as it included all the hallmarks of a traditional roadshow release, such as programs, an overture and an intermission.[25][26][27]

See also edit

 
Look up roadshow in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References edit

  1. ^ "Cinema: The New Pictures: Oct. 21, 1935". Time. October 21, 1935 – via content.time.com.
  2. ^ "Warner Bros. and the Homefront Collection". DVD Talk.
  3. ^ Crowther, Bosley (1951-11-09). "THE SCREEN: TWO NEW MOVIES SHOWN HERE; 'Darling, How Could You!' From Play by James M. Barrie, Stars Fontaine and Lund 'QuoVadis,' Based on Sienkiewicz Novel and Made in Rome, Opens at Two Theatres". The New York Times.
  4. ^ . Lane Brothers Commercial Photographers Photographic Collection, 1920-1976. Georgia State University Library. 1948-12-29. Archived from the original on 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2011-09-23.
  5. ^ Crowther, Bosley (1950-11-17). "'Cyrano,' With Jose Ferrer in Title Role and Mala Powers as Roxane, Opens at the Bijou". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-09-23.
  6. ^ "Widescreen Museum - Cinerama Wing 2".
  7. ^ Crowther, Bosley (1959-06-25). "Samuel Goldwyn's 'Porgy and Bess' Has Premiere at Warner; Sidney Poitier and Dorothy Dandridge Portray Denizens of Catfish Row". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-09-23.
  8. ^ "DVD Verdict Review—The Guns Of Navarone: Collector's Edition". DVD Verdict.
  9. ^ "Widescreen Museum—The CinemaScope Wing 7—CinemaScope 55".
  10. ^ . In70mm.com. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2011-09-23.
  11. ^ Crowther, Bosley (1966-02-02). "Minstrel Show 'Othello':Radical Makeup Marks Olivier's Interpretation". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-09-23.
  12. ^ . In70mm.com. 2005-06-12. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2011-09-23.
  13. ^ "70mm Blow Up List 1968 - by in70mm.com".
  14. ^ "70mm Blow Up List 1973 - by in70mm.com".
  15. ^ "Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)" – via www.imdb.com.
  16. ^ "Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)". IMDb.
  17. ^ "In Old Chicago". DVD Talk.
  18. ^ "70mm Blow Up List 1978 - by in70mm.com".
  19. ^ "70mm Blow Up List 1979 - by in70mm.com".
  20. ^ "DVD Verdict Review - Jaws". DVD Verdict.
  21. ^ "Gandhi (1982) - IMDb" – via www.imdb.com.
  22. ^ "Scarface (1983) - IMDb" – via www.imdb.com.
  23. ^ "Intermission: The pause that refreshes Just like old days, long film has break". old.post-gazette.com.
  24. ^ McClintock, Pamela (2006-11-06). "D'Works takes 'Girls' on road". Daily Variety. Retrieved 2006-11-06.
  25. ^ Tarantino's 'The Hateful Eight'-Resurrects Nearly Obsolete Technology New York Times December 11, 2015
  26. ^ Kevin Jagernauth (12 June 2015). "'The Hateful Eight' Sets Christmas Day Release, 2 Week 70 - The Playlist". The Playlist.
  27. ^ Patrick Hipes (12 June 2015). "'Hateful Eight' To Hit Theaters Christmas Day In 70MM - Deadline". Deadline Hollywood.

February 15, 2024
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This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Roadshow theatrical release news newspapers books scholar JSTOR October 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article is written like a personal reflection personal essay or argumentative essay that states a Wikipedia editor s personal feelings or presents an original argument about a topic Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style October 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article may contain excessive or irrelevant examples Please help improve the article by adding descriptive text and removing less pertinent examples October 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message A roadshow theatrical release or reserved seat engagement is the practice of opening a film in a limited number of theaters in major cities for a specific period of time before the wide release of the film Roadshows would generally mimic a live theatre production with an upscale atmosphere as well as somewhat higher prices than during a wide release They were commonly used to promote major films from the 1920s 60s and build excitement Roadshows had a number of features that distinguished them from normal releases There would be an intermission between the two acts of the film with the first act usually somewhat longer than the second Films selected for roadshow treatment were typically longer than the usual motion picture lasting anywhere from slightly more than two hours to four hours or more counting the intermission There would be no short subjects accompanying the film and rarely any promotional trailers Screenings would be limited to one or two a day sold on a reserved seat basis and admission prices were higher than those of regular screenings Souvenir programs containing photos from the film photos and biographies of its cast and principal crew and information on the film s production would be sold occasionally along with other merchandise Similar to touring theater productions films would be presented in a city for a limited number of weeks before the physical filmstock was moved to another city Finally while not every roadshow was intended for this roadshows would sometimes act as a predecessor to modern focus groups to measure audience reception When this was done audience members would be encouraged to write their thoughts and feedback on cards and producers would use the feedback as well as monitoring the audience to gauge which parts of the long version of a film should be cut for shorter runtimes during the wide release Roadshows were profitable and effective in the early years of cinema when films spread by word of mouth and releases were more gradual Societal changes in the 1960s and 70s dulled the prestige of the event style however Fewer ornate theaters in the style of movie palaces existed by the 1970s with more movie theaters adjusting for efficient but unromantic buildings unsuitable for fancy events Roadshows evolved into limited releases after the 1970s as the faux live theatre appeal began to wear off and more films opted for a blockbuster approach of opening to as many theatres simultaneously as possible Contents 1 U S releases 2 Selected notable British releases 3 Distinguishing features 4 Examples 4 1 1950s to 1970s 5 Exceptions 5 1 Edited versions and restoration 5 2 Rise of the limited release 6 See also 7 ReferencesU S releases editThe roadshow format had been used since the days of silent films but the rise of widescreen and stereophonic sound in the 1950s made it especially attractive to studio executives who hoped to lure audiences away from television by presenting films in a way that an audience at that time could never hope to see at home Possibly the first film ever shown in a roadshow engagement was the French film Les Amours de la reine Elisabeth in America in 1912 a 53 minute motion picture which starred the stage actress Sarah Bernhardt Films shown in a roadshow format before 1951 included The Birth of a Nation 1915 Intolerance 1916 The Covered Wagon 1923 The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1923 The Ten Commandments 1923 Ben Hur 1925 The Big Parade 1925 Wings 1927 the first Best Picture Academy Award winner The Jazz Singer 1927 the first feature length part talkie Chicago 1927 the silent film based on the play that inspired the Kander and Ebb Broadway musical and Oscar winning film The Broadway Melody 1929 Show Boat 1929 a part talkie based not on the 1927 stage musical but on Edna Ferber s original novel from which the musical was adapted Hollywood Revue 1929 The Desert Song 1929 Rio Rita 1929 Paris 1929 Sally 1929 Howard Hughes Hell s Angels 1930 The Sign of the Cross 1932 Grand Hotel 1932 winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture Cavalcade 1933 A Midsummer Night s Dream 1935 1 The Great Ziegfeld 1936 In Old Chicago 1937 Lost Horizon 1937 Gone with the Wind 1939 Fantasia 1940 Best Foot Forward 1943 For Whom the Bell Tolls 1943 The Song of Bernadette 1943 This Is the Army 1943 shown only in roadshow format on initial release 2 Since You Went Away 1944 Spellbound 1945 The Best Years of Our Lives 1946 Duel in the Sun 1946 Mourning Becomes Electra 1947 Ingrid Bergman s Joan of Arc 1948 Samson and Delilah 1949 Quo Vadis 1951 However the theatre exhibitors of Quo Vadis took the unusual step of opening the film in two New York theatres simultaneously where it was shown in roadshow format in one theatre while the other one ran the nearly three hour film in the more conventional continuous performances manner 3 Selected notable British releases editBritish films that were shown as roadshow attractions in the US included Henry V 1944 in England and 1946 in the U S Hamlet 1948 The Red Shoes 1948 4 Distinguishing features editIn a roadshow release a large scale epic film would open in larger cities in an engagement much like a theatrical musical often with components such as an overture first act intermission entr acte second act and exit music The overture distinguished from the main title music was played before the beginning of the film while the lights were still up and the curtains were still closed As the lights dimmed the overture ended the curtains opened and the film began with its main title music and opening credits The exit music was played after the film had ended following the closing credits while the auditorium lights were on and the curtains were closed Many movie theaters until the 1980s had curtains which covered the screen and which would open when the show actually began and close when it ended Some roadshow scheduling mimicked the performance schedule of live theatre such as Broadway theatre Wednesdays Saturdays and Sundays would have two screenings while during the rest of the week the films would be shown only once a day Examples editAn early example of this form of presentation was used for Gone with the Wind 1939 Running almost four hours in length the film was divided into the above components The original theatrical release of Walt Disney s Fantasia presented in Fantasound in selected large cities in the United States never had an overture entr acte or exit music Still Fantasia was first released in the roadshow format included an intermission in its first run and was originally presented without on screen credits to perpetuate a concert going experience the printed souvenir program given out to patrons as they entered the theater presented the film s credits The original New York run of the English language film Cyrano de Bergerac 1950 starring Jose Ferrer and based on Edmond Rostand s 1897 French play was likewise presented in a roadshow format that is one or two performances a day although the film is only two hours long was not produced on a large budget and does not contain an intermission 5 The color version of Show Boat 1951 was also shown in a roadshow format in some theaters despite being less than two hours long and not having an overture intermission entr acte or exit music 6 1950s to 1970s edit From around 1952 to the early 1970s with audiences switching to television studios tried to entice movie audiences back to theaters by making widescreen epics and using the roadshow means of presentation and promotion Films shot in 3D were sometimes also shown in a roadshow format with intermission regardless of actual length as well as many films shot in widescreen processes such as CinemaScope Todd AO MGM Camera 65 and Super Panavision 70 and films that were blown up to 70mm from the 35mm negative As a result there was an avalanche of roadshow films during those decades often more than one in a single year Among them were This Is Cinerama 1952 The Robe 1953 Hondo 1953 House of Wax 1953 A Star is Born 1954 Dial M for Murder 1954 Oklahoma 1955 Richard III 1955 East of Eden 1955 Guys and Dolls 1955 Cinerama Holiday 1955 High Society 1956 Helen of Troy 1956 War and Peace 1956 Around the World in 80 Days 1956 The Ten Commandments 1956 Seven Wonders of the World 1956 Giant 1956 The Bridge on the River Kwai 1957 Raintree County 1957 Search for Paradise 1957 Windjammer 1958 South Pacific 1958 South Seas Adventure 1958 The Big Country 1958 Porgy and Bess 1959 7 The Diary of Anne Frank 1959 Ben Hur 1959 Sleeping Beauty 1959 without intermission The Alamo 1960 Spartacus 1960 Exodus 1960 Can Can 1960 Scent of Mystery 1961 West Side Story 1961 Judgment at Nuremberg 1961 El Cid 1961 Barabbas 1961 King of Kings 1961 Lawrence of Arabia 1962 Mutiny on the Bounty 1962 The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm 1962 How the West Was Won 1962 The Longest Day 1962 It s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World 1963 The Cardinal 1963 Cleopatra 1963 55 Days at Peking 1963 Hamlet 1964 Becket 1964 Cheyenne Autumn 1964 The Carpetbaggers 1964 Circus World 1964 My Fair Lady 1964 The Fall of the Roman Empire 1964 Mary Poppins 1964 The Sound of Music 1965 The Greatest Story Ever Told 1965 Othello 1965 Doctor Zhivago 1965 The Great Race 1965 Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines 1965 The Agony and the Ecstasy 1965 Battle of the Bulge 1965 Khartoum 1966 Cinerama s Russian Adventure 1966 Hawaii 1966 Is Paris Burning 1966 The Bible In the Beginning 1966 The Blue Max 1966 The Sand Pebbles 1966 Grand Prix 1966 Half a Sixpence 1967 Camelot 1967 Doctor Dolittle 1967 Far from the Madding Crowd 1967 The Happiest Millionaire 1967 Thoroughly Modern Millie 1967 Ice Station Zebra 1968 The Lion in Winter 1968 2001 A Space Odyssey 1968 Oliver 1968 Romeo and Juliet 1968 Finian s Rainbow 1968 Where Eagles Dare 1968 Star 1968 Funny Girl 1968 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang 1968 Paint Your Wagon 1969 Sweet Charity 1969 Goodbye Mr Chips 1969 Hello Dolly 1969 The Adventurers 1970 Patton 1970 Song of Norway 1970 Darling Lili 1970 Tora Tora Tora 1970 Scrooge 1970 Ryan s Daughter 1970 Bedknobs and Broomsticks 1971 Fiddler on the Roof 1971 Nicholas and Alexandra 1971 Mary Queen of Scots 1971 The Cowboys 1972 Young Winston 1972 The Great Waltz 1972 1776 1972 Man of La Mancha 1972 Jeremiah Johnson 1972 Tom Sawyer 1973 Lost Horizon 1973 Not all of these post 1951 roadshow releases were hits Several of them especially the musicals were box office flops that lost money for the studios even if they had previously been hits as stage shows Some of the films such as the Olivier Othello or the Burton Hamlet were not intended to be box office hits but were created as a means to bring these productions to a wider public than could have seen them onstage much as American Film Theatre would do in the mid 1970s Many of these roadshow releases including Disney s Sleeping Beauty were shown in six track stereophonic sound a then non standard feature of motion pictures West Side Story although shown in 70mm and six track stereophonic sound was shown with an intermission with all 70mm prints as well as its 70mm re releases but was in most areas shown without one in order to increase the tension in the plot an idea recommended by the filmmakers themselves Some films like The Guns of Navarone 1961 were often occasionally shown as roadshows for international releases even if they weren t intended as roadshows for domestic release 8 The King and I 1956 which had originally been shown in 35mm 4 Track stereophonic sound and without an overture intermission and exit music was re released in 1961 in the 70mm format with an overture intermission and exit music remixed into six track stereophonic sound and shown in a roadshow format The film had originally been made in Cinemascope 55 and through advances in technology was now able to be re released in a process called Grandeur 70 9 Films made in three camera Cinerama always received roadshow releases to show off the technology The special requirements needed to show films in Cinerama a theater with a huge ultra curved screen three projectors running simultaneously and seven track stereophonic sound made it impossible to show its films in wide release unless the picture was converted to standard one projector format i e Panavision Since most of those cut off the sides of the original combined picture eventually with the advent of anamorphic lenses a number of Cinerama roadshows were able to be compressed onto normal 5 perf 70mm film and with the extra wide screens installed normal 70mm theaters were able to play these reformatted Cinerama titles Exceptions editThere were some notable exceptions to the standard roadshow release format three of them Shakespeare productions One was Othello 1965 which was essentially a filmed visual record of the Laurence Olivier 1964 London stage production shot in a movie studio but on enlarged stage settings The nearly three hour color film made in Panavision and shown in 35mm and mono sound in many areas was shown in 70mm and six track stereophonic sound in exactly one engagement in London in 1966 10 Being a film that lay somewhere between a photographed play and a true motion picture the film did not make sufficient use of the spectacular vistas that 1960s widescreen epics usually boasted In addition while it had no overture entr acte music or exit music it was still shown on a two performance a day basis with an intermission as nearly all roadshow releases were However it was shown in U S cinemas for an extremely limited release only two days 11 in contrast to the customary and lengthy months long engagements enjoyed by most roadshow films The same was true of the Richard Burton Hamlet which was presented in the same type of extremely limited engagement as Othello Filmed over two days in a black and white process called Electronovision which resembled a 1960s videotaped broadcast this three hours plus production featured none of the epic features that were a standard of roadshow theatrical release no impressive scenery no gorgeous color no beautiful costumes or stereophonic sound only an intermission halfway through the performance It was not even strictly speaking a full scale film version of the play but merely a visual recording of a performance of it at the Lunt Fontanne Theatre with a live audience At three hours and eleven minutes it was then the longest film version of Hamlet Another exception was Franco Zeffirelli s version of Romeo and Juliet 1968 which although photographed in beautiful settings and certainly having the look of an epic was shown in most areas in monaural sound although its three soundtrack albums were all made in stereo and was projected at a screen aspect ratio of 1 66 1 that is roughly the dimensions of today s average movie screen or HDTV screen not the very wide screens required for films made in Ultra Panavision CinemaScope Todd AO or any of the other widescreen processes invented in the 1950s meant that the film lacked many of the customary roadshow elements of the period However The Mexican release of the picture did feature a six track stereo surround mix and was shown with its original 1 66 1 aspect ratio matted to a 2 2 in standard 70mm 12 Similarly the first film version of The Lion in Winter 1968 although a roadshow release filmed on location with gorgeous color and beautiful scenery instead of being released in 70mm and 6 track stereo sound even though it was shown in Technicolor it was only from 35mm Panavision anamorphic film and mono sound Only in Australia and in its 1973 London re release was the picture shown in both 70mm and stereophonic sound 13 14 Nicholas and Alexandra 1971 another roadshow release was also shown in 70mm 6 track only in Europe while its U S release was in regular Panavision with monophonic sound 15 16 In addition to the above The Diary of Anne Frank 1959 Judgment at Nuremberg 1961 The Longest Day 1962 and Is Paris Burning 1966 were four epics that were made in black and white instead of color Before then roadshow epics alternated between getting released in black and white or color Edited versions and restoration edit It was common practice for studios to cut some of these epics for general release in order for theaters to book more showings a day and present the film at reduced popular prices especially if the film ran longer than two hours Sometimes this was done to a successful film such as South Pacific but more often to one that had been a significant flop in an effort to make it a success on its second run As a result some of these films have not been seen in their entirety since their first release as the original edited footage is either missing or no longer exists With the work of film preservationists and restoration such roadshow flops as A Midsummer Night s Dream 1935 Mourning Becomes Electra 1947 Joan of Arc 1948 A Star Is Born 1954 and Fantasia 1940 along with the films For Whom the Bell Tolls 1943 Spartacus 1960 Lawrence of Arabia 1962 Around the World in 80 Days 1956 and It s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World 1963 all of which had significant footage missing have been restored in recent years to match the filmmakers original intent However several long films such as Gone With the Wind and The Ten Commandments have never been released in edited form and were nearly always shown on a two performance a day basis In Old Chicago despite its roadshow presentation running only 110 minutes was edited down to 95 minutes for general release but restored to its full length on DVD 17 Frequently unless the film was exceptionally long the intermission along with the overture ent racte music and exit music would be eliminated when it went into general release in order to save twenty minutes and possibly squeeze in more showings and the film would be shown just like any other motion picture Often too the souvenir programs that were a part of the roadshow release of the films were no longer given out during the wide release Rise of the limited release edit The practice of roadshow presentation began dying out in the 1970s partly because of sequence of costly box office flops and partly due to the rise of the multiplex As multiplexes began to increase in number and as more and more skyscraper hotels and office buildings took the place of the oldtime movie palaces theater exhibitors began showing long films in a more informal format Francis Ford Coppola s Oscar winning epics The Godfather 1972 and The Godfather Part II 1974 for instance were made with mono sound shown without intermissions and were given more than two performances a day despite their extreme length Stanley Kubrick s Barry Lyndon 1975 was shown more than twice a day but included an intermission Although some very long films such as Gone with the Wind which was re released in 70mm and six track sound in 1967 would always be shown with an intermission and some films like Huckleberry Finn 1974 would be released with overtures until 1979 reserved seat showings of new films became extremely rare The last film musical to officially receive a reserved seat engagement was Lost Horizon 1973 a financial and critical disaster In the late 1970s only three films two popular and one a legendary disaster received a reserved seat engagement Michael Cimino made the successful film The Deer Hunter 1978 which was a commercial and critical success winning the Oscar for Best Picture In its initial run it was enlarged to 70mm film and given a roadshow release 18 Francis Ford Coppola director of The Godfather made Apocalypse Now 1979 another three hour epic which received some favorable reviews and is now considered one of his best The film had a difficult production history and after five years of production it premiered in a U S reserved seat engagement in 70mm 19 It became a great financial success and made even more money years later when the director s cut was released Cimino s next film was Heaven s Gate 1980 which was one of the biggest ever box office failures It had a roadshow release and premiered in a 70mm version with an intermission The roadshow engagement was the shortest in history for only three theaters held the screenings Its New York run lasted three days the Toronto run was shown once and the Los Angeles engagement was cancelled One development that diminished the novelty of the modern roadshow release was that beginning with Star Wars 1977 stereophonic sound began to be used more and more in films even films that were not really big budget spectaculars Most films however were at that time still released only with mono sound Jaws for example made a mere two years before Star Wars was originally released in this format 20 However Gandhi 1982 and Scarface 1983 originally received releases with intermissions due to their extreme lengths but while Gandhi received a 70mm engagement Scarface did not 21 22 By 1984 the entire roadshow format had also largely been abandoned as the rise of the multiplex and competition from cable TV and home video began forcing changes in the nature of film industry For example Carmen 1984 an uncut two and a half hour film version of the Georges Bizet opera was not released as a roadshow nor shown with an intermission despite the fact that the film was so faithful to the opera that it kept the stage version s original division into four acts This version of Carmen was also filmed in six track stereo and on location like many epics Even though the format had died out Gettysburg 1993 Hamlet 1996 and Gods and Generals 2003 were screened with intermissions due to their extreme lengths on their original releases While all three films had no official overture entr acte or exit music cinemas choose to show the films accompanied with the commercially available film soundtracks playing as the audience entered and exited theaters Gettysburg and Hamlet were screened with two screenings a day while Gods and Generals was not Titanic 1997 was 195 minutes long prompting some cinemas to add a short mid film break or to screen it without commercials for health and safety reasons It has been restored twice in 70mm and later 3D 4K and rereleased in a limited engagement format each time 23 Today a practice of first premiering a film in larger cities is more common mainly towards the end of the year in order to qualify for film award consideration including the Academy Awards Such recent films that have gone the limited release route include Million Dollar Baby 2004 The Aviator 2004 March of the Penguins 2005 and the Disney film The Princess and the Frog 2009 these and other such limited release films eventually opened wide Sometimes this is done to allow a film to receive a wide release shortly after the first of the year while qualifying for the previous year s Academy Awards Often smaller films often art and independent will receive an initial release in New York and Los Angeles and later expand to other cities based on results this is called platforming or a platform release Occasionally roadshow releases are done for special event films In 2006 the film Dreamgirls based on the Broadway stage musical was given a three theater road show release with reserved seats and program guides Tickets were significantly higher priced than normal at 25 The film itself was not shown with an intermission 24 In 2008 and 2009 the four hour biopic Che starring Benicio del Toro as Che Guevara was shown in a roadshow format for a limited time in a number of large cities Quentin Tarantino who remembers the roadshow era fondly released The Hateful Eight in selected theaters on Christmas Day before expanding into a wide release on December 30 2015 Tarantino shot the film in anamorphic 70mm specifically the single strip 6 track stereo Cinerama format described above and managed to get the film booked in roughly 100 theaters worldwide that were provided 70mm projectors and lenses to equip the theaters to cope with the Cinerama format by The Weinstein Company to screen the film as the director intended Deadline Hollywood referred to this release as a roadshow presentation as it included all the hallmarks of a traditional roadshow release such as programs an overture and an intermission 25 26 27 See also edit nbsp Look up roadshow in Wiktionary the free dictionary Film releaseReferences edit Cinema The New Pictures Oct 21 1935 Time October 21 1935 via content time com Warner Bros and the Homefront Collection DVD Talk Crowther Bosley 1951 11 09 THE SCREEN TWO NEW MOVIES SHOWN HERE Darling How Could You From Play by James M Barrie Stars Fontaine and Lund QuoVadis Based on Sienkiewicz Novel and Made in Rome Opens at Two Theatres The New York Times Peachtree Art Theatre Eagle Lion Films Lane Brothers Commercial Photographers Photographic Collection 1920 1976 Georgia State University Library 1948 12 29 Archived from the original on 2012 03 24 Retrieved 2011 09 23 Crowther Bosley 1950 11 17 Cyrano With Jose Ferrer in Title Role and Mala Powers as Roxane Opens at the Bijou The New York Times Retrieved 2011 09 23 Widescreen Museum Cinerama Wing 2 Crowther Bosley 1959 06 25 Samuel Goldwyn s Porgy and Bess Has Premiere at Warner Sidney Poitier and Dorothy Dandridge Portray Denizens of Catfish Row The New York Times Retrieved 2011 09 23 DVD Verdict Review The Guns Of Navarone Collector s Edition DVD Verdict Widescreen Museum The CinemaScope Wing 7 CinemaScope 55 70mm Blow Up List 1966 by In70mm com Archived from the original on 2011 09 27 Retrieved 2011 09 23 Crowther Bosley 1966 02 02 Minstrel Show Othello Radical Makeup Marks Olivier s Interpretation The New York Times Retrieved 2011 09 23 70mm films in Mexico In70mm com 2005 06 12 Archived from the original on 2011 09 27 Retrieved 2011 09 23 70mm Blow Up List 1968 by in70mm com 70mm Blow Up List 1973 by in70mm com Nicholas and Alexandra 1971 via www imdb com Nicholas and Alexandra 1971 IMDb In Old Chicago DVD Talk 70mm Blow Up List 1978 by in70mm com 70mm Blow Up List 1979 by in70mm com DVD Verdict Review Jaws DVD Verdict Gandhi 1982 IMDb via www imdb com Scarface 1983 IMDb via www imdb com Intermission The pause that refreshes Just like old days long film has break old post gazette com McClintock Pamela 2006 11 06 D Works takes Girls on road Daily Variety Retrieved 2006 11 06 Tarantino s The Hateful Eight Resurrects Nearly Obsolete Technology New York Times December 11 2015 Kevin Jagernauth 12 June 2015 The Hateful Eight Sets Christmas Day Release 2 Week 70 The Playlist The Playlist Patrick Hipes 12 June 2015 Hateful Eight To Hit Theaters Christmas Day In 70MM Deadline Deadline Hollywood Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Roadshow theatrical release amp oldid 1207571505, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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