|
|
Post by snsurone on Mar 29, 2020 0:59:02 GMT
There was the main feature, the second feature (usually a B-picture or programmer), a newsreel, a cartoon, a travelogue, and perhaps other items.
Well, that's all gone now.
The availability of television in post-WWII America was a costly blow to the movie industry.
Sacrifices had to be made, and major studios were forced to close down their departments that made short films, animation, etc.
Eventually, the studios were forced to sell much of their output to TV, particularly the cheap programmer Westerns and cartoons that made for the Saturday matinee kiddie trade.
And studios themselves were taken over by major business corporations.
And then--movies were released first on videotape, then on DVD, and then via streaming and Netflix.
IMHO, the movie theater will eventually go the way of the dinosaur!
Whatever became of Radio City Music Hall, the premiere cinema emporium?
Is anyone else here old enough to remember the ways films were shown in theaters?
|
|
|
|
Post by london777 on Mar 29, 2020 3:32:29 GMT
In post-WWII England they always played the National Anthem after the final showing of the evening. So as the words "The End" came up on the screen (or a bit earlier) there was a mad rush for the exit, leaving a minority standing to attention. My parents compromised. If they could get out fast enough they would, but if they were caught by the opening drum-roll they froze at attention as if bewitched.
There were five cinemas in our town of 30,000 pop. There were usually three programmes (main feature, B-Picture, newsreel and cartoon - no travelogue for us poor Brits) and members of the audience would enter at any point and (usually) leave once they reached the point in the cycle where they came in, though they could if they so wished sit there and see the whole programme up to three times for as little as one shilling and threepence (about US 7 cents). That is why Paramount's "gimmick" with Psycho was so brave, and I think it did initiate a change of habits.
|
|
|
|
Post by marianne48 on Mar 29, 2020 3:47:56 GMT
I remember seeing a Chilly Willy cartoon and an info-short about the circus before the main feature (Yours, Mine and Ours in 1969~a "second run" showing) when I was six years old at the Brook Theatre in Bound Brook, NJ. I don't see movies in theaters anymore, but that theater is still there as a historic landmark; every year it shows a Lon Chaney film with organ accompaniment.
I got to see a couple of movies at the Radio City Music Hall, complete with live holiday shows--puppets, Rockettes and all.
|
|
|
|
Post by snsurone on Mar 29, 2020 11:48:34 GMT
In post WWII England they always played the National Anthem after the final showing of the evening. So as the words "The End" came up on the screen (or a bit earlier) there was a mad rush for the exit, leaving a minority standing to attention. My parents compromised. If they could get out fast enough they would, but if they were caught by the opening drum-roll they froze at attention as if bewitched. There were five cinemas in our town of 30,000 pop. There were usually three programmes (main feature, B-Picture, newsreel and cartoon - no travelogue for us poor Brits) and members of the audience would enter at any point and (usually) leave once they reached the point in the cycle where they came in, though they could if they so wished sit there and see the whole programme up to three times for as little as one shilling and threepence (about US 7 cents). That is why Paramount's "gimmick" with Psycho was so brave, and I think it did initiate a change of habits. London, my parents were just like the audiences you mentioned. Whenever we went to the movies, we would enter about midway through the film, and then leave after the first part was shown. How I hated that! When I finally moved away, I made it a point of seeing a movie from beginning to end in one sitting. BTW, Hitch was a genius.
|
|
|
|
Post by politicidal on Mar 30, 2020 4:34:43 GMT
The closest we got now are the 'First Look' bits for some lame show I'm never gonna watch. But I guess Maria Menounos needs honest work outside of "wrestling".
|
|
|
|
Post by Prime etc. on Mar 30, 2020 5:30:46 GMT
Good ol Chilly Willy.
I recall seeing some Ant and the Aardvark and Tijuana Toads cartoons at the drive-in.
I think a lot of the variety stuff continued in drive-ins.
And since there are drive-ins that get new 35 mm prints of 50 year old movies struck I suspect they could last for decades.
A giant screen is just a better way to see a movie.
But theatrical cartoons were getting cheaper by the 60s.
Pink Panther and other ones had cheaper animation than what they were doing in the 30s and 40s.
Let's all go to the lobby to get ourselves a treat.
|
|
|
|
Post by TheOriginalPinky on Mar 30, 2020 14:17:37 GMT
As a kid growing up in the 50's and 60's, I remember that for 50 cents on a Saturday, you could see a couple of shorts, two cartoons, the feature film and the secondary film, and could sit through it as long as you wanted. Great way to spend a Saturday!!
Radio City Music Hall is now a venue that hosts entertainment shows and concerts. It was the only way it could stay viable. And Pace University hosts its commencement ceremony there as well.
|
|
|
|
Post by mikef6 on Mar 30, 2020 19:03:55 GMT
As a kid growing up in the 50's and 60's, I remember that for 50 cents on a Saturday, you could see a couple of shorts, two cartoons, the feature film and the secondary film, and could sit through it as long as you wanted. Great way to spend a Saturday!! Radio City Music Hall is now a venue that hosts entertainment shows and concerts. It was the only way it could stay viable. And Pace University hosts its commencement ceremony there as well. That's how I grew up, too. Along with the cartoons, shorts (usually a newsreel, youngsters, see Citizen Kane for an example), if I was lucky, a serial chapter. My neighborhood theater never seemed to run the same serial. All that "SEE chapter four (or whatever) next week at this theater" didn't count where I bought my ticket. That was fine with me. I got to sample different cliffhangers. We would go into the theater at 9 on a Saturday morning and come out after noon blinking in the sunlight. I would buy Junior Mints and Milk Duds.
|
|
|
|
Post by TheOriginalPinky on Mar 30, 2020 19:24:12 GMT
As a kid growing up in the 50's and 60's, I remember that for 50 cents on a Saturday, you could see a couple of shorts, two cartoons, the feature film and the secondary film, and could sit through it as long as you wanted. Great way to spend a Saturday!! Radio City Music Hall is now a venue that hosts entertainment shows and concerts. It was the only way it could stay viable. And Pace University hosts its commencement ceremony there as well. That's how I grew up, too. Along with the cartoons, shorts (usually a newsreel, youngsters, see Citizen Kane for an example), if I was lucky, a serial chapter. My neighborhood theater never seemed to run the same serial. All that "SEE chapter four (or whatever) next week at this theater" didn't count where I bought my ticket. That was fine with me. I got to sample different cliffhangers. We would go into the theater at 9 on a Saturday morning and come out after noon blinking in the sunlight. I would buy Junior Mints and Milk Duds. Yep. And it was one BIG theater. The one I loved was converted into a 4-plex, and it sucks because it used to be a beautiful theater with a wonderful balcony. My favorite snack was chocolate nonparallels or Raisinettes.
|
|
|
|
Post by divtal on Mar 30, 2020 19:45:34 GMT
That's how I grew up, too. Along with the cartoons, shorts (usually a newsreel, youngsters, see Citizen Kane for an example), if I was lucky, a serial chapter. My neighborhood theater never seemed to run the same serial. All that "SEE chapter four (or whatever) next week at this theater" didn't count where I bought my ticket. That was fine with me. I got to sample different cliffhangers. We would go into the theater at 9 on a Saturday morning and come out after noon blinking in the sunlight. I would buy Junior Mints and Milk Duds. Yep. And it was one BIG theater. The one I loved was converted into a 4-plex, and it sucks because it used to be a beautiful theater with a wonderful balcony. My favorite snack was chocolate nonparallels or Raisinettes. The theater in my neighborhood in San Francisco didn't even make it to 4-plex status. It's now a gigantic supermarket, with a huge parking lot. I was never big on the serials, but I loved seeing the two features. Twice a year, the theater would run " 21 cartoons!" on a Saturday. Many of those cartoons were my introduction to the classic film stars. They would feature "stars" with exaggerated features ... Katharine Hepburn's cheekbones/voice, Peter Lorre's eyes/accent, etc.. My favorite treat was a Mounds bar.
|
|
