ADVENTURES IN RUNNING A MOVIE THEATRE!!

PART ONE: HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO RUN A MOVIE THEATRE?

In 1979 Disada was asked to manage, program and run a movie theatre.
For a lifelong movie buff like me, this was a fantastic opportunity.
The theatre in question was a downtown theatre, the old movie palace
The Alouette, that opened in 1952. It was one of the largest, at l,156
seats. The screen was huge. I remember it took almost a minute to walk
from one end of it to the other. It had class and was a special place
to show special films. The big reserved seat movies played there-
Around the World in 80 Days, Ben-Hur, West Side Story, Cleopatra, My
Fair Lady etc. You bought your tickets in advance at the boxoffice or
by mail. Prices were high- a Saturday night ticket for West Side Story
(1961) was $1.50. You would mail in your money and get your ticket(s)
by return mail.

For me, this was a special theatre. It was at the corner of Bleury and
Sainte Catherine Streets. A major downtown intersection. Beside it was
a restaurant where I worked on summer holidays from school when I was
thirteen and Ben-Hur was playing for about a year. The manager and
staff of the theatre would come to the restaurant next door so I got
to know them. They would let me in the theatre at any time and I made
sure I took my lunch break (and a sandwich) every afternoon in the
theatre timing it to see the chariot race every day. It is still one
of the best film sequences I think. I would visit the projection booth
and talk to the projectionist about his job and film in general.

In the 1960s when I made a live-action feature film we needed a large
theatre in which to stage a gala event for the climax of the suspense
film. We used the Alouette theatre which was ideal for the many seats,
the big lobby and so on. Actors and extras must have looked strange
going into the theatre in the early morning in gowns and tuxedos, and
we had to be out by the time the matinee showing of Dr. Zhivago began.

Some interesting side stories : the theatre would check the prints
that came in, but didn't prescreen them at its theatre, they would be
screened up the street at the Cinerama theatre! I saw films like My
Fair Lady and Ben-Hur on a return engagement projected in Cinerama.
They weren't to be shown in Cinerama of course, and the image was
gigantic and partly out of proportion, but I recall seeing the crowds
in the chariot race so large you could now tell which were mannequins.

After Cleopatra opened, at about four hours long, the distributor
decided the film was too long and would play better shortened. They
sent someone with a list of cuts and I was there in the projection
booth when the projectionist cut the film down, the exact feet and
frames to be cut from various reels specified. It had to be done in
the presence of the rep who took away the discarded scenes. I had seen
the film in its original length and had no problem seeing the very
long sequence of Cleopatra's entry into Rome, a majestic parade of
pomp, cut down. I was sorry to see a sequence between Caesar and
Cleopatra cut. In Ptolemy's tomb they discuss leadership and fame. It
was a literate scene, well written (as usual) by Joseph L, Mankiewicz,
but it wasn't sexy enough to survive. Nothing was cut of scenes with
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor as I recall. They were the item of
the day so they were of top importance. I always thought the movie
pretty well died when Caesar did.

TO BE CONTINUED