“Almost like a real web site”
 

IN7OMM.COM
Search | Contact
News | e-News
Rumour Mill | Stories
Foreign Language
Auf Deutsch

WHAT'S ON IN 7OMM?

7OMM FESTIVAL
Karlsruhe | Gentofte
Krnov | Varnsdorf
Banská Bystrica
Oslo | Bradford

TODD-AO PROCESS
Films | Premiere
People | Equipment
Library | Cinemas
Distortion Correcting
DP70 / AAII Projector
 

VISION, SCOPE & RAMA
1926 Natural Vision
1929 Grandeur
1930 Magnifilm
1930 Realife
1930 Vitascope
1952 Cinerama
1953 CinemaScope
1953 Panavison
1954 VistaVision
1955 Todd-AO
1955 Circle Vision 360
1956 CinemaScope 55
1957 Ultra Panavision 70
1958 Cinemiracle
1958 Kinopanorama
1959 Super Panavision 70
1959 Super Technirama 70
1960 Smell-O-Vision
1961 Sovscope 70
1962
Cinerama 360
1962 MCS-70
1963 70mm Blow Up
1963 Circarama
1963 Circlorama
1966 Dimension 150
1966
Stereo-70
1967 DEFA 70
1967 Pik-A-Movie
1970 IMAX / Omnimax
1974 Cinema 180
1974 SENSURROUND
1976 Dolby Stereo
1984 Showscan
1984 Swissorama
1986 iWERKS
1989 ARRI 765
1990 CDS
1994 DTS / Datasat
2001 Super Dimension 70
2018 Magellan 65

Various Large format | 70mm to 3-strip | 3-strip to 70mm | Specialty Large Format | Special Effects in 65mm | ARC-120 | Early Large Format
7OMM Premiere in Chronological Order

7OMM ON EARTH

Australia | Brazil | Canada | China | Denmark | England | France | Germany | Holland | India | Iran | Israel | Ireland | Mexico | Norway | Poland |  Russia | Spain | Sweden | Turkey | USA |

LIBRARY
7OMM Projectors
People | Eulogy
65mm/70mm Workshop
The 7OMM Newsletter
Back issue | PDF
Academy of the WSW

7OMM NEWS
• 2026 | 2025 | 2024
2023 | 2022 | 2021
2020 | 2019 | 2018
2017 | 2016 | 2015
2014 | 2013 | 2012
2011 | 2010 | 2009
2008 | 2007 | 2006
2005 | 2004 | 2003
2002 | 2001 | 2000
1999 | 1998 | 1997
1996 | 1995 | 1994
 

in70mm.com Mission:
• To record the history of the large format movies and the 70mm cinemas as remembered by the people who worked with the films. Both during making and during running the films in projection rooms and as the audience, looking at the curved screen.
in70mm.com, a unique internet based magazine, with articles about 70mm cinemas, 70mm people, 70mm films, 70mm sound, 70mm film credits, 70mm history and 70mm technology. Readers and fans of 70mm are always welcome to contribute.

Disclaimer | Updates
Support us | Staff
Testimonials
Table of Content
 

 
 
Extracts and longer parts of in70mm.com may be reprinted with the written permission from the editor.
Copyright © 1800 - 2070. All rights reserved.

Visit biografmuseet.dk about Danish cinemas

 

3 Falke Bio, Kinopalæet and Imperial Bio
Three Great Danish 70mm Cinemas

Read more at
in70mm.com
The 70mm Newsletter
Written by: Thomas Hauerslev. This article was first published in Cinema Technology, December 2002. Reprinted with permission from Jim Slater.  Date July, 22, 2003
Re-run of "Guns of Navarone" at Imperial Bio (7.7.1975-7.8.1975), when I was only 12.

The past 20+ years, many people have regarded one cinema in Copenhagen as the most luxurious cinema ever built in Denmark - The Imperial.
Imperial Bio, still state-of-the-art, is the benchmark to which many cinemas are compared. The audience today are probably not aware that, 40 years ago, when the Imperial opened, there were actually several cinemas of similar standard. 

I recall seeing a re-run of "The Guns of Navarone" in 1973 (age 10) at Imperial and being VERY impressed by the grandeur and spectacle it had offer. A few years later I discovered its two siblings, the "
3 Falke Bio" and the "Kinopalæet" and the trio became my favorite cinemas. Unfortunately, the siblings closed in the early 1980s. This is the story of a trilogy of cinemas, all purpose-built for 70mm with huge auditoriums and very wide screens.

• Go to 70mm, Cinerama and Cinemiracle shown in Denmark
• Go to 70mm Cinemas in Denmark and the first 70mm film

In the 1950s, the municipal management of Frederiksberg, a borough inside Copenhagen, realized that the city was growing and a new City Hall would be needed. The demolition of the old building made way to build the "Falconercenter" - a modern hotel, concert, conference and cinema complex with shops and restaurants. The architect was Ole Hagen (1913 - 1984) and his work was revolutionary for its time. He built an 18-floor hotel with a 1200-person conference centre/music theatre and a 1000 seat cinema. The cinema became the 3 Falke Bio and it was the first cinema in Scandinavia built to Todd-AO specifications. At about the same time, also in Frederiksberg Ole Hagen was commissioned to build the 17 floor Codan Insurance Company high-rise. Behind this huge building, he planned the Kinopalæet with 1223 seats. Kinopalæet was rebuilt 2½ years later to accommodate 3-strip Cinerama which premiered there in 1962.

In the city of Copenhagen, quite near to the Town Hall square, the Imperial complex took form in the late 1959. It was a massive building with a large 4-star hotel with 160+ rooms, offices, car park and a cinema. In the space of three years, 3 gigantic exclusively designed cinemas had been opened, and they were all built for 70mm with huge curved screens. Imperial was reviewed in several magazines including the article "Imperial Bio - Design for Copenhagen" (IDEAL KINEMA, April 12, 1962) where it was described it as "The most modern and best designed cinema in Europe". 3 Falke Bio was awarded a bronze plaque by the "Committee for awarding good and beautiful buildings in Frederiksberg" November 1, 1961. It was Danish design at it's very best. 
More in 70mm reading:

70mm Cinemas and Film in Denmark

PDF: Three Great Danish 70mm Cinemas

Imperial Bio - Design for Copenhagen

Imperial Bio, Copenhagen, Denmark

3 Falke Bio, Copenhagen, Denmark - The First Todd-AO Theatre in Scandinavia

Kinopalæet Super Cinerama in Denmark

 

Box Office and Foyer Areas

 
The Kinopalæet on Gammel Kongevej in December 1979. Picture: Thomas Hauerslev

The Imperial and Kinopalæet box offices were located nearly on the sidewalk whereas 3 Falke Bio, not even on the main road, was "hidden away" in a courtyard, sharing the taxi kiss-and-ride entrance with the hotel and concert venue. For years 3 Falke's audience complained about standing outside in the rain and snow buying their tickets. The problem wasn't solved until 1986, 4 years after the closure, fortunately when the entire courtyard was covered with a glass roof. Additionally the 3 Falke Bio foyer was quite small and in fact not designed for 1000 guests. It was a major design error and it plagued the cinema for years during intermissions. Kinopalæet and Imperial offered the audience the comfort of air conditioned indoor ticket sale. At Imperial the customer proceeded inside the high-ceiling main vestibule and met a huge 24 carat gold wall, film poster displays, a kiosk/sweetshop and restrooms. From the lower vestibule a very wide marble staircase let the audience upstairs to the upper foyer and the bar. The cinema was on top of the whole foyer. At Kinopalæet after showing your ticket in the vestibule a staircase would guide you two floors up to the main foyer with a bar, restrooms, and the kiosk/sweetshop. The stairs and foyer floor was carpeted unlike the Imperial (marble) and the 3 Falke (Linoleum). The foyer was considerably larger than 3 Falke's when it was apparent how troublesome a small foyer could be. Walls were covered in oak or teak wooden panels. In the far end a spiral staircase let upstairs to projection, which was right on top of the foyer. Two wide doors let the audience into the theatre. There were cloakrooms at Imperial and 3 Falke Bio, but I cannot recall any at Kinopalæet. There probably were, but had possibly been discontinued by the time I started to seeing films there.
 

The Auditoria

 
Vintage newspaper adverts from bygone days, when adverts design actually made you want to go and see the film.

Although all three cinemas were big and spectacular they were quite different from each other. The 3 Falke Bio and Kinopalæet, designed by the same architect, were both intimate, due to the dark color scheme used in the foyer and cinema. The Imperial never had this feeling of intimacy because of the use of marble, steel and a brighter color scheme. And with 1521 seats, Imperial was considerably larger than 3 Falke Bio and Kinopalæet. Seating in Imperial was fan shaped on a floor, which sloped up towards the projection room. The original seats were specifically designed for Imperial and stayed until 1987 when French Quinette seats were brought in. In 1998 new specifically designed Norwegian Skeie "Imperial" seats were installed. All seats have remained red throughout the years though the number of seats declined because the seats were made larger.

When I was young I always sat in the last row enjoying this "ocean of chairs" in front of me with the screen in the background. In later years I preferred moving towards the middle of the cinema to get a "wrap around" feeling from the screen. The only flaw of Imperial was perhaps the screen, which is always viewed up from the floor, i.e., you look upwards. Seating in 3 Falke bio remained more or less unchanged for all 24 years. The layout was 11 rows on the floor with a easy slope. The remaining 17 rows were on a terrace which sloped quickly up towards projection level. Sitting on row 12 or 13 the view to the screen was absolutely fantastic as you were looking straight into it. Sitting in front of the massive Todd-AO screen was spectacular to say the least. I never got the same feeling of being "in the picture" at Kinopalæet or Imperial.

Kinopalæet originally had 1223 seats, but that number was reduced during it's Cinerama days in 1962/63 to around a 1000 seats. In 1972 the layout was again changed to 976 extremely comfortable specially designed chairs. By far the best chair I've ever sat in. I even have 4 of those chairs at home, using one of them in my home cinema. In short, 3 Falke Bio had the best view to the screen, the best seats were at Kinopalæet and the most grandiose experience was at Imperial.
 

Projection Equipment

 
From the nostalgic to present day. "Joker" in 70mm at the Imperial Bio in 2019. Picture: Thomas Hauerslev

All three cinemas had a pair of DP70s installed. Kinopalæet started out with the Bauer U2 which they later dropped in favour of the Philips masterpiece. Apparently the management wasn't satisfied with the Bauer equipment and wanted the DP70 instead. Kinopalæet also had a love affair with 3-strip Cinerama and the Century machines. 3 Falke Bio and Imperial were also equipped with a Philips FP56 for adverts and trailers. The Imperial even had a fourth projector, a Leitz 16mm. The Leitz machine stayed until 1998 and was used less than a 100 hours. Bauer Co. also tried to sell U2s to Imperial, but the DP70 was chosen instead.

The 70mm projection lenses of 3 Falke were the American Optical Cine Apergon Todd-AO lenses. A fabulous set of lenses, which stayed with the cinema until closure. ISCO's lenses were installed at Kinopalæet and Imperial. When Kinopalæet discontinued 3-strip Cinerama (1963), a pair of the massive ISCO 87,5mm T-Kiptagons with a magnifier were installed to project 70mm on the Cinerama screen. A regular set of 100mm ISCO lenses were used at Imperial until 1992, when a new set of ISCO's 99mm Ultra Star lenses were brought in. Around 1975 a Kinoton ST270 was installed at 3 Falke. The non rewind system never became particular popular and was ultimately removed. The platter is still in use, however, but now at the Palads, #9. Imperial also got platters in 1987.

All three cinemas originally had 5 sound channels behind the screen and numerous surround speakers. New amplifiers and speakers for 35mm Dolby optical stereo sound were introduced during 1979 in all three cinemas. In 1987, when a CP200 and 70mm Dolby was installed at Imperial, however, it was reconfigured for 3 stage channels. And in 1998 all 5 stage channels came back, being installed for SDDS. Since 1979, JBL speakers have been at Imperial making it the largest JBL cinema installation in Denmark.
 

Repertoire

 
Kinopalæet was the only 3-strip CINERAMA cinema in Denmark. Opened with "Seven Wonders of the World", 31. August 1962

"South Pacific" was the opening movie at the 3 Falke. Todd-AO made quite an impact in those days and 782.710 people saw the film in 201 weeks. It was THE 70mm house of Denmark and even hosted a couple of 70mm premieres for all Europe ("Where Eagles Dare" and "Gone With the Wind"). During the first 9 years 3 Falke premiered around 20 films (12 in 70mm). 92% of the BO return came from the 70mm films! The seventies proved to be more difficult and films changed very often, compared to the previous decade. Only 6 films stayed on 3 Falke Bio´s vast canvas for more than 3 months from 1970 until closure in 1982. "The Godfather" (9 months), "The Great Gatsby" (5 months), "Hello, Dolly!", "Kelly's Heroes" and "Earthquake" (all 4 months), "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (3 months).

Kinopalæet opened with a Danish comedy, "Far til 4 på Bornholm" in 35mm mono. The owner of the cinema was ASA Film Studios, and they made the obvious choice and opened with their latest product. A handful of Cinerama films were shown on the huge 29 meter curve. Cinerama was a disaster in Denmark and it stayed only for 14 months. With the exception of "2001:a space odyssey" (premiered at the Rialto on an almost flat screen) 70mm films were obviously premiered at Kinopalæet "in Cinerama". Like the 3 Falke Bio, the 1970s proved to be difficult for a large cinema like the Kinopalæet. There were many successes like "What's up Doc?" and films starring the likes of James Bond, Clint Eastwood and Charles Bronson. Even Sensurround was installed for "Rollercoaster". During the summer of 1976, '78, '79 and '80, a cavalcade of all James Bond movies were shown (a new film every week) and during the summer of 1972 (16. June - 13. August)) a "Cavalcade of Giants" was shown before the louvered screen was removed. That included whatever was available of the old classic 70mm films. 22 of the most popular film from Kinopalæet's repertoire - mostly in 70mm. A new film every third day. But despite a very expensive refurbishment in 1972, Kinopalæet's days were numbered.

Imperial Bio opened with "Exodus" in 70mm which stayed less than two months making it only a modest success. The cinema has done remarkably well during the past 40 years, the audience appreciates the Imperial, and so the rumor goes some attend no matter what film is shown! The cinema has been the premiere venue for nearly 25 years. I think the turning point came with "Star Wars" December 26 ,1977. It played for 4 months. Since then many of the biggest Hollywood productions have opened here and quite often celebrity guests have visited. Two of the longest runs were "Out of Africa" (9 months) in 1986 and "Titanic" (for 11 weeks) in 1998.

Imperial was about to be rebuilt into 5 screen in the summer of 1983, but the plans never materialized as Nordisk Film bought the Sandberg Group. The takeover put an end to rebuilding plans. Nordisk Film quickly realized the potential of Imperial, and spent a lot of money for new sound, seats and maintenance through the 1980s and 90s. Just about every possible piece of 70mm and 35mm sound and projection equipment has been installed. 

 

Epilogue

 
More than 100 cinemas have opened and closed in Copenhagen during the past 100 years. Much as I like this trio of cinemas, there are 97 other stories to be told. To this day only the Imperial Bio has survived, but perhaps this situation could have been different. As early as 1971/2, there were plans to rebuild Kinopalæet into three screens. Two "art" cinemas were supposed to have been built in the rear of the cinema, retaining the large screen, but the plans were never executed. It's my firm belief that if Kinopalæet was rebuilt, it would probably never have closed. In the fall of 2001 the building was demolished after 20 years extra service as an office block. The rubble was reused as support for new roads. Just think of it; you could be driving on the remains of Kinopalæet.

3 Falke Bio closed because of mismanagement, terrible programming, lack of distributor support and ultimately lack of audience. The closure was a real shame but the auditorium itself has survived (with little change) for 20 odd years as a concert venue. I feel fortunate that I was trained as a projectionist at 3 Falke and took pictures 20 years ago. A few years later I also ran films at the Imperial for some 7 years. It was a privilege; a great "toy" and I had a ball. Being born in 1963, I never experienced the heydays of 70mm when first run films were "always" presented in 6-track magnetic stereo on big curved screens. I can get the feeling, however, with this interest for the three big 70mm cinemas of Copenhagen.

It's sad to see modern "design" of cinemas when I compare it with what they could do 40-50 years ago. Many contemporary cinemas look cheap to me, oversized cardboard boxes thrown up in a hurry with a shovel and a hammer. For me 3 Falke, Kinopalæet and Imperial are truly unique, and designers could learn a great deal by looking back in time. Sadly, most of our Danish cinema heritage has been rebuilt or demolished in the name of progress. Imperial is one of the very few remaining original cinemas from an era (nearly) gone with the wind. 
 

70mm and Cinerama Premieres

 

3 Falke Bio

Kinopalæet

Imperial Bio

• South Pacific
• The Miracle of Todd-AO s)
• Porgy and Bess
• Oklahoma!
• The March of Todd-AO s)
• Mutiny on the Bounty
• Lawrence of Arabia
• Becket
• My Fair Lady
• The Bible...in the Beginning *)
• The Dirty Dozen
• Doctor Dolittle
• The Comedians
• Gone With The Wind
• Where Eagles Dare
• Funny Girl
• Goodbye, Mr. Chips
• Ice Station Zebra
• Hello, Dolly!
• Kelly's Heroes
• Waterloo
• That's Entertainment
• Earthquake **)
• Logan's Run
• Close Encounters of the Third
Kind

*) Dimension 150
**) Sensurround
s) Short
 
• Solomon and Sheba
• Spartacus
• Seven Wonders of the World *)
• How the West Was Won *)
• Cinerama South Seas
Adventure *)
• The Wonderful World of the
Brothers Grimm *)
• Cinerama Holiday *)
• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad
World
• The Fall of the Roman Empire
• Circus World
• Cheyenne Autumn
• The Greatest Story Ever Told
• The Hallelujah Trail
• The Agony and the Ecstasy
• Michelangelo s)
• The Great Race
• Shellarama s)
• Battle of the Bulge
• Khartoum
• Grand Prix
• Custer of the West
• Star!
• Krakatoa, East of Java
• Oliver!

*) Cinerama
s) Short
 
• Exodus
• El Cid
• West Side Story
• Barabbas
• Le Corsaire s)
• Cleopatra
• Operation Crossbow
• Those Magnificent Men in their
Flying Machines
• The Sound of Music
• The Sand Pebbles
• Camelot
• MacKenna's Gold
• Elvis, That's the Way It Is
• Brainstorm
• 2010
• Out of Africa
• Lawrence of Arabia *)
• Hook
• Spartacus *)
• Far and Away
• Baraka
• Titanic
• The Master
• Interstellar
• The Hateful Eight
• Dunkrik
• Murder on the Orient Express
• Joker
• Tenet

*) Restoration
 
 
   
Go: back - top - back issues
Updated 28-07-24