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"What's On" with Udo Heimansberg |
Read more at in70mm.com The 70mm Newsletter
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Written by: Udo
Heimansberg, Dusseldorf, Germany |
Date:
20.11.2015 |
"The
Jolson Story" What's on 15. August 1969
Looking through a collection of old dust covered boxes I've found some older
"What's On" issues from my trips to
London in 1969 and 1971/72.
My first trip to London was in August 1969. Of course my main reason was not
at all sightseeing but visiting record shops to buy soundtrack albums and
going to the movies, especially those running 70mm films. I didn't care much
about “Swinging London”- which I regret today…
The first film I saw was MONTE CARLO OR BUST at the Plaza. I asked at the
box office if this is in 70mm and, after asking the projectionist, I was
told "it's 35 mag”…. Anyway, it was a big screen and sounded great in 4
track magnetic! I went to see GONE WITH THE WIND at the Odeon Marble Arch,
ICE STATION ZEBRA at the
Casino Cinerama and OLIVER! at the Leicester Square
Theatre. Due to lack of time I missed THE LONGEST DAY at the
Dominion,
KRAKATOA at the Astoria (“London's Newest Cinerama Theatre!”) and THE JOLSON
STORY at the Metropole. All in 70mm in one week….
So I decided in 1971 to come
back, but this time spending more time. In about 14 days my girlfriend and I
went to the movies twice a day, seeing films in 70mm like SCROOGE
(Dominion), PAINT YOUR WAGON (Astoria), CROMWELL (Odeon Marble Arch),
RYAN'S DAUGHTER (Empire), BECKET (Plaza), SONG OF NORWAY (Casino Cinerama)
as well as one stage show (CANTERBURY TALES) and some 35mm-films like 10 RILLINGTON PLACE at the Columbia (now Curzon) and a re-release of
WEST SIDE
STORY in a suburb theatre. (Now, due to my girlfriend, I experienced more
from “Swinging London”, but that was already commercialized and somewhat
fading!)
We came back again in 1973,
this time with less 70mm options. BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS at the Odeon
Marble Arch was full stereophonic sound, but 35mm, as was THE MUSIC LOVERS
at the Odeon Haymarket, MACBETH at the Metropole, CLOCKWORK ORANGE at Warner
West End and McCABE AND MRS. MILLER at the Warner Rendezvous. Another Ken
Russell film in 35mm 4 track magnetic we saw at the
Empire: THE BOY FRIEND.
So what about 70mm? There was FIDDLER ON THE ROOF at the Dominion, which we
saw twice, NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRA at the Leicester Square Theatre, ZULU at
the Casino Cinerama and Charlton Heston's ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA at the
Astoria.
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More in 70mm reading:
Visiting 70MM Cinemas of London's West
End, September 1990
The Golden Age of 70mm
70mm Film
Presentations in London, England 1958 - 2014
70mm at the Odeon Leicester
Sq, London
Empire, Leicester Sq., London
The Casino in London
Dominion, London English
Birthplace of Todd-AO
The music of BENJAMIN FRANKEL
Das Vergessene Tal In
Innsbruck
Tonhallen
We saw NAPOLEON on Sunday in
Amsterdam
Internet link:
Metropol Düsseldorfer Filmkunstkino GmbH
HRB 34556, Amtsgericht Düsseldorf
Germany
filmkunstkinos.de
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Here
is MONTE CARLO OR BUST, although it's only 35mm and 4 track magnetic. But it
was my first cinema visit in London. A beautiful cinema where I saw BECKET
in 70mm one year later.
Times had changed and after the success of EASY RIDER more films for younger
audiences filled the screens. In 1972 these were THE LAST PICTURE SHOW,
M*A*S*H*, FAMILY LIFE, THE FRENCH CONNECTION, CLOCKWORK ORANGE and many
others, mentioned above, very good ones, but there was no need for 70mm.
A lot of cinemas, like the Cameo Victoria, ran movies like NAUGHTY KNICKERS,
THE STUDENT NURSES, LABYRINTH OF SEX or THE NOVICES, sometimes not even in
35mm, which may not be that important for the quality of this kind of film.
I went to London from time to time up to 1999 (STAR WARS EPISODE ONE at the
Odeon Leicester Square), but the golden days of movie palaces and 70mm were
gone.
At the Odeon Leicester Sq, I saw MURPHY's WAR with Peter O'Toole, only
35mm but with a live-cinema-organ performance before the films started. This
was the first and last time in my life. Those were the days…
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Those Magnificent Old Adverts
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What's On 29. January 1971, "Ryan's
Daughter" in 70mm
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What's
On 5. February 1971
70MM:
"Cromwell"
"Paint Your Wagon"
"Scrooge"
"Waterloo"
Click to see enlargement
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What's On 5 February 1971,
"Song of Norway" in 70mm at the Casino
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22.
January 1971 "Becket" in 70mm
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5.
February 1971
London Classic Cinemas
Click to see enlargement
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5.
February 1971, "Cromwell" in 70mm
Click to see enlargement
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1971,
"Kelly's Heroes" in 70mm
Click to see enlargement
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1971
Rank Cinemas
Click to see the enlargement
Playing in 70mm:
"Cromwell"
"Gone With the Wind"
"Paint Your Wagon"
"Scrooge"
"Waterloo"
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3.
March 1972 "Anthony and Cleopatra" in 70mm
Click to see enlargement
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3.
March 1972,
Rank West End
Click to see enlargement
Playing in 70mm:
"Fiddler on the Roof"
"Antony and Cleopatra"
"Nicholas and Alexandra"
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What's On 3 March 1972,
"Zulu" in 70mm at the Casino
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What's
On 11. May 1973, "The
Bridge on the River Kwai" in 70mm
Click to see enlargement
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The
legendary INDIANA JONES Double Bill at the Odeon Marble Arch in 70mm, 1985
in London, - yes, it's me standing beside the poster wall...
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RETURN
TO OZ, 1985 at the Leicester Square Theatre. (Note the small "70mm" on the
left side of the marquee)
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2017: Super 8mm screen shots from 1971
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Here
are some screenshots from my visit in London in 1971!
These are from Super 8mm!
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28-07-24 |
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