"What's On" with Udo Heimansberg |
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| Written by: Udo Heimansberg, Dusseldorf, Germany | Date: 20.11.2015 |
 "The
Jolson Story" What's on 15. August 1969Looking 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. |
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 |
 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 197170MM: "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 CinemasClick to see enlargement |
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 5.
February 1971, "Cromwell" in 70mmClick to see enlargement |
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 1971,
"Kelly's Heroes" in 70mmClick to see enlargement |
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 1971
Rank CinemasClick 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 70mmClick to see enlargement |
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 3.
March 1972,
Rank West EndClick 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 70mmClick 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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