VistaVision on the Other Side of the Pond |
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| Written and photographed by: Jonathan Kleefield, M.D., Newton, MA, USA | Date: 16.10.2025 |
 Nick
standing near one of the xenon lamp houses. A few weeks ago, our editor emailed me that the nearby Coolidge Theatre, situated in Brookline, MA, USA, would be only one of four sites in the world hosting a genuine VistaVision presentation of the new Paul Thomas Anderson film, "One Battle After Another". However, it appears that another of our correspondents, Mark Trompeteler had previously seen the film at the Odeon Theatre, Leicester Square, London, UK, as manifested by an elegantly composed first part of his report, already published in this journal. Nevertheless, without having to cover the same ground, so to speak, I would like to offer my personal observations after viewing the motion picture this past weekend (5 October 2025). In a prior submission, I have provided a description of the overall layout of the Coolidge main theater, where film-based presentations are featured. This is called “Moviehouse 1.” It accommodates around 500 people, and has only a single level of extremely comfortable seating. The projection booth is on the same level, so there is no potential image keystoning. For the current film, two original VistaVision projectors were completely restored and installed by Boston Light and Sound, directed by Sean McKinnon. There was enough room in the small projection booth to place these two machines between the theater’s permanently installed Norelco AAIIs. As the film travels horizontally through the VistaVision projector head at double the normal speed for conventional 35mm film, namely, 180 feet per minute, rather than have supply and take up spools on the projector itself as originally designed, the film is wound on a very large reel, holding about 10,000 feet of film, one for each projector, placed against the back wall of the booth. A complex pathway of pulleys extending from these devices sends the film over the ceiling of the booth to and from each projector. The large spools allow the projectionist considerable respite, as only one changeover was needed, at one hour and twenty-six minutes into the film. This changeover, like all other aspects of the presentation, was flawless. Nick Lazzaro, the chief projectionist, was running the show, and he was absolutely meticulous in ensuring pin-sharp focus and perfect framing. As in London, the image was rock-steady, and flicker was rather minimal. A 7.1 channel double system sound source was employed, and Nick is to be praised for careful adjustment of the sound level. The soundtrack is a very complex mix of dialog, sound effects and a very innovative musical score. To be frank, I was more intrigued by the score than the film’s other content. |
More in 70mm reading: P T Anderson's "One Battle After Another" in VistaVision in70mm.com's page about VistaVision in70mm.com News Peripheral Vision, Scopes, Dimensions and Panoramas in70mm.com's Library Presented on the big screen in 7OMM 7OMM and Cinema Across the World Now showing in 70mm in a theatre near you! 70mm Retro - Festivals and Screenings |
 Part
of the complex path the film takes to the projectorAs noted above, Mr. McKinnon’s firm apparently restored these seventy year old projectors, and the pair I saw may have been the same ones used in last year’s Turner Classic Movies VistaVision Festival, held in Los Angeles. These very machines may also have been the same ones used for the premiere of the VistaVision format in 1954, showing “White Christmas” at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, USA. The story behind the creation and assembly of these machines is detailed in an article by Larry Davee, of the Century Projector Company, and is accessible by the following link, extracted from the invaluable internet website, Widescreenmuseum.com, created by the late Martin Hart and now preserved by his son. The article indicates that Paramount Pictures, the developer of VistaVision, gave Century only thirty days to build these projectors from scratch! The firm apparently met this seemingly impossible deadline, and miraculously, no major “bugs” surfaced. This article beautifully illustrates the special features of the horizontal projector gate, and indicated that the machine, like the Norelcos had provision for water and air cooling of the film to prevent heat damage, including buckling, that would make accurate and consistent focus impossible. The full frame of VistaVision matches 35mm still film, with an aspect ratio of 1.5:1. However, in the same website, there is a reproduction of a note from Adolph Zukor, the founder of Paramount Pictures, who stated that it was his firm’s preference to show such films with slight letterboxing of the frame, resulting in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, which is the same as modern flat screen televisions- how prophetic! At least for this film, there was no such cropping employed, so the image was more reminiscent of the old “Academy Ratio” of 1.33:1. |
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 The
horizontal projector head, the drive sprocket and one film loop.Before the film, Nick graciously gave me the “royal tour” of the projection booth, and I have attached a number of photos of Nick and his “kingdom.” Of particular interest is the projector gate region, where small loops of film on either side of the aperture must be properly formed to allow safe transport of the celluloid, not at all dissimilar to more conventional vertical projector designs. Despite the long, circuitous path the film takes from the large spools to the machines, I was amazed how free of any dust or scratches the images revealed- a tribute to the fastidious treatment given to it by Nick and his colleagues. By then, the film had been already shown several dozen times. The projector, when designed, strangely did not have provision for magnetic sound, but rather used the time-tested optical technology. Mr. Davee’s article states that because the film transited the projector at double the normal speed, it was capable of double the frequency response range, with a top end theoretically reaching 16,000 Hz, rather than the Academy-specified 8,000 Hz upper limit. Yet, there is no indication that the VistaVision prints would have had extended frequency range contained within them. Rather, the prints did have Perspecta encoding, which was a means for directing sound between speakers developed by the legendary Mercury Records recording engineer, Robert Fine. His system used three “subsonic” control tones which had the monaural sound shift according to the needs of the image towards one of three speaker systems. Thus, it was not stereophonic, as the music and other sound was recorded monaurally, and presumably this system was of greatest use in matching actor movement or sound effects across the screen. Some recent 4K releases of VistaVision films have the option of listening with the Perspecta sound track engaged, but as in the case of "Vertigo", fortunately the stereophonic music tracks of Bernard Herrmann’s legendary score were located and restored by Robert Harris over thirty years ago. The lighting sources for each projectors was a seven kW xenon lamphouse, and Nick indicated that he did not have to use the maximum light intensity available to achieve good screen brightness- I concur with him completely. |
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 Theatre
marqueeI found the film generally engaging, though for my taste, the continuous flow of expletives from the female revolutionary lead character did not endear me to her. Much of her gang’s activities mirrored the criminal behavior of the 1970’s Symbianese Liberation Army, which played a key role in the Patty Hearst kidnapping, including multiple bank robberies. In fact, the robbery sequence in the film closely resembles the bank camera photos released at the time of these events. Michael Bauman’s cinematography was generally excellent, with the format really shining when faces were photographed in close up perspective. My one objection is that the colorists were having their usual field day, with a number of scenes depicted with excessive blue and green tones. I find this kind of color “adjustment” un-natural, un-necessary to create a “mood,” and in general, quite distracting, but that’s only my personal observation. The more serious reservation I have is one I have voiced in previous posts in this journal. Projecting film on a screen seems to preclude achieving true black levels that are not even close to the velvet-like appearance derived from a current generation self-emissive screen, best exemplified by one of the OLED type or the latest generation LED displays. I proved this discrepancy exists by viewing "Oppenheimer" first in an IMAX 15/70 theatre, and then the same film on my 83” Sony OLED set using a 4K UHD disc placed in my Oppo 203 disc player. I pay particular attention to optimal adjustments of both the TV and the UHD player's picture and sound. As a dedicated amateur photographer, I believe that achieving a nearly absolute black appearance where the image requires it is critical to optimizing picture quality. Otherwise, the image loses its “snap,” with murky black areas reminiscent of the early generation of LCD screens making the image look “washed out.” I am told that there is an upcoming deployment of large LED screens that will be installed in some theatres shortly to address this known deficiency, but again in my opinion, I prefer my home viewing option for several reasons. For one, I can use subtitles when needed. Secondly, I can adjust the sound volume and tone to maximize speech discrimination for me. And most significantly, for a long movie such as this one, running two hours and fifty minutes without an intermission, it’s reassuring to have the “pause button” to momentarily stop the film if “nature calls,” which is not infrequent in an elderly person such as myself. I must admit I did enjoy the nostalgic feeling of witnessing a film with other interested patrons beside me, who behaved themselves in exemplary fashion- no distracting cell phone conversations or other rowdy behavior at all, and who seemed to enjoy the theatrical experience as much as I did. In that regard, I must express my sincere gratitude to Nick and his fellow staff members, all of whom did their best to make an afternoon at the Coolidge so pleasant, indeed! |
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More Pictures |
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 Movie
poster |
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 The
author basking in Nick’s paradise next to a xenon lamp house. |
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 Nick
Lazzaro hard at work |
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 One
of the custom designed film spool carriers. |
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 Nick
demonstrates the double system sound apparatus in its compact equipment
rack. |
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 The
curtain is drawn, revealing the logo image. |
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 Coolidge
Theatre Proscenium and Curtain. Note the beautiful Streamline Moderne
architecture. |
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issues Updated 09-07-26 |