Hello. Elston Gunn here.
If you're in Los Angeles Friday, December 19 through 23, there will be 70mm screenings of ALIEN, ALIENS, STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN, GREMLINS, REMAINS OF THE DAY, PINK FLOYD: THE WALL at the Laemmle Royal Theatre on Santa Monica Boulevard in West L.A. The 70/70 film series is a fundraising event of films shown in 70mm and in celebration of Laemmle Theatres 70th anniversary. All net proceeds go to American Diabetes Association-Los Angeles, AIDS Walk Los Angeles, Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic and Laemmle Theatre Charitable Foundation. For more information, visit www.laemmle.com.
Laemmle is a group of arthouse theaters in L.A. founded by Max and Kurt Laemmle in 1938 . The chain's many theaters are known for showing indie and foreign films. After Max's son, Robert, recently retired, Robert's son, Greg was handed the reins of the chain. Greg Laemmle took some time, along with series programmer/Laemmle projectionist Jerry Blackburn, to answer questions for AICN.
[Elston Gunn]: Greg, a hearty congratulations on the 70th anniversary of Laemmle Theatres. Your uncle and grandfather bought their first theater in 1938, so I would imagine that the movie business is so second nature to you. But what do movies and theaters mean to you beyond simply the family business? What are some of your favorite memories growing up in Laemmle Theatres?
[Greg Laemmle]: I fell in love with seeing movies well before I fell in love with the process of showing them. When I went off to college, I was all gung-ho about studying Marine Biology and beoming the next Jacques Cousteau. But at Berkeley, I fell in love with repertory cinema. It was the mid-80s, before the explosion of VHS (and later DVD) killed the repertory circuit. So, I haunted the city’s rep houses catching up on all the great foreign films and Hollywood classics that screened as part of that world. By the end of my four years at college, I had a degree in Marine Biology, but little desire to pursue that as a career. I was hooked on movies.
Some of my earliest moviegoing memories go back to watching a double bill of ENDLESS SUMMER and ON ANY SUNDAY at our Monica Theatre in Santa Monica after spending a day at the beach. I must have seen those films dozens of times that particular summer. Is it any wonder I still love documentaries to this day.
[EG]: Do you have any Carl Laemmle stories?
[GL]: I don’t have any real great Carl Laemmle stories. My grandfather, who founded Laemmle Theatres with his brother Kurt, was not a direct descendant of Carl’s. Rather, their father was a first cousin of Carl’s, who had many other cousins not to mention siblings. Carl, the founder of Universal Studios, did give both my grandfather and his brother their first jobs in the industry. But they lost those jobs when Carl lost control of Universal, and the founding of Laemmle Theatres came without any assistance from Carl. In fact, Kurt’s wife (still sharp at 93) recently related how Carl threatened to sue his “nephews” to prevent them from using the name Laemmle Theatres. Go figure!
[EG]: Other than the 70th anniversary what else served as the impetus for this 70mm event? How did it all come together?
[GL]: Jerry Blackburn is a projectionist with the company and he came to me with the idea of doing some scattered programming using the 70mm projector at the Royal. The equipment had been installed for the 1992 engagement of HOWARD’S END, but had seen scant use since then. Realizing that 2008 represented our 70th anniversary, I suggested doing a whole week of 70mm programming as part of the anniversary celebration. From there, Jerry took the ball and ran with it.
[EG]: What are your feelings about film capture and projection today? Digital projection is ubiquitious now, for example, and Jeffrey Katzenberg has said that the future of cinema is 3D, others say 70mm presentation in Imax is where it's at. Pretty soon there will be a generation of filmgoers who have never seen a movie presented in 70mm or any kind of film.
[GL]: I’m not a technophile, so can’t really answer questions about film versus digital, 2D versus 3D, etc. I’m really not in a position to question Mr. Katzenberg’s or Mr. Cameron’s take on the world of commercial film. For discerning audiences, though, I believe that added dimensions of character and plot are what really attract our audiences. This audience isn’t looking for gimmicks to get them out of the house.
[Jerry Blackburn]: I think Greg answered this, the only thing I would add is that the large formats are a bigger example of my explanation in the next question. At one point, an acquaintance of mine at one of the major distributors had indicated that the cost to revenue was not a good business direction to follow large format. However, that was about 10 years ago. I believe that large format must have made leaps and bounds in this area of the stuidos would not be doing it today.
[EG]: What is it about 70mm, specifically, that you beleive is so special to film buffs? They see "Todd-AO" and it gives them great feeling. There are also websites (http://www.in70mm.com) devoted to the format.
[JB]: Try to think of an artist making a painting. In standard 35mm the artist has basically a 35mm canvass. In 70mm you have the same exact image but on a canvas that is twice as big. You have usually a clearer inmage and much more detail to the image. In the Todd-AO process, film runs at 30fps insted of the standard 24fps. The brain preceives this faster film speed to be more like real life. Also, the magnetic sound was a great multi-channel sound form, before digital. We are actualy using one of the projectors with the Todd-AO design. The image is rock steady.
[EG]: Jerry, what was your criteria in choosing which 70mm prints to show? Were there some you wanted to put in that you weren't able to?
[JB]: Yes, there were several I wanted to play. Particularly, films that were actually SHOT in 65mm for 70mm projection and Todd-AO Format and also filmed with the Technocolor three strip process. I really wanted to play OKLAHOMA and SOUND OF MUSIC. Where Greg studied Marine Biology, I studied music but the movie bug got me as well. These musical gems were shot in 65 3-strip and at 30 fps. I also wanted to play some of the disaster films like EARTHQUAKE that used Sensoround. Since this is a 70th anniversary I wanted to do things of a historical nature.
[EG]: REMAINS OF THE DAY is an interesting choice to kick-off the event in contrast to the larger, more "fantastic" films in the program.
[GL]: I pushed Jerry to include REMAINS OF THE DAY in the program. I wanted at least one film in the series to scream, “Laemmle!” Also, a neat reminder connecting the presence of the equipment in the booth with the Merchant-Ivory team. We would have programmed HOWARD’S END but we couldn’t track down a 70mm print of the film. Ditto for Kenneth Branagh’s HAMLET, the other film that had a lengthy run at the Royal on 70mm.
[JB]: I wanted to do a whole day of Merchant/Ivory films. I tried for almost two weeks to get a print of HOWARD's END to play with REMAINS but were unable to locate a print that was in presentable condition. It's historical for us because as Greg indicated that was the film where the 70mm projector was installed. Also, it is the type of film more along the Laemmle Theatre Genre.
[EG]: I noticed you'e also showing 70mm trailers in front of INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE. Are you keeping those close to vest or can you share a title or two?
[JB]: I'd rather not say at this time, because we are not sure of the condition and how many might be presentable. They are being supplied by an individual.
[EG]: Do you anticipate more 70mm events in the future?
[JB]: For me, this is a possibility. I have had a few new "programming" ideas. Maybe some 70mm could be included in that, but 70mm at this point would depend on print availability. Some archival prints require they be run only reel-to-reel and not on a platter film transport system.
