From: reiher@ficus.cs.ucla.edu (Peter Reiher)
Subject: Re: pinocchio
Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department
Distribution: rec
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 92 16:57:37 GMT

In article <199228.1483.4389@channel1> "eric walker" <eric.walker@channel1.com> writes:
>
>     On a similar note: there are MANY great movies that are just as fresh
>     and lively today as the day they were released, so many years ago -
>     and ALL of the movie studios today could be doing what Disney does.
>     Imagine the chance to see "Ben Hur" on the big screen again.  (It was
>     at the Wang here in Boston last year, but that was a once-in-a-
>     lifetime showing only available for a select few who were able to go
>     on that one particular night.)  The restoration and re-release of
>     "Lawrence Of Arabia" was a success, and I was lucky enough to see that
>     movie for the first time when it played at the Charles Theatre.
>
>     I would love it if all of the studios released their classics to
>     the theatre on a regular basis.  However, Disney is the ONLY studio
>     nowadays that actively promotes is classic movies, and so as a result
>     many people today still see "Pinocchio" and "101 Dalmatians" and other
>     movies thirty, forty, and fifty years old - while at the same time
>     they hold their noses at the thought of seeing movies like "Some Like
>     It Hot" or "The Adventures Of Robin Hood" or "Adam's Rib" or "The
>     Maltese Falcon," to name a few superb classics of the silver screen.

Actually, whoever owns the rights to Warner Bros. library just made nearly
two million dollars on a re-release of "Casablanca", which is hardly a lost
film.  They struck a new print, of course, but otherwise it was the same
"Casablanca" that had been seen on TV regularly for years.  "Wuthering
Heights" got the same treatment a couple of years ago, with less positive
results.  (Still, what money it did make was almost pure profit.)  One
or two years ago, a couple of the studios were experimenting with re-release
of some of their "big" films, probably as a result of the success of
"Lawrence of Arabia".  During a slow part of the spring season, "The Ten
Commandments" played at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood (one of the prime
premiere locations in LA) for two weeks.  It was quite successful, so, when
a premiere film forced it out of the Dome, it moved over to the Mann Bruin
theater in Westwood (another prime premiere location) for a couple of weeks.  
The total amount it made didn't rival a new film, but it was, again, nearly 
pure profit, and it had fairly good attendance.

Ted Turner re-released "The Adventures of Robin Hood" in a new print, in
at least a few cities, last autumn, I believe, and probably more than
paid for the cost of the print.

As far as "Ben Hur" goes, if you're going to be in LA this coming Saturday,
the LA County Museum of Art will be showing it, in 70mm.  "Around the World
in 80 Days" (also in 70mm) shows there Friday night.  One night only,
unfortunately.

I think it more than possible that we will see more studio re-releases in
the future, especially during the slower winter, spring, and fall seasons.
No one (other than Disney) is going to throw a classic out to compete
with the summer or Christmas blockbusters, but, in a weak market, there
are people who seriously consider seeing a good, older film well presented,
than a rotten, newer film well presented.

--
		Peter Reiher
		reiher@wells.cs.ucla.edu

Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney