Re: Projection vs showmanship

[P3D Marvin Jones <72657.3276@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I never had a chance to run any 3-D but an old friend of mine was one of
> the first projectionists to run Bwana Devil. He said that during the
> film's second half he'd reach out of the projectionist's window and
> insert a 6 foot spear into the wall just below the booth.  So when the
> audience left the theater they'd get a kick out of the gag.
> 
That was back in the dim, distant past when projectionists actually CARED about
putting on a show instead of just running machines. On the other hand, I
remember going to a theater just a few years ago and sitting in the audience
listening to a favorite piece of music being played at intermission. Suddenly,
only a few bars from the end of the piece, it was unceremoniously whacked off
and the movie began. Later I had occasion to ask the projectionist why he didn't
just let the music play out to a logical conclusion before starting the movie.
"Are you kidding?" he asked. "That means the movie would run 30 seconds into
overtime, and I'd be due an extra quarter-hour's pay, and these bastards would
never come across!" There's no business like show business!


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