Roadshow theatrical release
Encyclopedia
A roadshow theatrical release (known also as reserved seat engagement) was a term in the American
motion picture industry for a practice in which a film opened in a limited number of theaters in large cities like Los Angeles
, New York
, Chicago
, Houston, Atlanta, Dallas, and San Francisco for a specific period of time before the nationwide general release. Such releases were shown only once or twice a day, usually with an intermission
. Although variants of roadshow releases occasionally still exist, the practice mostly ended in the early 1970s.
Many of the films given roadshow releases were subsequently distributed to regular movie theatres. This was called a general release, and was akin to the modern day wide release
of a film. However, there are three important differences between a roadshow presentation of a film and today's limited releases:
(1915), the silent film Chicago
(1927) (based on the play that later inspired the Kander and Ebb
Broadway musical and Oscar-winning film), Show Boat
(1929) (a part-talkie
based not on the 1927 stage musical but on Edna Ferber's original novel from which it was adapted), The Desert Song
(1929), Rio Rita
(also 1929), Cecil B. DeMille
's The Sign of the Cross
(1932), the Oscar-winning biopic The Great Ziegfeld
(1936), the classic films Lost Horizon (1937), Gone with the Wind
(1939), Fantasia
(1940), and The Song of Bernadette
(1943), the wartime tear-jerker Since You Went Away
(1944), Samuel Goldwyn's epic The Best Years of Our Lives
(1946), and the flamboyant Western Duel in the Sun (also 1946). British films that were shown as roadshow attractions included the Olivier
Shakespeare adaptations Henry V
and Hamlet
, and the ballet film The Red Shoes. A Midsummer Night's Dream
(1935), the Hollywood screen version of the Shakespeare play, was also given a roadshow release.
In a roadshow release, an often large-scale epic film would open in larger cities in an engagement much like a theatrical play or musical, often with components such as an Overture, the First Act, the Intermission, the Entr'acte
, the Second Act, and the Exit Music. The Overture should not be confused with the Main Title Music. The Overture, recorded without a picture on film (and years later on tape) was always played before the beginning of the film, while the lights were still up and the curtains were still closed. (Movie theatres until the 1980's had curtains which covered the screen, and which would open when the show actually began.) As the lights dimmed, the Overture ended, the curtains opened, and the film began with its Main Title Music and opening credits. Likewise, the Exit Music should not be confused with the End Title Music. The Exit Music, also recorded without a picture on film, was always played after the end of the film, while the lights were up and the curtains were closed. As the lights came on, the End Title Music ended, the curtains closed, and the Exit Music began.
An early example of this was Gone with the Wind (1939
). Running almost four hours in length, the film was divided into the above components, so that the film patron can experience the film as if they were seeing an actual play in a theater.
The original theatrical release of Walt Disney
's Fantasia, presented in Fantasound
in selected large cities in the U.S., never did contain an Overture, Intermission Music, or Exit Music (though it did contain an intermission). Fantasia was first released in the roadshow format, and was originally presented without on-screen credits to perpetuate a concert-going experience—the printed souvenir program, given out to patrons as they entered the theater, presented the film's credits.
The original New York run of Cyrano de Bergerac
(1950), starring Jose Ferrer
and based on Edmond Rostand
's 1897 play, was likewise presented in a roadshow format (that is, one or two performances a day), although the film is only two hours long, was not produced on a large budget, and does not contain an intermission.
(1952), The Robe
(1953), Oklahoma!
(1955), the Olivier Richard III
(1955), the Audrey Hepburn
- Henry Fonda
War and Peace
(1956), the all-star Around the World in 80 Days (1956), The Ten Commandments (1956), The Bridge on the River Kwai
(1957), South Pacific (1958), the Sidney Poitier
-Dorothy Dandridge
Porgy and Bess
(1959), Ben-Hur
(1959), The Alamo
(1960), Spartacus (1960), El Cid
(1961), King of Kings (1961), Lawrence of Arabia
(1962), The Longest Day
(1962), Cleopatra
(1963), My Fair Lady
(1964), The Sound of Music
(1965), the Olivier Othello
(1965), Doctor Zhivago
(1965), Hawaii
(1966), Camelot
(1967), Ice Station Zebra
(1968), Stanley Kubrick
's 2001: A Space Odyssey
(1968), Oliver!
(1968), Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet
(1968), Where Eagles Dare
(1968), Star!
(1968), Funny Girl
(1968), Paint Your Wagon
(1969), Ryan's Daughter
(1970), Fiddler on the Roof
(1971), Man of La Mancha
(1972), which had no intermission, and many others. Nearly all of these newer roadshow releases were shown in six-track stereophonic sound
, a then non-standard feature of motion pictures. West Side Story
(1961), although originally intended to be shown with intermission, was, in most areas, shown without one in order to increase the tension in the plot - an idea recommended by the filmmakers themselves - and the DVD includes options for watching the two-and-a-half hour film both with and without a break.
Many films made in the various larger widescreen
processes, such as Todd AO, MGM Camera 65, and Super Panavision 70
, were given roadshow presentations. Films made in three-camera Cinerama
always received roadshow releases. The special requirements needed to show films in Cinerama - a theatre with a huge, ultra-curved screen, three projectors running simultaneously, and seven-track stereophonic sound - made it impossible to show its films in wide release unless the picture was converted to standard one projector format (i.e. Panavision
).
A notable exception to the epic form that these films were made in was the 1965 Othello, which was essentially a filmed record of the already famous Laurence Olivier 1964 London stage production, shot in a movie studio, but on enlarged stage settings. The nearly three-hour color film, made in Panavision and shown in 35mm and mono sound in many areas, was shown in 70mm and six-track stereophonic sound in only one engagement in London in 1966, and, being a film that lay somewhere between a photographed play and a true motion picture, did not make use of the spectacular vistas that 1960's widescreen epics usually boasted. While it had no overture, entr'acte music, or exit music, it was shown on a two-performance-a-day basis with an intermission, as nearly all roadshow releases were. However, it (quite deliberately) was shown in U.S. cinemas for only two days, in contrast to the lengthy engagements which most roadshow films were granted.
Another exception was Franco Zeffirelli's hugely successful 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet, which, although photographed in beautiful settings and certainly having the look of an epic, was shown in most areas in monaural sound (although its three soundtrack album
s were all made in stereo), and at a screen aspect ratio of 1.66: 1; that is, roughly the screen width of today's average movie screen or HDTV screen, not the very wide screens required for films made in Ultra Panavision, Cinemascope, Todd-AO or any of the other ultrawide processes invented in the 1950s. (The Mexican release of the film, however, did use six-track stereo and was shown in 70mm.)
, such roadshow flops as the 1935 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Joan of Arc
(1948), and Fantasia (1940), along with the hugely successful films For Whom the Bell Tolls
(1943), Spartacus, Lawrence of Arabia, and Around the World in 80 Days, all of which had significant footage missing, have been restored in recent years to match the filmmakers' original intent. However, several extremely popular long films, such as Gone With the Wind and The Ten Commandments, have never been released in edited form, and were nearly always shown on a two performances-a-day basis.
's Oscar-winning epics The Godfather
(1972) and The Godfather Part II
(1974), for instance, were shown without intermissions and with more than two performances a day, despite their extreme length, as was Stanley Kubrick
's Barry Lyndon
(1975). The last film release to officially receive a reserved seat engagement was the 1973 Lost Horizon
, a financial and critical disaster, although the 1977 political thriller Twilight's Last Gleaming
, which ran two-and-a-half hours, was shown with an intermission. It was not, however, shown on a reserved seat, two performances-a-day basis.
By the 1980s the practice had largely been abandoned, as the rise of the multiplex and competition from cable TV and home video began forcing changes in the nature of film industry. The 1984 film Amadeus
, for example, although nearly three hours long, was not shown in a road show format and did not have an intermission, while 1982's Gandhi
was. Kenneth Branagh
's four-hour Hamlet
(1996) was not shown in a road-show format, and had no overture, entr'acte music, or exit music, but it did have an intermission two-and-a-half hours into the film. More recently, Robert Redford
's 1998 The Horse Whisperer
, although 170 minutes long, was not shown with an intermission nor in a road show format. The latest film to be shown with an intermission (aside from most Hindi musicals, which generally have one) was Gods and Generals
, but it was not shown in a strict roadshow format, as performances were not limited to two per day, and seats were not reserved.
In 2006, the film Dreamgirls
, based on the Broadway stage musical, was given a three-theater road show release, with reserved seats and program guides. Tickets were significantly higher priced than normal, at $25. The film itself was not shown with an intermission.
In 2008 and 2009, the four-hour biopic Che
, starring Benicio del Toro
as Che Guevara
, was shown in a roadshow format for a limited time in a number of large cities.
Today, a similar theatrical release practice of first premiering a film in larger cities is more common, mainly towards the end of the year, in order to qualify for film award consideration, including the Academy Awards
. In many cases, such releases will have a better chance at being nominated for the Oscar. Such recent films that have gone the limited release route include 2004's Million Dollar Baby
and The Aviator, 2005's March of the Penguins
, and 2009's Disney film The Princess and the Frog- these and other such limited release films eventually opened wide. Sometimes this is done to allow a film to receive a wide release shortly after the first of the year, while qualifying for the previous year's Academy Awards. Often, smaller films (often art and independent) will receive an initial release in New York and Los Angeles, and later expand to other cities based on results; this is called "platforming" or a platform release. Some platform releases have fallen victim to this practice, such as Julie Taymor
's The Tempest (2010), an adaptation of Shakespeare's play which has not opened in most cities as of September 2011, by which time it had already been issued as a blu-ray DVD.
However, it is important not to confuse releases such as March of the Penguins, Million Dollar Baby, and The Princess and the Frog with the old-fashioned roadshow release. None of those films were shown with an intermission, or on a two performance-a-day basis.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
motion picture industry for a practice in which a film opened in a limited number of theaters in large cities like Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Houston, Atlanta, Dallas, and San Francisco for a specific period of time before the nationwide general release. Such releases were shown only once or twice a day, usually with an intermission
Intermission
An intermission or interval is a recess between parts of a performance or production, such as for a theatrical play, opera, concert, or film screening....
. Although variants of roadshow releases occasionally still exist, the practice mostly ended in the early 1970s.
Many of the films given roadshow releases were subsequently distributed to regular movie theatres. This was called a general release, and was akin to the modern day wide release
Wide release
Wide release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing nationally . Specifically, a movie is considered to be in wide release when it is on 600 screens or more in the United States and Canada.In the US, films holding an NC-17 rating almost never have a...
of a film. However, there are three important differences between a roadshow presentation of a film and today's limited releases:
- a) Films shown as roadshow releases were nearly always longer than the usual motion picture, sometimes lasting up to four hours counting the intermission.
- b) Roadshow presentations were always shown on a one or two-performance a day, reserved seat basis, and admission prices were always higher than those of regular screenings. The two-performance-a-day screenings were usually limited to Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. During the rest of the week the films would be shown only once a day.
- c) Souvenir programs were often available at roadshow presentations of films, much as souvenir programs are made available when one goes to see a Broadway play or musical.
1920s to 1950
The roadshow format had been used since the days of silent films, but the rise of widescreen and stereophonic sound in the 1950's made it especially attractive to studio executives, who hoped to lure audiences away from television by presenting films in a way that an audience at that time could never hope to see at home. Films shown in roadshow format before 1953 included The Birth of a NationThe Birth of a Nation
The Birth of a Nation is a 1915 American silent film directed by D. W. Griffith and based on the novel and play The Clansman, both by Thomas Dixon, Jr. Griffith also co-wrote the screenplay , and co-produced the film . It was released on February 8, 1915...
(1915), the silent film Chicago
Chicago (1927 film)
Chicago is a 1927 comedy-drama silent film produced by Cecil B. DeMille and directed by Frank Urson.-Plot:Drawn from the play of the same name by Maurine Dallas Watkins which was in turn based on the true story of Beulah Annan, fictionalized as Roxie Hart , and her spectacular murder of her boyfriend...
(1927) (based on the play that later inspired the Kander and Ebb
Kander and Ebb
Kander and Ebb were a highly successful songwriting team consisting of composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb . Known primarily for their stage musicals, Kander and Ebb also scored several movies including their most famous song, the theme song from Martin Scorsese's New York, New York...
Broadway musical and Oscar-winning film), Show Boat
Show Boat (1929 film)
Show Boat is a film based on the novel by Edna Ferber. This version was released by Universal in two editions, one a silent film for movie theatres still not equipped for sound, and one a part-talkie with a sound prologue...
(1929) (a part-talkie
Part-talkie
A part-talkie is a partly, and most often primarily, silent film which includes one or more synchronous sound sequences with audible dialog or singing. During the silent portions lines of dialog are presented as "titles" -- printed text briefly filling the screen -- and the soundtrack is used only...
based not on the 1927 stage musical but on Edna Ferber's original novel from which it was adapted), The Desert Song
The Desert Song (1929 film)
The Desert Song is a musical operetta film photographed partly in two-color Technicolor. This was the first movie released by Warner Bros. to be in color. Although some of the songs from the show have been omitted, the film is otherwise virtually a duplicate of the stage production...
(1929), Rio Rita
Rio Rita (1929 film)
Rio Rita is a 1929 RKO Pictures musical comedy starring Bebe Daniels and John Boles along with the comedy team of Wheeler & Woolsey. The film is based on the 1927 stage musical produced by Florenz Ziegfeld, which originally united Wheeler and Woolsey as a team and made them famous...
(also 1929), Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...
's The Sign of the Cross
The Sign of the Cross (film)
The Sign of the Cross is a pre-Code epic film released by Paramount Pictures, produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille from a screenplay by Waldemar Young and Sidney Buchman, and based on the original 1895 play by Wilson Barrett....
(1932), the Oscar-winning biopic The Great Ziegfeld
The Great Ziegfeld
The Great Ziegfeld is a 1936 musical film produced by MGM. A fictionalized biography of Florenz Ziegfeld from his show business beginnings to his death, it showcases a series of spectacular musical productions. The film includes original music by Walter Donaldson and Irving Berlin...
(1936), the classic films Lost Horizon (1937), Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind (film)
Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
(1939), Fantasia
Fantasia (film)
Fantasia is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Walt Disney Productions. The third feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are...
(1940), and The Song of Bernadette
The Song of Bernadette (film)
The Song of Bernadette is a 1943 drama film which tells the story of Saint Bernadette Soubirous, who, from February to July 1858 in Lourdes, France, reported 18 visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was directed by Henry King....
(1943), the wartime tear-jerker Since You Went Away
Since You Went Away
Since You Went Away is a 1944 film distributed by United Artists, a big-budget epic about the American home front during World War II. It was directed by John Cromwell and adapted and produced by David O. Selznick from the novel Since You Went Away: Letters to a Soldier from His Wife by Margaret...
(1944), Samuel Goldwyn's epic The Best Years of Our Lives
The Best Years of Our Lives
The Best Years of Our Lives is a 1946 American drama film directed by William Wyler, and starring Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, and Harold Russell, a United States paratrooper who lost both hands in a military training accident. The film is about three United States...
(1946), and the flamboyant Western Duel in the Sun (also 1946). British films that were shown as roadshow attractions included the Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
Shakespeare adaptations Henry V
Henry V (1944 film)
Henry V is a 1944 film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play of the same name. The on-screen title is The Cronicle History of King Henry the Fift with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France . It stars Laurence Olivier, who also directed. The play was adapted for the screen by Olivier, Dallas...
and Hamlet
Hamlet (1948 film)
Hamlet is a 1948 British film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, adapted and directed by and starring Sir Laurence Olivier. Hamlet was Olivier's second film as director, and also the second of the three Shakespeare films that he directed...
, and the ballet film The Red Shoes. A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935 film)
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a 1935 film directed by Max Reinhardt and William Dieterle, produced by Henry Blanke and Hal Wallis, and adapted by Charles Kenyon and Mary C. McCall Jr...
(1935), the Hollywood screen version of the Shakespeare play, was also given a roadshow release.
In a roadshow release, an often large-scale epic film would open in larger cities in an engagement much like a theatrical play or musical, often with components such as an Overture, the First Act, the Intermission, the Entr'acte
Entr'acte
' is French for "between the acts" . It can mean a pause between two parts of a stage production, synonymous to an intermission, but it more often indicates a piece of music performed between acts of a theatrical production...
, the Second Act, and the Exit Music. The Overture should not be confused with the Main Title Music. The Overture, recorded without a picture on film (and years later on tape) was always played before the beginning of the film, while the lights were still up and the curtains were still closed. (Movie theatres until the 1980's had curtains which covered the screen, and which would open when the show actually began.) As the lights dimmed, the Overture ended, the curtains opened, and the film began with its Main Title Music and opening credits. Likewise, the Exit Music should not be confused with the End Title Music. The Exit Music, also recorded without a picture on film, was always played after the end of the film, while the lights were up and the curtains were closed. As the lights came on, the End Title Music ended, the curtains closed, and the Exit Music began.
An early example of this was Gone with the Wind (1939
1939 in film
The year 1939 in motion pictures can be justified as being called the most outstanding one ever, when it comes to the high quality and high attendance at the large set of the best films that premiered in the year .- Events :Motion picture historians and film often rate...
). Running almost four hours in length, the film was divided into the above components, so that the film patron can experience the film as if they were seeing an actual play in a theater.
The original theatrical release of Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
's Fantasia, presented in Fantasound
Fantasound
Fantasound was a stereophonic sound reproduction system developed by the engineers of Walt Disney studios for its 1940 animated film Fantasia, the first commercial film to be released in stereo. Fantasound led to the development of what is known today as surround sound.-Origins:Walt Disney's...
in selected large cities in the U.S., never did contain an Overture, Intermission Music, or Exit Music (though it did contain an intermission). Fantasia was first released in the roadshow format, and was originally presented without on-screen credits to perpetuate a concert-going experience—the printed souvenir program, given out to patrons as they entered the theater, presented the film's credits.
The original New York run of Cyrano de Bergerac
Cyrano de Bergerac (1950 film)
Cyrano de Bergerac is a 1950 black-and-white feature film based on the 1897 French Alexandrine verse drama Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. It uses poet Brian Hooker's 1923 English blank verse translation as the basis for its screenplay...
(1950), starring Jose Ferrer
José Ferrer
José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón , best known as José Ferrer, was a Puerto Rican actor, as well as a theater and film director...
and based on Edmond Rostand
Edmond Rostand
Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand was a French poet and dramatist. He is associated with neo-romanticism, and is best known for his play Cyrano de Bergerac. Rostand's romantic plays provided an alternative to the naturalistic theatre popular during the late nineteenth century...
's 1897 play, was likewise presented in a roadshow format (that is, one or two performances a day), although the film is only two hours long, was not produced on a large budget, and does not contain an intermission.
1950s to 1970s
With the rise of television, beginning in 1952 and continuing through the early 1970s, studios came up with ways to bring movie audiences back to theatres by making widescreen epics, again using the "roadshow" formula. As a result, there was an avalanche of roadshow films during those decades, among them This is CineramaThis is Cinerama
This is Cinerama is a 1952 full-length film designed to introduce the then-new widescreen process Cinerama, which broadens the aspect ratio so the viewer's peripheral vision is involved...
(1952), The Robe
The Robe (film)
The Robe is a 1953 American Biblical epic film that tells the story of a Roman military tribune who commands the unit that crucifies Jesus. The film was made by 20th Century Fox and is notable for being the first film released in the widescreen process CinemaScope.It was directed by Henry Koster...
(1953), Oklahoma!
Oklahoma!
Oklahoma! is the first musical written by composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance...
(1955), the Olivier Richard III
Richard III (1955 film)
Richard III is a 1955 British film adaptation of William Shakespeare's historical play of the same name, also incorporating elements from his Henry VI, Part 3. It was directed and produced by Sir Laurence Olivier, who also played the lead role. The cast includes many noted Shakespearean actors,...
(1955), the Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century...
- Henry Fonda
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
War and Peace
War and Peace (1956 film)
War and Peace is the first English-language film version of the novel War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. It is an American/Italian version, directed by King Vidor and produced by Dino De Laurentiis and Carlo Ponti. The music score was by Nino Rota and the cinematography by Jack Cardiff...
(1956), the all-star Around the World in 80 Days (1956), The Ten Commandments (1956), The Bridge on the River Kwai
The Bridge on the River Kwai
The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 British World War II film by David Lean based on The Bridge over the River Kwai by French writer Pierre Boulle. The film is a work of fiction but borrows the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942–43 for its historical setting. It stars William...
(1957), South Pacific (1958), the Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier
Sir Sidney Poitier, KBE is a Bahamian American actor, film director, author, and diplomat.In 1963, Poitier became the first black person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field...
-Dorothy Dandridge
Dorothy Dandridge
Dorothy Jean Dandridge was an American actress and popular singer, and was the first African-American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress...
Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess (1959 film)
Porgy and Bess is a 1959 American musical film directed by Otto Preminger. It is based on the 1935 opera of the same name by George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward, and Ira Gershwin, which is in turn based on Heyward's 1925 novel Porgy, and the subsequent 1927 non-musical stage adaptation he co-wrote...
(1959), Ben-Hur
Ben-Hur (1959 film)
Ben-Hur is a 1959 American epic film directed by William Wyler and starring Charlton Heston in the title role, the third film adaptation of Lew Wallace's 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The screenplay was written by Karl Tunberg, Gore Vidal, and Christopher Fry. The score was composed by...
(1959), The Alamo
The Alamo (1960 film)
The Alamo is a 1960 American historical epic released by United Artists. The film was directed by John Wayne, who also starred as Davy Crockett. The cast also includes Richard Widmark as Jim Bowie and Laurence Harvey as William B...
(1960), Spartacus (1960), El Cid
El Cid (film)
El Cid is a historical epic film, a romanticized story of the life of the Christian Castilian knight Don Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, called "El Cid" who in the 11th century fought the North African Almoravides and ultimately contributed to the unification of Spain.Made by Samuel Bronston Productions in...
(1961), King of Kings (1961), Lawrence of Arabia
Lawrence of Arabia (film)
Lawrence of Arabia is a 1962 British film based on the life of T. E. Lawrence. It was directed by David Lean and produced by Sam Spiegel through his British company, Horizon Pictures, with the screenplay by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson. The film stars Peter O'Toole in the title role. It is widely...
(1962), The Longest Day
The Longest Day (film)
The Longest Day is a 1962 war film based on the 1959 history book The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan, about "D-Day", the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II....
(1962), Cleopatra
Cleopatra (1963 film)
Cleopatra is a 1963 British-American-Swiss epic drama film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. The screenplay was adapted by Sidney Buchman, Ben Hecht, Ranald MacDougall, and Mankiewicz from a book by Carlo Maria Franzero. The film starred Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Roddy...
(1963), My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady (film)
My Fair Lady is a 1964 musical film adaptation of the Lerner and Loewe stage musical, of the same name, based on the 1938 film adaptation of the original stage play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. The ballroom scene and the ending were taken from the previous film adaptation , rather than from...
(1964), The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music (film)
Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music is a 1965 American musical film directed by Robert Wise and starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The film is based on the Broadway musical The Sound of Music, with songs written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and with the musical...
(1965), the Olivier Othello
Othello (1965 film)
Othello is a 1965 film based on the National Theatre's staging of Shakespeare's Othello staged by John Dexter. Directed by Stuart Burge, the film starred Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Frank Finlay, and Joyce Redman, providing film debuts for both Derek Jacobi and Michael...
(1965), Doctor Zhivago
Doctor Zhivago (1965 film)
Doctor Zhivago is a 1965 epic drama-romance-war film directed by David Lean and loosely based on the famous novel of the same name by Boris Pasternak...
(1965), Hawaii
Hawaii (film)
Hawaii is a 1966 American film directed by George Roy Hill and based on the novel of the same name by James A. Michener. It tells the story of an 1820s Yale University divinity student who, along with his new bride , becomes a Calvinist missionary in the Hawaiian Islands...
(1966), Camelot
Camelot (film)
Camelot is a 1967 film adaptation of the musical of the same name. Richard Harris stars as Arthur, Vanessa Redgrave as Guinevere, and Franco Nero as Lancelot. The film was directed by Joshua Logan.-Plot:...
(1967), Ice Station Zebra
Ice Station Zebra
Ice Station Zebra is a 1963 thriller novel written by Scottish author Alistair MacLean. This was the last of MacLean's classic sequence of first person narratives which began with Night Without End, and represented a return to that earlier novel's Arctic setting...
(1968), Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
's 2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey (film)
2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, and co-written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, partially inspired by Clarke's short story The Sentinel...
(1968), Oliver!
Oliver! (film)
Oliver! is a 1968 British musical film directed by Carol Reed. The film is based on the stage musical Oliver!, with book, music and lyrics written by Lionel Bart. The screenplay was written by Vernon Harris....
(1968), Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet (1968 film)
Romeo and Juliet is a 1968 British-Italian cinematic adaptation of the William Shakespeare play of the same name.The film was directed and co-written by Franco Zeffirelli, and stars Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey. It won Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design; it was also...
(1968), Where Eagles Dare
Where Eagles Dare
Where Eagles Dare is a 1968 World War II action-adventure spy film starring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood and Mary Ure. It was directed by Brian G. Hutton and shot on location in Upper Austria and Bavaria....
(1968), Star!
Star! (film)
Star! is a 1968 American musical film directed by Robert Wise. The screenplay by William Fairchild is based upon the life and career of British performer Gertrude Lawrence.-Plot:...
(1968), Funny Girl
Funny Girl (film)
Funny Girl is a 1968 romantic musical film directed by William Wyler. The screenplay by Isobel Lennart was adapted from her book for the stage musical of the same title...
(1968), Paint Your Wagon
Paint Your Wagon (film)
Paint Your Wagon is a 1969 American musical film starring Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood. The movie was adapted by Paddy Chayefsky from the 1951 stage musical by Lerner and Loewe, set in a mining camp in Gold Rush-era California.-Plot:...
(1969), Ryan's Daughter
Ryan's Daughter
Ryan's Daughter is a 1970 film directed by David Lean. The film, set in 1916, tells the story of a married Irish woman who has an affair with a British officer during World War I, despite opposition from her nationalist neighbours...
(1970), Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof (film)
Fiddler on the Roof is the 1971 film adaptation of the 1964 Broadway musical of the same name, with music composed by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905, about Tevye and his Daughters. It was directed by Norman Jewison. The film won three...
(1971), Man of La Mancha
Man of La Mancha (film)
Man of La Mancha is a 1972 film adaptation of the Broadway musical Man of La Mancha by Dale Wasserman, with music by Mitch Leigh and lyrics by Joe Darion...
(1972), which had no intermission, and many others. Nearly all of these newer roadshow releases were shown in six-track stereophonic sound
Stereophonic sound
The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...
, a then non-standard feature of motion pictures. West Side Story
West Side Story (film)
West Side Story is a 1961 musical film directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. The film is an adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was adapted from William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. It stars Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno,...
(1961), although originally intended to be shown with intermission, was, in most areas, shown without one in order to increase the tension in the plot - an idea recommended by the filmmakers themselves - and the DVD includes options for watching the two-and-a-half hour film both with and without a break.
Many films made in the various larger widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
processes, such as Todd AO, MGM Camera 65, and Super Panavision 70
Super Panavision 70
Super Panavision 70 was the marketing brand name used to identify movies photographed with Panavision 70 mm spherical optics between 1959 and 1983.-History:...
, were given roadshow presentations. Films made in three-camera Cinerama
Cinerama
Cinerama is the trademarked name for a widescreen process which works by simultaneously projecting images from three synchronized 35 mm projectors onto a huge, deeply-curved screen, subtending 146° of arc. It is also the trademarked name for the corporation which was formed to market it...
always received roadshow releases. The special requirements needed to show films in Cinerama - a theatre with a huge, ultra-curved screen, three projectors running simultaneously, and seven-track stereophonic sound - made it impossible to show its films in wide release unless the picture was converted to standard one projector format (i.e. Panavision
Panavision
Panavision is an American motion picture equipment company specializing in cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk as a small partnership to create anamorphic projection lenses during the widescreen boom in the 1950s, Panavision expanded its product...
).
A notable exception to the epic form that these films were made in was the 1965 Othello, which was essentially a filmed record of the already famous Laurence Olivier 1964 London stage production, shot in a movie studio, but on enlarged stage settings. The nearly three-hour color film, made in Panavision and shown in 35mm and mono sound in many areas, was shown in 70mm and six-track stereophonic sound in only one engagement in London in 1966, and, being a film that lay somewhere between a photographed play and a true motion picture, did not make use of the spectacular vistas that 1960's widescreen epics usually boasted. While it had no overture, entr'acte music, or exit music, it was shown on a two-performance-a-day basis with an intermission, as nearly all roadshow releases were. However, it (quite deliberately) was shown in U.S. cinemas for only two days, in contrast to the lengthy engagements which most roadshow films were granted.
Another exception was Franco Zeffirelli's hugely successful 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet, which, although photographed in beautiful settings and certainly having the look of an epic, was shown in most areas in monaural sound (although its three soundtrack album
Soundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television program. In some cases, not all the tracks from the movie are included in the album; however there are rare cases of songs in the trailers that do not appear in...
s were all made in stereo), and at a screen aspect ratio of 1.66: 1; that is, roughly the screen width of today's average movie screen or HDTV screen, not the very wide screens required for films made in Ultra Panavision, Cinemascope, Todd-AO or any of the other ultrawide processes invented in the 1950s. (The Mexican release of the film, however, did use six-track stereo and was shown in 70mm.)
Edited versions and restoration
It was common practice for studios to cut some of these epics for general release in order for theaters to book more showings a day and present the film at reduced "popular prices", especially if the film ran longer than two hours. Sometimes this was done to a successful film, such as South Pacific, but more often to one that had been a notable flop, in an effort to make it a success on its second run. As a result, some of these films have not been seen in their entirety since their first release, as the original edited footage is either missing or no longer exists. With the work of film preservationists and restorationFilm preservation
thumb|300px|Stacked containers filled with reels of [[film stock]]The film preservation, or film restoration, movement is an ongoing project among film historians, archivists, museums, cinematheques, and non-profit organizations to rescue decaying film stock and preserve the images which they contain...
, such roadshow flops as the 1935 A Midsummer Night's Dream, Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc (1948 film)
Joan of Arc is a 1948 Technicolor film directed by Victor Fleming; starring Ingrid Bergman as the French religious icon and war heroine. It was produced by Walter Wanger. It is based on Maxwell Anderson's successful Broadway play Joan of Lorraine, which also starred Bergman, and was adapted for the...
(1948), and Fantasia (1940), along with the hugely successful films For Whom the Bell Tolls
For Whom the Bell Tolls (film)
For Whom the Bell Tolls is a 1943 film in Technicolor based on the novel of the same name by Ernest Hemingway. It stars Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Akim Tamiroff and Katina Paxinou. This was Ingrid Bergman's first technicolor film. Hemingway handpicked Cooper and Bergman for their roles. The film...
(1943), Spartacus, Lawrence of Arabia, and Around the World in 80 Days, all of which had significant footage missing, have been restored in recent years to match the filmmakers' original intent. However, several extremely popular long films, such as Gone With the Wind and The Ten Commandments, have never been released in edited form, and were nearly always shown on a two performances-a-day basis.
Rise of the limited release
The practice of roadshow presentation began dying out in the 1970s, partly due to the rise of the multiplex. As they began to increase in number, and as more and more "skyscraper" hotels and office buildings took the place of the oldtime movie palaces, long films began being shown in a more informal format. Francis Ford CoppolaFrancis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
's Oscar-winning epics The Godfather
The Godfather
The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
(1972) and The Godfather Part II
The Godfather Part II
The Godfather Part II is a 1974 American gangster film directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a script co-written with Mario Puzo. The film is both a sequel and a prequel to The Godfather, chronicling the story of the Corleone family following the events of the first film while also depicting the...
(1974), for instance, were shown without intermissions and with more than two performances a day, despite their extreme length, as was Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
's Barry Lyndon
Barry Lyndon
Barry Lyndon is a 1975 British-American period romantic war film produced, written, and directed by Stanley Kubrick based on the 1844 novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon by William Makepeace Thackeray which recounts the exploits of an 18th century Irish adventurer...
(1975). The last film release to officially receive a reserved seat engagement was the 1973 Lost Horizon
Lost Horizon (1973 film)
Lost Horizon is a 1973 musical film directed by Charles Jarrott and starring Peter Finch, John Gielgud, Liv Ullmann, Michael York, Sally Kellerman, Bobby Van, George Kennedy, Olivia Hussey, James Shigeta and Charles Boyer....
, a financial and critical disaster, although the 1977 political thriller Twilight's Last Gleaming
Twilight's Last Gleaming
Twilight's Last Gleaming is a 1977 film directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Burt Lancaster and Richard Widmark.Loosely based on a 1971 novel, Viper Three by Walter Wager, it tells the story of Lawrence Dell, a renegade USAF general, who escapes from a military prison and takes over an ICBM silo...
, which ran two-and-a-half hours, was shown with an intermission. It was not, however, shown on a reserved seat, two performances-a-day basis.
By the 1980s the practice had largely been abandoned, as the rise of the multiplex and competition from cable TV and home video began forcing changes in the nature of film industry. The 1984 film Amadeus
Amadeus (film)
Amadeus is a 1984 period drama film directed by Miloš Forman and written by Peter Shaffer. Adapted from Shaffer's stage play Amadeus, the story is based loosely on the lives of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, two composers who lived in Vienna, Austria, during the latter half of the...
, for example, although nearly three hours long, was not shown in a road show format and did not have an intermission, while 1982's Gandhi
Gandhi (film)
Gandhi is a 1982 biographical film based on the life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who led the nonviolent resistance movement against British colonial rule in India during the first half of the 20th century. The film was directed by Richard Attenborough and stars Ben Kingsley as Gandhi. They both...
was. Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from Northern Ireland. He is best known for directing and starring in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays including Henry V , Much Ado About Nothing , Hamlet Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from...
's four-hour Hamlet
Hamlet (1996 film)
Hamlet is a 1996 film version of William Shakespeare's classic play of the same name, adapted and directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also stars in the title role as Prince Hamlet...
(1996) was not shown in a road-show format, and had no overture, entr'acte music, or exit music, but it did have an intermission two-and-a-half hours into the film. More recently, Robert Redford
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
's 1998 The Horse Whisperer
The Horse Whisperer
The Horse Whisperer is a 1998 American drama film directed by and starring Robert Redford, based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Nicholas Evans...
, although 170 minutes long, was not shown with an intermission nor in a road show format. The latest film to be shown with an intermission (aside from most Hindi musicals, which generally have one) was Gods and Generals
Gods and Generals (film)
Gods and Generals is a 2003 American film based on the novel Gods and Generals by Jeffrey Shaara. It depicts events that take place prior to those shown in the 1993 film Gettysburg, which was based on The Killer Angels, a novel by Shaara's father, Michael...
, but it was not shown in a strict roadshow format, as performances were not limited to two per day, and seats were not reserved.
In 2006, the film Dreamgirls
Dreamgirls (film)
Dreamgirls is a 2006 musical drama film, directed by Bill Condon and jointly produced and released by DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures. The film debuted in three special road show engagements beginning December 15, 2006 before its nationwide release on December 25, 2006...
, based on the Broadway stage musical, was given a three-theater road show release, with reserved seats and program guides. Tickets were significantly higher priced than normal, at $25. The film itself was not shown with an intermission.
In 2008 and 2009, the four-hour biopic Che
Che (film)
Che is a two-part 2008 biopic about Ernesto 'Che' Guevara directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Benicio del Toro. Rather than follow a standard chronological order, the films offer an oblique series of interspersed moments along the overall timeline...
, starring Benicio del Toro
Benicio del Toro
Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez is a Puerto Rican and Spanish actor and film producer. He won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a BAFTA Award for his role as Javier Rodríguez in Traffic . He is also known for his roles as Fred Fenster in The Usual...
as Che Guevara
Che Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...
, was shown in a roadshow format for a limited time in a number of large cities.
Today, a similar theatrical release practice of first premiering a film in larger cities is more common, mainly towards the end of the year, in order to qualify for film award consideration, including the Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
. In many cases, such releases will have a better chance at being nominated for the Oscar. Such recent films that have gone the limited release route include 2004's Million Dollar Baby
Million Dollar Baby
Million Dollar Baby is a 2004 American sports drama film directed, co-produced, and scored by Clint Eastwood and starring Eastwood, Hilary Swank, and Morgan Freeman...
and The Aviator, 2005's March of the Penguins
March of the Penguins
March of the Penguins is a 2005 French nature documentary film. It was directed and co-written by Luc Jacquet, and co-produced by Bonne Pioche and the National Geographic Society. The film depicts the yearly journey of the emperor penguins of Antarctica...
, and 2009's Disney film The Princess and the Frog- these and other such limited release films eventually opened wide. Sometimes this is done to allow a film to receive a wide release shortly after the first of the year, while qualifying for the previous year's Academy Awards. Often, smaller films (often art and independent) will receive an initial release in New York and Los Angeles, and later expand to other cities based on results; this is called "platforming" or a platform release. Some platform releases have fallen victim to this practice, such as Julie Taymor
Julie Taymor
Julie Taymor is an American director of theater, opera and film. Taymor's work has received many accolades from critics, and she has earned two Tony Awards out of four nominations, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design, an Emmy Award and an Academy Award nomination for Original Song...
's The Tempest (2010), an adaptation of Shakespeare's play which has not opened in most cities as of September 2011, by which time it had already been issued as a blu-ray DVD.
However, it is important not to confuse releases such as March of the Penguins, Million Dollar Baby, and The Princess and the Frog with the old-fashioned roadshow release. None of those films were shown with an intermission, or on a two performance-a-day basis.