William Castle did it first.

[Marysara1]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/compani ... 9ebf&ei=15. To get people in theatres they're making it interactive so the audience experiences what's on the screen.

[TikiSoo]

Like Smell O Vision and later Odorama, gimmicks just don't work. Maybe filmmakers should just stick with better stories and GOOD WRITING to capture audiences?

[Hibi]

Who wants to sit in fog???? I'll pass.

[Detective Jim McLeod]

For House On Haunted Hill (1959) Castle used "Emergo" which put a skeleton on a wire over the audiences. The kids would often throw popcorn and candy at it.

[Dargo]

For House On Haunted Hill (1959) Castle used "Emergo" which put a skeleton on a wire over the audiences. The kids would often throw popcorn and candy at it.

Cool old movie theater there, Jim.

(...be even cooler to know which one it was, wouldn't it)

[Detective Jim McLeod]

I am a big fan of William Castle, I believe my favorite gimmick was The Tingler (1959)

I wasn't around in 1959, but I saw this in revival house in 2010. All the seats were wired.

The part where the Tingler is loose in the theater, several of the ushers start running through the aisles with small penlights saying "don't panic! The Tingler is loose in the theater, just SCREAM! SCREAM FOR YOUR LIFE!"

Then another employee planted in the audience gets up and has a "Tingler" wrapped around his neck! He runs out of the theater screaming.

I would definitely go to another William Castle festival, one of best times at the movies that year.

[Hibi]

I am a big fan of William Castle, I believe my favorite gimmick was The Tingler (1959)

I wasn't around in 1959, but I saw this in revival house in 2010. All the seats were wired.

The part where the Tingler is loose in the theater, several of the ushers start running through the aisles with small penlights saying "don't panic! The Tingler is loose in the theater, just SCREAM! SCREAM FOR YOUR LIFE!"

Then another employee planted in the audience gets up and has a "Tingler" wrapped around his neck! He runs out of the theater screaming.

I would definitely go to another William Castle festival, one of best times at the movies that year.

LMREO! Did the audience buy that???

[txfilmfan]

For House On Haunted Hill (1959) Castle used "Emergo" which put a skeleton on a wire over the audiences. The kids would often throw popcorn and candy at it.

Cool old movie theater there, Jim.

(...be even cooler to know which one it was, wouldn't it)

I *may* have found the theater, after some searching across multiple sites. More on that in a bit. In the meantime, I learned this: The photographer was Arthur Fellig (using the professional pseudonym of Weegee), born in what is now Ukraine, but was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire at his birth. Worked in the US. He was responsible for the still photographs used in Dr. Strangelove..., and was in part the inspiration for Sellers' voice of Dr. Strangelove.

The Smithsonian's holding on this photo didn't list where the photo was taken, but the International Center of Photography says it was taken in New York. Not surprising as he was based in NYC, mostly covering crime scenes. I found more photos of this showing in a blog about the film (and a story about a 2017 showing in "Emergo" in New Jersey).

Looking at the NY Times archive, I found a review of this film, on a double-bill with Legion of Doomed. The review of the offering starts off with "A two-and-a-half hour load of junk from Allied Artists was unveiled at various neighborhood theatres yesterday as a double-billed program." No need to read the details there! But the review did mention that it was showing in Manhattan at the RKO 58th Street Theatre. This theatre, now long gone, was at 58th and 3rd, with an entrance on both streets. It originally sat over 3,000 people, but was reduced to around 2,000 in 1956.

I then went to cinematreasures.org to see if they had photos of the theatre posted, and, though I can't be certain, all the rococo foofaraw decorations seen in the following photo seems to agree with what we can see in the "Emergo" photos. These are photos before they renovated the theater in 1956. I can't seem to find any photos of the renovated auditorium - only the lobby and marquee. The redo of the lobby was done in sleek mid-century modern, I suppose to fit in with the design of all the new skyscrapers being built in post-war NYC and also coincided with the demolition of the 3rd Ave El.

BTW, The Who and Cream made their US live debut at this theatre in 1967.



More "Emergo" photos can be found at this blog:

https://fansinaflashbulb.wordpress.com/ ... th-emergo/

[Detective Jim McLeod]

I am a big fan of William Castle, I believe my favorite gimmick was The Tingler (1959)

I wasn't around in 1959, but I saw this in revival house in 2010. All the seats were wired.

The part where the Tingler is loose in the theater, several of the ushers start running through the aisles with small penlights saying "don't panic! The Tingler is loose in the theater, just SCREAM! SCREAM FOR YOUR LIFE!"

Then another employee planted in the audience gets up and has a "Tingler" wrapped around his neck! He runs out of the theater screaming.

I would definitely go to another William Castle festival, one of best times at the movies that year.

LMREO! Did the audience buy that???

Yes, the audience was in hysterics and most screamed on cue!

[Hibi]

For House On Haunted Hill (1959) Castle used "Emergo" which put a skeleton on a wire over the audiences. The kids would often throw popcorn and candy at it.

Cool old movie theater there, Jim.

(...be even cooler to know which one it was, wouldn't it)

I *may* have found the theater, after some searching across multiple sites. More on that in a bit. In the meantime, I learned this: The photographer was Arthur Fellig (using the professional pseudonym of Weegee), born in what is now Ukraine, but was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire at his birth. Worked in the US. He was responsible for the still photographs used in Dr. Strangelove..., and was in part the inspiration for Sellers' voice of Dr. Strangelove.

The Smithsonian's holding on this photo didn't list where the photo was taken, but the International Center of Photography says it was taken in New York. Not surprising as he was based in NYC, mostly covering crime scenes. I found more photos of this showing in a blog about the film (and a story about a 2017 showing in "Emergo" in New Jersey).

Looking at the NY Times archive, I found a review of this film, on a double-bill with Legion of Doomed. The review of the offering starts off with "A two-and-a-half hour load of junk from Allied Artists was unveiled at various neighborhood theatres yesterday as a double-billed program." No need to read the details there! But the review did mention that it was showing in Manhattan at the RKO 58th Street Theatre. This theatre, now long gone, was at 58th and 3rd, with an entrance on both streets. It originally sat over 3,000 people, but was reduced to around 2,000 in 1956.

I then went to cinematreasures.org to see if they had photos of the theatre posted, and, though I can't be certain, all the rococo foofaraw decorations seen in the following photo seems to agree with what we can see in the "Emergo" photos. These are photos before they renovated the theater in 1956. I can't seem to find any photos of the renovated auditorium - only the lobby and marquee. The redo of the lobby was done in sleek mid-century modern, I suppose to fit in with the design of all the new skyscrapers being built in post-war NYC and also coincided with the demolition of the 3rd Ave El.

BTW, The Who and Cream made their US live debut at this theatre in 1967.



More "Emergo" photos can be found at this blog:

https://fansinaflashbulb.wordpress.com/ ... th-emergo/

Wow. That's some research! Sadly, NYC did little to save any of its great movie palaces. Most of them fell to the wrecking ball. A few exist now as Broadway theater houses or performing arts venues.

[Dargo]

For House On Haunted Hill (1959) Castle used "Emergo" which put a skeleton on a wire over the audiences. The kids would often throw popcorn and candy at it.

Cool old movie theater there, Jim.

(...be even cooler to know which one it was, wouldn't it)

I *may* have found the theater, after some searching across multiple sites. More on that in a bit. In the meantime, I learned this: The photographer was Arthur Fellig (using the professional pseudonym of Weegee), born in what is now Ukraine, but was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire at his birth. Worked in the US. He was responsible for the still photographs used in Dr. Strangelove..., and was in part the inspiration for Sellers' voice of Dr. Strangelove.........

Wow! Nice research done here, Tex. Thanks for doing this.

Btw and re the photographer Weegee mentioned by you here...I think I recall in the past seeing some documentary (perhaps on TCM?) about the man.

(...might you remember seeing this as well?)

[txfilmfan]

These tricks are also part of theme park attractions, with water that squirts at you, exploding walls, foul odors, and the like. There was one similar to the Tingler at Disney's EPCOT Center It was a 3-D film based on Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. At one point, after the audience has been shrunk down, and as hundreds of 3D mice scramble across the screen, leg ticklers under each seat torture the audience. As most guests wear shorts in Orlando, the effect produced the desired shrieks. It was rather creepy.

The creepiest "4D" effects to me, though, was at an attraction called Alien Encounter at the Magic Kingdom. This wasn't a film, but the concept was a hungry alien is loose running around a dark theater in the round. With binaural sound effects of heavy breathing, machines would synchronously blow hot air on your neck and, as a bonus, you also felt its "drool" dripping on you. There was also an effect that simulated the alien licking the back of your head with its tongue. Since you were in seat restraints, there was no escaping the effects.

[txfilmfan]

Cool old movie theater there, Jim.

(...be even cooler to know which one it was, wouldn't it)

I *may* have found the theater, after some searching across multiple sites. More on that in a bit. In the meantime, I learned this: The photographer was Arthur Fellig (using the professional pseudonym of Weegee), born in what is now Ukraine, but was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire at his birth. Worked in the US. He was responsible for the still photographs used in Dr. Strangelove..., and was in part the inspiration for Sellers' voice of Dr. Strangelove.........

Wow! Nice research done here, Tex. Thanks for doing this.

Btw and re the photographer Weegee mentioned by you here...I think I recall in the past seeing some documentary (perhaps on TCM?) about the man.

(...might you remember seeing this as well?)

I don't recall it. I think I'd remember a name like Weegee! The 1992 film The Public Eye is based on his life.

[Dargo]

I don't recall it. I think I'd remember a name like Weegee! The 1992 film The Public Eye is based on his life.

Besides that Joe Pesci starring film in which his character was inspired by Weegee, there's the following documentary about the actual man and the one I referenced earlier...

[TikiSoo]

Yes, the audience was in hysterics and most screamed on cue!

The historic Capitol Theater in Rome, NY showed House On Haunted Hill and had an adult size "Emergo Skeleton" on a wire slide down into the audience like that-



And like Jim's experience the audience laughed when they saw it. To be fair, it did look pretty small & funny sliding down the wire.

What the staff had done in the past- walk through the aisles carrying black gauze suspended from long poles and tickling audience members from behind- that had much better, spookier effect.