Premiere locations...

[Hollis]

Good evening everyone,

I hope you're all enjoying "Madame Curie" this evening along with me. I was looking ahead to tonight's schedule over at TCM and I noticed that "Dr Ehrlich's Magic Bullet" which airs later tonight premiered in Memphis, Tennessee in 1940. I had always assumed that the vast majority of (American) movies premiered in Hollywood (Los Angeles) and others on occasion in New York at Radio City Music Hall. I know that certain films, for obvious reasons, opened elsewhere, like "GWTW" at the Lowe's Theater in Atlanta, where the story took place. I was curious as to why "Dr Ehrlich's Magic Bullet" would open in Memphis, of all places, given that the story takes place in Germany. It certainly didn't strike me as what you'd call a hotbed of movie activity, then or now. And given that it's firmly in the middle of the "Bible Belt," I thought that a movie which dealt with the search for a cure for a venereal disease would be the last subject matter to find acceptance in a place like Memphis. Anyway, I thought that one of you might know what goes into selecting the locale for a movie to premiere in, and might even have some interesting stories about certain movies and their first showing and why that particular city was chosen. I stand to be corrected because I wasn't living there at the time, but didn't "Rocky" premiere in Philadelphia, where Sylvester Stallone was born and where much of the filming took place? Thanks for your time and have a great evening.

As always,

Hollis

[nicki]

Well, according to IMDB, Sunset Blvd. (1950) was previewed where I live, and a couple of cities in Illinois or Indiana, and the audiences were laughing at the original opening of the movie, so the director decided to re-shoot the opening. When I read that I was like "Whoa, didn't know that my city was so prestigious that they previewed movies here."

[Hollis]

Thanks John,

I've only a sketchy knowledge, at best, of the way the studios used to distribute their pictures. I guess I said Radio City because it's the one entertainment venue in NYC that everyone seems to know (aside from MSG) and I know that movies are in fact, shown there. I wasn't aware of its' affiliation with any motion picture studio or theater chain, like Loew's or GCC and the like. Is it still the order of the day for the stars of a movie to attend the premiere? Or is that only the case when it premieres close to home, like in Hollywood? I think, but I'm not sure, that Sylvester Stallone attended the "Rocky" premiere in Philly but I don't know what theater it was shown at, it's been a long time since 1976! As for the six months or so from the time that "Jaws" was previewed in January (when you saw it) until its' release that summer, was that a typical time frame for movies to be shown prior to their release? And was it a "one time only" sort of a deal, or would it be shown several times over the course of a weekend let's say? Thanks again.

As always,

Hollis

[SSO Admins]

John Waters and Barry Levinson have premiered most of their movies at the historic Senator Theater in Baltimore. It's a single screen theater that was built in 1925. They have autographs from the directors and stars (including the late, great Divine) in the sidewalk outside. Neither the Senator nor its sister theater, The Rotunda allow children under 5, which is really nice.

The recent musical remake of Waters's Hairspray premiered at the Charles Theater here as well.