Sneak Prevue Mailbag: Waiting forever just to see a movie

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

I have stood in line literally hours just to buy a ticket to see a film high on my want-to-see-list – a list that through the years has included “Earthquake,” “The Towering Inferno,” “Jaws” and “Star Wars.”

I know “Earthquake” and “The Towering Inferno” are embarrassing, guilty pleasures. But, hey, “Earthquake” played at the Joy Theater in downtown New Orleans in late 1974 accompanied by that wonderful, ear-piercing gimmick called Sensurround (“Feel it as well as see it in Sensurround”).

And I couldn’t wait to experience a real, live, 9.0-magnitude, end-of-the-world, Armageddon-is-coming earthquake in the comfort and safety of a climate-controlled movie theater. I wasn’t disappointed.

But “Jaws?” Now that’s a different story. In fact I’ll talk about my experiences with that film when I answer questions in this week’s edition of the Sneak Prevue Mailbag. As you no doubt already have discovered, the Sneak Prevue Mailbag feature moves to Fridays beginning this week.

Meanwhile, before I get started answering reader questions, be sure to send yours to editor@sneakprevue.info. Every Friday, I will answer some of the more interesting questions you and other readers submit. So, here goes.

Dear Mr. Cassreino: What was the longest line in which you waited for a first-run motion picture? – Bruce in Mobile.

JAWS (1975)

Dear Bruce: That’s easy. My family and I waited more than three hours outside the Joy Theater in downtown New Orleans one hot night in June 1975 to see “Jaws” during its initial run. The line started at the theater box office on the corner of Canal Street and Elk Place and snaked down Elk Place for more than a block. The anticipation was incredible. Everyone was well aware that “Jaws” was scaring the hell out of moviegoers – and we wanted a chance to experience the excitement.

The Joy was one of New Orleans’ great, single-screen theaters with a balcony and rocking chair seats. The theater was staffed by several elderly ladies who sold tickets and concessions, employees who probably worked there for years. The outside marquee was huge and wrapped around the theater covering the entire Canal Street-Elk Place corner.

At one time, Canal Street was the place to go – for shopping at D.H. Holmes, Maison Blanche and other local stores or for watching first-run movies at the Joy, the Saenger, the Lowe’s State, the Orpheum and the Cine Royale. “Jaws” played for six straight months in metropolitan New Orleans exclusively at the Joy. If you wanted to see the film, you had to go downtown. Today, the Joy and other downtown theaters are closed.

Mr. Cassreino: I remember going to the neighborhood drive-in as a child to watch second-run movies. What happened to them? Why are they no longer popular or viable? – William in Lake Charles

Dear William: I, too, loved the drive-in. Where else could you go as a child in the 1970s and watch a movie from the comfort of your own car while munching on a great array of concessions – many better than your neighborhood theater – and fighting off hordes of mosquitoes with a Pic mosquito repellent coil?

RED SUN (1971)

I have fond memories of going to the Skyvue Drive-in Theater on Chef Menteur Highway in New Orleans to watch Charles Bronson in the 1971 Western “Red Sun” and John Wayne in the 1973 Western “The Train Robbers.” I also remember standing outside the theater perimeter silently watching Linda Blair in scenes from “The Exorcist” – we couldn’t access the speakers – and scaring the hell out of my younger sister.

Unfortunately, the drive-in theater and the neighborhood theater suffered the same fate – they fell victim to an explosion of multi-screen cinemas. Joy’s Panorama 4, Joy’s Cinema City 6, Lakeside Cinema 4, Plaza Cinema 4 and other multi-screen cinemas helped kill drive-ins, neighborhood theaters and the lavish single screen theaters of New Orleans. The same thing happened in most other cities around the country. In Jackson, Miss., where I live now, the city has NO theaters at all. If you want to see a first-run film, you have to go to one of the suburban multi-plex cinemas. And most of them, save for the Malco, Cinemark and The Grand Theatre chains, are terrible.

Drive-in theaters and the drive-in theater experience we remember are long gone and likely will never return.

THE GODFATHER (1972)

Mr. Cassreino: What is the best American movie ever made? – Suzy in Pensacola.

Dear Suzie: Man, that’s a tough question. You know, many film critics and scholars point to Orson Welle’s “Citizen Kane” as the finest American film. I’ve seen that film countless times and admire it greatly. But is “Citizen Kane” the best American film? I’m not so sure.

My choice: Francis Ford Coppola’s film of Mario Puzo’s “The Godfather.” Coppola’s film of Puzo’s “The Godfather, Part II” runs a close second. Together, these films are complex, timeless classics. They are a brilliant artistic triumph of storytelling, film direction, script-writing and cinematography that has never been topped.

Coppola’s films are deep, rich and full of symbolism. Every time I watch them, I see something different, something new. I never tire of seeing “The Godfather” and “The Godfather, Part II.” I have owned both films, along with the underrated and often dismissed “The Godfather, Part III,” on LaserDisc, on DVD and now on Blu-ray.

If you have never seen “The Godfather” or “The Godfather, Part II,” I suggest seeking out the Blu-ray high-definition collector’s edition that includes all three “Godfather” films. “The Godfather” and “The Godfather, Part II” have been fully restored and have never looked better. And the supplemental material, including film commentaries by Coppola, are well worth the investment.

Mr. Cassreino: What was your favorite movie theater as a child? – Francis in Metairie.

THE SAENGER

Dear Francis: I was born and raised in New Orleans, so my memories are of the single-screen theaters that populated Canal Street.  The Saenger. The Joy. The Lowes State. The Orpheum. All were spectacular. Then we had the huge single-screen suburban theaters like the Sena Mall, the Robert E. Lee and the Kenilworth Cinema.

But without a doubt, I loved to watch movies at the Saenger on Canal Street. This grand, cavernous theater had one of the largest screens in the city. As a child I remember going there in the 1960s to watch cartoons and shorts on the big screen while my mother
shopped the nearby stores.

The Saenger is currently being restored and could open late this year, or, more likely, next year. The theater will feature concerts and Broadway touring shows.

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