Canadian Film Digest (Dec 1972)

> Page 20 DECEMBER 1972 Theatres Now For The Future: The Key Word i is “Multiple”’ Theatre houses across the country are being re-shaped into more profitable designs. Famous Players appears to be leading the way into multiples by converting its big old vaudeville houses, which seated more than 3,000, into theatres with five or six auditoriums. Odeon, which opened its first theatres in Canada roughly 27 years ago, long after the big-barn era of design, finds itself with houses of about 1,200 to 1,400 which it is converting into dual or twin theatres. It sold its oldest and largest house, the 2,200-seat Carlton here, to developers to be replaced by an office complex. Multiple theatres produce better attendance per seat by generating an extra audience, spokesmen from both groups agree. Ideally, a movie is started in one of the large auditoriums and then moved to a smaller one after a few weeks when attendance starts to drop. It can often pack the small house for many weeks allowing longerthan-usual runs. As one exhibitor put it, ‘It’s the first 400 seats you’re selling every night. If we have twin houses then we have twice as much chance of drawing them.” . But the conversion from palaces to houses means trouble for the independent theatres, says Curly Posen of Associated Booking Services and owner of seven theatres in Ontario. “We get the film after the chains are through with it. Long runs kill us.” His solution: “If we’re not in direct opposition, then we should be able to play day and date in the same city’’ — in other words, the same day. Some cost reduction is possible in multiples because one projectionist can operate equipment in two or three of the auditoriums, depending on their design. Theatres built as twins generally have one projection booth but the large theatre that is redesigned often cannot do this. Theatre executives disagree on the spillover from a theatre to its twin. Paul Morton, president of Odeon-Morton of western Canada, says, ‘“‘If people come to see a specific program and they can’t get in, most of them can’t go to the other side.”’ But H.T. Blumsom, treasurer of Odeon in Toronto, says managers can see ata glance if they get spillover. ‘‘When they tell people ina line-up that no seats are left they can see people switch to the other line.”’ In Toronto Famous Players’ 3,200-seat Imperial, horses was once presented as a stage production, is being rebuilt into a_ sixauditorium house. When it opens in June, the old balcony will house two auditoriums with about 500 and 450 seats each, the ground floor will have two of about 1,000 and 600 seats each, and the backstage will house two 300seat auditoriums. George Destounis, president of Famous Players, said one of the small auditoriums is being reserved for showings of 16 mm films. He said the company has committed itself to five 16 mm movies by a Canadian film maker but he refused to name him. “Maybe they’ll only run for a week each or maybe they’ll run on but in any case we’re committed to five of them,’’ he said. Demolition next summer. where Ben Hur complete with. Ty M. Lynd, vice-president and treasurer of Famous Players, calls it ‘‘an entertainment centre’’ with two advantages. “It can offer a better product for a longer time and a better attendance per seat,’’ he said. The Uptown, first of the large multiples in Toronto, phased the openings of its five aduitoriums. The first one was ready for Christmas, 1969, because it was committed to a major opening, and the last was opened in March, 1970. The Imperial is scheduled to open all houses at once to create a stronger impact on the public. According to Mandel Sprachman, architect for both, all a theatre needs to be converted into smaller units is a sound building and enough space. It does not even have to be a theatre to be converted. One that is being made into a multiple in Washington, D.C., started its life as a car showroom. In Paris, a burlesque house built by Napoleon to entertain his. soldiers is now a dual theatre. ; Odeon has converted some of its theatres into twins and has built new twins, including the York, Albion and Sheridan in Toronto. Right now it has plans to twin three others that now seat from 1,200 to 1,400. As Charles Mason of Odeon said, ‘‘The most important factor in twinning a theatre is that you create a higher percentage of seat utilization.” xe e Tate NS = a rt oe) 4 U ie ~ Come BACK CHARLESTON oLuUc fe f“SW SUMMER OF 42 . COLOR Aleerations Offices and boutiques Mr. Blumson of Odeon pointed out that when the chain first turned to dual theatres, a large and a small auditorium were preferred. Now he prefers when they are closer to equal size. In looking for more profitable locations, some theatres have been housed in office buildings and hotels, and at least one exhibitor has an eye out for a suitable apartment building. It is taking the exhibitor out of the real estate business and putting him back into the business of running a movie theatre. If movies are housed in hotels or shopping ~ centres, the theatre leases space just as a retailer would and furnishes and equips it himself. One exhibitor said he is in a good position when it comes time to lease space in a hotel because he points out to the owner that he is drawing movie-goers into the hotel where they will become customers for other shops. He argues that the hotel guests will not go to _ Russians and Our Know-How Canadian movie houses have made it into Russian history books. Mandel Sprachman, architect for many of the multiple theatres in Canada, said the Canadian government escorted Russian visitors through Toronto’s Uptown while it was being converted into five auditoriums. Recently, the Russian visitors wrote to request more information on the conversion for a book they are writing on the history of the cinema. ee % ~ his movies because they are either businessmen at work or tourists who are more interested in sight-seeing than movies. Others argue that not only are the movie patrons staying at the hotel but the theatre has to compete with in-room the televising of movies. Some extra revenues are generated when the theatre is used for business meetings and sales presentations in the morning. Odeon Theatres are located in hotels in cluding the Holiday Inn in Windsor, Ont., the. Chateau Champlain in Montreal and the Regina Inn in Regina. As soon as exhibitors start to talk about placing a theatre in an office complex, one cites the example of either the Place Ville Marie in Montreal or the Toronto-Dominion Center in Toronto. The one in Montreal, surrounded by activity day and night because it lies close to Ste. Catherine St. with its shops, restaurants and clubs, and close to the new hotels and transportation terminals, is said to be doing well. The one in Toronto, at King and Bay, surrounded by office buildings that are deserted at night, is said to be doing not well. The moral: If it’s in a building, make sure it’s where the action is. Famous Players operates a triple attached to an office building in Ottawa’s Capitol Square which lies close to a street mall with its restaurants and shops. The movies are on the floor above street level and the entrance is between street-level shops. A dual is planned’ for an office complex in Toronto at the corner of Bloor and Yonge. Although movie houses in apartments have been successful in some European cities, they have not caught on here. As architect Sprachman pointed out, “They’re successful in Europe because the apartment is close to the action so the outside public uses the theatre.” Thorncliffe Park, an area with a high concentration of apartments that is as isolated from the rest of Toronto as an island from the mainland, had a theatre in a shopping centre but it closed after three or four years. The Canadian Film Digest . \ \ = y The Imperial’s majestic boxes are part of past memory. ‘The theory was that a movie would be convenient to these thousands of apartment people who wouldn’t even have to drive their cars to get there but it just didn’t work,”’ Mr. Sprachman said. ‘‘Maybe it proves that people want to go out for an evening, they really want to go out.” Mr. Morton of Odeon-Morton is interested in an apartment house location. During an expansion program that was completed about two years ago, his chain developed 12 theatres in seven years, including one in the Regina Inn. ‘When we have digested all this and are ready to expand again, I’d like to look for an apartment development and perhaps try a 300 or 350-seat auditorium,”’ he said. Who knows what the future may bring? Season's Greetings to all our friends SES NES SS Cinémas Unis Ltée United Theatres Ltd. MONTREAL EASA TLE TH OTE TH HON NOTE TENN NTH NTE OT ITE IE INH INTE ISN INTE INGE IST IONE NN INTE DOS NITE UNTER RAT Meilleurs Souhaits a tous nos amis Ta nh ccna