In a rare interview, Dick Van Dyke recalls his memories of making Mary Poppins. He said that Walt Disney didn't hire him because of his singing and dancing skills - but rather because he had read a comment made by Van Dyke decrying the trend away from family entertainment. Van Dyke also good-naturedly jokes about the ribbing he takes from the Brits about his less-than-convincing Cockney accent - and he's also written to First Lady Michelle Obama thanking her for saying that Mary Poppins is her favorite movie. To read click here
There was a time in the grand era of movie palaces where the theater we saw a movie at was as important as the film itself.Names like Marcus Loew and William Fox built
and operated theater palaces that were created to give the common man a feeling
of royalty, even if only for a couple of hours while they were entertained by
the latest fare from Hollywood. Studios,
too, built monuments to showmanship where the movies they made could be seen in
all their splendor.
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Many of these theaters still exist; Grauman’s
Chinese in Hollywood, The Loew’s Jersey in Jersey City, the Fox Theatres in
Atlanta and Detroit, among others. Some
are now performing arts centers, but a few still operate the way they were
originally conceived – as movie theaters.
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Washington, D.C. does not come to mind as a city
with a great movie palace legacy. It is
too busy being the capital of the free world. Â
But in the 1920s through the 1940s, it could hold its own with any other
large city with great downtown motion picture cathedrals. Two of these theaters still exist; The
Warner, built in 1927 serves as a performing arts and concert venue; and The
Uptown, which still operates as a movie palace, just like it did on October 29th,
1936, the night it opened.
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Washingtonians know and cherish the Uptown as the
city’s last surviving movie palace within the city limits. The Uptown was built and originally run by
Warner Brothers.  As time went on the
theater was sold to RKO Stanley Warner theatres, then to Circle Theatres, a
local chain, finally ending up as an AMC theatre today. From 1982 to 1985, I was fortunate to
occasionally work at the Uptown as a projectionist. I usually had the honor of substituting for
the regular projectionist on some of his days off. Being part of the experience, actually
running the show at Washington’s best theater is a job I would have done
without pay.
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The Uptown started as an art deco movie theater,
and stayed that way until 1963, when it was decided that the Uptown should be
Washington, D.C.’s Cinerama showplace.Â
The auditorium was completely remodeled to accommodate the wide, curved
screen of Cinerama, which was shown originally using three projectors.  The Cinerama screen originally measured 85
feet in width and about 30 feet in height that ran from nearly floor to
ceiling. The screen was curved at 146
degrees to envelope the audience in the Cinerama experience.
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Only one three projector Cinerama movie was ever
shown at the Uptown, 1963’s “How The West Was Won.â€Â As most movie fans know, that was also the
last three strip Cinerama movie produced.Â
From that point, Cinerama pictures were made and shown with 70MM film
using a single camera and projector. The
Uptown to this day, is equipped for 70MM projection and over the years,
especially in the 1960s, ran a great number of 70MM Cinerama pictures. During the 1980s, the Uptown ran almost
exclusively 70MM prints. Â Â A trip to the
projection booth today will reveal the word “Cinerama†still adorning two the
Century 35/70 projectors.
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The Uptown has a long history of hosting the world
premieres of many big pictures. In my
opinion the high water mark came on April 1st, 1968 when “2001: A
Space Odyssey†had its world premiere at the Uptown in 70MM Cinerama. Even today when “2001†plays at the Uptown,
the crowds are huge, often selling out the auditorium that today seats over
800. Other movies that have premiered at
the Uptown include: “The Hunt For Red Octoberâ€, “Backdraftâ€, “Mississippi
Burningâ€, and “Jurassic Parkâ€. Kevin
Costner has used the theatre for the world premieres of three of his pictures,
“Robin Hoodâ€, “Dances With Wolvesâ€, and most recently, “The Guardianâ€. With “Jurassic Parkâ€, the Uptown made history
as the first theatre to show a movie in the DTS sound process, as “Jurassic
Park†was the first motion picture released in DTS.
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The Uptown has also hosted premieres of restored
classics. David Lean appeared at the
theater for the D.C. premiere of his restored “Lawrence Of Arabiaâ€. He was so impressed with The Uptown that he
cut short his time with the press covering the event so he could watch his
movie there. Kim Novak attended the
opening of “Vertigoâ€, and Jean Simmons and Tony Curtis attended the April 1991
opening of “Spartacusâ€. All of these premieres
were presented in 70MM on the huge Cinerama screen.
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The screen today measures 76 feet in width and even
35MM Cinemascope uses the entire width of the curved screen. You can get a look
at the Uptown today and see moments from its past on YouTube by clicking here
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Should you ever get the opportunity to visit our
nation’s capital, be sure to plan a trip up Connecticut Avenue to one of
America’s best remaining movie palaces, The Uptown.
Bob Collins is a former theatre manager,
projectionist, and radio disc jockey who is now a voice talent and video
producer. Visit him on-line at BOBVOX.COM.
Retro responds:Thanks, John. Yes, a number of movie fans more astute than ourselves responded to our plea in issue #13 to help us identify the film that the lovely Ms. Leigh was posing for. A search of the IMDB indicated that it probably was the rather obscure Kid Rodelo, but we weren't able to confirm it before going to press. We're not usually prone to running a cover shot from an unidentified movie, but our weakness for women in garter belts was the over-riding factor! Meanwhile, readers should do themselves a favor and visit John's web site, The Greenbriar Picture Shows - it's an irresistable treasure trove of vintage movie stills and great articles.Â