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Remember the Long Run?
40 th WEEK!

Royce Harris

he December 2015 opening of Star Wars: would open with an exclusive city run, often
TThe Force Awakens saw almost daily with a higher admission price.
bombardments of new statistics in the media.
The Melbourne Age reported it as having the An advertisement from 1941 for Fantasia at
widest release (on 941 of Australia's the Melbourne Savoy stated that the movie
approximately 2000 cinema screens), the would not be shown elsewhere in the state for
highest opening day ($9.4m,) and the highest at least one year. (It stayed at the Savoy for
opening weekend ($27.2m.) 12 months). In 1940, Gone with the Wind
opened simultaneously in Melbourne at the
In times past, these figures would have Regent and the Metro to cope with expected
ensured the film a very long run in the capital crowds. It stayed at the Regent for seven
cities, but exhibition is very different in the weeks but had to make way for other films.
21st century. It all changed with the advent of The advertisement for that joint presentation
the multiplex in most large suburban shopping stated that it would not be shown except at
centres and the prospect of substantial increased admission prices for at least one
additional earnings from release on DVD and year.
to on demand services.
The King's in Melbourne was an old style live
theatre from the 1920s which was having
trouble putting on live shows during the
Second World War. It converted to a picture
theatre in 1942, screening revivals until it
obtained Casablanca in December 1944, it being transferred from the Regent
which played to huge business until the end of (2310 seats), to the Majestic, which held 1170.
June 1945. The Kings continued showing
Warner Bros movies until the late 1940s, then Melbourne’s Regent, with its 20th Century
spent another couple of years as a live theatre Fox movies, had some very successful years
until May 1951. It showed Paramount pictures in the 1950s until the arrival of television
until February 1958. It was closed until
started to affect attendances at this huge
December for a complete modernisation, theatre. The first CinemaScope feature, The
reopening as the Barclay with The Ten Robe, played for 16 weeks from December
Commandments, which enjoyed a long run of
ten months.

A long run was not possible in most major
theatres which were owned by, or had
distribution deals with the major studios. In
1940, Fox had 49 films for release, and MGM
had 48. Most of these would be programmed
It's very hard to compare distribution/release
procedures of past decades with the present. for their main city theatres (sometimes on a
Prior to the introduction of the suburban double bill), followed by the suburbs and, if a
film was held over, it would mean
multiplexes, the main venue for a big night
out at the movies involved a trip to the city. rescheduling the whole chain. If a movie
Movies, with few exceptions, had their first proved to be an unexpected hit it could be
transferred to a lesser cinema to continue the
run in the city, followed by a suburban season,
then a country release. There were very few run. An example is Snow White and the Seven 1953 until April 1954. Later that year, Three
blockbusters, but an occasional hit movie Dwarfs, where advertisements from the Coins in the Fountain ran for 12 weeks. 1956
Adelaide Advertiser of 12 January 1939 show and 1957 were also good years, with long runs
for the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals
Carousel, The King and I, and Oklahoma,
(which ran for nine weeks in the 3000 plus
seat venue).

Melbourne’s Capitol, with in excess of
2100 seats, had few prestige films which
qualified for long runs but, after it was
reduced to a 793 seat theatre in 1965, it
reopened with The Great Race which ran for
15 months, and later had great success with
Ryan's Daughter, which ran into a second
year, filling the theatre almost every night.

South Pacific was the first 70 mm film to
screen in Melbourne, having a record
breaking run of 35 months from February

16 CINEMARECORD # 90