University Daily Kansan / Friday, April 22, 1988
Jacque Janssen, arts/features editor
11
Arts & Entertainment
Awards don't always spell success
Local viewers pick mainstream flicks
By Kevin Dilmore
Kansan staff writer
"The Last Emperor" won nine Academy Awards on April 11, and the film played in Lawrence for three weeks. "Three Men and a Baby" did not receive a single nomination from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the film played in Lawrence for almost three months.
The Academy Awards are by no means the only indication of high-quality film making. But the comparison helps clarify a handy Hollywood rule of thumb: the golden Oscars on all the mantlepieces in all the world do not add up to a hill of beams against the gold in box office coffers.
Movies might be entertaining and even artistic, but first and foremost, movies are a business. Box office receipts are the major consideration for which films open in Lawrence theaters and how long they remain in town.
Elden Harwood, city manager of Commonwealth Theaters, said that films for the nine Commonwealth theaters in Lawrence were booked by the company's main office in Kansas City, Mo. But he said that the film selections for each week were determined more by the studio than once else because the studies selected the release dates.
"It all depends on how they show up on the release schedule," Harwood said. "We try to stay on the break, that is, on the national release date, as much as possible. We fall behind a week or two every now and then. But for the most part, we hope to play a film at the same time as Kansas City."
Harwood said that although some films might open later in Lawrence than in Kansas City, few are passed over completely.
But just because most major releases make it to Lawrence, that does not mean film selections are made with no consideration for taste. Harwood said he tried to stay on top of the film industry through studio news releases and other sources. He also attends advance trade screenings of films about once a month.
"If it's something we don't know much about or can't make a judgment on the advance information we'll tell you."
and a screening. he said
And after 49 years with Commonwealth Theaters, Harwood said he still relied on movie-goers as the best indicators of a film's success.
"I listen to customers regardless of age because they know just as much as we do about upcoming movies — maybe more," he said. "They read about new movies in our magazines and talk shows and MTV. I know what they want to see."
Sometimes, public reaction can be surprising, though. Harward said that on several occasions, he booked a film that other Commonwealth executives said was doomed to fail.
"The booking and buying department decided that "E.T." wasn't the right kind of picture for most of theiraters. I decided it was," he said. "Fortunately, other companies also felt the same way as ours and passed it."
up. We did tremendous business."
Theater owners are not the only ones to play the guessing game. Employees who watch a film three or four times a day also develop a sense for the smell of success.
Mark Harwood. Lawrence senior and Elden's son, has worked at the Hillcrest Theaters, Ninth and Iowa streets, for four years. He said he was usually able to tell how an audience would react to a film and determine how successful a film would be.
As a projectionist, the younger Harwood is in a rare position. He has the opportunity to see first-run films in a theater without being distracted by an audience. He test-screens each print for defects the night before the film opens. Usually, he will review the film with an audience to check his reactions against the public's.
"If I felt a fag was funny, I'd want to see how an audience responds to it," he said. "Most of the time, we agree. But sometimes, I see subtle jokes that the audience is slow to get."
No matter how much the patrons of a film like it, the deciding factor for that film remaining in town is ticket sales.
said. "Harwood said, 'It's due to money. That's the bottom line.'"
When a film is booked in Lawrence, he said, the theater and the film's distributor negotiate what is called a hold figure, or the amount of money the film is required to earn to stay in the theater. Theaters contract a film for a specific number of weeks but might be required to hold a film another week if it grosses more than the hold figure.
This contract clause is one reason a Lawrence theater could miss an opening date, which was the case last weekend with the controversial street-gang film "Colors," starring Sean Penn and Robert Duvall.
"We just didn't have room for it," the elder Harwood said. The film is scheduled to open April 29.
The hold figure also determines how quickly a film leaves trees. For example, "The Last Emperor," which won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1987, ran for five years. As he grew older he thought he would the film's brief stay was because of timing.
"It's unfortunate that "The Last Emperor" didn't come to town earlier or that it couldn't stay until after the Academy Awards," he said.
Maria Scott, Lawrence freshman and assistant manager of the Cinema Twin Theatres, 31st and Iowa streets, said the film did not do much business in her theater.
"The crowd size was nothing out of the ordinary, except that it was an older crowd," she said. "If they brought it back after the awards, it would be a smart move."
David Bohanon, a projectionist at the Cinema Twin,
so he was upset about the film's brief run.
Andrew Pavich/KANSAN
"I didn't get to see it, and it played at my theater," he said.
said.
Bohanon said the poor turnout for "The Last Emperor"
could be interpreted as a bad sign for Lawrence theaters.
"The crowd sizes make the film seem almost too
cerebral for this town," he said. "The higher-ups will think very hard the next time a 'Last Emperor' comes out, and they may even decide not to book it here."
The younger Harwood agreed. "Films like 'The Last Emperor' are just too arty for general audiences. It's not that people can't understand them, but it it's not the type of thing people want to see," he said. "With 44 ticket prices, people will pick mainstream films over everything else, and that attitude goes against the whole idea of movies taking the viewer to places he has never been before."
Harwood he would like to see more occasional film goes take a chance on epic films.
"The Last Emperor' does not have the pretty girls, the flashy actors or the happy ending everyone wants," Harwood said.
"I wish that of all the people who saw "Top Gun" half of them would see "The Last Emperor." "he said. "But I know that is impossible because it does not have the entertainment utility."
With the first barrage of summer releases just around the corner, the younger Harwood said he hoped audiences would bypass some of the big-budget sequels for smaller pictures. Judging from previews and past
experience, he said, "Stand and Deliver" and "Above the Law" could be good upcoming films.
Scott said she expected the release of Walt Disney's "Bambi" to be one of the summer's big hits at her theater.
"It may sound stupid," she said, "but the Cinema Twin is a family theater and 'Bambi' is a family movie. It should do well."
Elden Harwood said that although all sequels were risky, he was counting on "Rambo III" and "Crocodile Dundee II" to be strong performers at the summer box office.
Mark Harwood said that as an employee and a film fan, he had mixed emotions about the new Rambo film.
"I abbor pictures that cannot represent Vietnam and Vietnam veterans factually, ones that are just blowing the trumpet of patriotism without being sincere," he said.
said,
"But I kind of want to see it. It could be a masochistic thing," Harwood said. "And it seems a little scary to think there are a lot of people out there feeling the same way."
"People should see what they want to see, and that's fine," Harwood said. "But they should also take the time to see what the movie industry is all about."
GRAND OPENING at Papa Guido's Parlor
TODAY! 75$ slices all day
with
- Ribbon cutting ceremony begins at 4:30 p.m.
- Friday's best TGIF
KJHK and
- KJHK give away! free Pepsi when wearing a KJHK t-shirt
Lonesome Houndogs
- Join the fun!
- Pizza specials all day !
$3.00 OFF Any Large Pizza with coupon expires 5/12/88
$2.00 OFF Any Medium Pizza with coupon expires 5/12/88
FREE Extra Cheese any size pizza with coupon expires 5/12/88
Supreme Special buy one get one FREE any size with coupon expires 5/12/88
Lunch Special 10" home-made pizza one topping dine-in or carry-out $3.50 between 11:30-3:00
Whole Wheat Pizza made any time ( upon request )