Comments on: Universal Fire To Have Major Impact on Rep House Booking? http://blog.spout.com/2008/06/03/universal-fire-to-have-major-impact-on-rep-house-booking/ Daily coverage of what is truly interesting in the film world Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:13:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Ned Hinkle http://blog.spout.com/2008/06/03/universal-fire-to-have-major-impact-on-rep-house-booking/#comment-102960 Ned Hinkle Wed, 04 Jun 2008 01:53:28 +0000 http://blog.spout.com/?p=3053#comment-102960 It's tragic of course. Being a rep programmer myself, it was heartbreaking to hear about the extent of the damage. The good news is that many of the 'biggest' (i.e. most frequently circulated prints) of Universal titles were likely not in the vault - JAWS being a prime example. The bad news is that, of the titles that were kept in the vault, the 'big' titles are likely to be things like the original of THE KILLERS - films that are seen on screen relatively frequently - at least in rep centers like NY or LA. At this point, I would consider it too early to call whether there will be real casualties. "Never" is a very long time and I believe that Universal cares too much about their legacy to not seriously consider making a print of a film that is in demand. That being said, it's absolutely a blow to the prospect of discovering that amazing hidden gem from the Universal back catalog. I, along with the other programmers, archivists, and film buffs in the country will have to wait until the full extent of the damage is known but I fear that our recent double feature of the immortal STREETS OF FIRE and FLASH GORDON in March may have been the last screenings of those films on 35mm for a very long time. Ned Hinkle Brattle Theatre Cambridge, MA It’s tragic of course. Being a rep programmer myself, it was heartbreaking to hear about the extent of the damage.

The good news is that many of the ‘biggest’ (i.e. most frequently circulated prints) of Universal titles were likely not in the vault - JAWS being a prime example. The bad news is that, of the titles that were kept in the vault, the ‘big’ titles are likely to be things like the original of THE KILLERS - films that are seen on screen relatively frequently - at least in rep centers like NY or LA.

At this point, I would consider it too early to call whether there will be real casualties. “Never” is a very long time and I believe that Universal cares too much about their legacy to not seriously consider making a print of a film that is in demand. That being said, it’s absolutely a blow to the prospect of discovering that amazing hidden gem from the Universal back catalog.

I, along with the other programmers, archivists, and film buffs in the country will have to wait until the full extent of the damage is known but I fear that our recent double feature of the immortal STREETS OF FIRE and FLASH GORDON in March may have been the last screenings of those films on 35mm for a very long time.

Ned Hinkle
Brattle Theatre
Cambridge, MA

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