Boxoffice-August.11.1975

—
5th
DISCUSSING 'JAWS'—Un a promotional
visit to Cincinnati, "Jaws"
producers Richard Zanuck. left, and
David Brown, right, were interviewed
by WLW-T's Rosemary Kelly. The
record-breaking film which has touched
off a wave of "sharkoniania" across
the country is a Zanuck/ Brown production
released bv Universal Pictures.
'Jaws' 800, 'Nashville'
700 in Cincinnati
CINCINNATI — -Jaws" continued to
scare patrons at four theatres with a big
800 reported at boxoffices. "Nashville" rang
out with 700 in its bow at Showcase 1 while
•Rollerball" scored a bright 600 in its third
frame at the Valley. "The Return of the
Pink Panther" held onto fourth place with
500 in a 10th outing at Times Towne.
[Average Is 100)
Carousel 1 The Other Side of the Mountain
(Univ), loth wk 375
Carousel 2, Skywolk—The Fortune (Col), 2nd wk. 150
Four theatres Jaws (Univ), 6th wk 800
Four theatres Bite the Bullet (Col), 4th wk. . . .175
Four theatres The Apple Dumpling Gang (BV),
3rd wk 300
Northgate The Happy Hooker (SR), 6th wk. ..100
Showcase 1 Nashville (Para) 700
Showcase 2 Jocqueline Susann's Once Is
Not Enough (Para), 5th wk 375
Showcase 3— Funny Lody (Col), 20th wk 275
Showcase A—Mondingo (Para), 10th wk 250
Showcase 5 Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(SR), 4th wk 300
Times Towne The Return of the Pink Panther
(UA), 10th wk 500
Tri-County The Drowning 1
Pool (WB), 2nd wk. 300
Tri-County 2 W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings
(20th-Fox), 2nd wk 400
Volley— Rollerball UA), 3rd wk 600
'laws' Attracts 480 in Detroit;
'Nashville' Scores 375 in 3rd
DETROIT — "Jaws" attracted a strong
gross of 480 in a fifth week at seven theatres
here. "Nashville" at Radio City rang
out a hefty 375 in its third week. "One of
Our Dinosaurs Is Missing" found 350 in a
second week at 1 1 situations. "Rollerball"
rated 290 in a second outing at the Northland.
Americana Tommy (Col), 1 7th wk 145
Eight theatres Jacqueline Susann's Once Is
Not Enough (Para), 4th wk 150
I 1 theotre^ One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing
(BV), 2nd wk 350
Four theatres W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings
(20th-Fox), 2nd wk 80
14 theotres Aloha, Bobby and Rose (Col),
2nd wk 65
Northland— Rollerball (UA), 2nd wk 290
Radio City— Nashville Parol, 3rd wk 375
Seven theatres- Jaws Umv , wk 480
Seven theatre;— Love ond Death UA), 4th wk. . .150
Seven theatres— Bite the Bullet iCol), 3rd wk. . . 85
Six theatres—The Wind and the Lion (UA),
4th wk 120
Six theatres The Fortune (Col), 4th wk 90
Six theatres The Drowning Pool (Col), 4th wk. . . 90
27 theatres—The Devil's Rain (SR) 115
Two theotres Cooley High (AlP), 4th wk 125
Two theatres Bucktown (AlP), 3rd wk 150
Two theotres Bug (Para), 2nd wk 70
BOXOFHCE .Xugust 1975
World's Largest Indoor Screen
Uses Impressive INIAX System
.SANDUSK.Y. OHIO—The S2 million
( cdar
June
Point Cinema
and which
which
features
opened last
the I MAX system,
projecting film images on the world's
largest indoor motion picture screen, was
the subject of an entire feature article by
Cleveland Plain Dealer movie critic Emerson
Batdorff. His comments about the cinema
follow:
"Sheer bigness is impressive. What is
hilled as the world's largest indoor movie
screen, new at Cedar Point, is so big it
swallows you. It engulfs you. It washes over
you. It is overpowering.
Bigness Scares Viewers
"It drags you along, willy-nilly, in an airplane
making what appears to
be a suicidal
trip through the Grand Canyon and in a
car being driven by an insane hot-rodder
through crowded city streets.
"In such situations it is even more upsetting
than Cinerama was. Cinerama being
just a kid in comparison. The big screen is
about three times as large as Cinerama. If
this were only an example of motion picture
technical trickery the result would be impressive
but the picture showing this summer
is impressive artistically, making this
perhaps the best of all possible worlds.
"On the giant screen f66 feet high—as
high as a seven-story building—and 88 feet
wide) is "Man Belongs to the Earth.' This
is a 22-minute effort to reconcile man with
his living quarters.
Film Not 'Gummed Up'
"Do not be discouraged by the fact that
it is an offering of the U.S. Department of
Commerce. A man's initial reaction to this
word is that government gums up everything
else and most movies are gummed up anyhow,
so the two together would be fairly unwatchable.
"Somehow, the Department of Commerce
realized this and got someone eke to make
the movie. It is splendid. It was made for
the U.S. Pavilion at the E.xpo in Spokane
last year by. oddly enough, a group of Cana-
after having been built at a cost of $2 million
in a space of 80 days. Ferguson found
things going well, somewhat to his surprise.
It may not be hard to spend $2 million in
80 days but to spend it productively is difficult.
"Ferguson is part of IMAX, a Canadian
organization with headquarters in southern
Ontario. He's an artistic-looking duck with
sprawling iron-gray hair and horn-rimmed
glas.ses but dres-ses as a businessman . . none
of the typical movie director's patched blue
jeans and love beads for him. I think I endeared
myself to Ferguson early in the game
by asking if IMAX didn't stand for maximum
image. He beamed and said it did.
"At this point it is perhaps best to separate
the picture from its system of projection.
First, a discassion of the artistic
merits; later, a di.scu,ssion of the new technology.
'The first thing I found about the
government policy on ecology was that every
department had a different one. There was
no fixed policy." Ferguson said. 'Obviously
the picture would have to be general. But
we didn't want it bland. What we needed
was a father-figure who.se word could not
be doubted.'
"It was an inspiration of genius to settle
on Chief Dan George, star of "Little Big
Man' and a man of impressive if approachable
dignity, to do this job. 'We figured the
chief would have .some ideas about ecology,
so we sent a researcher out to talk with him,'
Ferguson explained.
Chiefs Ecology Message
".'Vs it turned out. Chief Dan George was
a mine of information about ecology. Out
of a three-day talk, which was taped, came
all the words that the chief says on the
screen. We didn't add anything,' said Ferguson.
"That story he tells about his father
catching him gaffing fish for the fun of it
was exactly as he told it.'
"What the chief's father said to him was,
"Never destroy fish for the fun of it. It is
not
right with the Great Spirit.'
"Chief Dan George showed up for the
filming in
his blue jeans and fringed leather
jacket and perhaps 20 or 30 finger rings,
his usual number. 'What he showed up in,
he wore,' said Ferguson. 'You don't tinker
with an authentic father-figure.'
Rare, Impressive Images
-The chief is only part of the movie. It
also shows rare whooping cranes, an alligator
lurking in the Everglades, a charming
sea otter floating on its back while eating
an abalone and also less desirable images.
Suddenly the vast screen is full of ants. No,
they aren't ants—they are motorcycles
jouncing across a vast plain, cycles by the
thousands, teeming, squirming and defacing.
'We were hoping for something big
for a climax,' said Ferguson. 'Finally we got
dians.
word that there was an oil well fire. Fortunately
for us. it happened, although unfort-
"Graeme Ferguson, the director and
photographer, showed up at Cedar Point to
unately for the ecology.' An oil well fire
.see how the new theatre was working out
being extinguished by dynamite is impressive.
"Ferguson is a pioneer in working with
IMAX. a screen system so big that you really
can't in good conscience dolly in for a
closeup. as is possible on other screens. The
very idea of someone's teeth being shown
.seven stories high is daunting and as for the
camera concentrating on an actor's left
nostril— well, the idea is just impossible.
"You have to direct people's attention to
your center of interest in other ways.' said
Ferguson. 'The eye is free to roam, because
the screen is so big.'
"IMAX was developed following Expo
"67 in Montreal, where many motion pic-
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