Page 15 - CinemaRecord #83

The 70 mm version created other indignities. The most obvious change was
the excision of the famous title sequence which glided word-by-word across
the screen. It was replaced by a single image static title. It was also reputed
to be ‘grainy’ and ‘cropped’.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica observed that the enduring popularity of
GWTW achieved something that studio heads had previously believed to be
impossible. Hollywood output was geared to the ephemeral pleasure of a
night out. A few films had second or third lives, but GWTW had transformed
itself into an industrial product.

Can it continue on the big screen for much longer? At the Astor East St
Kilda, it screens for one or two performances annually, now in a digital
version. As for its wider legacy, the American Film Institute’s list of “The
100 Best American films” ranks GWTW fourth after Citizen Kane,
Casablanca and The Godfather.

As recently as May 2013 Melbourne reviewer Leigh Paatsch ranked it
number three on his list of the top 100. Its earnings, adjusted to today’s
dollars, total more than $1.5 billion; still number one, still ahead of Star
Wars, Titanic and Avatar, despite what current publicists would have us
believe. H
* MGM’s laboratory technicians reduced and then masked the image in new
release prints in places where an unmodified image would have given
projectionists the most difficulty.
** MGM’s technicians painstakingly manipulated every frame to bring each one to
the best widescreen compromise possible, a process which took two years.

References:
• David O Selznick’s Hollywood by Ronald Haver. Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd. 1980.
• The Argus, Melbourne (various issues).
• Maurice Scott, former Victorian Metro Theatres manager, for additional information.
• Unless noted, images from the CATHS archive.

Event Date Theatre Finish Weeks

1940
Charity Premiere; Vice-Regal Patronage Friday 31 May Metro 0 -
Three sessions daily; Advanced prices Saturday 1 June Metro Monday 24 June 3
Saturday 1 June Regent Saturday 20 July 7
Transfer; 3 sessions, Advanced prices Friday 26 July Liberty Thursday 12 Dec. 15
1941-42

Transfer; same times, same prices Friday 3 June ‘41 Savoy Thursday 24 April ‘42 42
1943
Opens at regular prices Friday 4 June St James Tuesday 7 Sept. 9
1944-45
Limited Suburban releases November July
1946
City re-release Friday 27 Sept St James Monday 4 Nov. 5
1947

Full-scale suburban releases February July
1950
Simultaneous City re-release Friday 2 June Metro Tuesday 24 June 3
Friday 2 June St James Thursday 15 June 2

On Tuesday 20 June 1950 the Metro Collins Street box-office sold the one millionth ticket in Victoria

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