Intermisson


Does anyone know how long the Intermission was when the movie came out to the theater? I'm watching this movie on Netflix Instant Watch and the Intermission came on and only lasted for a few seconds. The Intermission couldn't have lasted only for a few seconds when this movie was in the theater. If anyone knows and can reply, I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

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could give an exact time but the last film i saw with an intermissin which was braveheart had a 15 minute break,would have thought that would be
the normal time.

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A lot depends on the cinema, when showing a film with an intermission a lot of cinemas used to show the adverts, trailers, and/or newsreel in the gap. So the length used to vary.

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Whats marked on DVDs as the "intermission" is usually in fact the Entr'acte. I'm not sure that their was an absolutely fixed intermission time, but fifteen minutes as another poster pointed out is about right. Th common format was that the curtains (remember them?) would close on the fade-out and, usually, an Intermission title card. There would be about a 15 minute interval (ads and newsreels etc were rarely played during an intermission in my experience) then the lights would dim to about half strength and the Entr'acte would play for a couple of minutes to give the audience time to get seated and settle. So in total the break would be near to twenty minutes or so.

For obvious reasons, DVDs (when they even bother) include the title card and Entr'acte, but omit the actual intermission itself.

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Movie theatres in Sydney still have curtains! I thought that was normal.

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Movie theatres in Sydney still have curtains! I thought that was normal.


I'm not saying there aren't any, but here in the UK I don't know of any cinemas that still use curtains. My local, the bussiest cinema in Britain and the tallest in the worl, doesn't even have tabs to adjust the screen shape, so anything narrower than 2.40:1, the picture fades out at the screen edges. It took me a while to adjust to that, and to be honest it still iritates me a little.

I believe curtains were originally for safety reasons as screens used to be quite flamable but as that is no longer the case they would be purely for dramatic effect. But I miss them.

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For this movie, the intermission was probably the best part.

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On my Dvd copy it last about 2 minutes. So I'm assuming it would give you 1 minute to leave the cinema and play 1 more minute after a 15 minute break.

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doesn't even have tabs to adjust the screen shape,


That also annoys me in my local. They also have no adjustments. So if they show something in 1.75-1 followed by something in 2.35-1. The 2.35-1 is smaller than the 1.75-1.

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That also annoys me in my local. They also have no adjustments. So if they show something in 1.75-1 followed by something in 2.35-1. The 2.35-1 is smaller than the 1.75-1.


My current local doesn't do that, it does widen the picture, it just doesn't mask it.

But I had a previous local which did just that. It was a very old cinema, and there was simply nowhere to widen the screen to, with exits at each side of the screen, so 2.35:1 simply became smaller. I don't think that was actually all that unusual in the years following the introduction of CinemaScope etc. Is yours an old cinema? We do also have a much more modern cinema here which kind of compromises - 2.35:1 becomes a little wider, but also shrinks vertically, so the actual screen area remains pretty much the same. Unforgivable really in a cinema little more than twenty years old.

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Yes but the one I am talking about isn't really that old. It was built so the entire of all 16 screens is 1.75-1. It was originaly built as a 'Ster Century' in Romford in 1999, and then became a 'Vue' in 2005. The screen size means that they can not widen at all so 2.35 just looks letter boxed, and 4-3 has borders at the side.

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I forgot two other near-local cinemas here, built around 1990, if I remember correctly originally by AMC. Their screens are something like 2:1, but they don't even bother with letterboxing; they simply cut the sides off scope film. Usually you can get away with it, but I remember in particular T2, which used quite a lot of graphic readouts which should have filled the screen becoming incomprehensible with the sides missing.

I find such designing in modern cinemas incomprehensible. And they have the cheek to upgrade to digital 3D, when they can't even show widescreen films in a format over half a century old properly.

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These big budget movies back then (not just musicals but also epics like "How The West Was Won") had intermissions of at least 15 minutes. What would happen is that the scene would fade, (sometimes) a title card with "Intermission" would appear, and the curtains would close and the lights come up. The audience would have time to go to the bathroom, get more refreshments, stretch, etc., just as in any Broadway theater.

When the intermission was nearing its conclusion, the "Entr'acte" that is part of so many movie soundtracks of this period would start playing. That way, the audience would know the second half of the movie was about to start.

The intermission was usually a regular part of the showings, even when the film went out into general release. I saw "Thoroughly Modern Millie" at a movie theater in Pasadena, CA, and it included an intermission and "entr'acte."

However, sometimes the intermission was dropped. My recollection is that it was dropped if the movie was not particularly successful. I think that was the case with "Doolittle" when I saw it after it went into general release. I think my parents and I sat through all 3 hours without a break(!).



"Don't call me 'honey', mac."
"Don't call me 'mac'... HONEY!"

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Sometimes the intermissions were cut for time. In the days when movies played with continuous performances, the intermission was sometimes optional, depending on the distributor and theater. The time saved by illiminating it may have been enough for theaters to squeeze in an extra show daily. Some movies would return to regular-run theaters cut by quite a bit. Half-an-hour for Battle of the Bulge or Far from the Madding Crowd for example.) Some musicals had entire numbers or subplots cut (eg.Goodbye, Mr. Chips). This was especially true for the less successful roadshows. Also, some of the shorter roadshows (The Unsinkable Molly Brown, The Lion in Winter) would return to theaters intact (But in the case of Molly Brown, only its overture and exit music may be missing.
In the case of the original posters question, what was on screen was only the title card intermission. In theaters, the curtains would close for about 12-15 minutes as other posters have mentioned. The two minutes of music over a blank screen was the entracte, which acted as an overture to part two.

Writing this, I realise how much I miss the old roadshow format. Imagine how great it would be to see Les Miserables released this way, with overture, intermission,and entreacte. The end credits would serve as the exit music. wouldnèt that be something?

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I was 11 when I saw this with my mother in a roadshow engagement in Pgh. I'd say the Intermission lasted 15-20 minutes because I had time to go to the bathroom, plus stand in line to buy a souvenir color program. Pretty sure an "entracte" played near the end of the intermission.

"May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?"

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