American Film Theatre

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Poster for the American Film Theatre release of Galileo (1974-75) Galileo-AFTposter(1974).jpg
Poster for the American Film Theatre release of Galileo (1974–75)

From 1973 to 1975, using approximately 500 movie theaters across the US, The American Film Theatre presented two seasons of film adaptations of well-known plays. Each film was shown only four times at each theatre. By design, these were not films of stage productions — they were plays "translated to the film medium, but with complete faithfulness to the original play script." [1] Filmgoers generally subscribed to an entire season of films, as they might if they purchased a season's tickets for a conventional stage theater. About 500,000 subscriptions were sold for the first season of eight plays using direct mail and newspaper advertising. Ely Landau was the producer for the series. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Eight films were shown in the first season. Five were shown in the second season, after which the American Film Theatre project ended. Raymond Benson summarized, "The American Film Theatre could probably never be repeated, especially within the economic structure that exists in the motion picture industry today. It’s a shame, for even though the AFT was not a perfect product, it was a bold and fascinating experiment that attempted to blend the stage with cinema. It’s the kind of project that reminds us how recklessly courageous—and often artistically brilliant—filmmakers could be in the 1970s." [1]

The films were released on DVD in 2003 by Kino International and again in 2008 as a boxed set. [5] They were again re-released on Blu-Ray in 2018.

Production

Twelve of the thirteen films were specifically produced by Landau for the series. The budgets were low: $750,000 for each film. Landau was able to convince leading playwrights, actors, and directors to offer their work at minimal rates. [6] The largest fee paid was $25,000; Lee Marvin remarked that he lost $225,000 by acting in The Iceman Cometh, since his usual fee for a film was $250,000. [1]

Marketing and distribution

The American Film Theatre's marketing was based on selling season subscriptions. For the 1973–74 season there were eight films exhibited. Each film was shown only four times at a specific theatre. The American Express company developed a direct mail and newspaper sales campaign that cost $2.5 million, and yielded about 500,000 subscriptions for the first season. [4] The posters and other advertising emphasized that the films were being shown in "limited engagements", and it was rumored that the films would not be released again for years. [7]

Most theaters that participated in the American Film Theatre showed the films on Mondays and Tuesdays, which were days on which ticket sales for the films from the major studios were relatively small. For the second season, the major studios apparently began to exert pressure on these theaters to withdraw from American Film Theatre.

Lawsuit

In January 1975, the month the second season began, American Film Theatre filed an antitrust lawsuit against six of the major studios alleging that they were "coercing exhibitors into canceling scheduled AFT playdates or transferring them to theatres different from those designated to subscribers when they signed up for the AFT series". The outcome of the lawsuit isn't clear, but the second season was the last for the American Film Theatre. [8]

Film exhibitions

The months indicated for each film are for the American Film Theatre release. Excepting Three Sisters and Philadelphia, Here I Come, all of the films listed below were produced by Ely Landau and were first shown as part of the American Film Theatre. [1]

1973–74 season

1974–75 season

These films were shown by American Film Theatre in the first five months of 1975.

DVD release

Awards

Despite the very limited release of the films, several performers and one writer were nominated for national film awards, with one winning.

Awards and Nominations
ArtistFilmAwardCategoryResult
Kate Reid A Delicate Balance Golden Globe Awards Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture Nominated [10]
Robert Ryan The Iceman Cometh National Board of Review Best Actor Won
Maximilian Schell The Man in the Glass Booth 48th Academy Awards Best Actor Nominated [11]
Maximilian Schell The Man in the Glass Booth Golden Globe Awards Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama Nominated [12]
Edward Anhalt The Man in the Glass Booth Writers Guild of America Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium Nominated

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Benson, Raymond (April 16, 2009). "Remember...The American Film Theatre". Cinema Retro . Archived from the original on 2013-06-01.
  2. "Wide World of Entertainment: The Dick Cavett Show (Katharine Hepburn Interview, Pt. 1) (TV)". October 2, 1973. Summary only; not accessible online.
  3. Barrett, Michael (July 17, 2008). "Canon Fodder: American Film Theatre". PopMatters . Review of The American Film Theatre Complete 14 Film Collection DVD set.
  4. 1 2 Sloane, Leonard (August 27, 1973). "Advertising: Film Theatre Debut" . The New York Times.
  5. 1 2 The American Film Theatre : the complete 14 film collection (DVD (region 1)). Kino International Corporation. 2008. OCLC   245535401.
  6. Slide, Anthony (2014). "The American Film Theatre". The New Historical Dictionary of the American Film Industry. Routledge. p. 9. ISBN   9781135925543.
  7. Schickel, Richard (April 13, 2003). "THEATER; Famous Plays, Famous Players, Forgotten Films". The New York Times.
  8. "The Iceman Cometh". American Film Institute (AFI). 2003. Unsigned notes contain a discussion of an antitrust lawsuit filed by American Film Theatre and Ely Landau against six major film studios. In essence, the lawsuit accused the studios of preventing film theaters from showing the productions of the American Film Theatre.
  9. Rockett, Kevin; Gibbons, Luke; Hill, John (2014). Cinema and Ireland. Routledge. p. 112. ISBN   9781317928584. The 1970s and 1980s saw a number of Irish-themed films being made in Ireland by foreigners. Brian Fiel's well-known play, Philadelphia, Here I Come (John Quested, 1970) ...
  10. Delicate Balance, A|Golden Globes
  11. 1976|Oscars.org
  12. Man in the Glass Booth, The|Golden Globes

Further reading