I once saw Trinity is still my Name at a drive - in theatre in Australia. Now that was a seriously big screen! Those places were fun (most seem to have gone now I think) but not great cinematic experiences. The entire sound system was a little speaker hooked on to the window of your car.
i donât think there has been any drive inâs in the U.K.
To much scum around perhapâs?, we will have to get CHARLES BRONSON on the scene (well at least in spirit!).
No Iâve never heard of any in the UK. Weatherâs not really right for it I guess. But they were really popular in the U.S and Australia. These days I think the land is too valuable. Certainly all the oneâs I used to go to in Australia are no longer in operation. All housing estates now.
Drive-ins were awesome, too bad theyâve been phased out of modern movie culture.
I havenât seen any spaghettis on the big screen, not yet anyway. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly was screening at the Hollywood Cineramadome at about the same time as the Leone exhibit at the Autry Museum here in L.A. This was a couple of years back. I did go to the exhibit, which was very nice, but didnât get a chance to see the movie. I really wish I had.
I saw the trilogy, and OUTIW in theatres , when first released to the States. Missed DYS, as did most filmgoers, due to limited release and an abrupt BO demise. Almost missed West for the same reason, but was able to catch it again later at college campus showings.
Phil H - thereâs still a fully functioning drive-in theatre here in Amarillo(the Tascosa Drive-in.) Doesnât get many first-runs though. Its kind of a kick to go to a movie out there every now and then. Reminds me of the good old daysâŚOh, and I saw both Trinity movies at the theatre back when they came out.
Nice to hear they are still around. I lived for a short while in a little town in Queensland, Australia back in the late 70s and the only cinema for about a 30 mile radius was the Drive in so I used to go every week. (There was nothing else to do for a 30 mile radius either) They always had double bills and (it has to be said) a mixed bag, quality wise, on show. Some new releases, some old re runs. But I used to really like it. Not a great way to see a film with big sound though. A little, crackly, mono speaker hanging off the window of the car doesnât add to the spectacle very well Iâm afraid.
I saw all Leoneâs in cinema in the late sixties, early seventies, in ânormalâ showings, usually during holidays or on a wednesday or saterday afternoon, when I didnât have to go to school.
I wasnât allowed to go to films that had received an â18 ratingâ, so I missed Death rides a Horse, Day of Anger and Django Kill (Donât remember any showings of Django)
Other films I saw this way are Return of Ringo, A few dollars for Django, I came, I saw, I shot, all Hill/Spencer movies, The Mercenary, Companeros, The Specialists, Sledge, Kill them all and come back alone.
Spaghetti westerns were shown this way in Holland and Belgium untill the mid seventies, usually in smaller cinemas, specialized in B-movies; image and sound quality wasnât always up to the scratch (very often there were missing reels etc.)
But after this they became popular in special late night showings in the city where I lived, Eindhoven
One cinema, called Cinema Parisien, had regular showings of spaghetti westerns
I remember Arizona Colt, several Sartanaâs, And God spoke to Cain, Requiem for a Gringo and a few comedy westerns
The atmosphere was quite bizarre during these late night showings; often several visitors were drunk and threatened to come to blows.
In Turnhout, on sunday afternoons, there are sometimes showings of so-called 'cinema treasuresâ
I saw For a few dollars more last year, along with a lot of SDâs zzz movies
Of course itâs great to see a SW in cinema, but with the arrival of widescreen television and DVD releases in the original aspect ratio, itâs also great to watch them at home.
And now most of the old 35mm copies are in an awful condition with faded colors, jump cuts etc.
Better to watch them on restored and uncut DVDs.
I saw OUATITW once in the cinema in Dresden because of Leones birthday. Very impressive.
BTW: I organize a country and western festival in August in Magdeburg, where I want to show spaghettis - 3 or 4. About one film I am sure, which is Il mercenario. A saw a catalogue of a german distributer⌠I hope it is still available. So guys, see you in Magdeburg 
sad that magdeburg is a five hour train ride from heidelberg, but that would be worth it. Or do you mean by country country music??? 
please keep us informed about the project
Iâve seen a bunch of Spaghetti Westerns on the big screen. But, then again, I am an old geezer!
When I was a kid, we had a sort of outdoor theater the operated on the weekends. It was a lot like a drive-inâŚonly with better sound!
A man that worked for a film distributor lived in our town (Ripley, OklahomaâŚpopulation approx. 500). On the weekends, he would bring home some prints and a projector that he would set up in order to show films projected onto the huge, blank, white wall of the townâs school bus garage.
This man, Mr. Richardson, didnât charge anything to do this, either! He just did it for fun and to give the kids in town something to do on Friday and Saturday nights during the Spring and Summer months.
Everyone would bring lawn furniture, or blankets, and sit outside and watch the movies.
Westerns, of all kinds, were very popular in Oklahoma in those days; so, Mr. Richardson always had at least one or two to show (he usually ran double or triple features).
Via this avenue, I saw TONS of Spaghetti Westerns, including the very first SW I ever saw (JOHNNY YUMA).
You see, by this time (the early 1970âs) the Spaghetti Westerns were second, third, and fourth run features; thus, Mr. Richardson was able to ârentâ these movies from the company he worked for at a very, very low rate (sometimes as low as FREE!). So, the SWâs were plentiful (as were Hammer Horror films and various AIP productions) at these screenings.
Just a few of the titles I got to see, in addition to JOHNNY YUMA, in this fashion were: GOD FORGIVESâI DONâT!, JOHNNY HAMLET, NAVAJO JOE, THE MERCENARY, RINGO AND HIS GOLDEN PISTOL, A STRANGER IN TOWN, THE STRANGER RETURNS, PAYMENT IN BLOOD, ANY GUN CAN PLAY, THE RUTHLESS FOUR, A BULLET FOR SANDOVAL, and many many more.
Many years later, I was able to catch a Sergio Leone festival at the Varsity Theatre in Austin, TX (circa 1985). There I saw, on a HUGE old-fashioned screen: A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE, GBU, and OUATITW.
[quote=âvalenciano, post:32, topic:417â]
sad that magdeburg is a five hour train ride from heidelberg, but that would be worth it. Or do you mean by country country music???
please keep us informed about the project[/quote]
Yeah, some folk/country bands which are very cool, although it is country. But it isnât the usual country, it is great, melodic, funny, rough and cool. I donât like country as well, but those guys I like. So enough to know for you?
I also decided four western to be shown at the festival which are: Il Mercenario, Keoma, Sabata and Cemetery without crosses. I know, not very special westerns (except of Mercenario), but maybe the best for a normal audience. Now I have to check if they are really available on 35mm. Let you guys know if anythings newâŚ
I was born after the Spaghetti Western craze and have not seen any in the theater.
Too bad I havenât⌠but I would die for it! : Especially for OUATITW. The best would be a Leone day⌠in a big cinema. And no popcorn eaters (shot 'em) - only hardcore SW fans like us!
I donât remember seeing any of them at the theater. About the earlier film I can remember seeing was Tora, Tora, Tora! when it came out. But you can catch some spaghettiâs in the states in theaters these days. College campuses that have old theaters nearby sometimes show them for dollar movie night.
Some theater in LA showed TGTBTU not too long ago.
Wasnât sure what the best thread for this was so plumped for this one as it is about seeing spaghettis in a cinema.
For anyone in the London area, or fancying an excuse to make a trip to our wonderful city, The BFI Southbank has a Clint Eastwood season running throughout August and September. August covers all his films up to 1988 and so, of course includes all three dollars films along with his other westerns except Unforgiven. FOD and FAFDM only get a couple of screenings each but TGTBATU is being shown every day for the next two weeks. So if youâve never caught them on the big screen before, nowâs your chance.
Hereâs the link to the BFI website with all details, times, dates etc.
Thanks for the heads-up, Phil. I usually hear about these things after theyâve happened.
Iâve got to at least go & see GBU. Iâd also like to see the other dollars films as well as High Plains Drifter, but Iâm pretty skint at the moâ.
For all those living in Germany or like seeing 2 big western on the big screen there is a little Festival down here.
http://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/WESTERN_VON_GESTERN_-_Westerntage_auf_dem_Moritzhof