On March 11 of this year, Portland’s historic
Hollywood Theatre hosted
a rather unique program. Local film
archivist
Dennis Nyback presented three classic
Twilight Zone episodes on 16mm film, from his private collection, called
(appropriately enough)
Twilight Zone!
Twilight Zone! Twilight Zone!, complete with vintage commercials. The episodes shown were “A Penny for Your
Thoughts,” “The Fugitive,” and “The Eye of the Beholder.” I found out about it… well, a day or two
after that date. D’oh!
The first thing I noticed when I entered the Hollywood’s lobby was the
selection of beers available. TZ and beer? Was this heaven? As I made my way into the actual theater, I was
surprised to see Nyback himself setting up his 16mm projector in the back of
the theater, out in front of the projection booth.Maybe somebody can chime in and educate me,
but can’t 35mm projectors run 16mm film?
Note the projector shadow on the screen.
I was one of the first people to arrive. I sat in the fourth row. As he was setting up a large speaker at the
front of the theater, Nyback smiled and thanked me for “coming to his
show.” I told him that I missed the
first one, but I wasn’t about to miss this one. I then asked him if any more of these events were planned, and was
delighted to hear that there’d be one each month for the next six months. I was almost giddy at the prospect.
The place got pretty full as the magic hour (7:30 pm) approached. As a hardcore TZ fan who frequently feels a bit isolated within this particular
passion, it was heartwarming to see so many people turn up. At 7:30, Nyback addressed the crowd, the
lights dimmed, and the projector came to life.
I must’ve been grinning like a kid on Christmas as the 3-2-1 countdown
appeared.
Unfortunately, the presentation left a great deal to be desired. Either Nyback’s prints are in rough shape, or
his projector is way past its prime. I’m
inclined to suspect the latter for several reasons: first, there was a pretty
constant jitter throughout the entire program (particularly during “The
Trade-Ins”). After a technical problem
delayed the start of “Five Characters in Search of an Exit” by about ten
minutes, much of the episode was distractingly blurry around the edges (I have
no idea what would cause that). And
finally, the audio was horrendous throughout all three episodes. I mean really horrendous. I feel sorry for anyone in that audience who
wasn’t already familiar with these episodes, as much of the dialogue was
unintelligible.
So what was good? “The Prime
Mover” looked pretty decent by comparison, and the sight of the prologue’s
shocking car accident up on the big screen was certainly impactful. Happily, all three episodes were complete and
uncut (so these weren't syndication prints). The single best thing about the evening, however, was the vintage
commercials: Crisco, Gleem toothpaste,
Folgers, 9-Lives cat food and many, many others. It appears that Nyback spliced the
vintage commercials in, so it’s highly doubtful that they were the actual
commercials that originally aired with the episodes, which wouldn't be a
problem except that, at one point, the ABC logo popped up (!).
Nyback’s next installment screens on May 20 (the episodes haven’t been
announced yet), and I've gotta say, I’m seriously torn here. I want to support anything that draws
attention to The Twilight Zone, and I
really believe that the concept is sound (showing episodes on the big
screen). But I can’t deny that the
presentation left me pretty cold, especially since I can screen my blu-rays on
my 60” plasma set at home and they look (and sound) stunning. And I can probably find an endless supply of
vintage TV commercials on YouTube, so there’s really no reason for me to go
back.
But... I still might, though.
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