Michael,
There are lots of mistakes made in movies, but the one you mention isn't
one of them.
You have forgotten how the movie industry operated in the 1940's and
early 1950's. In those days, movies were the only source of media
entertainment besides radio (television was just getting started, most
people did not have one and the limited amount of broadcasting done was
only in a few big cities). Naturally, no VHS tapes or DVDs.
The way a typical film was distributed and exploited in those days was:
1) A world premier in one or two cities. This could last for a month or
two, even for an average film, while the studio gauged public response
and the Big Papers and Radio Shows got out their reviews so the
publicity band wagon could being to work. The reason they waited at
least 3 or 4 weeks was to decided how many expensive prints of the film
they should make for distribution.
2) The initial first-run release came next, where the film would be
shown in the larger metropolitan areas, starting with the big theaters
in the downtown area. Sometimes they would release the film on one coast
and it would work it's way across the country in first-run release --
this was to take advantage of later reviews coming out and allow the
film to build up "word of mouth" support. Even a typical film might
spend 3 to 6 months in first-run in the major cities, starting at the
downtown houses and then working its way to the smaller houses in the
outlying districts. For a popular film, the first run could be 6 months
to a year or longer. COURAGE OF LASSIE was a popular film.
3) After the initial Big City first run, the film started making its way
out to the large towns and then the small towns. This was still the
first run and it was not limited to not just the theaters, remember
there were a *lot* of drive-ins as well back then and for some reason
the drive-ins often did not get a lot of the films until *after* it had
finished showing at the local movie houses. This second stage of the
first run would go on for a year or more with a typical film.
So, the "initial run" of a typical film could easily last 1 to 2 years.
But, most films didn't stop there. After the initial run, anything that
had done remotely well was re-packaged as part of a double bill. If a
film was very popular, within a year or two of finishing its initial
first run, it might be re-released and start the process over again,
although completing the cycle more quickly this time around.
On this basis alone, it would have bothered no one at the time to be
watching a movie set in 1951 and see on the screen a clip or poster for
a film released two years earlier in 1949 being portrayed as "current"
-- particularly something very popular. COURAGE OF LASSIE would have
still been running in many places in 1951.
But even that is not the full explanation. There's also how films were
made and released:
It often took a year or two from completion until a film was finally
released to the screen. The studio execus played around a lot which
planning release schedules well in advance, making sure on film did not
interfere with another, etc. Some films sat on the shelves for quite a
few years, but a year or two was common. So, a film released in 1951
would have been shot in 1949 or maybe 1950, with everyone knowing it
probably wouldn't hit the theaters until 1951. So your writers, if they
are going to include a current date reference in the script, would have
anticipated that and had the character say "1951". Obviously they
couldn't go too far beyond the anticipated release date or the character
might have been saying "after all, it's 1953" when the audience was
watching in 1951 or 1952 and that would have definitely sounded wrong.
But, since they were filming in 1949 or 1950, they would only have had
access to a film which was current then -- as COURAGE OF LASSIE was.
We are used to films finishing shooting and editing and immediately
going into release, with a theatrical run of a modern typical film being
only 4 to 6 weeks these days, after which it immediately goes to premium
TV channel release for a few weeks and finally is on the store shelves
as a DVD in 2 or 3 months. Even super-popular blockbusters are getting
to DVD in 90 days now. A very few might take 4 to 6 months before
becoming DVDs, but that's increasingly rare. But back in the old days it
was a much slower, drawn-out process that took years.
-- JR
Michael B wrote:
in the 1951 movie, *THE UNKNOWN MAN*, there is a line in the movie
that it was actually taking place in 1951. Yet, when walter pidgeon
was talking to a movie theatre employee, the movie poster shown in the
scene was *THE COURAGE OF LASSIE*----1949 !!! CLEARLY, THAT
COULDN'T BE.
*_isnt it great to see the old posters in real time ?_*
wasn't it great to see the clip of the film & posters of that great
1942 film in THE SUMMER OF 42 ???
michael
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