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Scratch in the Villa's print of 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'

After the Villa Theatre was mentioned in the USA Today article "10 great places to see a classic cinema"[1] on 22 November 2001, Chris Hicks, a former movie critic with the Deseret News, wrote an article titled "Villa Theatre doesn't deserve Top 10 acclaim."  While criticizing the modern-day Villa, he related this story from the one-year anniversary party for the 53-week run of Raiders of the Lost Ark:

". . . I went to the Villa and watched 'Raiders' again, and one of the things that struck me was how pristine the print was.  No pops, no skips, no scratches . . . obviously a new print, right?

"When the show was over, I asked the projectionist how many prints of 'Raiders' he had gone through during that year of showing the film several times daily, seven days a week.

"His answer startled me: 'Oh, this is the original print.'

"Say what? Where are the pops, the skips, the scratches?

"He went on to explain that a professional projectionist knows how to handle a movie print, how to thread it properly and run it through the projector carefully — and if a splice needs to be made, he also knows how to judiciously do that so it's hardly noticeable."[2]

However, the 70mm print of Raiders of the Lost Ark that ended the film's run at the Villa was NOT the original, and one scratch resulted in a replacement reel.

Raiders of the Lost Ark opened at the Villa Theatre on 12 June 1981, but it wasn't until a month later that the theater started advertising, "Now in 70mm & Stereo Sound."  The first month of the film's run was in 35mm.

Monte Fullmer, who worked in Idaho for Mann Theaters and later Carmike Cinemas, saw Raiders of the Lost Ark at the Villa in 1981.  The projectionist, "a little guy with a bushy reddish beard and smart as a whip," gave him a two foot section that had to be cut from the film until a replacement reel could arrive.  One reel of the 70mm print had picked up a bad scratch down the middle, which was very noticeable on the Villa's large screen.  The magnetic sound tracks of the damaged reel were later re-recorded and the reel was used as a test film.

A two foot section of <em>Raiders of the Lost Ark</em> had to be removed from the Villa Theatre
A two foot section of Raiders of the Lost Ark had to be removed from the Villa Theatre's 70mm print due to a scatch down the middle that was very noticeable on the large screen.
Courtesy of Monte Fullmer, 1981

A close-up of two full frames of 70mm film, showing Indiana Jones from behind as he rides away on a horse. - , Utah
A close-up of the Villa's damaged 70mm print of Raiders of the Lost Ark.  While criticizing the modern Villa Theatre, former Deseret News movie critic Chris Hicks claimed that Raiders played an entire year with the same print and no scratches.
Courtesy of Monte Fullmer, 1981

1. "10 great places to see a classic cinema", USA Today, 22 November 2001
2. "Villa Theatre doesn't deserve Top 10 acclaim", Deseret News, 30 November 2001