RECORD ONE YEAR FOR FILM

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31028, 6 April 1966, Page 12

RECORD ONE YEAR FOR FILM

The 20th Century-Fox production of Rodgers and Kammerstein’s “The Sound of Music,” will complete its first year of continuous screening at the State Theatre, Christchurch, tomorrow. The

film completed its first year at the Plaza Theatre, Auckland, on April 1.

The birthday will be celebrated today at the State Theatre and the function will be attended by the Mayor (Mr G. Manning) and Mrs Manning and 52 senior citizens—one for each week during which the film has been shown.

The Todd-AO production is now the longest-running film in New Zealand cinema history, and it will be the first entertainment, on either stage or screen, to achieve one year of continuous performance. The State Theatre is still getting good audiences at all performances, and ‘The Sound of Music” will continue to be shown at both Auckland and Christchurch for many weeks yet. Attendance in Auckland is approaching 400,000, and in Christchurch more than 270,000 have seen the film. At the completion of the first year of screening in both cities, a total of 663 performances will have been given. Both theatres are still using the original prints. Many people have seen the film a number of times. In Christchurch, one man has attended every Monday night since screening started. The world record for the number of visits is believed to be held by a Cardiff woman who has seen it almost 350 times. She attends twice every week day and once on Sundays, and claims to know the dialogue by heart. “The Sound of Music” has

also set records in other New Zealand cities. In Dunedin it concluded after a season of 30 weeks, the audiences having totalled more than the official population of the city. In Hamilton, where the previous record was four weeks, “The Sound of Music” was shown for 11 weeks.

At the end of last year “The Sound of Music” had earned about 50 million dollars net in world-wide box office receipts, and it shows indications of becoming the most successful motion picture of all time.