What I don’t know is if it’s an age thing or an LA thing. Did they have sneak previews in Kansas City? Here in Los Angeles they were the suburban rage.
Some background…
There once was a time when there were “first run” movies. They’d be released with great fanfare and play in big movie palaces. There were other movies that were released that didn’t have the star power, the budget, the Red Sea parting. They were called “B movies.” They opened in secondary neighborhood theatres and Drive In’s.
Those neighborhood theatres generally had double-features. Interesting that people could cheerfully sit through five hours of movies back then. (What this says to me is that two well-paced movies feels shorter than a single feature that is a half-hour too long.)
Once “first run” movies cycled out of the big movie palaces they too wound up in the neighborhood double-bills, sharing the marque with these B-movies.
But every so often there were sneak previews. The theatre would advertise that in addition to the former first run feature a brand new upcoming movie would be shown. What that movie was was always a secret.
Yes, it was a crapshoot for the theatergoer but also kind of exciting. It was our only chance to see movies before they came out. Today, of course, there are test screenings prior to release, but often you know something about the movie going in. Why? Because studios are only interested in target audiences so only specific people are recruited and to entice them into the theatre they’re told “It’s a new Will Ferrell comedy” or “It’s a superhero flick.” Etc.
Not so with sneak previews. You paid your ticket and took your chance.
As best as I could remember, the few times I attended sneak previews the mystery movie was a disappointment. I vaguely recall some Rick & Kris Nelson comedy. Ugh. On the other hand, I did see HUD as a sneak preview and that was startling. Paul Newman played this mesmerizing asshole and I was riveted.
But good or bad, you felt privileged because you saw a movie three months before everyone else. You were a Hollywood Insider even if it only meant you screened a Ricky Nelson film that would go on to sell eighteen tickets total.
My favorite personal sneak preview story takes place in, I believe, 1962. I was just a kid. We took my grandmother to the Lido Theatre in Pacific Palisades to see Billy Wilder’s new movie ONE TWO THREE and then a sneak preview. Going to a sneak preview was such a big deal that we drove thirty miles to get there.
The first run movie always screened first. ONE TWO THREE was a great movie. Smart, biting, hilarious. Usually the sneak preview is a film that complements the first run. It only stands to reason that whatever new movie follows be geared to the same crowd. So we all had very high expectations – especially my grandmother.
There was that big moment of suspense. The lights went down and roaring onto to the screen was FOLLOW THAT DREAM starring Elvis Presley. My grandmother loudly called out, “What the hell is this?” Laughs from the whole theatre. For the entire movie she grumbled. “Who watches this crap?” “This is stupid.” “Even these songs are no good.” I can only think of four or five screen comedies that ever made me laugh as hard as FOLLOW THAT DREAM with commentary by Pearl Levine. And I’m sure if Billy Wilder had been in that audience he’d be saying the exact same things she did (in a similar accent).
God, I miss sneak previews.
from By Ken Levine
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