A roadshow theatrical release was a term in the American motion picture industry for a practice in which a film opened in a limited number of theaters in large cities like Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Houston, Atlanta, Dallas, and San Francisco for a specific period of time before the nationwide general release. Although variants of roadshow releases occasionally still exist, the practice mostly ended in the early 1970s. As far as is known, virtually all of the films given roadshow releases were subsequently distributed to regular movie theatres. This was called a general release, and was akin to the modern day wide release of a film. However, there are five important differences between a roadshow presentation of a film and today's limited releases: ⁕Roadshow theatrical releases almost always placed a ten- to fifteen-minute intermission between the two "acts" of the film, and the first act was frequently longer than the second. ⁕Films shown as roadshow releases, especially those made between 1952 and 1974, were nearly always longer than the usual motion picture, lasting anywhere from slightly more than two hours to four hours or more, counting the intermission. There were no short subjects accompanying the film, and rarely any movie trailers. Wikipedia [ - ]

A roadshow theatrical release was a term in the American motion picture industry for a practice... [ + ]