As a kid, I remember seeing a number of movies that had an intermission. Things like Ben Hur and Lawrence of Arabia come to mind.
The last Hollywood flick that I clearly remember having an intermission was 2001: A Space Odyssey. But that was in 1968. Could that have possibly been the last movie with an intermission? Over forty years ago?
Can you set me straight? Please. (and thanks!)
I think Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which came out in 1975, had an intermission. And Kill Bill also had an intermission of sorts, but they released each half of the movie separately, so that doesn’t quite fit.
I saw an article from the SF Gate that says that Gandhi (1982) was the last mainstream movie with an intermission, although in later screenings the intermission was removed.
I wish they would bring back intermissions for long movies. Large drinks and 3 hours don’t go well together, and invariably when you get up for a bathroom break it’s during a crucial scene.
Gettysburg (1993) had an intermission. It was 4+ hours long.
I think Titanic had an intermission. Schindler’s List also.
Holy Grail had a fake intermission. 2:38 isn’t even enough time to go out and piss, let alone get more popcorn. Watch it here.
And Kill Bill doesn’t count either, IMO because it’s 2 movies.
I think the last real intermission I recall was 1982, Gandhi.
ETA: i checked voguevixen’s answer, and she (I hope VV is a she, sorry if not) is correct, Gettysburg had a 10 minute intermission built into the film.
I’ve definitely been to a movie with an intermission in my lifetime. I was born '81 so this probably would’ve been early/mid '90s. Jeez, Jurassic Park is the one that keeps popping into my mind but that can’t be it, as it was barely over 2 hours. It definitely wasn’t Schindler’s List. I’ll keep thinking.
On the other hand, this cached article claims that Leonard Maltin says that it was Gandhi, at least until Che, released this year, was released with a built in whopper of an intermission: 30 minutes.
Branagh’s Hamlet had an intermission in 1996.
I think sooner or later they will, since even summer popcorn movies are getting ridiculously long. People get to go to the bathroom, and everybody is encouraged to visit the concession stands. From a marketing standpoint I’d say it works for everybody.
IIRC Reds had an intermission.
I recall hearing that some theaters had an intermission for Peter Jackson’s “King Kong”. I can’t cite this though, sorry.
What a great set of responses! Much obliged!
I hear that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will have an 8 or 9 month intermission. Looks like I’ll have time to pee AND refill the popcorn bucket.
I don’t remember the intermission being 30 minutes, but it definitely had one when I saw it, needed it to.
Excellent movie, by the way. It helps to see both parts in a sitting, works better.
Confirmed. I saw it and was rather amazed at the whole concept of an intermission.
Grindhouse had an intermission. It was the best bit of the film
I figured out that the entire Naboo love sequence in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones was about the right amount of time to go to the bathroom and get a refill without missing anything you needed to see.
I was a theater manager when we screened the 70mm print of this film, and the intermission was necessary because the platter simply was not big enough to hold the entire 4 hours (and unlike reel-to-reels, you can’t do changeovers in the platter projection system).