Explore Colonial Williamsburg’s Iconic Patriot Theater

Founded in 1926 to restore Williamsburg to its 18th-century appearance, Colonial Williamsburg has been an innovator in historic archaeology, interpretation, trades, and even in film and media.

In 1956, Colonial Williamsburg produced Williamsburg: The Story of a Patriot for its Visitor Center. The film centers around a fictional character, John Fry, navigating the American Revolution in Virginia. The film was innovative at every turn, from its format to the theater built to show it.

The Story of a Patriot was filmed using VistaVision, a cinematic innovation using a widescreen camera to capture an immersive view. Colonial Williamsburg wanted a grand view to convey the importance of the events being depicted in the film.

These theaters, the East and West theaters, were built in 1956 to VistaVision standards to show the grand scope of the new film format. Ben Schlanger, a noted New York architect, designed the theaters to immerse the viewer in John Fry’s world.

The screen is one piece, curved to focus the eye center-screen. The speakers behind them were revolutionary, with five channels instead of the usual two. The extra overhead channel began the narrative, making the guest feel as if it were in their own head. This was a precursor to surround sound.

The dividers between each row help the sense of immersion, separating guests from each other and focusing their attention on the view center-screen.

The LED screens on either side provide closed caption services. Do you see the small rectangles with orange text in the picture above? Those are mirrors that provide the captions on a see-through surface (shown below).

The film was built to play on a 70mm projector from the booth. Because the film projector can become quite loud, Schlanger built a recessed area in the center to minimize sound from the booth.

Today, the film is still shown using a 70mm projector. The projection booth houses legacy and modern equipment. Some equipment from 1956 is no longer used, while digital projectors now play modern media.

This booth acts as a bird’s nest between the East and West theaters. Here, a projectionist can operate equipment to both theaters with ease.

The Story of a Patriot has been shown on the same 70mm film projectors since 1965, when the original projectors were replaced with models that are easier to maintain and operate. Operating the equipment requires a trained projectionist.

The square lamphouse behind the projector uses a high-pressure bulb to shine a high intensity of light on the screen. A significant amount of electricity goes into that bulb to show a fantastic image.

This is a reel of 70mm film for The Story of a Patriot. Invented in 1956, this reel holds one mile of film for one 38-minute showing. Previously, a typical reel held only 20 minutes of film.

Once a showing is complete, the reel is brought here for rewinding. The projectionist can also clean the print (the film used in the showing) and check its condition. No one would want to see John Fry walking backward if the print wasn’t rewound!

Here is where the prints are stored when they aren’t in use. New prints and other films live here waiting for guests to see their vibrant quality.

Since 1956, trained projectionists have climbed into the bird’s nest booth to bring history to life. Generations of experts mastered this technically precise task, in order to share John Fry’s story with millions.

From the immersive curved screen to the bird’s nest booth, the Patriot Theater is a piece of film history. This legacy lives on through the expertise of projectionists, who masterfully thread and rewind miles of 70mm film to keep John Fry’s story playing year after year.