I was at the premier at the Uptown theater in Washington D.C. In 1968. Gary Lockwood, one of LBJ’s daughters, and lots of people from NASA were there. I sat near the front, and it began with a full house and an enthusiastic crowd. When I turned around at the intermission, the balcony was nearly empty, and more than half the people in the theater had already left.
NASA people were probably too practical-minded for that kind of artistry. After all, they had just pulled off the moonwalk with their computers.
It was definitely a very long movie.