Have a news tip for us?
Just email . Ideas for stories, links to interesting articles, and press releases are welcome.
New “This is Cinerama” trailer
posted by
Nunzienick
on
May 18, 2011 at 7:45 am
If you’ve never experienced three-panel Cinerama here’s a great simulated theatre setting with scenes from “This Is Cinerama.” You are seated in the theatre as Lowell Thomas introduces the audience to Cinerama.
Don’t forget to expand to full-screen: YouTube Link.
Comments (9)
Awesome, Can you tell us when this gem will be released !
Thanks
also this is just a dream, can you imagine a Cinerama Imax, with digital projection and computers it could be possible :)
also even Cinerama today with Digital Projection would be awesome, We all can dream, hey isn’t that what Movies are all about :)
FULL-SCREEN is the 4 arrows in the bottom right hand corner.
In the original CINERAMA release, the black and white prologue which is of course much longer TAKES UP MUCH LESS OF THE SCREEN THAN YOU SEE IN THIS YOUTUBE SIMLEBOX EXAMBLE! When Lowell Thomas says “Ladies and Gentlemen This is CINERAMA” not only do the curtains open sideways to show the sides to the screen, but a curtain raises up above the prologue to show the the top of the screen. At the same time the sound changes from mono to stero. Folks had never seen a movie with a wide screen, stero sound, plus because of the big curve in the screen also saw the movie out of the corner of your eyes and it “Put You In The Picture. The YouTube though not perfect does give a good effect.
I guess IMAX would be OK, but it was the great curve of the screen that made CINERAMA so very special.
Yes, the black & white prologue was about half the size as the one you see in the video. Part of
the excitement of experiencing Cinerama in the theatre is when the massive curtain opens to full-screen after the prologue. When I first saw “THIS IS CINERAMA” I remember griping the armrests of my seat tightly all through the coaster sequence…I felt it in my stomach…it was that real! And the scenes of flying between canyons when the plane tilts slightly from one side to the other gave me motion sickness.
I think Cinerama would look o.k. on an large IMAX screen as long as the screen is curved. I’ve seen several IMAX installations with large curved screens and others with smaller screens and practically no curvature at all. I doubt it would work as well on those. And of course how many IMAX theatres today have curtains? Without any curtains that slowly open wide the effect just wouldn’t be quite the same. :–(
Thanks Nick,you were so lucky to have a CINERAMA theatre.sending info down on Bill Barkley and those Theatres,by Mail.Hopefully you can post the pictures.
The prolouge that Bob mentions in his post can be seen in the Beatles Anthology DVD.Nice post Nick.
We were lucky to have a Cinerama theatre locally. On my initial visit I had no idea what I was in for. The transformation of the Palace from a standard theatre to a Cinerama theatre was amazing.
“THIS IS CINERAMA” was basically a glorified travelog (as were most of the three-panel films) but I found it extremely enjoyble even for an 11-year-old. The America The Beautiful segment near the end was emotional, and apart from the coaster sequence it was the highlight of the film.
I was shocked to hear about the cost involved in filming the coaster sequence. According to the Internet Movie Database, the coaster sequence cost a grand total of $33 (apart from salaries.) It was directed by 21-year-old Mike Todd who at the time was on vacation from Amherst. The cost covered the rental of a station wagon to transport the equipment, and also for the bolts needed to attach the camera to the coaster. That small sum of $33 produced one of the most famous scenes in movie history!
Mike Todd would have been in his 40’s in the 1950’s. That was his son, Mike Todd Junior who was born in 1929.
Thanks for the correction Bob. You’re right, it’s Michael Todd Jr. His name is listed plain as day on the IMD site but in my haste in typing my prior comment I inadvertently left out the Jr.