I have 313 approx. in my list of cinerama (both 3-strip & 70mm)cinemas around the world (excluding kinopanorama and cinemiracle -have a seperate list of them) as well as details about each one.Can anyone top that?
As far as the number of “Cinerama cities” go, I think a more appropriate question is asking the number of markets that played Cinerama. Reason being that some markets had more than one Cinerama theater, often one downtown and others suburban. But a market having multiple equipped theaters is irrelevant because these Cinerama engagements were exclusive roadshows that played only a single area theater at a time.
To answer the number of Cinerama markets question in terms of the original 1952-1964 3-strip period, historians and enthusiasts have settled on 63 markets for North America (60 in the United States, 3 in Canada). The numbers grow when factoring in international and the markets that came about in the late 1960s when Cinerama was single-strip 70mm. And that is where things become a challenge to sort out.
Roland Lataille’s list of 141 Cinerama theaters in the U.S. is not complete. It’s close… In fact, a few on his list, arguably, do not belong, although admittedly there’s a subjective gray area involved with determining what does or does not belong on such a list. During the course of researching this series, I’ve “discovered” a few Cinerama theaters that thus far have been overlooked or forgotten or have simply eluded the experts. They will be revealed one by one as the series progresses.
Another thing to consider when quoting theater and market numbers is whether or not to include the clone formats like CineMiracle, Thrillarama, Kinopanorama, Wonderama, etc., as well as those theaters that showed the 1973 re-issue version of “This Is Cinerama.” (Many of the venues that showed that ‘73 re-issue had a temporary curved screen installed just for the engagement, and many of these do not appear on Roland’s list. Some venues showed it on a flat screen.)
It can be fun to try to sort out this information, and I encourage any input on the matter.
So far, Mike has listed 74 theatres, which include 3 that only played THRILLARAMA and one that played 2 KINOPANORAMA pictures.
Of the theatres given so far, no theatre played all 24 CINERAMA films (Including THIS IS CINERAMA (70mm)). The IMPERIAL in Montreal played 23 of the films. That theatre also played the most “CINERAMA WEEKS” (weeks playing CINERAMA pictures) with 775.
So, it looks like things are about ½ way done. There are going to be some tough ones yet to go, though.
Mike asked me about the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia Cinerama engagements. Here’s my reply (SFP meaning “Search For Paradise,” SW is “Stanley Warner,” “WJ” is “Windjammer,” and “BG” is “…Brothers Grimm):
You’ll notice a few interesting differences. Cinerama in PGH had always attracted Cleveland visitors, and I have in fact reproductions of railroad tickets and advertisements for the local Cleveland-to-Pittsburgh “see Cinerama” train run which had become extremely popular . Then, Cleveland opened 11/56, siphoning off the PGH business, and 7W began to fall off late that year. SW decided to temporarily – it was hoped – replace Cinerama which they could do according to the Dept of Justice SW-Cinerama agreement since they were already SW houses. So, “Ten Commandments” came in, and while it did well, I have some articles and letters-to-editors grousing about the extreme distortion caused by throwing the image onto the deep curve screen from the upstairs booth. I forget what they did surrounding and between the SFP and WJ engagements. Somewhere in there, they was an almost-roadshow engagement of the eagerly-awaited (at least by Warner Bros) “Old Man and The Sea.” I remember reading that advance boxoffice was so dismal that they cancelled the reserved seat run except for the premiere night, and Old Man on grind ran something like only a week or two. Same temporary interruption of Cinerama happened to the Boyd but not until the Spring of ‘58 when SFP really tanked, the Boyd then running 35mm grind and roadshow (“Gigi”) until WJ. Both took out Cinerama for Ben-Hur in 1959, and came back with a bang with BG.
I’ve yet to find an eyewitness who can tell me how SW de-Cinerama’d this install…as the ones I saw in DC, Philly,and NY were each different.
Thanks. In glancing over that Cinerama web site list, it would appear some cities had more than one theatre. This interesting series seems to be presenting the Cinerama history by city, so I would like to revise my question to be: In how many cities was Cinerama?
Some sources cite a second venue in Pittsburgh as being equipped for Cinerama presentations: North Hills. I can find no confirmation of this, nor can I find any record of any Cinerama presentations taking place at that venue.
The most fabulous story telling medium in the history of entertainment!
http://issuu.com/boxoffice/docs/boxoffice_100254-1
How ‘bout 317…
I have 313 approx. in my list of cinerama (both 3-strip & 70mm)cinemas around the world (excluding kinopanorama and cinemiracle -have a seperate list of them) as well as details about each one.Can anyone top that?
As far as the number of “Cinerama cities” go, I think a more appropriate question is asking the number of markets that played Cinerama. Reason being that some markets had more than one Cinerama theater, often one downtown and others suburban. But a market having multiple equipped theaters is irrelevant because these Cinerama engagements were exclusive roadshows that played only a single area theater at a time.
To answer the number of Cinerama markets question in terms of the original 1952-1964 3-strip period, historians and enthusiasts have settled on 63 markets for North America (60 in the United States, 3 in Canada). The numbers grow when factoring in international and the markets that came about in the late 1960s when Cinerama was single-strip 70mm. And that is where things become a challenge to sort out.
Roland Lataille’s list of 141 Cinerama theaters in the U.S. is not complete. It’s close… In fact, a few on his list, arguably, do not belong, although admittedly there’s a subjective gray area involved with determining what does or does not belong on such a list. During the course of researching this series, I’ve “discovered” a few Cinerama theaters that thus far have been overlooked or forgotten or have simply eluded the experts. They will be revealed one by one as the series progresses.
Another thing to consider when quoting theater and market numbers is whether or not to include the clone formats like CineMiracle, Thrillarama, Kinopanorama, Wonderama, etc., as well as those theaters that showed the 1973 re-issue version of “This Is Cinerama.” (Many of the venues that showed that ‘73 re-issue had a temporary curved screen installed just for the engagement, and many of these do not appear on Roland’s list. Some venues showed it on a flat screen.)
It can be fun to try to sort out this information, and I encourage any input on the matter.
So far, Mike has listed 74 theatres, which include 3 that only played THRILLARAMA and one that played 2 KINOPANORAMA pictures.
Of the theatres given so far, no theatre played all 24 CINERAMA films (Including THIS IS CINERAMA (70mm)). The IMPERIAL in Montreal played 23 of the films. That theatre also played the most “CINERAMA WEEKS” (weeks playing CINERAMA pictures) with 775.
So, it looks like things are about ½ way done. There are going to be some tough ones yet to go, though.
“The Old Man and the Sea” played for four soft weeks (27 days, to be precise) at the Warner.
Mike asked me about the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia Cinerama engagements. Here’s my reply (SFP meaning “Search For Paradise,” SW is “Stanley Warner,” “WJ” is “Windjammer,” and “BG” is “…Brothers Grimm):
You’ll notice a few interesting differences. Cinerama in PGH had always attracted Cleveland visitors, and I have in fact reproductions of railroad tickets and advertisements for the local Cleveland-to-Pittsburgh “see Cinerama” train run which had become extremely popular . Then, Cleveland opened 11/56, siphoning off the PGH business, and 7W began to fall off late that year. SW decided to temporarily – it was hoped – replace Cinerama which they could do according to the Dept of Justice SW-Cinerama agreement since they were already SW houses. So, “Ten Commandments” came in, and while it did well, I have some articles and letters-to-editors grousing about the extreme distortion caused by throwing the image onto the deep curve screen from the upstairs booth. I forget what they did surrounding and between the SFP and WJ engagements. Somewhere in there, they was an almost-roadshow engagement of the eagerly-awaited (at least by Warner Bros) “Old Man and The Sea.” I remember reading that advance boxoffice was so dismal that they cancelled the reserved seat run except for the premiere night, and Old Man on grind ran something like only a week or two. Same temporary interruption of Cinerama happened to the Boyd but not until the Spring of ‘58 when SFP really tanked, the Boyd then running 35mm grind and roadshow (“Gigi”) until WJ. Both took out Cinerama for Ben-Hur in 1959, and came back with a bang with BG.
I’ve yet to find an eyewitness who can tell me how SW de-Cinerama’d this install…as the ones I saw in DC, Philly,and NY were each different.
Thanks. In glancing over that Cinerama web site list, it would appear some cities had more than one theatre. This interesting series seems to be presenting the Cinerama history by city, so I would like to revise my question to be: In how many cities was Cinerama?
Knucklehead: If you go to Roland Lataille’s excellent Cinerama website:
View link
you will count 141 theaters in the United States that showed Cinerama (3-strip and/or 70mm) at one time or another.
How many Cinerama theatres were there in total?
Some sources cite a second venue in Pittsburgh as being equipped for Cinerama presentations: North Hills. I can find no confirmation of this, nor can I find any record of any Cinerama presentations taking place at that venue.