To BKRESS. You said the 3 strip Cinerama had only a 2 year run in Sacramwento. To bad they installed so late. We here in Boston had 10 year run of 3 strip before 70mm Its A Mad Mad Mad world. Some cities had 2-3 Cinerama theatres. We had only 1. If you look at the list for Boston you will see the Beacon Hill theatre listed. This is wrong because it only showed This Is Cinerama in a 70mm Re-issue in 1973. Alarge almost flat screen and fair stereo. More people walked out than were coming in. It managed a 5 week run.
A quick FYI about the Esquire theatre. The theatre in Sacramento was twinned sometime in the 80s. After a few years it was gutted and the building converted to offices. The facade and marque were kept intact. In early 2000 the the theatre auditorium was demolished and replaced with an Imax auditorium. The builders retained the original facade along with the original Esquire sign. The Imax auditorium is huge and almost overwhelms the original facade and sign. Sacramento has restored the Crest Theatre which is a few blocks down from the Esquire.
Growing up in Sacramento, I remember my Parents taking me to see Cinerama at the Esquire, However if you look at dates above, three strip Cinerama only had a run of 2 years before everything went 70mm.
I am sure you are correct that the Tower had a D-150 screen as the only other one in the Sacramento area was the Cinema 150(Crestview Cinema)in Carmichael.
The movie I remember the most was “The Greatest Story ever told"
with a special book you received when you entered, everyone all dressed up and for a 9 year old it is still a living memory!
‘Search for Paradise" came out in 1957, so it was about seven-eight years old by the time it got to Sacramento in 1965; I would think that many people who lived in Sacramento probably saw the travelogue films in San Francisco originally.
Surprising to see “Search for Paradise” ran for only 2 weeks. Hard to believe a new Cinerama attraction played for such a short time. I would venture to guess that in certain markets audiences were beginning to grow just a little weary of the travelogs. I say certain markets since “Search for Paradise” seemed to play better in several other cities. As always Michael, a fantastic job!
It continues to amaze me how slowly Cinerama spread across the country. I grew up in the Bay Area so I saw all of the three strip travelogs at the San Francisco Orpheum during the period 1952-1959. In 1959 I joined the Army. While stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas in 1961-1962 I saw the whole travelog cycle start all over again at El Paso’s Capri Theatre. After being discharged from the Army in 1962 I settled in Sacramento and a year later, as noted above, once again the cycle started at the Esquire with “This Is Cinerama” opening 11 years after it had opened in San Francisco, only 80 miles down the road.
I have a fuzzy memory of an official announcement that the Tower would become Sacramento’s second Cinerama theater (single strip 70mm only by this time of course) but I guess the format was loosing steam big time by then (how low can you go after “Krakatoa, East of Java”?) so those plans were scrapped. I vaguely remember a big wide curved screen but don’t recall anything in 70mm ever projected on it.
Amazing and interesting series Michael! Thanks for your hard work in compiling it!
I’m pleased to see the Cinerama series return. It had been a couple of months since the last posting, and I was afraid you had discontinued the series.
To BKRESS. You said the 3 strip Cinerama had only a 2 year run in Sacramwento. To bad they installed so late. We here in Boston had 10 year run of 3 strip before 70mm Its A Mad Mad Mad world. Some cities had 2-3 Cinerama theatres. We had only 1. If you look at the list for Boston you will see the Beacon Hill theatre listed. This is wrong because it only showed This Is Cinerama in a 70mm Re-issue in 1973. Alarge almost flat screen and fair stereo. More people walked out than were coming in. It managed a 5 week run.
Ron—I forgot to mention a great site
http://cinerama.topcities.com/
see 312 CINERAMA Theaters around the world by clicking on CINERAMA THEATERS.
Ron—Click on Toledo and as you scroll down you will see that Michael made up a list of what you want.
Just curious — how many more installments will there be? How many US and Canadian markets got Cinerama during its history?
A quick FYI about the Esquire theatre. The theatre in Sacramento was twinned sometime in the 80s. After a few years it was gutted and the building converted to offices. The facade and marque were kept intact. In early 2000 the the theatre auditorium was demolished and replaced with an Imax auditorium. The builders retained the original facade along with the original Esquire sign. The Imax auditorium is huge and almost overwhelms the original facade and sign. Sacramento has restored the Crest Theatre which is a few blocks down from the Esquire.
Growing up in Sacramento, I remember my Parents taking me to see Cinerama at the Esquire, However if you look at dates above, three strip Cinerama only had a run of 2 years before everything went 70mm.
I am sure you are correct that the Tower had a D-150 screen as the only other one in the Sacramento area was the Cinema 150(Crestview Cinema)in Carmichael.
The movie I remember the most was “The Greatest Story ever told"
with a special book you received when you entered, everyone all dressed up and for a 9 year old it is still a living memory!
‘Search for Paradise" came out in 1957, so it was about seven-eight years old by the time it got to Sacramento in 1965; I would think that many people who lived in Sacramento probably saw the travelogue films in San Francisco originally.
Surprising to see “Search for Paradise” ran for only 2 weeks. Hard to believe a new Cinerama attraction played for such a short time. I would venture to guess that in certain markets audiences were beginning to grow just a little weary of the travelogs. I say certain markets since “Search for Paradise” seemed to play better in several other cities. As always Michael, a fantastic job!
I think the Tower put in the D-150 curved screen
It’s not that Cinemiracle didn’t have enough steam, but Cinerama bought the format and company.
Interesting to see that “Windjammer” was advertised in Cinerama. I suppose that the Cinemiracle format did not have enough steam after a few years.
JSA
It continues to amaze me how slowly Cinerama spread across the country. I grew up in the Bay Area so I saw all of the three strip travelogs at the San Francisco Orpheum during the period 1952-1959. In 1959 I joined the Army. While stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas in 1961-1962 I saw the whole travelog cycle start all over again at El Paso’s Capri Theatre. After being discharged from the Army in 1962 I settled in Sacramento and a year later, as noted above, once again the cycle started at the Esquire with “This Is Cinerama” opening 11 years after it had opened in San Francisco, only 80 miles down the road.
I have a fuzzy memory of an official announcement that the Tower would become Sacramento’s second Cinerama theater (single strip 70mm only by this time of course) but I guess the format was loosing steam big time by then (how low can you go after “Krakatoa, East of Java”?) so those plans were scrapped. I vaguely remember a big wide curved screen but don’t recall anything in 70mm ever projected on it.
Amazing and interesting series Michael! Thanks for your hard work in compiling it!
I’m pleased to see the Cinerama series return. It had been a couple of months since the last posting, and I was afraid you had discontinued the series.
Thanks, Michael! Fascinating stuff.