REMEMBERING CINERAMA
Part I: New York City
With this week’s DVD and Blu-ray release of the Cinerama classic “How The West Was Won,” as well as last weekend’s screenings of “How The West Was Won” and “2001: A Space Odyssey” at the Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles, I thought this would be a great time to take another look at Cinerama for those who experienced it when it was new and for those who know it only as history.
The following is part of what I envision as an ongoing/semi-regular series of retrospective postings on the Cinerama process (and other multi-panel copycat formats such as Cinemiracle and Kinopanorama) which enables a reminder of the many great movie palaces in which these memorable events took place. Part I features a film-by-film breakdown for the city in which it all began: New York! Future postings will focus on other markets, enabling the reader to compare how Cinerama was handled in different regions of the country. For example, the duration of an engagement, the sequence in which the films were released, and the manner in which they promoted varied by market, and some readers may find this information of interest.
Enjoy the flashback!
THIS IS CINERAMA
Theatre: Broadway
Premiere: September 30, 1952 (World Premiere)
Engagement Duration: 35 weeks
Format: 3-Strip Cinerama
Promotional Hype: “You rise right out of your theatre chair! No longer is a movie screen a flat surface in front of you. Cinerama, the film with a new dimension surrounds you with picture and sound. You’ll gasp as you rise high, then grip your chair as you go plunging downward. Images come alive on a sea of screen 6 times the usual size and you’re right in the picture. This is your first experience without colored glasses or any viewing gadgets of the most exciting thing that ever happened in a theatre, this is Cinerama”
THIS IS CINERAMA (Move-over from Broadway)
Theatre: Warner
Premiere: June 5, 1953
Duration: 88 (123) weeks
Format: 3-Strip Cinerama
Hype: “The film with a new dimension”
CINERAMA HOLIDAY
Theatre: Warner
Premiere: February 8, 1955 (World Premiere)
Duration: 61 weeks
Format: 3-Strip Cinerama
Hype: “World Premiere Of The New, The 2nd Cinerama Presentation”
SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD
Theatre: Warner
Premiere: April 10, 1956 (World Premiere)
Duration: 76 weeks
Format: 3-Strip Cinerama
Hype: “The New, The 3rd Cinerama Presentation Takes You On An Adventure To The Four Corners Of The Globe To Astound You With The Marvels Of The Universe!”
SEARCH FOR PARADISE
Theatre: Warner
Premiere: September 24, 1957 (World Premiere)
Duration: 32 weeks
Format: 3-Strip Cinerama
Hype: “The World Premiere of the Newest, most exciting Cinerama of them all
WINDJAMMER
Theatre: Roxy
Premiere: April 9, 1958
Duration: 24 weeks
Format: 3-Strip Cinemiracle
Hype: “National Theatres introduces Cinemiracle Too Exciting to Describe, Too Big to Believe!”
THIS IS CINERAMA (Return Engagement)
Theatre: Warner
Premiere: May 4, 1958
Duration: 10 weeks
Format: 3-Strip Cinerama
Hype: “The World’s Longest-Run Hit Is Back By Overwhelming Demand!”
SOUTH SEAS ADVENTURE
Theatre: Warner
Premiere: July 15, 1958 (World Premiere)
Duration: 44 weeks
Format: 3-Strip Cinerama
Hype: “The New Cinerama Sweeps You To The Tropic Isles Of Your Dreams The Fabled ‘Jewels of the South Seas’!”
GREAT IS MY COUNTRY
Theatre: Mayfair
Premiere: June 30, 1959 (U.S. Premiere)
Duration: 3 weeks
Format: 3-Strip Kinopanorama
Hype: “The Grand Prize Winner At The Brussels World’s Fair! Breathtaking in scope and sweep! Bursting with the sights and sounds, the uncommon beauty of Russia! The remarkable [Kinopanorama] process that utilizes three projectors and nine sound tracks to transport you almost literally to its cities and countrysides…its streets and byways…its music…its dance…its people!”
THE ENCHANTED MIRROR
Theatre: Mayfair
Premiere: July 21, 1959 (U.S. Premiere)
Duration: 2 weeks
Format: 3-Strip Kinopanorama
Hype: “The 2nd Motion Picture In Kinopanorama Sheer Motion Picture Entertainment bursting with beauty as it surrounds you with Russia its people and its culture the artists of The Bolshoi Theatre, The Chinese Peking Opera, The Piatnitsky Song and Dance Ensemble from the ice-floes of the Arctic to the sky-blue waters of The Black Sea A fairy tale becomes a reality”
GREAT IS MY COUNTRY / THE ENCHANTED MIRROR (Double Feature)
Theatre: Mayfair
Premiere: August 3, 1959
Duration: 1 week
Format: 3-Strip Kinopanorama
Hype: “Special Double Feature Showing! Brought Back By Popular Demand!”
THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM
Theatre: Loew’s Cinerama
Premiere: August 7, 1962
Duration: 33 weeks
Format: 3-Strip Cinerama
Hype: “The First Full-Length Dramatic Story With A Dazzling Array Of Stars In Cinerama”
HOW THE WEST WAS WON
Theatre: Loew’s Cinerama
Premiere: March 27, 1963
Duration: 39 weeks
Format: 3-Strip Cinerama
Hype: “The Great Dramatic Motion Picture That Puts You In Every Scene!”
IT’S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD
Theatre: Warner
Premiere: November 17, 1963
Duration: 52 weeks
Format: 70mm
Hype: “The Biggest Entertainment Ever To Rock The Cinerama Screen With Laughter!”
THE BEST OF CINERAMA
Theatre: Loew’s Cinerama
Premiere: December 25, 1963
Duration: 13 weeks
Format: 3-Strip Cinerama
Hype: “For The First Time Cinerama’s Greatest Thrills Together In One Breathtaking Entertainment!”
WINDJAMMER (Return Engagement)
Theatre: Loew’s Cinerama
Premiere: April 29, 1964
Duration: 8 weeks
Format: 3-Strip Cinerama
Hype: “For The First Time Shown In Cinerama In New York”
CIRCUS WORLD
Theatre: Loew’s Cinerama
Premiere: June 25, 1964
Duration: 19 weeks
Format: 70mm
Hype: “Cinerama Surrounds You With The Greatest Thrill-Packed Story Ever Filmed!”
MEDITERRANEAN HOLIDAY
Theatre: Warner
Premiere: December 15, 1964
Duration: 9 weeks
Format: 70mm
Hype: “The Thrilling Entertainment That Places You Right In The Middle Of The Most Fabulous Adventure You Ever Lived!”
THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD
Theatre: Warner
Premiere: February 15, 1965 (World Premiere)
Duration: 43 weeks
Format: 70mm
Hype: None
THE HALLELUJAH TRAIL
Theatre: Loew’s Capitol
Premiere: June 30, 1965 (World Premiere)
Duration: 11 weeks
Format: 70mm
Hype: “Now Cinerama Sends Burt Lancaster, Lee Remick, Jim Hutton, Pamela Tiffin And YOU Roaring With Laughter And Adventure Down The Hallelujah Trail.”
BATTLE OF THE BULGE
Theatre: Warner
Premiere: December 17, 1965
Duration: 17 weeks
Format: 70mm
Hype: “The Super Action Show In Super Cinerama”
RUSSIAN ADVENTURE
Theatre: Warner
Premiere: April 13, 1966
Duration: 13 weeks
Format: 70mm
Hype: “You’re here there everywhere! Only the original Cinerama with its magic eyes that see far and wide and deep is marvel enough to plunge you into the most incredible adventure of all!”
KHARTOUM
Theatre: Warner
Premiere: July 13, 1966
Duration: 13 weeks
Format: 70mm
Hype: “Where The Nile Divides...Their Mighty Conflict Begins!”
GRAND PRIX
Theatre: Warner
Premiere: December 21, 1966 (World Premiere)
Duration: 31 weeks
Format: 70mm
Hype: “Cinerama Sweeps You Into A Drama Of Speed And Spectacle”
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
Theatre: Loew’s Capitol
Premiere: April 3, 1968
Duration: 24 weeks
Format: 70mm
Hype: “An Epic Drama Of Adventure And Exploration!”
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (Move-over from Capitol)
Theatre: Cinerama
Premiere: September 16, 1968
Duration: 13 (37) weeks
Format: 70mm
Hype: “Now At The Cinerama Theatre In The New Broadway Triplex”
ICE STATION ZEBRA
Theatre: Cinerama
Premiere: December 20, 1968
Duration: 17 weeks
Format: 70mm
Hype: “Ice Station Zebra...remember the name your life may depend on it!”
KRAKATOA, EAST OF JAVA
Theatre: Cinerama
Premiere: June 24, 1969
Duration: 20 weeks
Format: 70mm
Hype: “The New Cinerama Hurls You Into The Incredible Day That Shook The Earth To Its Core!”
THIS IS CINERAMA (Re-Issue)
Theatre: Ziegfeld
Premiere: May 11, 1973
Duration: 14 weeks
Format: 70mm
Hype: “’This Is Cinerama’ Is Back To Entertain A Whole New Generation”
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (Re-Issue)
Theatre: Rivoli
Premiere: September 22, 1976
Duration: 3 weeks
Format: 70mm
Hype: “For a perfect experience take the ultimate trip”
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (Re-Issue)
Theatre: Rivoli
Premiere: September 1, 1978
Duration: 4 weeks
Format: 70mm
Hype: “Before ‘Star Wars’ There Was...And There Always Will Be ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’...Now In Cinerama, 70mm & 6-Track Stereophonic Sound”
Compiled by Michael Coate
Sources: The New York Times and Variety.