At the dawn of the 1950s, when the popularity of home television sets was threatening attendance at movie theaters, filmmakers and studios were compelled to find ways to preserve the “wow” factor of the motion picture experience. The Cinerama widescreen projection process, which was developed by Fred Waller and utilized a more expansive aspect ratio in order to involve the peripheral vision of viewers, simultaneously displayed three different 35mm strips on a massive curved screen while stereophonic sound played all around the audience. The end result, which predated IMAX by decades and ushered in the emergence of CinemaScope and Panavision, provided an immersive experience that allowed people to feel as though they were actually along for a ride.
The 1952 full-length promotional,
This is Cinerama, which was produced by Lowell Thomas, Merian C. Cooper, and Robert L. Bendick, premiered in New York City and was subsequently presented as a road show at select theaters to showcase the new format. I had seen this movie before during my childhood, but, although I recall specific key sequences, I cannot, for the life of me, remember exactly where I was introduced to it. This idea of experiencing the splendor of this film on a television at home seems somewhat wrong at first, but the new Blu-ray, which uses the curve-screen Smilebox simulation, allows today's fans to see it as presented at the road shows of years past, albeit on a smaller scale.
This is Cinerama begins with a black-and-white standard 4:3 aspect ratio history lesson from Lowell Thomas, who explains the gradual advances of motion picture technology. After this intro, the curtains open, the screen lights up in color, and we are treated to a point-of-view perspective of a roller coaster ride at Rockaways' Playland in New York. From there, viewers are taken to a production at the La Scala opera, a majestic overhead sweep of Niagara Falls, a Vienna Boys' Choir performance, the boat canals of Venice, a Spanish bullfight, and to a number of United States natural landmarks.
The different sequences in this movie range from intensely engaging (the roller coaster ride) to gloriously picturesque (the Grand Canyon) to somewhat somnambulistic (a church choir), but the overall effect is still masterfully entertaining even in this day and age. I can only imagine what 1952 audiences must have thought of this new technique. The most amusingly interesting stretch takes place at Cypress Gardens in Florida, where we are are transported through the scenery to a group of Southern belles who change into swimsuits and water-ski across the landscape, because the narrator and the camera eye focus on one woman who is late to everything.
The novelty of Cinerama soon gave way to more conventional widescreen processes, but its mark on the industry is still felt when we enjoy stadium seating spectacles in today's theaters. As in 1952, theater numbers are challenged once again by evolving home theater technology, but I still find that nothing can take the place of seeing an opening night premiere of a new movie in a darkened room with a large audience, as most recently evidenced during the cliffhanger ending of
Avengers: Infinity War, where the reactions of everyone around me enhanced the appeal.
This Flicker Alley Deluxe Edition, like the Warner Bros. presentation of
How the West Was Won, is a Smilebox feast for the eyes. The picture quality is stupendous, and the commentary track guides us along with increased historical context.
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