On the evening of September 30, 1952, the shape and sound of movies changed forever with the introduction of Cinerama.On the evening of September 30, 1952, the shape and sound of movies changed forever with the introduction of Cinerama.On the evening of September 30, 1952, the shape and sound of movies changed forever with the introduction of Cinerama.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 win & 1 nomination total
Lowell Thomas
- Narrator
- (voice)
Kathy Darlyn
- Cypress Gardens Water Skiier
- (uncredited)
Toni Valk
- Cypress Gardens Water Skiier
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe rollercoaster ride on Playland's Atom Smasher was filmed several times using "short ends" and the complete circuit contains two skilfully edited takes. It was directed by Michael Todd Jr.. At the time, Todd was a 21-year-old college student on vacation from Amherst. Apart from salaries, the sequence cost $33 (rental of a station wagon and the cost of bolts to affix the cameras to the rollercoaster). Todd Jr. also directed most of the European footage.
- GoofsIn the otherwise wonderful "America the Beautiful" segment, Yosemite Falls is called Bridal Veil Falls in the narration. Also, the Sierra Nevada mountains are said to be in western California, not eastern, which is their correct location.
- Crazy creditsThere are no opening logos or credits; not even a title. There is a three-minute musical overture before the curtains open, followed by a 12-minute black-and-white prologue narrated by Lowell Thomas. Thomas says the title when he introduces the film process: "Ladies and gentlemen... this is Cinerama!". All of the credits, title included, are at the end of the film.
- Alternate versionsThe film was fully restored in 2011 by the newly re-christened Cinerama Inc. and David Strohmaier from one of the few remaining exhibition prints. The 26-frame-per-second frame rate was slowed to 24-frames-per-second, with the audio pitch-corrected to mask any distortion, resulting in a slightly longer running time. This version was released on a Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack by Flicker Alley in the fall of 2012 for the 50th anniversary of the film's release. In 2015, the film was restored for a second time, this time from the original camera negative. Both versions use Strohmaier's patented 'Smilebox' process to keep the curvature of the Cinerama screen.
- ConnectionsEdited into How the West Was Won (1962)
Featured review
Grand old spectacle, and worth seeing.
When shown as intended this showcase demonstrates the potential of the Cinerama systems, their limitations, and gives a glimpse of the world as it was in 1952 in spectacular show-biz style. It is a technically interesting and fun documentary. Viewable only on the big screen with three projectors, the real thing, not a simulation, ladies and gentlemen, Cinerama! Having just come from seeing it at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood, I'm in the mood to hawk its virtues. It must be admitted that technological advances are rapidly bypassing this type of system, but it is a grand and brazen promotion that deserves to be dragged out periodically to show how it used to be done. As with any other art, seeing it in person IS the real thing. Great date movie. It includes Edisons short "The Kiss" and most of "The Great Train Robbery" as part of its introduction, to give us something with which to compare Cinerama, plus some history of the development of photography as a popular art. We start right off with a whiz-bang roller coaster ride, and proceed right on through the Triumph from "Aida", presented in wonderful operatic splendour by the company at the La Scala opera house. Boy did I go for that. After intermission we went to Cyprus Gardens to view its 1952-style wonders, including the famous Auquacade (a dance, stunt and comedy show on water skis). The grand vistas of our America (including industrial might) are displayed in spectacular fashion with edifying narration. Lots of fun stuff like that to show off the extra big, clear picture and a sound system of close to modern theatrical quality, at least to my ear. I was glad to have the experience, and am happy that this document exists.
helpful•100
- goodellaa
- Oct 17, 2002
- How long is This Is Cinerama?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Das ist Cinerama
- Filming locations
- Rockaway's Playland, Rockaway Beach, New York, USA(opening scene in wide screen effect)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $41,600,000
- Runtime1 hour 55 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.59 : 1
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