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THIS IS CINERAMA [1952 / 2012] [60th Anniversary Edition] [Deluxe Combo Blu-ray + DVD] It Plunges You Into A Startling New World!
On the evening of September 30, 1952, the shape and sound of movies changed forever with the introduction of Cinerama. This unique widescreen process was launched when television was deemed as a major threat to US film exhibition. Fred Waller, Cinerama's creator, had indeed laboured that long on his dream of a motion picture experience that would recreate the full range of human vision. It used three cameras and three projectors on a curved screen 146° deep.
In celebration of the 60th Anniversary of its premiere, Flicker Alley is proud to present THIS IS CINERAMA [1953 Academy Award® Winner], exactly as seen by over 20,000,000 viewers in its original roadshow version. You will travel around the world with Cinerama, from Venice to Madrid, from Edinburgh Castle to the La Scala opera house in Milan, and concluding with a flight across America in the nose of a B-25 bomber. Experience this cinema classic once again in this unique SMILEBOX curved screen simulation! Narrated by Lowell Thomas.
FILM FACT: 1953 Academy Award® for Scientific & Technical Award to Inventor Fred Waller for Development of Cinerama. ‘This is Cinerama’ was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture. Although the score was credited to Louis Forbes, who conducted the music, it was composed by Paul Sawtell, Max Steiner who composed the opening credit sequences, Cypress Gardens, Flight Across America, and the End Credits and Roy Webb. In 2002, the Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and inducted it into the National Film Registry for permanent preservation.
Directors: Ernest B. Schoedsack, Gunther von Fritsch, Merian C. Cooper, Michael Todd and Michael Todd Jr.,
Producers: Lowell Thomas, Merian C. Cooper, Michael Todd and Robert L. Bendick
Composers: Howard Jackson (uncredited), Leo Shuken (uncredited), Max Steiner (uncredited), Miklós Rózsa (uncredited), Paul Sawtell (uncredited), Roy Webb (uncredited) and Sidney Cutner (uncredited)
Cinematography: Harry Squire and Jack Priestley (assistant cameraman)
Video Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 2.56:1
Audio: English: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and English: 2.0 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: None
Running Time: 127 minutes
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 2
Studio: Flicker Alley
Andrew's Blu-ray Review: The overture plays as the audience begins to settle into their seats. After a few minutes of that lovely music, the curtains start to pull back. In the centre of this curved and startlingly wide screen is Lowell Thomas. In that boxy, black-and-white frame, Lowell Thomas charts the history of capturing motion in art, from cave paintings all the way to The Great Train Robbery tens of thousands of years later. Artistic mediums and techniques are constantly evolving, and...well, the motion picture has just stepped onto the next rung of its evolutionary ladder. Then finally he announces Ladies and Gentlemen, THIS IS CINERAMA!
Cinerama Productions Corp. vice-chairman Lowell Thomas introduces the ground-breaking new film process, called Cinerama, by recounting, in a small screen format and in black-and-white, a short history of graphic arts, from cave paintings to today. The Cinerama sequences begin with a roller-coaster ride, and then scenes from a ballet at the La Scala Theatre in Milan, Italy are shown.
Next, viewers see a view of Niagara Falls via helicopter, followed by a performance of "The Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's Messiah sung by the Long Island Choral Society. Images follow of a gondola floating down the canals of Venice and a Scottish pipe band parading on the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle. The Vienna Boys Choir perform "Tales from the Vienna Woods," from the operetta Die fledermaus by Johann Strauss II, in the garden of the Schoenbrunn Palace, then a crowd in a Madrid arena watches a bullfight. Spanish folk dances are presented. Actors then perform the finale of Act II of the Verdi opera Aida.
After an intermission, Lowell Thomas narrates a demonstration of Cinerama's stereophonic sound system. The film's second act begins with sequences of motor-boating and water-skiing, filmed at Cypress Gardens, Florida. Finally, the "America the Beautiful" sequence shows spectacular aerial views of New York, Washington, Chicago, Illinois, the Grand Tetons and other American locations.
`THIS IS CINERAMA' is more than anything, is an experience. Predating IMAX by nearly twenty years, Cinerama immersed the audience in an unparalleled spectacle of sight and sound. Movies up to that point had been a largely passive experience; This Is Cinerama, meanwhile, transports its wide-eyed viewers to worlds they'd likely never seen before. With a screen of such an incomprehensibly staggering size, they're not merely onlookers...they're a part of the action. There is no narrative. There are no high-wattage stars. The entrancing allure of `THIS IS CINERAMA' is instead that it whisks viewers away. Feel as if you're screaming down the Atom Smasher coaster at Rockaway Playland. That list is just scratching the surface too.
On viewing Cinerama on my Samsung 46" Smart 3D Television, I still found myself wholly immersed throughout this two hour journey. Aided by its powerful multichannel soundtrack and the SMILEBOX curved screen simulation on this Blu-ray disc, does well in capturing as best it can with the curvature of those colossally panoramic Cinerama screens. ‘THIS IS CINERAMA' does a remarkable job making me feel as if I really am there. It also can't be overlooked that some of the imagery captured here is simply no longer there to experience first-hand. The second disc in the set is a DVD with an anamorphic widescreen SMILEBOX version of the film on one side and its extra special features on the reverse side.
Blu-ray Video Quality – Presented in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.56:1, and with a 1080p transfer image, ‘THIS IS CINERAMA’ Blu-ray is supplied by courtesy of Flicker Alley. As it was the case with the restoration of `WIDNJAMMER: The Voyage of the Christian Radich.' David Strohmaier and his colleagues had access to limited funds to make sure that ‘THIS IS CINERAMA' looks as best as possible. They could not scan the original negative (which apparently was not in a terribly good condition), but worked with a 65mm dupe negative which was made in the early 1970s from a rejected print. Needless to say, the restorers had to spend a great deal of time to address all sorts of different anomalies. Generally speaking, detail and especially clarity is really excellent. There are some fluctuations as well as minor alignment issues, but overall the basics are rather decent. Some colour fluttering also remains, but its presence never becomes distracting. In fact, during the second act colour saturation is often very good. Specs, debris, and various scratches have been removed and the film now looks quite healthy. Furthermore, as much grain as possible has been retained to make sure that the integrity of the film is preserved. However, it is quite clear that definition and depth could have been even better. Finally, there are no serious stability issues to report in this review. All in all, considering the type of elements the restorers had to work with as well as the fact that they had to operate with a small budget, I think it is fair to say that what could have been done to make `THIS IS CINERAMA' looks very presentable and was done in a very professional way.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and 2.0 Dolby Digital. For the record, Flicker Alley has not provided optional English subtitles for the main feature. There are sequences where the surround track really impresses. For a film now sixty years old, the depth and range of dynamics are quite remarkable. In the first act, in particular, the variety of dynamics is outstanding. The narration is also exceptionally crisp, clean, and stable and is also quite beautiful, indeed.
Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Audio Commentary: Commentary with John Sittig (Cinerama, Inc.), Dave Strohmaier (Cinerama Historian), Randy Gitsch (Locations background), and Jim Morrison (original crew member). They provide an informative commentary regarding the sights and sounds seen in the film and the restoration process. It's a consistently engaging, nicely-edited, and startlingly comprehensive conversation. Every segment is explored in marvellous detail, delving into the subjects featured within the film as well as the specifics of the production itself. Among the innumerable other highlights are notes about original Cinerama productions being shot at 26fps rather than the industry standard 24fps, the challenges of projecting a film like this, a hidden cameo by Mary Martin and Larry Hagman, and even what kind of snacks audiences were allowed to munch on in Cinerama theatres.
Special Feature: Re-mastering a Widescreen Classic [1080i] [19:00] David Strohmaier and Gregg Kimble discuss the re-mastering and reconstruction of ‘THIS IS CINERAMA’ and some specific obstacles they had to overcome. Various before-and-after demonstrations are included.
Special Feature: The `THIS IS CINERAMA' "Breakdown Reel" [1080p] [9:00] [Black-and-White] Both Cinerama and Cinemiracle 3-panel systems could breakdown during a show. If this happened, a regular projector had an emergency or breakdown reel ready to screen. The footage presented here comes from one such reel.
Special Feature: Alternate Act II European Opening [1080p] [2:00] [Colour] ‘THIS IS CINERAMA' returns from its intermission with a more American-oriented segue into Cypress Gardens. This alternate intro, presented in high definition, approaches things from more of a European perspective. This is the only three-panel feature on the Blu-ray disc that hasn't been processed in the SMILEBOX presentation.
Special Feature: Fred Waller Radio Interview [1080i] [15:00] A slideshow featuring an original 1952 radio interview with Fred Waller who was the inventor of Cinerama, explains what Cinerama is and what its objective is. The interview was originally broadcast on 30th September, 1952.
Theatrical Trailer [1952] [1080p] [3:00] This is a brand new trailer for the restored and reconstructed ‘THIS IS CINERAMA.'
TV Spots: `THIS IS CINERAMA' [1080p] [1:00] and `7 WONDERS OF THE WORLD' [1:00]
Special Feature: Tribute to the New Neon Movies [480i] [15:00] A short film celebrating the Cinerama revival in Dayton, Ohio, USA from 1996 to 1999, where a local projectionist set up Cinerama for special screenings to people from all over the country.
Special Feature: Tribute to the New Cooper Theatre [480i] [4:00] Remembering the first Super Cinerama in Denver, Colorado, USA. It featured a 146-degree louvered screen (measuring 105 feet by 35 feet), 814 seats, courtesy lounges on the sides of the theatre for relaxation during intermission (including concessions and smoking facilities), and a ceiling which routed air and heating through small vent slots in order to inhibit noise from the building's ventilation equipment. It was demolished in 1994 to make way for a Barnes & Noble bookstore.
Special Feature: `THIS IS CINERAMA': Behind the Scenes Slideshow [1080i] [6:00] Featuring a collection of images from the production process, the original exhibition, and original publicity of `THIS IS CINERAMA.' Music only track.
Special Feature: Promotion and Publicity Image Gallery [1080p] 16 Promotional images materials, which includes lobby cards, paper clips, fliers, etc. for `THIS IS CINERAMA.'
BONUS: Stunning 28 page Booklet of the Original Programme.
Finally, the impact of `THIS IS CINERAMA' on the way films looked, on the way they sounded, and most of all on its wide-eyed audiences, cannot be overstated, and it's such a thrill to at long last see the film find its way to home video. Flicker Alley's Blu-ray release of `THIS IS CINERAMA' is a labour of love in every sense of the word, from its meticulous re-mastering to an impressive selection of extras. If the film had been better cared for decades ago, there is no question that `THIS IS CINERAMA' would have scored very highest recommendation. It's just that as remarkable as this re-mastering is, given the dismal condition of the source material; it's still perhaps the most problematic large-format release on Blu-ray. The detail and clarity that define these films just aren't there, sadly. If only people had for thought of how history would look upon these classic films of its time, sadly no one knew that the Blu-ray format was looming over the horizon.
Despite all that, even viewing it on my Samsung 46" Smart 3D Television it of course cannot hold a candle to an actual 86' x 32' Cinerama screen, which I have viewed first hand when it was shown in a London Cinema and it blew me away then, but sadly these types if cinemas no longer exist, but in the meantime with this Blu-ray disc I still find myself wholly entranced by `THIS IS CINERAMA' and its magic hasn't faded over these six past decades, and it remains so immersive and so powerful an experience even at this smaller scale. I can't completely overlook the issues with the presentation, though, especially given the Blu-ray disc's not-inconsiderable high price (though it's currently available through Flicker Alley are selling it much cheaper). Here's hoping that one day, the funds will be found to do a full restoration of the original negative. In the meantime, I'm very glad and over joyed to have this classic edition of ‘THIS IS CINERAMA' in my Blu-ray collection. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
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