Post by dvdjunkie on Oct 19, 2012 15:09:25 GMT -6
Don't know how many of you watch Turner Classic Movies on a regular basis, but yesterday (Thursday) they premiered the 1952 movie "This Is Cinerama".
Robert Osbourne hosted the premier and Lowell Thomas was the narrator of this new "film process" that they hoped would revolutionize the motion picture industry.
Using three movie projectors on a wrap-around screen, the movie experience was supposed to be the next step in the evolution of film entertainment. The screen was approximately 180 degrees, surrounding with picture and 6-channel stereo sound.
As Robert Osbourne explained, TCM has taken great lengths to restore and preserve this great film The vertical lines where the three projectors pictures come together have been all but eliminated. The realism is truly amazing. The "Smilevision" letterboxing was unique and even on the smallest of screens would provide the viewer with sensations of movement and the sound was sensational
It open with a standard frame black and white introduction by Lowell Thomas. This introduction runs about 13 minutes, and when it comes time to reveal the Cinerama screen it was amazing. I remember as a kid seeing the original and it was almost that good.
I know Midge has a big screen HDTV, as I do, and I sure hope that she watched this innovative film process. 10 films were made using this process and most of them played for more than a year at the theater.
I saw "This Is Cinerama" at the Warners Theater in Hollywood. This was years before the Pacific Cinerama Dome was built. I was in attendance for three other premiers of Cinerama productions. This included "Cinerama Adventure" and "How The West Was Won".
Hope you all were watching and enjoyed the presentation as much as I did.
Robert Osbourne hosted the premier and Lowell Thomas was the narrator of this new "film process" that they hoped would revolutionize the motion picture industry.
Using three movie projectors on a wrap-around screen, the movie experience was supposed to be the next step in the evolution of film entertainment. The screen was approximately 180 degrees, surrounding with picture and 6-channel stereo sound.
As Robert Osbourne explained, TCM has taken great lengths to restore and preserve this great film The vertical lines where the three projectors pictures come together have been all but eliminated. The realism is truly amazing. The "Smilevision" letterboxing was unique and even on the smallest of screens would provide the viewer with sensations of movement and the sound was sensational
It open with a standard frame black and white introduction by Lowell Thomas. This introduction runs about 13 minutes, and when it comes time to reveal the Cinerama screen it was amazing. I remember as a kid seeing the original and it was almost that good.
I know Midge has a big screen HDTV, as I do, and I sure hope that she watched this innovative film process. 10 films were made using this process and most of them played for more than a year at the theater.
I saw "This Is Cinerama" at the Warners Theater in Hollywood. This was years before the Pacific Cinerama Dome was built. I was in attendance for three other premiers of Cinerama productions. This included "Cinerama Adventure" and "How The West Was Won".
Hope you all were watching and enjoyed the presentation as much as I did.