IMDb on iPhone and iPod touch Learn more Learn more Download from the App Store
IMDb > This Is Cinerama (1952)

This Is Cinerama (1952) More at IMDbPro »


IMDb Holiday Movie Guide

Overview

User Rating:
8.1/10   123 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 4% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
30 September 1954 (UK) more
Genre:
Tagline:
The Most Imitated Motion Picture Ever Made! more
Plot:
A standard screen B&W prologue during which Lowell Thomas shows how, from the dawn of history, mankind... more | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win more
User Comments:
Now THIS Is Cinerama! more (10 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
Lowell Thomas ... Narrator (voice)
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Runtime:
Argentina:115 min | USA:116 min (including prologue)
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Eastmancolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.59 : 1 more
Sound Mix:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
His uncredited direction of the prologue became the final film project for Ernest B. Schoedsack. more
Goofs:
Crew or equipment visible: During the closing credits, the shadow of an arm reaching to remove a lamp on a stand. more
Movie Connections:

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
9 out of 9 people found the following comment useful.
Now THIS Is Cinerama!, 21 October 1998
Author: Eugene Kim (gene_kim@earthlink.net) from Arlington, Virginia, USA

Was the original Cinerama - with its triple cameras and triple projectors - really necessary? Probably not, but it's an undeniable part of movie history, and should be respected as such.

A now-obsolete (not to mention unwieldy and expensive) process, Cinerama was something I'd known about only from film history books and encyclopedias - there was no practical way of seeing Cinerama in its original form. I'd seen "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" as well as a revival of "This Is Cinerama" in the early 1970's, but in both cases the triple negatives had been reprinted onto a single strip of film. The results looked awful - it wasn't just the tell-tale lines of demarcation where the frames were joined, but also severe distortion caused by flattening out images originally designed for a deeply curved screen. The reprinted "This Is Cinerama" looked so appalling, I wondered what all the fuss had been about. (The only sequence that seemed to work was the legendary roller-coaster ride at the beginning.)

Thanks to The New Neon Movies in Dayton, Ohio, I have seen the past - and it works. Neon's manager, Larry Smith, revived Cinerama with a series of screenings beginning in 1996 that were made possible thanks to a projectionist and Cinerama "nut" named John Harvey who's been collecting Cinerama equipment, prints and memorabilia over the years. (He's put together a customized set-up that enables him to run the projectors and soundtrack reader single-handedly.) I saw "This Is Cinerama" in Dayton in January 1997.

"This Is Cinerama," which introduced the process, is basically a corny 1950s travelogue hosted by globetrotter (and Cinerama backer) Lowell Thomas, who hams it up nicely for this extravaganza ("Ladies and gentlemen ... this is Cinerama!"). Seeing the Cinerama process in all its flawed glory was a fascinating experience. At its worst, Cinerama looks exactly like what it is: three side-by-side projected images that frequently jitter in opposing directions, spoiling the effect. (Harvey's prints are also visibly worn and scratched.) But at its best, Cinerama offers a height of clarity and detail you can't get elsewhere, except maybe for IMAX films.

The opening roller-coaster ride was a wonderfully dizzying experience. But for me, one of the most spectacular sights in "This Is Cinerama" was a view down a street in Spain teeming with people - it seemed to go forever into the distance with amazing sharpness. (Cinerama's larger-than-life clarity was also evident in the other film I saw during my visit to Dayton, "How the West Was Won." During a scene set in a casino, I found myself staring into the frame, trying to pick up all the visual details I could.) The Neon isn't that big a theater, and yet the Cinerama image still looked awesome.

Only seven films were made in the original Cinerama process. I regard Cinerama movies the way I do 3-D films: I'm glad they were made, and I'm glad to see them in their original form - none of which is an argument for making new movies in either process, but it is an argument for preserving, not just the films themselves, but the experience of seeing them the way they were meant to be shown.

Thank you, John Harvey and Larry Smith. (And Fred Waller, Cinerama's inventor.)

Was the above comment useful to you?
more (10 total)

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for This Is Cinerama (1952)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
DVD NOW AVAILABLE FOR THIS FILM grandeur70
Will this title ever be available in SmileBox??? 4friedchickensandacoke
DVD Release if it is done correctly. JackDVD78
more

Recommendations

If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
- - - - -
Across the Universe Around the World in Eighty Days This Is America: They Fly with the Fleet Glimpses of Java and Ceylon The Polar Express
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
Show more recommendations

Related Links

Full cast and crew Company credits External reviews
News articles IMDb Documentary section IMDb USA section
Add this title to MyMovies

You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.