This Is Cinerama (1952)

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Directors:

Merian C. Cooper
Gunther von Fritsch
(more)

Release Date:

30 September 1954 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

The Most Imitated Motion Picture Ever Made!

Plot:

A standard screen B&W prologue during which Lowell Thomas shows how, from the dawn of history, mankind...

Plot Keywords:

Opera | Roller Coaster | Cinerama | Water Skiing | Demonstration Movie

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win

Cast

Lowell Thomas

...

Narrator (voice)

Directed by
Merian C. Cooper
Gunther von Fritsch		(director: Vienna)
Ernest B. Schoedsack		(uncredited) (prologue only)
Michael Todd Jr.		(European sequence supervisor) (uncredited)

Produced by
Robert L. Bendick	....	producer
Merian C. Cooper	....	producer
Lowell Thomas	....	executive producer
Michael Todd	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Howard Jackson
Paul Sawtell
Roy Webb
Sidney Cutner		(uncredited)
Leo Shuken		(uncredited)
Max Steiner		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Harry Squire

Film Editing by
William Henry
Milton Shifman

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Arthur Steckler	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Leo Kerz	....	set designer
Mario Larrinaga	....	paintings
Willis H. O'Brien	....	paintings contribution (uncredited)

Sound Department
Fred Bosch	....	sound assistant (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Jack Priestley	....	assistant camera
Joseph W. Spiezio	....	gaffer
Marty Philbin	....	grip (uncredited)

Music Department
Louis Forbes	....	musical director

Other crew
Richard Babish	....	technical assistant
Robert Dresser	....	technical assistant
Wentworth D. Fling	....	technical assistant
Walter R. Hicks	....	technical assistant
William R. Latady	....	technical assistant
Paul Mantz	....	pilot (segment "America the Beautiful")
Hazard E. Reeves	....	technical development
Frank Richmond	....	technical assistant
Fred Rickey	....	supervisor (segment "America the Beautiful")
Walter Thompson	....	prologue supervisor
Fred Waller	....	creator of cinerama process
Ernest B. Schoedsack	....	prologue contribution (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Cinerama Productions Corp.

Distributors

• Cinerama Releasing Corporation (1952) (USA) (theatrical)

Runtime:

Argentina:115 min | USA:116 min (including prologue)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.59 : 1

Sound Mix:

Cinerama 7-Track

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Chile:TE | Finland:S | UK:U | USA:G (1973)

Filming Locations:

Cypress Gardens - 2600 S. Lake Summit Drive, Winter Haven, Florida, USA

Company:

Cinerama Productions Corp.

Trivia:

Some members of the creative team wanted to use the famous roller coaster sequence as the finale. It was producer/co-director Merian C. Cooper who insisted that it appear first (after the prologue) in order to grab the audience from the start.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: In 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.

Movie Connections:

Featured in I'm King Kong!: The Exploits of Merian C. Cooper (2005)

Seminal Breakthrough in cinema, much imitated but never surpassed.

The writer Bill Bryson once described watching This is Cinerama as one of the most enjoyable two hours of his life. Moreover it was as close to experiencing time travel as it was possible to get.

Unfortunately, "This is Cinerama" contains scenes of cultural content such as opera and ballet which may be distressing to persons of an attention span of five nano seconds or less.

The wheel has come full circle and the process lives on in State of the Art flight simulation systems for military and civil applications.