 The Birth of an Idea
By Ralph Walker
An architect had a unique
conception of a building for a client at the World's Fair of 1939 in New
York. That concept had a profound influence on the evolution of what became
known as the entertainment wonder, Cinerama. |
 Finding
Customers for a Product
By Lynn Farnol
The sponsors of Cinerama believed in Cinerama. They had faith that it
presented a new sensation in entertainment. They believed that it was a
new way of telling stories, without the old frame of the traditional
motion picture. |
 This
Cinerama Show
By Lowell Thomas
From coast to coast Cinerama has been the talk of the year. So far it
has been presented in only three cities; New York, Detroit and
Hollywood—with perhaps Chicago and one or two others by the time this
appears in print. |
 Matchline
Elimination
By Richard C Babish
Matchline elimination begins in the camera
and continues through the film handling process to the final projection.
In the camera, four possible sources of trouble exist. These are edge vignetting, or masking, edge reflection, scratching and pressure
exposure. |
 Using the Cinerama Camera
By Harry Squire
The Cinerama camera presents problems not
found in other motion picture cameras. The following material is a
discussion of the features that have been observed or points of
knowledge that have been gained from experience in using the camera. |
 Adding the Sound to
Cinerama
By Hazard E. Reeves
In 1940 Fred Waller, the inventor of Cinerama, invited me to a
demonstration of his new process in the Rockefeller carriage house on West
55th Street in New York. Like everyone else who saw it at that time, I was
tremendously impressed with it |
 The Atomic Age-In CINERAMA
In the Himalayas, is the Indus River,
noted for its strong and swirling currents. In the middle of these
rapids, last July 20, a boat containing eight men and a three-eyed
Cinerama camera suddenly capsized. |
 Cinerama
Arrives
By William Latady
Finally, one week
before opening
night, installation
of the Cinerama
system was
completed.
Projectors had been
aligned so that
magnification of all
three were equal,
and the three films
so positioned that
they formed one
image. |
 Cinerama
Test Shots
By Lowell Thomas
We are starting off with this 35mm picture so you may the better judge of what you are now to see and her. We call it - C I N E R A M A |
 Sound
level in the Broadway Theatre
By Wentworth D
Fling
Since the opening of "This is Cinerama" in the Broadway Theatre, there
has been a lot of discussion about whether the sound is too loud. |
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| CINERAMA
PEOPLE |
Sound by
Hazard E Reeves
Sound Engineer
Richard J. Pietschman
Wentworth D Fling
Robert L. Bendick
Assistant Cameraman
Jack Priestly
Cinerama Pilot
Paul Mantz
President Cinerama Productions Corporation
Dudley Roberts Jr
Vice President Cinerama Productions Corporation
Frank M. Smith |
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 How Cinerama got the name "Cinerama"
By
Richard C Babish
Fred Waller called a meeting of all the employees and offered to award a prize of a case of champagne to the one who came up with the most appropriate name. The winner was Waldo McLaury. |
 mr.
cinerama
By Ralph G. Martin
eye filling curved picture from
three projectors and
ear filling sound
from multiple
speakers made
Cinerama seem real.
Rollercoaster in
this scale model
gives the audience a
hair-razing ride. |
 The
Entire Development
of the Cinerama
Process
By Fred Waller
I'm going to tell a
more or less
chronological story
of the entire
development of the
Cinerama process.
It's not a short
story but I'll try
to keep it
condensed. |
 How
I Became A Trick Photographer
By Fred Waller
D. W. Griffith wanted a cyclone to destroy a distant Village, sweep
clean a country side leaving destruction in its make and at a cross road
destroy a particular Inn in a particular way. I was asked to make a
cyclon and film it and quick too. |
 The
Waller Flexible
Gunnery Trainer
By Fred Waller
Before Cinerama,
there was The Waller
Gunnery Trainer. The
Trainer was used by
the U. S. Army Air
Corps, U. S. Navy.
and the British for
the final training
and retraining of
machine gunners. |
 Cinerama Goes
to War
By Fred Waller
ALTHOUGH CINERAMA had its Broadway premiere only about a year ago, that
could hardly be called the first public demonstration. Years before
Cinerama had been tested and
approved by the U.S. Army, Air Force, the Navy and the Marines |
Fred Waller's 1950 desk calendar. A fascinating account about who is
visiting Cinerama and Vitarama.
• Go to
Fred
Waller's 1950 Diary |
 ..in
Cinerama "Renault Dauphine" Tentative shooting script
By Cinerama Inc.
The sequence must be presented in such a way that there is a humorous angle which remove it from the category of a strictly "educational" commercial film. |
 This
is Cinerama...at the London Casino
By W. G. Altria
The London Casino Theatre was selected, after an exhaustive survey, as
the best available in London for the showing of Cinerama. Nevertheless,
considerable difficulties had to be overcome to make it entirely
suitable for the purpose. |
 Journey To The Stars
By
Darrin Scot
When THE SEATTLE WORLD
FAIR opened last summer the "hit of the show" was the Spacearium
featuring a new space motion picture system created and constructed by
Cinerama for the Boeing Co. and the United States Science Exhibit. |
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| READING ABOUT CINERAMA |
 "Nine Lives of Mike Todd", by Mike Todd Jr., and Susan M. Todd
"So Long until Tomorrow", by Lowell Thomas
"A Bird of Passage: The Story of My Life" by Otto Lang
"Around the World in 90 Years: Images from My Life's Journey" by
Otto Lang
"Hollywood pilot;: The biography of Paul Mantz" by Don Dwiggins (Author)
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 The Thrill of a
Lifetime
A Diary from the
set of "Cinerama Holiday"
By Betty York
Even on the 12th of January, Christmas is still hanging on with trees and
tinsel seen occasionally in restaurants and stores. We finally met the great
man himself - De Rochemont. We were both so scared we felt like dolts and
could hardly speak. After all, what can one say to a person so great as he
must be to produce the fine movies which we have seen. |
 Betty
York, A Mini Bio
By Betty York
When we [Johnny and I] separated I went to NY and successfully broke
into photographic modelling and TV commercials, making good use of my
SAG (film) membership which unions required. I also did freelance
greeting card designs, building on the years I spent as a designer with
the Hallmark Card Company in Kansas City. |
 California
Zephyr and Cinerama Holiday
By Frank Brehm
Since its debut the
California Zephyr had included among its ridership well known actors and
actresses, foreign heads of state, as well as many others then in the public
eye. One of those early riders was Louis de Rochemont, who proclaimed it
"the finest train I have ever ridden." Because of his fond memory of that
ride on the Zephyr Mr. de Rochemont invited the three railroads operating
the transcontinental streamliner, to take part in his production of the
second Cinerama film—"Cinerama Holiday." |
 Log of "Seven Wonders" in Cinerama
By Richard J. Pietschmann
We were given permission to photograph and record a close-up of the Pope,
and in order to get the camera close enough it was necessary to build a
temporary scaffold for the camera and blimp. |
 Letters
Sent Home
By Richard J. Pietschmann
If all goes well today with the schedule, we will leave this afternoon
for Agra to do the Taj Mahal sequence.. Will be there two or three days and
then expect to leave for Darjeeling |
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•
Go to Cinerama's 50th
Anniversary |
|
• Go to
Louis de Rochemont's "Windjammer" in
Cinemiracle |
|
• Go to
Cinerama Remaster |
• Go
to
The Cinerama page |
• Go
to
Cinerama Archive |
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