Cinerama returns to Los Angeles

Only the 70mm variant, at the Bethany Theatre, with the first film there being Grand Prix. There was also the long-lamented 70mm Cine Capri, which was (from photos I've seen) an AMAZING 70mm theatre, although not affiliated with Cinerama.

Matt

 

If you are referring to jigglos, they are still used for every screening.

Matt

 

Folks in SoCal can catch genuine 3-projector Cinerama again this weekend:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/movies/la-et-0412-cinerama-20120412,0,7537749.story

By the way, John Sittig (pictured in that article) is a dear friend. His birthday is November 7, my birthday is November 7, and the Cinerama Dome had its grand opening on ....wait for it....November 7. We discovered this commonality when we shared a birthday in the booth of the Cinerama Dome several years back.

John puts on a heck of a show -- don't miss out!

Matt

 

Those who live here SHOULD GO! No excuse not to. This is real 3 projector Cinerama, dudes. Not to be missed.

 

^^^^^At least part of the $$$ still goes to a good cause. How so? Bing Crosby initially bought the rights to the "The Way the West Was Won" stories from Life Magazine, and turned them into an LP for RCA Victor. Years later, Irene Dunne was looking for a way to raise funds for Saint Johns Children's Hospital in Santa Monica. Bing sold the rights, with the stipulation that a portion of the proceeds goes to the hospital. That agreement is still in effect today, so whenever the print gets dusted off in Los Angeles, Seattle, or the UK, a check goes to the hospital. That's pretty cool!

Matt

 

If you go, do yourself a favor and sit about 10 or 15% closer than you might do usually. Why? Due to technical issues with the current screen configuration in the Dome, the screen width is not as wide as the original design would have used, so the immersion effect is a little less than it should be. We aren't talking earth-shattering difference, but the impact is definitely lessened. I posted some of the techie mumbo jumbo here and here, if you are bored stiff.

The differences seem minor in the photos, but that screen is so huge that there's actually a loss of about 20 feet of screen width (10 per side -- maybe a bit less), but you can sit closer to somewhat compensate for that. Don't sit in the mezzanine and expect a "POW" experience. Skootch up to the front!

Matt

PS - here's one of my favorite old photos of the Dome, showing the original Altec A2 VOTTs, with wings, and the dual HF drivers and horns.

 

Bump -- the show is coming up Sunday!

Matt

 

^^^^^^^ One more bump. Show at 9:15 AM Sunday.

 

I'm told they had 700+ for today's 9AM show, including Debbie Reynolds, who they filmed IN CINERAMA in the lobby -- pretty cool.

Matt

 

The schedule for the upcoming Cinerama 60th Anniversary bash at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood has been announced:

60th Anniversary Cinerama Festival
September 28-October 4, 2012
Tentative Schedule

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28

10:00am
FREE
IN THE PICTURE (2012)
The first new film photographed in 3 strip CINERAMA in 50 years.
Extras: Behind the scenes documentary on the filming.
60 minutes

12:00 noon
SOUTH SEAS ADVENTURE (1958)
Digital presentation, remastered from original negative.
142 minutes

3:00pm
CINERAMA HOLIDAY (1955)
Digital presentation, remastered from original negative.
Extra: break-down reel.
159 minutes

7:00pm
HOW THE WEST WAS WON (1962)
Presented in 3 strip CINERAMA.
Extra: short on film locations and 3 strip Renault automobile commercial.
195 minutes

11:00pm
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)
Presented in 2K Digital
158 minutes

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29

10:00am
THE GOLDEN HEAD (1965)
Digital presentation, remastered from 65mm negative.
110 minutes

12:45pm
THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM (1962)
Presented in 3 strip CINERAMA
Original print courtesy National Media Museum, Bradford England.
155 minutes

4:00pm
SEARCH FOR PARADISE (1957)
Presented in 3 strip CINERAMA
Original print courtesy of John Mitchell. (color faded to magenta)
Extra: Break-down reel with Lowell Thomas and Dimitri Tiomkin.
140 minutes

7:00pm
SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD (1956)
Digital presentation, remastered from original negative.
Extra: IN THE PICTURE in 3 strip CINERAMA, New York premiere and breakdown reel.
192 minutes

11:00pm
HOLIDAY IN SPAIN (1961)
Digital presentation remastered from 65mm negative.
118 minutes

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 30

10:00am
CINERAMA’S RUSSIAN ADVENTURE (1966)
Digital presentation remastered from 65mm negative.
142 minutes

1:00pm
WINDJAMMER: THE VOYAGE OF THE CHRISTIAN RADICH (1958)
Digital presentation, remastered from Swedish Film Institute 35mm composite print.
Extra: Reconstruction short and break-down reel.
171 minutes

4:30pm
IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD, WORLD (1963)
Presented in 70mm Ultra Panavision.
Extra: Cinerama Dome construction and “Mad World” premiere.
180 minutes

8:15pm
THE 60th ANNIVERSARY SCREENING OF THIS IS CINERAMA (1952)
Presented in 3 strip CINERAMA
Extra: IN THE PICTURE presented in 3 strip CINERAMA and Q&A, and behind the scenes documentary
200 minutes

MONDAY, OCTOBER 1

12:00noon
SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD (1956)
Digital Presentation Extras: Break-down reel and premiere newsreel
165 minutes

3:20pm
SOUTH SEAS ADVENTURE (1958)
Digital presentation
Extra: IN THE PICTURE presented in 3 strip CINERAMA
165 minutes

7:00pm
THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM (1962)
Presented in 3 strip CINERAMA
155 minutes

10:15pm
CINERAMA HOLIDAY (1955)
Digital presentation.
Extra: IN THE PICTURE presented in 3 strip CINERAMA, and break-down reel.
186 minutes

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2

1:00pm
CINERAMA’S RUSSIAN ADVENTURE (1966)
Digital presentation.
142 minutes

4:30pm
WINDJAMMER, THE VOYAGE OF THE CHRISTIAN RADICH (1958)
Digital presentation
Extra: IN THE PICTURE presented in 3 strip CINERAMA.
171 minutes

8:15pm
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)
Presented in 2K digital
158 minutes

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2012
No Cinerama showings due to AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE Anniversary Celebration at ArcLight Hollywood

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4

12:30pm
SEARCH FOR PARADISE (1957)
Presented in 3 strip CINERAMA.
Extra: Break-down reel
138 minutes

3:45pm
THIS IS CINERAMA (1952)
Presented in 3 strip CINERAMA
132 minutes

7:00pm
HOW THE WEST WAS WON (1962)
Presented in 3 strip CINERAMA
Extras: Q&A, Location short, Renault Commercial in 3 strip CINERAMA
210 minutes

 

^^^^Yes and yes.

By the way, for the "antique audio nuts" around here: Do not miss Search for Paradise. This is the same original (badly faded) print that played in Seattle about 10 years ago, flown in from a collector in Australia. The sound is buttery in the extreme: multiple U47s, each feeding its own speaker channel in the theatre, all-analog on mag film. The film is boring, the picture is totally faded to pink, but it's worth catching for the sound, IMO. Once MGM got involved with Cinerama shortly after this picture, the sound quality -- while still excellent -- was altogether different, and this is a rare chance to catch the "apex" of 7-channel Cinerama sound in it's original non-Hollywood-ized incarnation. (The sound on 1952's THIS IS CINERAMA, recorded largely via Altec 639-series mics, is el-stinko by comparison, folks, and 1962's HOW THE WEST WAS WON is big-screen sound MGM style more that Cinerama style. It's entirely different.)

Also, note that THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM is being shown via a print that is flown in from England, where it just recently arrived from Australia! It likely will never reach these shores again. This is THE print (singular) that survives.

Matt

 

The Pawa'a (Cinerama) in Honolulu was a very cool theatre! I was there on closing weekend, and came back to LA with (to quote the Cinerama guys there) "about $20k" in impossible-to-find Cinerama projector parts that were sitting up in the projection booth. Trivia: If you go see 3-strip Cinerama projection at the Dome in Hollywood, you are seeing it via the SAME projectors that literally sat at the port glass, unused, in Honolulu from about 1963 until the theatre's closure. That booth is also where I found this odd piece of 70mm alignment film: http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/special/gwtw.htm and this fun little Gone with the Wind artifact: http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/road-gwtw1.htm

Matt

 

Well....Grand Prix is 70mm Cinerama -- an often misunderstood and ill-defined format, but one that can, with this particular title (and most others), be run on any screen -- but, uniquely, it used a lot of wide-angle photography (not fish-eye stuff, but pretty "out there" in places) that looked REALLY COOL (whether or not it was "correct") on that deeply-curved Cinerama screen. I'm always amazed at how many people, upon hearing "Cinerama," think "Grand Prix." It clearly left an impression with those who saw it in its original Cinerama exhibition.

I believe the Academy's print is an answer print, with no soundtrack, so the sound will be coming off a hard drive.

Matt