One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Cinerama Celebrates Its 60th Anniversary With A Week Of Special Screenings
Photo by Sundogg via the LAist Featured Photos pool
We're coming up on the 60th anniversary of Cinerama's debut in New York on September 30, 1952. To commemorate the anniversary, all week the Hollywood's Historic Cinerama Dome at the Arclight will be screening 12 classic Cinerama productions, including the original film that celebrated the glories of the curved widescreen format "This is Cinerama."
Some of the other films that will be shown starting tomorrow include "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (whose first screening is sold out), "2001: A Space Odyssey," and "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm."
A New York Times critic described the novelty of the new form and the audience's reaction 60 years ago in his review of "This Is Cinerama":
The new motion-picture projection system known as Cinerama was put on public display for the first time last night before an invited audience at the Broadway Theatre. And, with due account for the novelty of the system, it was evident that the distinguished gathering was as excited and thrilled by the spectacle presented as if it were seeing motion pictures for the first time. The name is, of course, a combination of the words "cinema" and "panorama"—and that conveys most clearly the nature of the motion picture that was placed upon the screen. For Cinerama is a utilization of a giant wide-angle screen that sweeps in an arc of 146 degrees across the front of the theatre auditorium and is taller than the ordinary screen, and upon which is thrown from three projectors a tri-panel picture in color that actually has the appearance of one single panoramic display.
Note that this isn't the anniversary of the opening of The Dome—that would come about a decade later in 1963. The Dome is only one of three theaters in the world that is capable of showing the classic 3-strip Cinerama films.We've reprinted the entire schedule here, but you can find more details on the Arclight's website:
Friday, September 28
10 am "In the Picture" (free)
Noon "South Seas Adventure" (1958)
3 pm "Cinerama Holiday" (1955)
7 pm "How the West Was Won"(1962)
11 pm "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968) Saturday, September 29
10 am "Golden Head" (1965)
12:45 pm "The Wonderful World of the Brother Grimm" (1962)
4 pm "Search For Paradise" (1957)
7 pm "Seven Wonders of the World" (1956)
11 pm "Holiday in Spain" (1961)
Sunday, September 30th
10 am "Cinerama's Russian Adventure" (1966)
1 pm "Windjammer: The Voyage of the Christian Radich" (1958)
4:30 pm "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (1963) (sold out, but there's another showing October 3)
8:15 pm "This Is Cinerama" (1956)
Monday, October 1
Noon "Seven Wonders of the World" (1956)
3:20 pm "South Seas Adventure" (1958)
7 pm "The Wonderful World of the Brother Grimm" (1962)
10:15 pm "Cinerama Holiday" (1955)
Tuesday, October 2
1 pm "Cinerama's Russian Adventure" (1966)
4:30 pm "Windjammer: The Voyage of the Christian Radich" (1958) Plus a digital presentation including "In the Picture" short
8:15 pm "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968)
Wednesday, October 3
2 pm "Cinerama Holiday" (1955)
7 pm "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (1963)
Thursday, October 4
12:30 pm "Search for Paradise" (1957)
3:45 pm "This is Cinerama" (1952)
7 pm "How the West Was Won" (1962)
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
