Cinerama Adventure

I’d never even heard of Cinerama before watching the Blu-Ray edition of How the West Was Won with John and Amy. Cinerama Adventure is a fascinating look at the then-revolutionary Cinerama system. Think of it as a predecessor to IMAX, except that it provided better peripheral views at the expense of requiring three separate cameras and projectors. If you’re at all interested in 1950s pop culture, film and video technology, film-making, or flying a camera-equipped B-25 into an active volcano, you’ll find plenty of things to interest you here. My favorite part might have been the discussion of how the movie industry targeted Cinerama to help counter the television-induced drop in movie theater attendance. I wonder if there’s a parallel with the current theater industry… maybe they could try something innovative instead of whining so much.