70 MM Films
FILMS
Our job at Seattle's Martin Cinerama is still
to provide you, the moviegoer,
with the best wide, curved screen entertainment
ever! Cinerama has changed,
however, to a new format called "ultra panavision." Like Todd-AO, the single
lens Cinerama used only one camera
and one projector. This made filming
and presenting the images much,
much easier. The 3-D effect of the original
Cinerama, however, was
sadly lost.
Photo of lens I purchased on EBAY.
Our tradition continues with a zanny new comedy, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad
World."
You howled when Jimmy Durante kicked da bucket in the opening sequence
and
Cinerama entertainment was to cheerfully continue in its new single lens
format.
These posters...yeah, I collected them all... will bring back memories
of
some great moments on the silver screen.
"The Greatest Story" was to be George Stevens'
personal lifetime achievement.
An early arrival of a bitter winter nearly halted
the filming and the destruction of
the temporary sets on location in Nevada.
This could have meant a financial
disaster for the project. The final version
was not the artistic epic that Mr. Stevens had
envisioned.
One of the funny things about movie stars is that when you meet them in
person... they're not bigger than life. I could not believe it when
I met Eva Marie Saint. I towered way high over her. Yikes!
Souvenir Post Card
Oh dear, one of Cinerama executive's
hair brain idea was to splice Russian footage taken in the 3 panel
Kinorama process into 70mm. Although the poster's promoting the film were in
beautiful were in color,
the presentation was atrociously grainy and greenish-bluish. Audiences and
critics were not happy campers.
One of the architectural boo-boos about the
Martin was that the large
entryway with stairs to the parking lot was made of
white terrazzo marble.
It was incredibly slippery when wet. So on rainy days
(yes, that happens occasionally)
that entrance was closed, forcing patrons to
have to walk around to the Lenora
Street doors. I don't know how many times I
got asked about that situation! (")
I became best of friends with chief operator, Franky Meyers of north Seattle,
and stage manager,
Bill Sisom of Edmonds.
Franky and Bill were veterans of the early development of
Cinerama and
had been to headquarters in Oyster Bay on Long Island. On inclement days
(oh yeah, there are a couple each year in Seattle) the three of us would usually
have our dinners up in Baker Booth, rather than leaving the theater building
between shows.
When the three projector process was abandoned, Able Booth became my home away
from home. I would study for my college classes at the University of
Washington up there, having set it up as kind of my personal office. Most
people didn't think about it, but for the original Cinerama projection operators
had to be there in the booth for several hours. The booths had a private
bathroom, sink with running water, a place for a hot plate and even a cot for
snoozing between matinee and evening performances. With all these creature
comforts, I didn't much mind all the paper towels and candy bars that were
sometimes stored there.
:)
Please click here 70 MM Cinerama Part 2
to continue in my website,
including anecdotes about the staff during "2001."
My other web pages in this site include...
Cinerama's Arrival
in Seattle
Early Cinerama Films
To return to my first page, please click below here.
Seattle's Martin Cinerama