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Posted: |
Jan 16, 2015 - 1:22 PM
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By: |
Bob S
(Member)
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MGM's epic Cinerama western, How the West Was Won will appear in Cinemark theaters on a limited basis 25 and 28 January 2015. This is part of Cinemark's ongoing effort to bring digitally restored classics to general circulation big screens once again. (Look for Edna Ferber's GIANT in February)
How the West Was Won won't be in 3-projector Cinerama, of course, but for many of us this will be the first chance to view the complete, uncropped w-i-d-e-s-c-r-e-e-n image in a theater since early 1964. There are two fine digitally restored prints of the movie in circulation. One presents the film as a "flat" rectangle. Since HTWWW was shot for presentation on a deeply curved Cinerama screen, the flat image is distorted in that the center seems to bulge toward the audience, spoiling the original photographic composition. The other restored print uses a process called "Smilebox" which attempts to optically simulate the curve for presentation on a flat screen. It's an acquired taste, to be sure, but once you get used to it, you get an idea of what the original movie might have looked like. The digital restoration combines the original three Cinerama panels into one wide image and does a good job of eliminating the tell-tale lines that once separated the panels. Personally, I'm hoping to see the Smilebox on the big screen. We will see if Cinemark has the good judgement to give us that print.
Over the past several years, Cinemark has brought back many classics. Epics like Ben-Hur, Lawrence of Arabia, and The Ten Commandments often get the premium treatment with presentation in Cinemark's signature (IMAX-competitor) XD auditoriums.
Sound in a Cinemark XD hall is spectacular. I can't wait to hear Alfred Newman's magnificent, over-the-top score one more time in state of the art digital surround. Cinemark, wherever possible, has been good about retaining "road show" musical scoring, complete with full Overture, Entr'Acte, and Exit music. HTWWW should be no exception.
Counting the days . . .
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Does anyone know if they'll announce the format before the first showing? Doesn't seem likely that Cinemark would.
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Here here. I'm not sure I'd find anyone working at the theater who even knows there were movies made in the 1960s.
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Amen, and second the motion. I still recall the thrill of moving forward toward the Erie Canal, all the while seeing life teeming in my peripheral vision...
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Posted: |
Jan 17, 2015 - 5:46 PM
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By: |
Bob S
(Member)
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Amen, Morricone, and THIRD the motion. Three-panel Cinerama is THE way to see this monumental piece of work, and I am endlessly envious of those who still have access to a viable Cinerama venue.
Albuquerque's Fox-WinRock Cinerama was the finest theater in the state when I saw HTWWW there in late 1964 (after Mad, Mad World's road show engagement). Sadly, in the 1970s some truly misguided souls decided to chop the house up into a multiplex, leaving the curved screen intact and putting up walls to divide off sections of it. Mercifully, someone came along in the late 1980s and tore the place down.
MGM's 35MM, pan and scan, general release print was and is inexecrable. It removes an entire Cinerama panel's worth of image from the screen. Whichever restored print Cinemark puts up, it is not going to duplicate the original Cinerama experience, but it will be as close as I am ever likely to come to experiencing this old favorite in a movie house once again.
To all and sundry, I am gratified at the response this thread has drawn. My faith in humanity is (somewhat) restored.
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Posted: |
Jan 17, 2015 - 9:41 PM
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By: |
PFK
(Member)
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I saw the film in the late 60s in a movie theatre although not in Cinerama. I took out the DVD from my library a year ago. It's an enjoyable film but I don't think it's held up too well over the years.
I think Debbie Reynolds was in the film too much, singing and dancing, it looked like The Unsinkable Molly Brown. John Wayne was terrible, over-acting he looked like a big goof ball.
I thought James Stewart was unconvincing etc.
I took a film class in 1981 at a local college. The instructor, and the class, just shoved the film aside like it was not worth discussing. They all ripped into the Debbie Reynolds "acting" in the film.
I'm not knocking the film, it has many great moments. But a very mixed bag for me. The photography is wonderful as were Eli Wallach, Richard Widmark, Lee Van Cleef etc.
Of course Alfred Newman's score is fantastic, the best thing in the film. I bought the LP when the film came out and was so happy to get the CDs on Rhino in the 90s.
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Posted: |
Jan 18, 2015 - 10:53 AM
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By: |
CH-CD
(Member)
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I first saw “How the West Was Won” in 1963, in it’s original Cinerama home -the London Casino.
Loved it then, and still do, although, you’re not really seeing it unless you’re seeing it in 3 Strip Cinerama. The enormity and sound of it were just unbelievable!
Luckily. the National Media Museum in Bradford (UK) have their own 3 Strip print and show it occasionally. They also have a 3 Strip print of “This is Cinerama” and the restored, Digital prints of “Cinerama Holiday”, “Search for Paradise”, “Seven Wonders of the World” and ‘South Seas Adventure”.
If you get the chance to visit a real Cinerama presentation, DON’T miss it !
I think i’ve posted these before but, what the hell ! .... An original Ad from 1962 and shots of the Casino ( which today is the Prince Edward Theatre.}.
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] and went home at intermission. Much more fun watching DVD a few years ago on projector screen! The breadth of the cinematography was stunning. 
