was hot news in 1953. No innovation in motion picture technology, with the possible exception of sound, created such a stir in the industry and the minds of the public. The system that the studio bosses passed on was eclipsing the publicity that they were spending millions to grind out. Certainly a group of people with a keen interest in the system in the early days were the operators of theatres that might want to get involved in this innovation, or at least get a better understanding of what was causing such a stir in only one initial theatre in New York. Detroit's Music Hall Theatre was the second installation made by Cinerama engineers, followed by the Warner Theatre in Hollywood, California.
One of the best articles to describe what a Cinerama show was like appeared in the June 6, 1953 issue of Boxoffice magazine in their Modern Theatre section. While this text is aimed at theatre operators of the day, it will certainly evoke pleasant memories for those that are now fortunate enough to be old codgers and got to see this operation first hand, but it will give those younger whipper snappers a pretty vivid idea of what a real road show presentation amounted to. It's interesting reading, and we have Robert C. Weisgerber to thank for providing the original materials so that it could be reproduced on the web.
Click the link below to read the three page article, plus an advert for a Cinerama related product.
