Three movies today:
Arrived at the theater, got my seat. Front row. Resident Cinerama expert John Sittig, donned in a Cinerama labcoat, came to introduce the film (The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm); he said this was the only known print in 3-strip Cinerama in the world. The print came from a private collector in Australia. Sittig said this print is "well worn", and that there would be 5 people in the projection booth throughout the entire film to take care of it.
Then stepped out one of the stars of the film - Russ Tamblyn, who talked for about 2-3 minutes. He has a big dance sequence in the film with a princess (Yvette Mimieux). He joked that he thought he was in a screening of West Side Story. Surprisingly, two of his co-stars from that film were actually there in the theater - Rita Moreno and George Chakiris (they didn't speak; they just stood up for applause when Russ announced them. They were there to support Cinerama and Russ). Tamblyn went on to confirm how difficult the entire process of shooting a Cinerama film was, and how frustrating it was.
Really enjoyed this movie! There were some stop-motion Puppetoon scenes with elves and a dragon, and I couldn't help but think of how far we've come with CGI. But it was entertaining nonetheless. Very underrated gem.
After the intermission, there was another delay. The film started for a few seconds, then went dark. There was another delay - this time for about 20 minutes. Apparently something happened with one of the projectors. When one goes out, the entire movie is affected. I was biting my fingernails, hoping that the movie event wouldn't be cancelled. I chatted with the gentleman sitting next to me. He saw me taking so many notes and asked me if I was a professional writer. I told him I was just an amateur blogger. He told me about the movie The Golden Head starring George Sanders and Buddy Hackett - the movie screened earlier this morning (at 10 AM) but I was missed it.
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| Projectionists work to get the Cinerama film running again |
The next film was Search for Paradise. The movie was a trip to India, Nepal and other Oriental "hidden paradises". Somehow producer Lowell Thomas was invited to be an American ambassador at a ceremony in Nepal, which included an elaborate parade. And wherever Lowell Thomas goes, the Cinerama camera goes.
John Sittig announced that the music was composed by Dimitri Tiomkin, and that there were members of his family in attendance at the screening. Neat!
The first half of the film has the camera crew trying to find the "mythical land of Shangri-La". Spoiler alert: They never find it. The river raft sequence down the Indus river has to be seen to be believed. I was convinced that the entire crew - especially Lowell Thomas - were completely out of their minds. What a bunch of crazy fools. And apparently a crew member died when a raft capsized.
The print was three-strip Cinerama, but was faded to the point where the only color was Magenta, a sort of dark pink. I thought it was interesting seeing how prints fade, but after a few minutes, I really wanted to see more colors (guess I'm spoiled). My friend lives in LA and he said he's seen a bunch of faded prints of other movies, so it was nothing new to him. I hope to see this movie again restored.
After the movie ended, I got a chance to meet one of the editors of the film. He was sitting in the front row. He must have been at least 85 years old. Can't remember his name, but he was the nicest guy. I asked him if he knew the crew member that died, and he said he did.
Seven Wonders of the World. This was another film featured in Susan Sackett's book, and a movie I had always wanted to see. It was exciting to finally see it! John Sittig announced that the film we are about to see has been "30% restored" by Image Trends. I didn't really know what that meant until the movie was over. Basically the first and last half hours of the film were crystal clear, beautiful, colorful, amazing-looking sequences, but everything in-between looked fuzzy. Blurry, really. It looked different than any of the other films shown. I wished the entire film looked as good as the restored sequences. One day I hope to see it restored fully.
But I still enjoyed the film. It was like flying over the whole world. I thought to myself, "I never have to visit the real Grand Canyon now. I felt like I was there!" Really, it was that awesome.
The final sequence of the film showcased Rome and the Vatican, with a Papal procession that puts you "in the picture". This must have been absolutely thrilling for Catholic audiences at the time. No wonder it was such a big hit movie, I thought. And then the grand finale includes a shot of the Pope looking directly at the camera and giving the audience a blessing. I couldn't believe they got so close to the Pope. Someone had connections, for sure. I haven't read my Souvenir Booklet yet, but there is some information on the making of that sequence. When I've done some more research I'll do another post on this film.
The film was produced by Michael Todd Jr. --- his son (Daniel Todd) and daughter (Susan Todd) introduced the film that night. Susan said, "you can't say the movie stunk" (referring to Smell-O-Vision).
I really, really, really wanted to like this movie. I TRIED to like this movie. But I couldn't. I found it to be so dull.
I stayed about 25 minutes, but then left the theater and called it a night. One more day of Cinerama tomorrow with This Is Cinerama!!!
