This is Cinerama

[Talbot]

Can anyone tell me if the 1952 film 'This is Cinerama' has been released on DVD?

And if so, where is it available?

The film is a showpiece for the cinerama technique and shows everyday life from around the world in 1952.

The film includes scenes of the roller coaster from Rockaways' Playland, then moves on to a scene of the temple dance from Aida, views of Niagara Falls, a choir, scenes of the canals of Venice, a military tattoo in Edinburgh, a bullfight, more from Aida, a sound demonstration in stereo, scenes from the amusement park in Cypress Gardens, Florida for a water skiing sequence, and the playing of America the Beautiful as scenes are shown from the nose of a low flying B-25.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Not that Wikipedia is a -great- resource.....but...

There are currently no publicly available copies of the film in any format; the only way to see it in its entirety is in one of the three remaining 3-projector Cinerama installations that continue to preserve and show 35 mm prints. The film's copyright status is unclear. It apparently fell into the public domain in 1980, 28 years after being filed for copyright, but some allege that it was renewed, erroneously, a matter of months after this expiry.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_is_Cinerama


They evidently have shown it at the cinerama dome in LA on occasion

http://www.bigmoviezone.com/articles/index.html?uniq=106


and you can go see it in the UK here: http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/FilmAndImax/film_detail.asp?filmid=5

 

[Talbot]

Darn....

Can anyone suggest a good source for some vintage travelogues?

 

[LizzieMaine]

If you have access to TCM, keep an eye out for Fitzpatrick Traveltalks, a series of one-reel MGM film shorts that ran from the thirties to the fifties. Most of these were shot in color, and include fascinating footage from all over the world. They're used all the time by TCM as filler between feature movies, so if you keep an eye on the schedule you're bound to run into them. They aren't as visually impressive as Cinerama, of course, but they were very popular for a very long time, and gave millions of Americans their most vivid impressions of faraway places.

 

[dhermann1]

I love those Fitzpatrick Traveltalks, they're the original "And so, as the sun sets slowly in the west, we bid a fond farewell to (fill in the blank)" movies. Real live color footage of real people in their real environments.

 

[Talbot]

TCM?

I feel like Jethro in the episode of the Beverly Hillbillies, when he decides to become a playboy...

Jethro: And, Uncle Jed, I'm gonna have me a buch of martini's!

Jed: Whats a martini boy?

Jethro: Dunno, first I gotta figure out how to catch 'em critters!




Sooo, whats a TCM?

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Turner Classic Movies

Its a cable TV channel. www.TCM.com

 

[Talbot]

I'm going to have to catch me one of them critters!

Ged, get the truck!

:eusa_doh:

If its available in Australia I have a friend who may have it, although they probably use other material as fillers here to meet local content requirements.

I'm sure he would have told me if they screened any vintage travelogues.

At least I know its a Fitzpatrick Traveltalk.

Thanks,

Talbot