Viewing Single Post From: Hollywood Heritage Museum

Viewing Single Post From: Hollywood Heritage Museum
mort bakaprevski	Jun 18 2009, 12:42 PM
Soony Roony! Posts: 1,433 Group: Members Member #73 Joined: January 1, 2006	So, tonight the featured subject was Cinerama. I remember being taken, in my youth, up to Hollywood to see one of the Cinerama features, but don’t remember which one (probably the first). I was suitably impressed… but NOT blown away. I was, however, quite impressed with tonight’s presentation. Unfortunately, we dined at Musso & Frank before attending where I downed a martini & ½ bottle of Cabernet. Consequently, I dozed off for at least 10 minutes during the presentation (if you snooze, you lose). At any rate, when I suddenly regained consciousness, I was quite alert for the remainder. They started off with a “making of” HOW THE WEST WAS WON which was fun. They followed this with a feature lasting at least one hour & ½ entitled CINERAMA ADVENTURE which was, more or less, a pictorial history of the development of (three-camera) Cinerama, its ten plus year successful run & its ultimate replacement by 70 mm film. I had forgotten some of the key players in this little adventure. Lowell Thomas, a famous radio broadcaster at the time, was the narrator of the initial films & actually devised some of the scenes they filmed. Because there were three projectors involved plus a separate sound reel, there were frequent technical problems. Consequently, they had a bit filmed with Thomas where he would yak at the audience while the problems were being ironed out. One amusing part has him (on film) saying, “Well, let’s check with the projection booth & see if those technical glitches have been overcome.” Pause. “Nope, just got word back that they’re still working on it.” Merian C. Cooper was another key individual in the development of Cinerama. Cooper’s career in films was something books are made of, from his early incredible documentaries (CHANG & GRASS), to KING KONG, FLYING DOWN TO RIO, the John Ford cavalry trio, THE QUIET MAN & THE SEARCHERS. They had a pictorial biography about him on (I think) TCM. An incredibly fascinating & productive gentleman. Stunt pilot, Paul Mantz was something of an Orange County local hero when I was growing up. He lived in the area and frequently flew out of what is now John Wayne airport. His stunts were an integral part of the Cinerama films. The one featured in these clips was where he flew down into the heart of a live volcano. A voiceover by one of the men who accompanied him on this flight explained that the lack of oxygen caused the plane’s motors to stop functioning. Mantz & crew were fortunate enough to catch an updraft out of the volcano’s mouth. Apocryphal? Perhaps. But, a hell of a story!! There were interviews with Debbie Reynolds, Carroll Baker, Eli Wallach & stuntman Loren Janes on the difficulties of making a feature film (HOW THE WEST WAS WON) in the three-camera process. A great scene of Janes & other stuntmen inside a wagon designed to turn over & over & over… was included as was the train scene which reportedly cost stuntman Bob Morgan a leg & disfigured part of his face. Well, since the Hollywood Bowl season is a-startin’, this will be the last of these presentations until October. However, there was some talk of one or two presentations during the summer at the Paramount Ranch in Agoura Hills. Sure hope so!! A flyer was passed out which told of an effort to get the recently restored Columbia Charley Chase shorts released to the general public. You can read all about it in the Charley Chase thread.
	“You’ve got to take the bitter with the sour.”

Hollywood Heritage Museum · Movie Makers