Warning, do not watch this as a double feature this unless you have a stronger constitution than I do. That being said, we have a new, wonderful, double feature from Flicker Alley, one of the earliest friends of the blog. I am so very grateful for companies like Flicker Alley because they radiate love of unique film experiences and have a desire, similar to mine, to get spread this love to all of you. On May 15th they are rereleasing two of their classics with brand new restorations. They are still available to be pre-ordered at a discount. Now, on the earlier warning, these are delightful films, but, I would not call them exciting, maybe tedious, at times as some clips go on and on. Some things, though, deserve room to breath.

This is Cinerama

Director: Merian C. Cooper, Robert L. Bendick 

Minutes: 115

Year: 1952

Score: 6.00

Release: Flicker Alley

Cinerama films can be a little disorienting. They are filmed and projected with three separate devices. Which mean three strips of film with a slim overlay of the picture between the separate elements; at any point in time you might be looking at a single wide image with five, slightly, different color grades. It is also worth noting that there is a slight fisheye effect in some shots.

From FlickerAlley.com:

Flicker Alley and Cinerama Inc. are pleased to announce the long-awaited re-release of This is Cinerama, now beautifully restored from the original three-panel, six-perforation camera elements. Presented in a deluxe Blu-ray edition, this is the most extensive and thorough restoration yet of the film that changed the shape and sound of the movies forever!

On the evening of September 30, 1952, This is Cinerama premiered at the Broadway Theatre in New York City. Robert C. Ruark of The New York World Telegram said of the event: “I have just looked at the movies’ answer to television, whether or not the movies know it yet.” Indeed, this unique, widescreen process was launched when television was deemed a major threat to US film exhibition. Fred Waller, Cinerama’s creator, dreamed of a motion picture experience that would recreate the full range of human vision. Using three cameras and three projectors on a curved screen 146° deep, Cinerama created an immersive cinematic event, wowing 20 million viewers in its original roadshow version.

Now, audiences can experience the forerunner to all modern widescreen formats once again, and in a brand-new, definitive restoration. From Venice to Madrid, from Edinburgh Castle to the La Scala opera house in Milan, and all across America in the nose of a B-25 bomber, travel around the world with Cinerama, presented in the one-and-only Smilebox® curved screen simulation.

If you have been collecting Flicker Alley’s Cinerama titles and you have going out of order and started with the Best of Cinerama then you are in for a lot of repetition as many of the clips from this film are reproduced there, they are glorious and they look a heck of a lot better in this restoration but they movie feels repetitive.

With that in mind the film opens with an interesting history of cinema segment where they focus on how small the Academy ratio is and how television is even smaller. It reminds me of the old Star Wars re-release commercials. I wonder if that has always been a valuable marketing strategy. I works when the curtain opens and you see the enormous images from the film, ironically formatted for home viewing with Smilebox, a technology to mimic a theatrical experience.

The film is a clip show, travelogue, intended to bring images from around the world to viewers who have, likely, never seen moving pictures like these before in their lives. It must have been a revelation to those in the initial audiences. With masterful, modern, BBC and NatGeo documentaries these clips fall a little flat and may not do much for viewers without a penchant for film discovery.

Special Features

• Audio Commentary – With John Sittig (Cinerama Inc.), David Strohmaier (Cinerama Restorer), Randy Gitsch (Cinerama Historian), and Jim Morrison (original crew member)
• The Best in the Biz – Updated hour-long documentary about the composers of Cinerama
• Restoring This is Cinerama – A detailed, behind-the-scenes look at the brand-new restoration
• Alternate European Opening to Act Two – A European-oriented segue into the second half of the film, featuring the panoramic view of the United States from the nose of a B-25 bomber plane
• Cinerama Everywhere – A French-produced short on the Cinerama tent shows in Europe
• Tribute to the New Neon Movies – A short film celebrating an Ohio theater where a projectionist revived Cinerama through special screenings for people from all over the country
• Radio Interview with Cinerama Creator, Fred Waller – Recorded on the eve of opening night; accompanied by a slideshow of selected Cinerama images
• This is Cinerama Trailer – An updated recreation of the original theatrical trailer, edited with newly-restored clips
• Cinerama Returns to the Cinerama Dome (2002 Announcement Trailer) – Promotional short for the 50th anniversary of Cinerama and its return to the fabled Cinerama Dome in Hollywood
• “Breakdown Reel” – Footage originally projected interstitially during the interruptions of any Cinerama performance
• TV Spots – Original television ads for This Is Cinerama and Seven Wonders of the World

Director: 7 – Cinematography: 8 – Edit: 7 – Parity: 5 – Main performance: 9 – Else performance: 5 – Score: 5 – Sound: 4 – Story: 6 – Script: 6 – Effects: 6 – Design: 5 – Costumes: 5 – Keeps interest: 7 – Lasting: 5

Windjammer: The Voyage of the Christian Radich

Director: Louis De Rochemont, Bill Colleran 

Screenplay: James L. Shute

Minutes: 142

Year: 1958

Score: 6.53

Release: Flicker Alley

I know a small handful of people who would really enjoy most of this movie. I’d wager there is a small population of people who prefer the old Merrie Melodies in which they imagined what live would be like the future, rather than the magical slapstick. Those toons are what this film reminds me of.

From FlickerAlley.com:

At a star-studded premiere at Grauman’s World Famous Chinese Theater in Hollywood, Windjammer: The Voyage of the Christian Radich sailed into movie history on April 8th, 1958. The brainchild of National Theatres, who hoped to compete with rival widescreen sensation Cinerama, Windjammer was the first (and eventually, the only) film to use the Cinemiracle process. Utilizing proprietary widescreen technology accompanied by seven-channel audio, Cinermiracle was the perfect format to tell the sweeping adventure of the Christian Radich, a Norwegian square-rigger, and her crew.

Now newly restored from original camera elements, the color, the music, and the true artistry of this classic are reborn in a definitive Blu-ray edition. Embarking from Oslo, Norway, the Christian Radich sets out across the Atlantic with a storm-tossed stop in Madeira, where New Year’s festivities entice the young crewmen to enjoy Portuguese musical celebrations and heart racing rides in basket sleds down steep cobblestone streets. After that, it is on to Willemstad, Curacao, where young sailors take part in Dutch festivities. They catch a courtyard performance of Pablo Casals in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, they’re greeted by native steel bands and Calypso singers. By the time they arrive in New York, the Cinemiracle cameras offer a kaleidoscopic treat of color and sound created by famed photographer Arthur “Weege” Fellig. A later encounter with the U.S. Navy Task Force makes for a grand promenade of ships, and when underwater shots of frogmen and a submarine emerge from the depths to reveal the Windjammer on the open sea, Cinemiracle becomes the true star of this breathtaking story. Presented in Smilebox® curved screen format, audiences are once again able to rediscover and re-appreciate this timeless and newly-restored cinema gem!

The film is mostly magic. Feeling able to connect with a European counterpart as he is going through his life changes through boating is not something that I could connect with, but the desire for adventure I can. We take the journey with some Norwegians to see how the tall ships function on a non-Hollywood level and I think there is some value there.

This new restoration is night and day. I have not watched Flicker Alley’s original release but there are a few clips in the restoration documentary and I cannot imagine watching the original. It, now, looks like it was filmed yesterday, but it still suffers from, and embellishes, the major flaw of Cinemiracle (or Cinerama, same(ish) thing). When you mix the slight fisheye angling on the sides of the wide image along with the three separate images with the two overlapping sections result in a, seldom, nauseating image. This doesn’t happen much, but it is there, and it is exacerbated by the fact that the cameras are bolted to the deck of a ship wobbling left and right, over the ocean. If you get seasick I would not recommend watching the film without a bucket.

After these beautiful, innocent, shots of the boys sailing there is a curious piece of abstract, Dixieland, kaleidoscope filmmaking as these Norwegians visit New York City. It is bizarre and worth of witness. As someone who grew up outside a moderate metropolis I can imagine the chaotic confusion of New York City.

This is where things break down, a bit, from the start through the intermission you are watching a charming, adventure, travelogue, film. Then it suddenly because military porn. Some of the boys transfer onto a US destroyer to get a look at the advanced naval prowess of the mighty US Navy. We watch these boys become transfixed on weapons of war.

(This is the view through my modern eyes. It is entirely possible that highlighting a little patriotism may have been a stipulation for US money at a time. It also reminds me of the whaling scene in Russian Adventure. These clips had their place and time but, to me, don’t really fit a modern viewer)

I really enjoyed this film. I have a few hang-ups, sure, but I have these with most films and have no problem with telling other people that their mileage may vary, that these are treasures which Flicker Alley feels strongly enough to facilitate a full restoration. This is a peculiar artifact and it deserves a place on both educational and adventure shelves.

Special Features:

• The Windjammer Voyage: A Cinemiracle Adventure – A documentary by historian Dave Strohmaier on the film’s production
• The Reconstruction of Windjammer – A behind the scenes look at the reconstruction and restoration of Windjammer from the original Cinemiracle camera elements
• The Windjammer Breakdown Reel
• The Christian Radich Today – A modern look at the famous ship at the Aalbourg, Denmark Tall Ships Festival in 2010
• Windjammer Trailer – New re-creation from the original 1958 release trailer
• Windjammer Behind The Scenes Slideshow – Images from the production of the film
• Cinemiracle Showplaces Slideshow – A look at the unique venues that screened Windjammer

Director: 8 – Cinematography: 9 – Edit: 4 – Parity: 0 – Main performance: 8 – Else performance: 5 – Score: 9 – Sound: 6 – Story: 8 – Script: 5 – Effects: 6 – Design: 8 – Costumes: 7 – Keeps interest: 10 – Lasting: 5