Sunday, April 27, 2025

The CinemaScope Years

As modern movie-goers we are spoiled. 3D, surround sound, wide screens, incredible visual effects,-movies on the big screen almost seem real in their clarity, sound quality, colors, visual depth and clarity

In my younger days movies were usually shown on small screens, sometimes with questionable visual clarity, soundtracks usually weren’t in stereo and special effects questionable.

Then came CinemaScope and everything changed. Suddenly movie screens with wide to accommodate the sweeping vistas and everything seemed bigger, more realistic and detailed.

The proportions of a CinemaScope film allowed huge vistas and much more room for images on the horizontal.

I remember seeing my first CinemaScope film and was blown away by how much there was to see. Unlike conventional movie screens and later TV screens, CinemaScope films delivered with huge sweeping landscapes and immense horizontal canvases where actors and actors could move around taking a while room or rooms, train stations, theaters or whatever setting they were in.

Larger gatherings of people were able to be seen in their full scope. Just think of such films as Ben Hur, The King and I and other classics.

Dramas took on a more foreboding scope where shadow and light played out in full display, Westerns showcased the wide open spaces of out west, Horror films delivered even more horrific scares when so much of the danger could be seen by the audience and yet hidden to the actors in the films, Science Fiction movies used CinemaScope to portray vast and lonely outer space, Comedies provided more visual pratfalls and hi-jinks and Musicals had wide open stages delivered incredible music and dance numbers.

In author Aubrey Solomon’s new book: The CinemaScope Years Films That Revolutionized Moviegoing, 1953-1967, published by McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, the history of CinemaScope is examined along with dozens of films with full cast, crew, storylines and behind-the-scenes information provided for each. A glossary is included as well an addendum and chapter notes.

Discover how CinemaScope revolutionized the entire movie industry and how its introduction still influences movie today.

Proverbs 30:5 - Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.

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