The CinemaScope Years: Films That Revolutionized Moviegoing, 1953-1967
Virtually every current widescreen movie, television broadcast or streamed image benefits from the techniques that have evolved since the widespread adoption of the first practical use of anamorphic photography: CinemaScope. Wildly successful, CinemaScope with its huge screen and vividly panoramic images lured audiences away from their television sets and ended a sharp decline in moviegoing attendance. And yet, generations who grew up from the 1960s through the 1990s experienced these films in a completely disfigured format, sized to fit black-and-white television screens of the era.

The chapters in this book provide a first-time re-evaluation of the cinematic qualities of all 538 major studio-produced/financed films shot in CinemaScope. Also included are excerpts of interviews with cameramen and directors who describe in detail the development and problems presented by widescreen production. Each title entry includes a brief synopsis including major cast members, an analysis highlighting the artistic values present or absent, and comments from critics and trade papers pertinent to the use of the wide screen process.

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The CinemaScope Years: Films That Revolutionized Moviegoing, 1953-1967
Virtually every current widescreen movie, television broadcast or streamed image benefits from the techniques that have evolved since the widespread adoption of the first practical use of anamorphic photography: CinemaScope. Wildly successful, CinemaScope with its huge screen and vividly panoramic images lured audiences away from their television sets and ended a sharp decline in moviegoing attendance. And yet, generations who grew up from the 1960s through the 1990s experienced these films in a completely disfigured format, sized to fit black-and-white television screens of the era.

The chapters in this book provide a first-time re-evaluation of the cinematic qualities of all 538 major studio-produced/financed films shot in CinemaScope. Also included are excerpts of interviews with cameramen and directors who describe in detail the development and problems presented by widescreen production. Each title entry includes a brief synopsis including major cast members, an analysis highlighting the artistic values present or absent, and comments from critics and trade papers pertinent to the use of the wide screen process.

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The CinemaScope Years: Films That Revolutionized Moviegoing, 1953-1967

The CinemaScope Years: Films That Revolutionized Moviegoing, 1953-1967

by Aubrey Solomon
The CinemaScope Years: Films That Revolutionized Moviegoing, 1953-1967
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The CinemaScope Years: Films That Revolutionized Moviegoing, 1953-1967

The CinemaScope Years: Films That Revolutionized Moviegoing, 1953-1967

by Aubrey Solomon

Overview

Virtually every current widescreen movie, television broadcast or streamed image benefits from the techniques that have evolved since the widespread adoption of the first practical use of anamorphic photography: CinemaScope. Wildly successful, CinemaScope with its huge screen and vividly panoramic images lured audiences away from their television sets and ended a sharp decline in moviegoing attendance. And yet, generations who grew up from the 1960s through the 1990s experienced these films in a completely disfigured format, sized to fit black-and-white television screens of the era.

The chapters in this book provide a first-time re-evaluation of the cinematic qualities of all 538 major studio-produced/financed films shot in CinemaScope. Also included are excerpts of interviews with cameramen and directors who describe in detail the development and problems presented by widescreen production. Each title entry includes a brief synopsis including major cast members, an analysis highlighting the artistic values present or absent, and comments from critics and trade papers pertinent to the use of the wide screen process.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781476693682
Publisher: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date: 04/07/2025
Pages: 378
Product dimensions: 7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.76(d)
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Aubrey Solomon is a writer/producer whose television credits include The Fall Guy, Cagney and Lacey and RoboCop. He lives in Sherman Village, California.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
Glossary of Terms
 1. The Development of CinemaScope
 2. The Making of The Robe
 3. A CinemaScope Market to Itself
 4. Big Budget Spectacles and Historical Dramas
 5. Broadway Musicals in CinemaScope
 6. Musical Biographies, Originals and Adaptations
 7. ­High-Budget Westerns
 8. ­Next-Tier Westerns
 9. War in CinemaScope
10. CinemaScope Adventures
11. Melodramas and Thrillers
12. Broadway Plays on the CinemaScope Screen
13. CinemaScope Comedies
14. Drama on the Wide Screen
15. ­Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror
16. Wide Screen Teens
17. RegalScope and Robert Lippert Productions
Afterword
Addendum: CinemaScope Films Shot with Panavision Lenses
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index
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