This Is Cinerama

Meant to strictly be visual showcase, it sure was! To promote cinema's counter to television comes Cinerama! Super widescreen as far as the eye can see. Purely from POV perspective, we take a rollercoaster ride, fly in a airplane, watch various stage presentations and go waterskiing. This new way of seeing film looked breathtaking. Something like this had been attempted before with Abel Gance's Napoléon (1927). But here was sound and color to make it even more magical.

I caught a reissue of this in the '70s and, believe me, it gets pretty boring pretty fast. There's nothing like watching The Long Island Choir sing in Cinerama to make you want to check your watch.