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2010 Academy Member
John Harvey, (USA)
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The 70mm Newsletter
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Written
by: Richard Greenhalgh, Hollywood, USA |
28. March 2010 |
2010
Academy picture By Robert Valkenburg
Back from left: Bill Lawrence, Francois Carrin, David Strohmaier, Keith Swadkins
& Howard Rust
Sitting: Willem Bouwmeester & John Harvey.
This year’s recipient of The Academy of the
Widescreen Weekend's Roll of Honor is a
projectionist, phenomenal collector, showman and Cinerama enthusiast
extraordinaire –
a true "Keeper of the Frame."
In 1946, he began following his brother to work at their local drive-in
theater, the Miami
Cruse-In. Here he would return weeks on end to watch Al Hill, the man who
would later
take him under his wing and teach him to be a projectionist. At the age of
16, then a
budding projectionist, his parents took him to see "This Is Cinerama" at the
Capitol Theatre
in Cincinnati. In his own words, "That razor sharp image on the giant curved
screen and
the seven channels of discreet full-range stereo separation hit me just
right. When Lowell
Thomas said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, THIS IS CINERAMA," well, for me, it was
a life
changing event."
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Further
in 70mm reading:
Widescreen Weekend 2010
Events
John
Harvey "Mr. Cinerama" in Bradford
Academy of the Widescreen Weekend
Widescreen Weekend home
Internet link:
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This year’s recipient of The Academy of the
Widescreen Weekend's Roll of Honor John Harvey. Dave Strohmaier is seen to
the left, John Harvey in the middle and Larry Smith to the right. iPhone
image by Bill Lawrence
In 1963, he was lucky enough to be a union projectionist when Cinerama was
installed for
the first time in Dayton, Ohio, at the Dabel Cinerama Theater for the 38
week run of "How
the West Was Won". He was trained by
Cinerama. He was there when the Cinerama
technicians removed the three projectors to make room for the so-called new
and improved
"Super Cinerama." Our nominee continued to run movies in CinemaScope,
4-track
magnetic sound, 3-D, Todd-AO and all the rest that came into being because
of Fred
Waller's magical idea. Of course, none of these new widescreen processes
would ever
satisfy his remembrance of Cinerama as being the best theatrical
presentation format.
As the years passed, he moved from projectionist to theater technician
because, again in
his own words, "I wanted to know how everything worked and how to do it
better to assure
the best presentation possible like I had seen Cinerama do in the fifties.
Years later, in the
seventies, I decided even if I had to do it all by myself, I was going to
re-assemble or build
from scratch the three Cinerama projectors, the seven channel stereophonic
sound
equipment and construct a curved Cinerama screen in my home."
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Dave
Strohmaier and Keith Swadkins. Image by Mark Lyndon
Soon this guy was spending his vacations travelling the world, scavenging
parts from old
theaters and junkyards and visiting technicians. He found one projector in
Indianapolis,
another in Europe; the third came in pieces from all over. He converted his
ranch home in
Dayton into his own personal Cinerama theatre. At first he only had six
minutes of footage. But soon he had managed to cobble together, from upwards of 20 sources,
complete and
surprisingly well-preserved prints of "How
the West Was Won" and "This Is
Cinerama". He
enjoyed sharing his Cinerama prints with friends in his living room and in
1986 Willem
Bouwmeester heard about this fellow and soon he visited him in Dayton. They
hit it off
immediately and became instant friends.
Our nominee has been unstinting in giving credit to Willem for helping to
bring Cinerama
back and for his abilities to track down equipment and fabricate and create
the things
needed. After years of planning and much work on the part of many, including
Keith
Swadkins and the International Cinerama Society, he arrived in Bradford the
first week in
March 1993 to work with Willem and the Museum staff to begin the final
installation here in
Bradford. On June 16, 1993, Cinerama rolled again for the fist time in 21
years at a public
performance in Pictureville as a part of the tenth anniversary of the
Museum. We were
honored to have Mrs. Fred Waller here with us for that premiere.
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Willem
Bouwmeester, Francois Carrin, Dave Strohmaier, John Harvey and Keith
Swadkins. Image by Robert Valkenburg
Meanwhile, by the mid nineties, at the urging of his friend, Larry Smith, he
brought his
projectors and prints to the New Neon Theatre in
Dayton. Though it used to
require five
skilled technicians to screen Cinerama, our nominee developed a complex yet
feasible way
of synchronizing the projectors so that he could run the entire show
himself. On August 29,
1996, with Mrs. Lowell Thomas in attendance, film buffs from across the
world lined up for
the first showing of "This Is
Cinerama". This was the first time it had been
publically shown
in America in over 32 years. For three and a half years the New Neon Theater
hosted
patrons from 38 states and 11 countries.
After his visit, Leonard Maltin wrote: "Whew! What a weekend … and what an
experience.
I encourage any of you who love movies to make the Neon Movies a priority
destination,
while this program continues." The 1999 Cleveland International Film
Festival program
stated that "Leonard Maltin wants our nominee to be the first projectionist
to be awarded
an Oscar."
Another enthusiast wrote, "We found his genuine love for these films and the
Cinerama
process to be simply amazing. He keeps his projectors and sound equipment in
top
running shape by sheer love and dedication. During the films, he kept the
alignment of the
seams so tight that they actually seemed to disappear. It was a real
privilege to meet him
and to see how these films are supposed to be shown."
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John
Harvey running three strip films in Dayton, 1997. Image by Thomas
Hauerslev
A few years later, when Microsoft millionaire Paul Allen financed the
re-opening of the
Cinerama theatre in Seattle, he was brought in. Those who were there, well
remember
how he stayed late into the night to set up their Cinerama screening. On
June 2, 2000,
after an early showing of
"Cinerama Adventure", he ran his prints of
"This Is
Cinerama" and "How
the West Was Won" to a very appreciative audience.
Several years later, Pacific Theaters refurbished the
Cinerama Dome in
Hollywood and our
nominee trekked out once again to show his support and answer questions. For
the first time original 6-perf Cinerama projectors were installed and new
prints were struck of "This Is
Cinerama" and "How
the West Was Won". Once again, our intended recipient
played a part
in Cinerama history. On Saturday, December 7, 2002, there was a special
SMPTE
screening of "How
the West Was Won" which was the first time a 3-panel
Cinerama film had
ever been shown at the Cinerama Dome. Public performances followed a few
months later.
In 2003, after suffering a stroke and being hospitalized, the bills
forced him to sell his
collection of Cinerama films, equipment and memorabilia but he has never
lost his
enthusiasm for the process.
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Setting
the scene for the 2010 award. Members of the Academy read the text.
Image by Mark Lyndon
In 2005, this Museum honored a unique person with a scroll, read to the
attendees by
Keith Swadkins, as follows:
This scroll is presented in recognition of his lifelong commitment to
single-handedly
preserve, restore and perpetuate the innovative motion picture format -
Cinerama –
in the United States of America.
It also gratefully acknowledges his invaluable contribution, after almost
forty years, to the
first installation of the authentic three-strip original Cinerama format to
be housed in a
purpose built theatre, Pictureville Cinema at the National Museum of
Photography, Film
& Television, Bradford, West Yorkshire, Great Britain.
We are absolutely delighted to nominate, honor and induct this extraordinary
man into the
Wide Screen Academy. Ladies and gentlemen, THIS IS JOHN HARVEY.
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28-07-24 |
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