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2022 |
• Go to
The Munich "Royal-Palast" |
• Go to
Der Münchner "Royal-Palast"
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2021 |
• Go to
"GONE WITH THE WIND" in 70mm Wide Screen and
Stereophonic Sound |
• Go to
The Successful Norelco
Universal 70/35mm (Philips DP70/35) Film Projector |
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2020 |
• Go to
"La Fayette", Preview, World Premiere and more |
• Go to
Das Todd-AO-Format im "Stadtkino"
• Go to
Todd-AO Format at "Stadtkino" |
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2019 |
• Go to
Wien's altes- und
neues "Gartenbau-Kino" |
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2018 |
• Go to
Bigger than "Ben-Hur" – My Japan Cinerama
Project |
• Go to
"The Best of
Cinerama" in Germany |
• Go to
"Flying Clipper"– a
Dream Voyage on the Giant Screen |
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2017 |
 Margaret Honda's 70mm
short, "Spectrum Reverse Spectrum"
By Gerhard Witte
"Spectrum Reverse Spectrum" is a camera-less film made by exposing 70mm
print stock to precisely calibrated colored light in a film printe. The subjective visual
effects of the film, enhanced by the size and brilliance of 70mm projection,
make you aware of the act of watching and so remind you of the body you
inhabit. |
 Mancini's
complete score of "The Great Race"
By Gerhard Witte
The 3-cd box set with an epic
art design by Jim Titus. The included booklet gives detailed information
about Mancini's score and the movie. The original film score is on CD1 and
CD2, and on CD3 is represented the LP-version released in 1965 – here
Mancini's album arrangements use a smaller group of players than the
original film score. |
 Cinérama Itinérant (Itinerama)
Cinerama's Mobile Tent Theatres
By Gerhard Witte
A top priority of Nicolas Reisini, CEO of Cinerama,
Inc. from '60 to '63, was
to bring 3-strip projection to the widest possible audience, above all to the
population in the countryside. Consequently, he
created in a showmanly way a portable Cinerama, the so-called "Itinerama"
which premiered in France in Mantes-la-Jolie on
Monday, 4 September 1961 – "Why go to Paris or London to experience Cinerama,
when Cinerama can come to you?!" |
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2016 |
|
 Premiere
of "Windjammer" at the Empire in
Paris
By Gerhard Witte
The very successful Cinemiracle movie "Windjammer" had its World Premiere at Grauman´s Chinese Theatre
in Hollywood on Tuesday, April 8, 1958.
In France, in Paris, "Windjammer" opened relatively late at the Empire-Cinérama-Théâtre Abel Gance on Monday,
February 5, 1962. |
 Information
about the 3-strip movie "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm"
By Gerhard Witte
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm are mainly worldwide renowned for their collection
of fairy tales – but they were also language- and cultural researchers,
diplomats, lawyers, professors, librarians and politicians. They were born
in Hanau as the eldest children of a Calvinist pastor's family with civil
service ties. |
 The
Hateful Eight" 7OMM
Road Show Gala
premiere in Berlin
Tuesday 26. January
2016
By Gerhard Witte
"The Hateful Eight"
7OMM Road Show Gala
premiered at the Zoo
Palast in Berlin
(Germany) Tuesday
26. January 2016.
Gerhard Witte, local
in70mm.com reporter
was on the spot to
take the pictures.
• Go to
"The Hateful Eight"
7OMM Roadshow Gala
premiere in Berlin
Tuesday 26. January
2016 |
 Information
about "The Golden Head"
By Gerhard Witte
I saw "Milly"
for the first time at Bradford's Widescreen Weekend in 2006. It was well
received. Some opinions about the movie read as follows: An unexpected
delight that was a great deal better than its reputation. "The Golden Head"
was the great surprise and a real treat. Excellent! Great to see the
legendary "The Golden Head"! |
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2015 |
 A
musical Journey
around the World in
fantastic
stereophonic
Cinerama Sound
By Gerhard Witte
As I already owned the musical scores of several Cinerama films I thought,
"most likely a simple compilation of the scores".
My guess was wrong. This new 2-CD set is really a surprise and a listening
pleasure. It assembles the musical highlights of all 5 Cinerama travelogue
film scores together, cleverly compiled and digitally restored
from the 35mm magnetic Cinerama films. |
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 The
German Travelogue "Flying Clipper – Traumreise unter weißen Segeln" in
Germany and in the USA
By Gerhard Witte
"Flying Clipper", perhaps a German answer to the successful Cinemiracle
movie "Windjammer", had its World Premiere at Munich's "Royal-Palast" on
Goetheplatz on Wednesday, December 19, 1962. The travelogue is the first
German feature film production shot in the new wide-gauge film process
called "MCS 70" which had been developed by Modern Cinema Systems (MCS) Film
KG. |
 HTWWW's
"World Preview" in
Paris
By Gerhard Witte
The Cinerama movie
"How the West Was
Won" (USA) had its
official World
Premiere on
Thursday, November
01, 1962 at London's
Casino Cinerama
Theatre, where it
subsequently
successfully ran for
more than 120 weeks.
Previously, there
had already been a
"World Preview" of
the movie at the
Empire Cinerama
Theatre in Paris on
Tuesday, October 02,
1962. |
 Movies with artificial
smells in cinemas
By Gerhard Witte
There was a race to get smells into films at the end of 1950s between the
"Smell-O-Vision!" and the "AromaRama" processes. AromaRama was won at the
time by the Walter Reade Organization with a documentary called "Behind the
Great Wall". "AromaRama" had been unveiled in the DeMille
Theatre in New York
with the movie's
premiere on December
08, 1959. |
 German
Release of "El Cid"
By Gerhard Witte
Samuel Bronston's epic premiered in 70mm in Hamburg at the impressive
"Ufa-Palast am Gänsemarkt" on 25.05.1962. On the same day the
movie also debuted at the Berlin Cinerama Capitol-Filmtheater. "El Cid"
ran at the "Ufa-Palast" for 14 weeks until 30.08.1962. |
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2014 |
 "INTERSTELLAR"
in 70mm at the Zoo Palast cinema in Berlin
By Gerhard Witte
"Interstellar" - a visually stunning science-fiction epic with
a running time of 169 minutes. The movie is certainly, as is the case with
many things in life, a question of taste. I will be brief and say only this.
I had a certain amount of difficulty in following the partially
meta-physical "extra-terrestrial" content, particularly in the second half
of the film. Maybe I am just lacking the necessary powers of imagination. |
 CIRCARAMA
at the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne
By Gerhard Witte
On the 50th anniversary of EXPO 64, CIRCARAMA can be experienced again for
the first time with a restored version of the same film at a special
exhibition at the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne from 1 August and is
expected to be shown there until 31 December 2014. For this screening, the
nine 35mm films for the 360 degree projection have been digitised. The
individual segments and the sound were synchronized. Colour changes that had
occurred over the years were corrected. |
 To
commemorate William Wyler's monumental epic "BEN-HUR" shot in MGM's Camera
65
By Gerhard Witte
MGM was in troubled financial waters when they undertook "Ben-Hur". In
the successful wide-screen, religious-epic epoch of the 1950s it was MGM's
made go-for-broke move - a film which would either sink or save the studio.
As Hollywood production cost began to inflate markedly, MGM realized that
they could save a lot of money by shooting the entire film in Italy.
• Go to
PDF:
William Wyler's
monumental epic
"BEN-HUR" |
 Samuel
Bronston's Epic "55
Days at Peking" on
BluRay – it is
really stunning!
By Gerhard Witte
I have never
seen the movie in
such a quality –
with razor sharp
images, superb
contrast levels and
impressive colors.
The Blu-Ray is
highly recommended.
It is the Roadshow
Version of the movie
with Overture,
Intermisson (Entr`acte)
and Playout Music |
 Attending
the Widescreen
Weekend from 10 to
13 April 2014
By Gerhard Witte
2006 had been the
last time I visited
Bradford's
Widescreen Weekend.
At the time, of
course, I was
particularly
impressed by the
3-strip screenings
of "Windjammer" and
the all-time hit
"How the West Was
Won". All projected
onto the deeply
curved screen in the
Pictureville Cinema.
Now, 8 years later
the great
opportunity watching
the last two
Cinerama `holy
grails´ "Seven
Wonders of the
World" and "Search
for Paradise" on the
curved Cinerama
screen. That was the
reason why I
travelled to
England. |
 Circarama
at the "EXPO" in Lausanne, Switzerland
By Gerhard Witte
The "EXPO" in Lausanne in 1964 is often called it "EXPO
of Projection". In the hall of the Swiss Federal Railways "CIRCARAMA"
was presented on 9 screens and with 9 projectors. For the EXPO a new CIRCARAMA film
was produced in
Eastman Color and 35mm film with Mitchell cameras to ensure the best image quality. |
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|
2013 |
 A
refrigerator and a
DP70, please
By Gerhard Witte
The Saturn
electronics store on
Tauentzienstraße 9
in Berlin's Europa
Center has exhibited
an authentic Todd-AO
DP70 70mm projector
in their department
of Hi-Fi and
electronics. The
machine can be seen
on the third floor
in the Megastore's
HiFi department. |
 Hamburg’s
Cinema Jewel, the Savoy, Has Reopened
By Gerhard Witte
The very first purpose built German cinema for Todd-AO was the Savoy-Filmtheater in Hamburg. March 14,
1957 marked the opening date of this grand cinema. Nearly 60 years later and
despite several closures, and near-threats of demolition, this cinema, still
exists. And now more beautiful than ever. Thanks to German cinema
entrepreneur Hans-Joachim Flebbe, the Savoy reopened on June 19, 2013, as a
Premium Movie Theater. |
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|
2012 |
 Howard
Terpning and Joseph L. Mankiewicz's “Cleopatra“
By Gerhard Witte
A look at the different “Cleopatra” posters and the controversy surrounding
the making of the famous poster art. Howard Terpning is a painter and
illustrator of our time. He is the most renowned and honored Western artist
painting today. |
 "Lawrence
of Arabia", 50th Anniversary Limited Collector's Blu-Ray Edition
By Gerhard Witte
"Lawrence
of Arabia", the 50th Anniversary Limited Collector's Blu-Ray Edition has been
published with an impressive hardcover coffee-table book and also with an
authentic 70mm film frame. |
 Cinemiracle/Cinerama
in Germany
By Gerhard Witte
In Europe, cinemas
for 3-strip films
were only set up on
a wide scale fairly
late, that is at the
end of the 1950s and
the beginning of the
1960s. By then,
other wide-screen
methods such as
CinemaScope and
perhaps also Todd-AO
had been broadly
accepted.
•
The Grindel Filmtheater |
The "Savoy" in Hamburg |
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|
2011 |
 "Windjammer"
in Hamburg
By
Gerhard Witte
I saw “Windjammer" the first time as a little boy at the beginning of
the 1960s in Düsseldorf on a huge deep curved screen. That was an
unforgettable event to me and awoke my interest in widescreen cinema and
film-music. |
 More
Savoy Adverts
By Gerhard Witte
See more adverts - with captions in two languages - from the former
Savoy cinema in Hamburg. The first purpose built Todd-AO Cinema in
Europe. |
 Delphi Filmpalast am Zoo
By Gerhard Witte
After the Second World War, 1949 was a new beginning. Berliners greeted the
opening of a large new cinema with great fanfare |
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|
2010 |
 3D
in the mid 60s in Europe with Hi-Fi Stereo 70
By Gerhard Witte
The film
"Operation Taifun" was the beginning of a new 3D filming and reproduction process with the
name Hi-Fi Stereo 70 in Europe. |
 3D IMAX 70mm today
By Gerhard Witte
The German version of "Avatar"
was shown in classic 3D with 2 x 15/70mm projection using the polarisation
process |
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2009 |
 The
"Savoy" in Hamburg
By Gerhard Witte
The latest "state-of-the-art" cinema of Europe was opened on the 14th March
1957, a few minutes away from the Hamburger central railway
station at Steindamm 54. |
 The Shoes Of The
Fisherman
By Gerhard Witte
A
70mm Gala Matinee of the MGM film "The
Shoes of the Fisherman" took place in the Astor Film Lounge
in Berlin October 25, 2009 on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of actor Oskar Werner's
passing |
 The Grindel Filmtheater
By Gerhard Witte
The Grindel Filmtheater in Hamburg, Germany opened the 25.11.1959 with the film “Im Zeichen Roms" in Eastmancolor and Dyaliscope with Anita Ekberg. |
• Go to
"Flying Clipper" – eine Traumreise auf der
Riesenleinwand |
 Margaret Honda's 70mm
Kurzfilm "Spectrum Reverse Spectrum"
Von Gerhard Witte
"Spectrum Reverse Spectrum" ist ohne Kamera
entstanden, indem 70mm-Filmmaterial mit genau kalibriertem Farblicht auf
einer optischen Bank belichtet wurde. Das brillante, riesige Bild erzeugt
eine intensive Wahrnehmungserfahrung, die wiederum den eigenen Körper
bewusst werden lässt. |
Informationen
über den 3-Streifen-Film "Die Wunderwelt der Gebrüder Grimm"
Von Gerhard Witte
Vor allem wegen ihrer Märchensammlung sind Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm
weltweit bekannt geworden – aber sie waren auch Sprach- und Kulturforscher,
Diplomaten, Juristen, Professoren, Bibliothekare und Politiker. Sie wurden
als älteste Kinder einer calvinistischen Beamten- und Pastorenfamilie in
Hanau geboren. |
Der
Reisefilm "Flying Clipper – Traumreise unter weißen Segeln" in Deutschland
und in den USA
Von Gerhard Witte
"Flying Clipper", vielleicht eine deutsche Antwort zum
erfolgreichen Cinemiracle-Film "Windjammer", hatte seine Welt-Premiere in
Münchens "Royal-Palast" am Goetheplatz am Mittwoch, den 19. Dezember 1962.
Der Reisebericht ist der erste deutsche Spielfilm, den man in dem neuen
Breitfilmverfahren mit dem Namen "MCS 70" drehte, das damals von der Firma
Modern-Cinema-Systems (MCS) Film KG entwickelt wurde. |
|
"INTERSTELLAR"
in 70mm im Berliner Zoo-Palast
Von Gerhard Witte
"Interstellar" - ein bildgewaltiges Science-Fiction-Epos mit
einer Lauflänge von 169 Minuten. Der Film ist sicherlich, wie eigentlich
bei vielen Dingen im Leben, Geschmackssache. Hier will ich mich auch nur
kurz halten. Ich hatte gewisse Schwierigkeiten, dem teils
metaphysischen, "außerirdischen" Inhalt, vor allem im zweiten Teil des
Films, zu folgen – vielleicht fehlt es mir da auch an der nötigen
Vorstellungskraft. |
 CIRCARAMA
im Verkehrshaus der
Schweiz in Luzern
Von Gerhard Witte
Zum 50-jährigen Jubiläum der EXPO 64 ist CIRCARAMA mit dem gleichen, nun
restaurierten Film ab dem 1. August im Verkehrshaus der Schweiz in Luzern in
einer Sonderausstellung erstmals wieder erlebbar und soll dort noch bis zum
31. Dezember 2014 vorgeführt werden. Für die Wiederaufführung digitalisierte
man die neun 35mm-Filme für die 360-Grad-Projektion. Die einzelnen Segmente
und der Ton wurden synchronisiert. Alterungsbedingte Farbveränderungen
wurden behoben. |
 Zur
Erinnerung an William Wylers monumentales Epos "BEN-HUR", gefilmt in MGMs
Camera 65
Von Gerhard Witte
Als Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer das "Ben-Hur"-Projekt annahm, befand sich das Studio
in einer schwierigen finanziellen Lage. In der erfolgreichen Phase der
religiösen Breitfilm-Epen in den 1950er Jahren setzte MGM mit diesem Film
alles auf eine Karte - er bedeutete entweder die Rettung oder den Untergang
des Studios. Da das Produzieren von Filmen in Hollywood immer
kostenaufwändiger wurde, erkannte MGM, dass man eine Menge Geld einsparen
könnte, wenn man die Dreharbeiten des gesamten Films nach Italien verlegen
würde.
• Go to PDF:
Zur Erinnerung an
William Wylers
monumentales Epos
"BEN-HUR" |
Hamburgs
Kinojuwel, das Savoy, ist wiedereröffnet worden
Von Gerhard Witte
Das erste extra für Todd-AO erbaute Kino war das Hamburger Savoy-Filmtheater,
das am 14. März 1957 festlich eingeweiht wurde. Fast 60 Jahre später
existiert das Kino immer noch, trotz mehrerer Schließungen und der Gefahr
des Abrisses - und heute schöner als je zuvor. Dank des Kinounternehmers
Hans-Joachim Flebbe wurde das Savoy-Filmtheater als Premium-Filmtheater am
19. Juni 2013 wiedereröffnet. |
Howard
Terpning und Joseph L. Mankiewicz's “CLEOPATRA“
Von Gerhard Witte
Einen Blick auf die verschiedenen Plakate zum
Film "Cleopatra" (UK, USA, Switzerland, 1963) und die Kontroversen die mit
Herstellung der berühmten Plakatkunst verbunden waren. Howard Terpning ist
ein Kunstmaler und Zeichner unserer Zeit. Er ist der bekannteste und meist
geehrte Maler für Bilder der Western-Kunst. |
Cinemiracle/Cinerama
in Deutschland
Von Gerhard Witte
Kinos für 3-Streifen
Filme wurden in
Europa erst spät
breitflächig
eingerichtet,
nämlich Ende der
50er, Anfang der
60er Jahre. Zu
dieser Zeit hatten
sich andere
Breitfilmverfahren
wie CinemaScope und
vielleicht auch
Todd-AO im Großen
und Ganzen bereits
durchgesetzt.
•
Das Grindel Filmtheater |
"Windjammer"
in Hamburg |
Der „Delphi Filmpalast am Zoo“
Von Gerhard Witte
Nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg ein Neuanfang. Die Berliner fieberten 1949
der Eröffnung eines neuen Großkinos entgegen. |
"Windjammer"
in Hamburg
Von
Gerhard Witte
Den Film “Windjammer" habe ich erstmals als kleiner Junge anfangs der
60er Jahre in Düsseldorf gesehen. Das war ein unvergessliches Erlebnis
für mich und weckte in mir mein starkes Interesse für Breitwand-Kino und
Filmmusik. |
3D
Mitte der 60er Jahre in Europa mit: “Hi-Fi Stereo 70“
Von Gerhard Witte
Der Film "Operation Taifun" war damals in Europa zugleich auch der Beginn für ein neues 3D
Filmaufnahme- und Wiedergabeverfahren mit dem Namen: "Hi-Fi Stereo 70". |
3D
IMAX 70mm heute
Von Gerhard Witte
In dem IMAX-Kino wurde der
Film "Avatar - Aufbruch nach Pandora" in einer deutschen
Version in klassischer 3D mit 2 x 15/70mm
Doppelprojektion im Polarisationsverfahren vorgeführt. |
 Das
"Savoy" in Hamburg
Von Gerhard Witte
Wenige Minuten vom Hamburger Hauptbahnhof entfernt, am
Steindamm 54, wurde am 14.03.1957 das "modernste Kino Europas" eröffnet. |
 In
den Schuhen des Fischers
Von Gerhard Witte
Am 25. Okt. 2009 fand in der Astor Film Lounge Berlin eine
70mm-Gala-Matinee des MGM-Films "In den Schuhen des Fischers" anlässlich des 25. Todestages des
Schauspielergenius OSKAR WERNER statt. |
Das Grindel Filmtheater
Von Gerhard Witte
"Das Grindel" nannten die Hamburger einst liebevoll das Grindel Filmtheater, das am 25.11.1959 seine Pforten öffnete. Der Eröffnungsfilm war damals der Film "Im Zeichen Roms" in Eastmancolor und Dyaliscope mit Anita Ekberg. |
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