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lamps ran very reliably. The spools
were over 30 inches in diameter (70cm)
and held eight thousand feet of film
(2400m) or more. Because of their
weight, they fitted on to half-inch
spindles (as with 70mm spools.) Each
projector had a motorized film-lifting
device that raised the spool from floor
level up to the feed spindle.
The sound track was on a separate
35mm film, fully coated with iron
oxide, to take the six or seven track
magnetic stereophonic sound. (The
number of tracks varied from
production to production.) This was run
A simulation of the positions of the new bio-boxes. on a seven- foot tall (2.1m )oversized
tape-recorder which was located in the
About a month before the opening, Seat prices were also up market. They Plaza’s original upstairs projection
a discreet mention of Cinerama ranged from eight shillings (80c) at an room. Next to it was a pre-amplifier
appeared in the Hoyts City Theatres afternoon session in the cheapest seats rack of similar size. This projection
advertisements. ‘Cinerama Is Coming,’ to sixteen and six ($1.65) for a room also contained a conventional
it said, in the space reserved for the Saturday night in the most expensive 35mm Centrex projector with a
Plaza. There was little other publicity seats. Though there was no gala ‘Westrex 14’ lamphouse on which the
in the press. Normally, in the U.S. premiere for This Is Cinerama, there prologue films were shown. This
Cinerama stuck to a tried and true pre- was a special midnight show on New projector had its own sound system.
opening strategy, refined over the Year’s Eve. Also in this projection room were the
preceding five years. Before the Roberts Dunstan, in reviewing This theatre lighting dimmers and a bi-unal
opening date, its representatives would Is Cinerama on 27 December wrote, slide projector. Initially, screen slide
roll into town, creating relationships ‘The effect is overwhelming…I’m still advertising was against Cinerama
with civic and commercial movers and dazed…In terms of size and noise, policy, but later on slides were shown,
shakers and liaising with community Cinerama outdoes other wide screen only occupying the screen’s centre
groups. Publicity stunts would be set up processes.’ He added, however, that the panel. There was no ‘non-synch’ music.
and a big premiere involving a local film was ‘no more than a travelogue.’ The power amplifiers were provided
charity organized. This was pretty The public was not put off. They took for Cinerama by Altec-Lansing, as were
much what happened in Sydney, but for to Cinerama with enthusiasm and full the speakers. The amplifiers each had a
Melbourne the publicity was low-key, house followed full house. huge output of 75 watts RMS. (A
especially when compared with that for The projection equipment all came conventional theatre amplifier of the
The Ten Commandments, which had from the Teck theatre in Buffalo after time had an output of 30 watts. The
commenced at the nearby Barclay on storage at Cinerama’s technical Regent’s sound system, by contrast had
11 December. headquarters on Long Island New York. an output of 60 watts per channel.) It
Cineramas’s publicity people did It consisted of Century (Centrex) 35mm was the practice in some Cinerama
not stay on in Australia after the heads modified for a six sprocket-hole theatres to have the amplifiers on stage,
Sydney opening. Consequently, there picture pull-down, driven by special but in Melbourne they were distributed
were only a few modestly-sized block variable speed gearboxes regulated by around the three ground floor
advertisements for This Is Cinerama in the picture control engineer. There was projection rooms. In accordance with
the Melbourne press prior to the a separate take-up spool motor. The Cinerama’s high presentation standards,
opening date, apart from the heads had water-cooled gates. The arc- every morning, before screenings
information, from 16 December that lamps were large ‘Strong’ units, using commenced, an eight kilocycle sound
bookings were now open for a season 10mm ‘black’ carbons and 8mm test loop was run to check the
starting on 26 December. copper-coated negatives, running at efficiency of the sound system. The
Cinerama opened for business at the about 100 amps. The positive carbons three ground floor projection rooms did
matinee on Boxing Day 1958. There were fed and rotated during operation not have monitor speakers, so the
was to be a restricted performance by a water-cooled jaw mechanism close projectionists were not able to listen to
policy with only three shows a day. to the positive crater. There was the movie sound track, nor could any
This followed the pattern set by Mike adequate trim for the lamps to run for one projectionist get a view of the
Todd for Around The World In Eighty the hour or so that made up each half of whole screen.
Days, where the idea was to present the Cinerama program. The lamps had Cinerama was very fussy about the
‘performances’ of a ‘show’ rather than metal mirrors. In the nose of the cleanliness of the film. They had
sessions of a movie. All tickets were lamphouse a tilting grid could alter the pioneered the use of splicing tape for
‘on block’ for reserved seating. amount of light falling on the back of joining film, and then as now, tape
Bookings could be made weeks ahead, the projector gate, in order to even up splices collected dirt. Multiple copies
as for a stage show. There were only the brightness of each of the three of each production were held at the
three sessions a day, six days a week. screen panels. By all accounts, the theatre so that one print could be

14 2004 CINEMARECORD