There were 312 Cinerama theatres - (see this page on my web site - http://cineramahistory.com/ctcineramatheatres.htm ). But they were not open at the same time. Probably about 230 Cinerama theatres were open in 1967.

Edited by: Cineramahistory on Jan 30, 2010 3:58 PM

Well, I guess you are right. I was sure I had read that they used a two camera system for a short time, but not so. 2001 was presented in Cinerama, but using the Super Panavision 70 single strip process.

I also found that the Cinerama Dome did indeed show Cinerama from its opening (in 1964?,) but used the single strip version, until 2002. That explains how I saw 2001 there in Cinerama in 1969.

I think the Detroit showing was two projectors, which was a later form of Cinerama. I don't really remember much about the LA showing I saw, but I believe the screen was as big as any I had seen, and we used to have a huge one in Detroit, but it has gone through mitosis...

I saw 2001 in Cinerama, in Detroit, when it was first released. I live in Ann Arbor, some 45 miles from the theater. I was with some friends, when we noticed there was a show starting in 30 minutes. I told them I could get us there in time, if they wanted to place their lives in my hands... They did, and we were there in 25 minutes. Of course I was young and stupid. I wouldn't do that today. At least we waited to get high until we got there... the film was sensational!

I saw 2001 in Cinerama again, from the front row of a Cinerama theater, a very big one, in Hollywood, in the summer of 1969.

I think the first Cinerama film I saw was This Is Cinerama, in Oklahoma City, probably in '55 or '56. I still remember a scene of landing fighter jets on the deck of a carrier at night. I know I saw The Seven Wonders of the World, probably not long after it came out. I was six or seven.

I sort of remember Ben Hur as being in Cinerama, probably because I saw it in the same theater, and it was very wide. But, I guess it wasn't Cinerama. I may have seen How The West Was Won, but being a boy growing up in Oklahoma, I saw SO MANY westerns, they just sort of blend together...

Addendum:
Now that I think about it, it may have been a dome-shaped - on the outside, theater where I saw 2001 in LA, in 1969.

Edited by: ValentineXavier on Jan 17, 2010 4:02 AM

"2001" was amazing in Cinerama. The scene where the spaceship docks with the space station to the tune of "The Blue Danube" had the whole theater gettiing dizzy. Holly's right, though; it wasn't true Cinerama. But it sure lent itself to that big wrap-around screen.

In was shown in Cinerama screens during its initial engagements, from what I've read, but it isn't a movie that was filmed in the true 3-panel Cinerama process, like How the West Was Won or Brothers Grimm.

Hi Joe, welcome to the forums!

You're so lucky to have attended those movies in their original Cinerama engagement. I just watched Khartoum on DVD the other day, and I could just imagine what it'd be like watching it on a really large screen.

Thanks for sharing,
Holly