How the West Was Won (1962, Henry Hathaway with John Ford and George Marshall)
A Retrospective Review by David M. Arnold
Before there was IMAX there was Cinerama. Cinerama was a large-format presentation technology that featured a screen that was about half as high as an IMAX screen, but about half again as wide. Three interlocked projectors were used to mate images from three strips of film onto the huge, curved screen. By using a larger camera negative (.996" x 1.116") x 3, the Cinerama effective aperature was 2.998 x 1.116, more than 5 times larger than for standard film. A 7-channel sound system complemented the images, and the result was an experience very much like today's IMAX.
The business model for Cinerama was also very similar to today's IMAX: Specially constructed theatres presented specially made films. IMAX films in general are 45 minute documentaries with superb production values but with rather lame content. With the exception perhaps of "Everest", I haven't seen an IMAX film that didn't cover fields that have been much more thoroughly plowed in countless PBS "Nova" and "Nature" episodes. As IMAX films primarily feature IMAX, Cinerama films primarily featured Cinerama. IMAX and Cinerama both are to Cinema what a roller coaster is to transportation.
A total of 6 films, primarily travelogues (7 if you include "Windjammer", another travelogue made for the similar but competing Cinemiracle system) were made for Cinerama between 1952 and 1962. The best Cinerama film is probably "How the West Was Won", made as a joint venture by Cinerama and MGM. There are a maybe a couple of prints of "HTWWW" extant in Cinerama 3-strip, and maybe one theatre still capable of presenting it. A standard Panavision-compatible extraction print has been made (which loses about 10% from each of the two side frames), and this print is available on video. What distinguishes "HTWWW" from other Cinerama titles is that it attempts to use the format for narrative purposes -- the format becomes a means to an end rather than the end itself.
"How the West Was Won" portrays three generations of pioneers as they travelled west, starting in Albany, New York in the 1820's. The film covers the early Midwest, the California gold rush, wagon trains, the Civil War, the construction of the transcontinental railroad, and the eventual triumph of Law and Order. The film features a veritable who's who of 50's and 60's talent: Lee J. Cobb, Henry Fonda, Karl Malden, Gregory Peck, George Peppard, Debbie Reynolds, James Stewart, John Wayne, and Spencer Tracy among many others. Setting aside the usual 1960's movie cliches, the film does an adequate job of presenting what is basically a historical docu-drama, and it succeeds in keeping one's interest. It's far from extraordinary, however, and without the Cinerama aspect, it would be rather routine.
Viewing "How the West Was Won" on our projection home theatre equipment, gave me a hint at what the Cinerama experience must have been like. The strengths and weaknesses of the Cinerama format are quite obvious. The major strength is Cinerama's ability to photograph very wide-angle scenes (the camera was capable of a nearly 150-degree field of view) with none of the barrel distortion evident in today's widescreen presentations (this is a problem that IMAX hasn't solved either). The major weakness is that the image is obviously made of three pieces, and some rather odd linear distortions are sometimes evident at the seams. Much of this is no doubt due to the single-frame extraction print from which the video was made, and due to the fact that our screen is flat rather than curved. All in all, "How the West Was Won" is a worthy film that any film enthusiast should see in order to catch a glimpse of an important episode in the history of film technology. Just make sure you see the letterboxed version.
Anyone interested in a thorough discussion of the history of film technology in general and Cinerama in particular should visit Martin Hart's American Widescreen Museum website at: http://www.simplecom.net/widefilm.
We watched "HTWWW" on DVD from MGM. The quality of the disc was OK, given the age of the material and the number of generations removed from the original negatives, but this is one film that could have really benefitted from anamorphic (16x9) enhancement. There were a couple of authoring problems with this disc that are noteworthy: First, the grating, full-screen "Turner" logo appeared sandwiched BETWEEN the overture and the opening credits. Second, in the disc's menus, a chapter covering the Erie Canal is titled, "THE EERIE CANAL". I grew up along the old Erie canal. Eerie it was not.
Essay copyright (C) 1999 David M. Arnold. All rights reserved.
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