This Is Cinerama (1952) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

The film takes place across global locations, beginning at Rockaways' Playland in New York before moving to iconic venues like La Scala in Milan, the canals of Venice, Niagara Falls, Edinburgh's military tattoo, Cypress Gardens in Florida, and the American West.

• locations
• settings
• global
• travel
• venues

The documentary showcases Rockaways' Playland, La Scala opera house in Milan, Venice's canals, Niagara Falls, Edinburgh Scotland, Cypress Gardens in Florida, and concludes with aerial views of the American West.

• locations
• landmarks
• travel
• scenery
• world tour

This Is Cinerama is set in the mid-20th century, specifically the early 1950s, which aligns with the era when the Cinerama widescreen technology was introduced as a groundbreaking innovation in cinema.

• time period
• era
• 1950s
• mid-20th century
• historical context

The film represents the mid-20th-century era of cinema, capturing the period when audiences experienced the transition from black-and-white mono sound to full-color widescreen spectacle, reflecting the era's experimental push for visual immersion.

• 1950s
• mid-century
• cinema history
• technological era

The Technology & Innovation theme showcases Cinerama as a central subject, demonstrating the transition from monochrome to color and mono to stereo sound. The film uses multi-panel projection and dedicated sound demonstrations to illustrate how technological advances redefined storytelling and audience experience.

• cinema technology
• Cinerama
• widescreen
• innovation
• sound
• color film

The Global Travel theme presents the film as a curated world tour, stitching disparate cultures and landscapes, rockaway roller coaster, La Scala, Venice, Niagara Falls, Edinburgh, Cypress Gardens, into a cohesive rhythm. It demonstrates cinema's power to transport audiences beyond their seats.

• travel
• world tour
• cultures
• countries
• global journey

The Music & Performance theme integrates live music throughout, featuring church choirs, the Vienna Boys' Choir, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and operatic excerpts from Aïda. These performances bind diverse locales through a common cultural language, emphasizing spectacle and emotion.

• music
• choir
• opera
• performance
• Aida
• Vienna Boys Choir

Lowell Thomas serves as the host and narrator, guiding viewers through the global montage of places and performances. He frames the progression from early motion pictures to widescreen color as a coherent journey, tying together technology, travel, and culture.

• Lowell Thomas
• narrator
• host
• voiceover
• guide

Cinerama is a widescreen film format that uses multiple synchronized projectors to create an immersive, wraparound picture. This Is Cinerama was designed to demonstrate this new process, featuring a full Cinerama aspect ratio and multi-panel projection that immerses viewers in spectacular visual content.

• Cinerama
• widescreen
• projection
• format
• technology
• immersive

The film concludes with spectacular low-altitude aerial footage shot from the nose of a B-25 Mitchell bomber, soaring over the American West. These sweeping visuals crown the montage with a sense of awe at natural grandeur, set to 'America the Beautiful.'

• B-25 bomber
• aerial
• American West
• finale
• America the Beautiful

The Nature & Spectacle theme presents grand landscapes of the American West with aerial grandeur, combining natural wonders with engineered spectacle. It showcases cinema's power to elevate both earthbound marvels and man-made wonders, reinforcing that the world is a canvas for moving pictures.

• nature
• landscape
• American West
• aerial
• panorama
• spectacle

This Is Cinerama is visually unique for its use of the Cinerama widescreen format, which expands the image into a full wraparound experience. The film opens with a slow black-and-white lecture before exploding into fast-paced spectacular vignettes, including a thrilling roller-coaster POV sequence and immersive travel sequences.

• widescreen
• Cinerama format
• visual spectacle
• roller coaster
• immersive