All right, all you sunburned Blue Angels fans… I don’t need to tell you twice that adding “rama” to the end of any word makes it better — no matter what.
So if they had been called the “Blue Angels-O-Rama” then I’d probably be sunburned right now too.
Anyway, check out the vintage Cinerama photos.
I had the pleasure of attending a screening of David Lynch’s
Inland Empire a few years ago at Cinerama and hearing the man himself speak. Not his best work but taking it in there was a treat. Click for higher res.
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| Martin CINERAMA. 4th Ave. at Lenora. Dial MU 2-6990. Seattle, Washington. |
Love how tiny the concession stand is!
I cannot recall what film it was I saw there, but they did this short clip prior that started out this is a normal sized screen with some action sequence… the curtains would open up to the width of a standard film movie screen… then the announcer would intone, and THIS is CineRAMA…. and the curtain to either side would then start to draw apart as the image begin to fill the 3 screen experience…
Imax does something similar today and many of its shows at the Science Center… but the curtain pulling open trick was amazing… you kept wondering when they would stop pulling apart… it was very dramatic… yet campy…
I miss the original large screen, now hidden behind the current smaller (but not too shabby) screen.
I am jealous .. I wish I had known about the Lynch talk and screening.
I saw Star Wars here back in ’77.
Louis, Star Wars opened and played at the UA 70/150 on 4th Ave, not the Cinerama. I was there opening day, not expecting much and was suitably impressed. And it was presented in glorious mono sound the first week. GAM, the original large screen was a number of strips running vertically in a curve, but yes it was a great way to see a movie. Whether it was Lawrence of Arabia, 2001, or The Black Hole, presentation makes a big difference. Paul Allen is owed a big thanks from the region for saving the place from the wreckers ball and restoring the place to something like and in some cases even better than the original glory of the place.
In the 80′s my friend and I went to see the third Indiana Jones movie at the Cinerama. It was within the first few days of the opening, so we got there early to get a good place in line. There was one guy in line when we got there, and by the time they let us in the line wrapped around the block. When we got inside, we didn’t know where to sit (now I know exactly where to sit — about 5-7 rows back from the center aisle — far enough back to now have your view blocked by folks in the wheelchair seats). We didn’t want anyone to sit in front of us and waste all that time standing in line, so we ended up sitting in the front row — probably the worst seats in the house!
Nickbob, was the Cinerama across the street from the UA?
why indeed..
UA was two blocks away at 6th and Blanchard
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=seattle&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=61.840212,106.962891&ie=UTF8&ll=47.615385,-122.340837&spn=0.003273,0.006528&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=47.615938,-122.340941&panoid=tdkpY0WTKswWK-IKfMjoFQ&cbp=12,173.46,,0,5
So everyone knows that it would seriously hurt if you did get shot right there but your not exactly going to have a serious chance of getting killed so it’s much more sensible to have a bullet proof vest rather than pants, plus you may have to put something pretty heavy there so it might way you down a bit