Fox 1950s CinemaScope shorts (1 Viewer)

[john a hunter]

That sounds about right Wes.
I would expect the stereo titles to diminish from the mid 50's onwards-firstly mag/opt and then to only optical.
Would love to see of these again.

 

[avroman]

I guess my memory is slipping a little with age. I had recalled that all of the Scope shorts had Mag. sound , but of course, Wesaussie is correct, the later ones were single track Opt.
I remember there were also two UK produced CinemaScope shorts in the early 50's. One titled "Lilt of the Kilt"and an Irish one I am not sure of the title of, I may have been "The Emerald Isle".
As an aside, a bit of trivia. For the installation of CinemaScope in my Theatre, the Penthouse magnetic Sound Heads for the projectors were custom built in Brisbane, Australia, by my late friend, Motion Picture Engineer, Ron Jones, who was later, the inventor and developer of the "Rolling Loop" movement for Cameras and Projectors, which enabled the development of IMAX.
The Rolling Loop was the only way to efficiently move the amount of film that IMAX required.
Ron Jones initially created the concept to supply High Speed slow motion cameras to NASA.

 

[moviepas]

Ron Jones

We Australians are an inventive lot!!!!! We even invented Vegemite, Kiwi Shoe Polish, the Stump Jump Plough and even refrigeration to ship our beef etc to Europe in general. And we have had collectors of film who had missing prints and soundtracks necessary to complete some restorations in USA.

 

[B-ROLL]

Ron Jones

We Australians are an inventive lot!!!!! We even invented Vegemite, Kiwi Shoe Polish, the Stump Jump Plough and even refrigeration to ship our beef etc to Europe in general. And we have had collectors of film who had missing prints and soundtracks necessary to complete some restorations in USA.

You also invented the bubbles in beer !

 

[Mysto]

Ron Jones

We Australians are an inventive lot!!!!! We even invented Vegemite, Kiwi Shoe Polish, the Stump Jump Plough and even refrigeration to ship our beef etc to Europe in general. And we have had collectors of film who had missing prints and soundtracks necessary to complete some restorations in USA.

I'll give you the rest - but I wouldn't be braggin' on the Vegemite. Besides,I thought Vegemite was the black stuff that formed around the top of Catsup bottles.

You forgot to mention some good tv shows.

 

[Doug Bull]

The Fox "Movietone" 35mm Cinemascope shorts in my collection are all Optical and have now turned a gorgeous shade of DeLuxe pink.
The shorts themselves have dated but are still of great historic and nostalgic value.
Yes a Blu-ray collection would be fabulous, but unfortunately the discs would not be commercially viable.
The odd short would be great if included as an extra with any Fox movie of the period.

 

[cinerama10]

20th Century Fox made quite a few shorts in the mid-1950s designed to show off CinemaScope and 4 track stereophonic sound. Several were classical music performances. They include:

Vesuvius Express (1953) The first travelogue released by Twentieth Century-Fox in CinemaScope, produced and directed by Otto Lang, is a photographic record of a journey from Milan to Naples, through Florence and Rome, on a streamlined passenger train. En route, the film takes time out in the cities mentioned to take a look at the landmarks—past and present—with the climax on the edge of Vesuvius’ smoldering crater (IMBD). Dir. Otto Lang 16 min

According to the InStereo website, the following were all released in 1954

Calypso Cruise. Reviewed by Kine Weekly Dec 23, 1954: “The islands of the Caribbean are visited in this Movietone CinemaScope in De Luxe colour which accompanies a holiday cruise liner to the major centres of interest. The vivid natural colouring of the West Indies is vividly caught in this pleasant and interesting short. Good.” 8 min.

Coronation Parade

Dancers of the Deep

El Toro

Fabulous Las Vegas. Reviewed by Kine Weekly Dec 23, 1954: “A very comprehensive survey of California’s fashionable gambling town is conveyed in this CinemaScope in De Luxe colour. Visits are paid not only to the swank hotels, restaurants and gambling resorts but also to the great Hoover Dam, and a series of angle shots provides a vivid impression of this gigantic feat. Very good” 17 min.

Finale from Symphony No. 4 Tchaikovsky

Haydn’s Farewell Symphony

The Empire Games

Jet Carrier. Reviewed by Kine Weekly Dec 23, 1954: “An outstanding CinemaScope two-reeler photographed in De Luxe colour and showing the famous United States aircraft carrier Yorktown at exercise, Excellent.” 18 min.

Land of Legend

Movie Stunt Pilot

Piano Encores. Reviewed by Kine Weekly Dec. 23, 1954: “A CinemaScope short in De Luxe colour which provides an admirable integration of sound recording and photography. Four pianists playing concert grand pianos play excerpts from the classics which have been specially arranged for this treatment. Imaginative photography enhances the excellence of the renditions. Very good.” 10 min.

Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor

Pride of the Nation

The First Piano Quartet

The New Venezuela

The Roger Wagner Chorale

Tournament of Roses


It would be fascinating to see these shorts either as a complete Blu-ray collection or as extras to a Fox feature. Do they still exist I wonder? Does anyone have any information about them? I assume none have been released on video?

I saw VESUVIUS EXPRESS numerous times where I worked. It was a much loved favourite cinemascope short of mine..No doubt, I would have seem many of Fox's cinemascope shorts as we screened all Fox films. I also had the pleasure of meeting the Director, Otto Lang and saw SEARCH FOR PARADISE in Cinerama with him.

 

[Douglas R]

The Fox "Movietone" 35mm Cinemascope shorts in my collection are all Optical and have now turned a gorgeous shade of DeLuxe pink.
The shorts themselves have dated but are still of great historic and nostalgic value.
Yes a Blu-ray collection would be fabulous, but unfortunately the discs would not be commercially viable.
The odd short would be great if included as an extra with any Fox movie of the period.

Maybe not commercially viable as a Blu-ray set but surely viable at least as a DVD collection. After all, Warner Archive released three DVD volumes of James A Fitzpatrick Traveltalks comprising 9 discs in all. It's a fabulous collection.

 

[Martin Dew]

Here are some screenshots of Winter Jamboree on Super 8mm film using the Eumig S938 stereo projector and Kowa 8Z anamorphic lens. The Cinemascope aspect ratio on Super 8 film is 2.66:1, incidentally. I'll post some of Honeymoon in Paradise too.

 

[Douglas R]

Here are some screenshots of Winter Jamboree on Super 8mm film using the Eumig S938 stereo projector and Kowa 8Z anamorphic lens. The Cinemascope aspect ratio on Super 8 film is 2.66:1, incidentally. I'll post some of Honeymoon in Paradise too.

Excellent! More please. Reminds me of when I had an 8mm camera and projector and a Fujica CinemaScope lens (It had the word CinemaScope written on the lens).

 

[Martin Dew]

Honeymoon Paradise Super 8 box. I'll get some screenshots soon...

 

[Martin Dew]

Finally, some screenshots of Honeymoon Paradise on Super 8 (on a wall in a spare bedroom). One of the reasons I still love Super 8 and 16mm film is that you get an extraordinary perception of lifelike detail simply because the blacks really are black - I mean inky HDR-on-steroids black. It's a totally different experience to my digital UHD Projector/Dolby Atmos set up and my audience always loves a real film pre-show of ads, trailers or shorts before I show a BD on movie night.

 

[cinerama10]

Seeing these cinemascope shorts released onto dvd /bluray may not be possible.It would depend on who owned the copyright ,especially the music. It may be a huge expense to get the copyright problem resolved.

 

[Eaglenest61]

Douglas R., you mentioned a title I am interested in finding. My father was in it. It's called Jet Carrier, by Otto Lane 1954. Any Idea how I could locate it?

 

[Jim*Tod]

And wasn't there at least one short shot in Cinemascope 55? Seems like I have read somewhere there was one though of course like the two features shot in the process, it was exhibited exclusively in 35mm.

 

[Douglas R]

Douglas R., you mentioned a title I am interested in finding. My father was in it. It's called Jet Carrier, by Otto Lane 1954. Any Idea how I could locate it?

I quoted that review of "Jet Carrier" in my opening post but I have no idea about availability. The full title as given in Bob Furmanek's post #8 is "A Day Aboard an Aircraft Carrier".

 

[john a hunter]

And wasn't there at least one short shot in Cinemascope 55? Seems like I have read somewhere there was one though of course like the two features shot in the process, it was exhibited exclusively in 35mm.

I don't think so.
I have never seen reference to one anywhere.
CS55 was supposed to have been used on a Zanuck project "De Luxe Tour" which has never seen the light of day. '

 

[Jim*Tod]

Yes... that is the title I was thinking of. CS55 is pretty rare, only two features in the process. From what I have read the process was hugely problematic. But then I am fascinated with that period in the 50's when scopes, vistas, and ramas were all the rage.

 

[edtotten]

I was IN the Roger Wagner Chorale short. Of course I was only 11 or 12 at the time. I would love to have a copy of that short.

 

[Vern Dias]

And wasn't there at least one short shot in Cinemascope 55? Seems like I have read somewhere there was one though of course like the two features shot in the process, it was exhibited exclusively in 35mm.

You're thinking of the promotional two reeler that was produced to introduce CinemaScope 55 to staff at theatres prior to the exhibition of "Carousel".

I saw it (at age 13) only because my Dad who was a theatre manager at the Waipahu theatre in Hawaii took me with him when they brought in all the staff one morning for a private screening.
It was 2.55:1 4 track mag and had excerpts from "Carousel" and "The King and I" plus descriptions of the CinemaScope 55 process.
It was on two 2000' reels so I am guessing it ran between 30 and 40 minutes. AFAIK it was never released to the public.