Some of the stories from actors about filming in Cinemascope are quite funny. Suddenly blocking became this huge deal: you had to cover all this space. You had to stalk across the abyss, and make it interesting, the same as if you were onstage. (Lauren Bacall has spoken about it in filming How to Marry a Millionaire.) Then there are other funny comments mainly from directors and film historians, like: the thin horizontal shape was not meant for art … with one notable exception.
Cinemascope had its day in the sun and The British Film Institute has a really great essay up right now: 10 Great Films Shot in Cinemascope.
Meant for dramas on an epic scale, of course. The horizontal shape is perfect for scope, for vast crowd scenes, for overwhelming the viewer with the large-ness of the image.
But there were directors who realized other interesting visual possibilities in the form. Like this:
Cover all that horizontal space … in roller skates! A sequence made for Cinemascope!
You should either be able to do that, OR sing. Not both. Or at least be ugly. Unfair, Gene, seriously.
I know. So true, so unfair.
Thanks Sheila, much to love in that great link including Beneath the 12 Mile Reef taking prize for lamest title I’ve ever heard and that Ride Lonesome still, which I find very exciting.
// Beneath the 12 Mile Reef taking prize for lamest title I’ve ever heard //
hahahahahaha
Oh man I needed that laugh this morning. So true!!