Do you remember Cinerama?

I remember as a small kid in the mid 1960's, being taken to see Cinerama. It was somewhere at the back of The Moor, in a large big top circus style tent.

The films shown, were short travelogue type films. I remember there was one of a ride on a big dipper, very realistic, edge of the seat stuff. The screen stretched all the way round in front of you and to the sides but what year was it and where?.

It was in 1965 I think, somehwere up around Barkers' Pool. The main feature was "The Seven Wonders of the World". We were told that one day all cinema would be like this. AAaah, if only....

It was called "This is Cinerama", I saw it at the Bradford Photographic Museum. There is a cinema dedicated to it there. As you say it was excellent.

Go here (http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/wingcr1.htm) for more information.

It was on Devonshire Green.

Yes, remember this well, it was on Devonshire Green, the roller coast ride sticks in my mind, quite sick making. I think it was about 1965.

Yes, remember this well, it was on Devonshire Green, the roller coast ride sticks in my mind, quite sick making. I think it was about 1965.

did devonshire green exist in '65?

(I was only one yr old, so i am not sure)

I just don't remember DG existing much before the clearance of the Broomhall flats in the early/mid 80's.

I remember the little wooden scale-model of the layout of the Broomhall flats, which stood just below where the new west one buildg is now. They were like seating benches, and they showed which block was which, Gell, Monmouth, Egerton Cavendish (i think) and Victoria (I am open to being corrected if i am in error!). each block had three levels... Gardens, (eg Victoria gardens) row, (eg Victoria row) and "high" (High Victoria.)

There may have been more blocks than the ones I named, but, unusually for me, my memory has failed me.

The heating bills for the residents on the Broomhall flats were astronomical. They were all-electric. My OH (other half) used to live on there, and he had an electricity bill for a SUMMER (Yes, summer) quarter that was for £400 .... FOUR. Hundred. Pounds!!! in the bloomin' summer! Good-gravy! (nb:- this was in 1982, so think what a £400 'leccy bill then, would amount to these days. it's be a good thousand to Fifteen-hundred quid today, surely?)

talk about horrendous!

PT

I remember those flats and am pretty sure devonshire green was there too..the big flats just dwarfed it i think.. I remember my dad taking me to stand on the green to watch them be demolished, he told me that as a fireman he got called out to a few deaths when they were constructing them apparently the technique for putting the concrete slabs together was new back then and they couldnt do it properly apparently a few men got squashed underneath them. I forgot all about it till now..

Cinerama was the most complex of a variety of attempts to get improved widescreen cinema. It achieved a panoramic effect by filming simultaneously through three lenses. This was developed at a time when Technicolor was the only decent cine color system and at this time technicolor was done by filming simultaneously on three monochrome films through different filters. Hence the cinerama color camera was exposing 9 monochrome films simultaneously. Also specialised projection equipment and sound systems were needed in the cinemas in order to show it. You can begin to see now why it wasn't around for very long.

The most successful wide-screen system (Cinemascope) owes its success to the fact that it could use standard cameras and projectors.

I never saw Cinarama.. but i remember seeing 3D films at the Capitol...Was Cinarama first introduced at the Festival of Britain in 1951?.

Thanks for the response. I'm sure it was probably in the Devonshire Green area that I first saw Cnerama.

As far as I know and I hope someone will correct me if I'm wrong but resulting from the bombing of Sheffield during the war, a large area (bomb site) was left where Devonshire Green now stands. (See photo below). I think this area was left clear until the creation of Devonshire Green in the 1970's.

Broomhall Flats, which where on the opposite side of Fitzwilliam Street to Devonshire Green, where created after the slum clearances of the 1960's. The flats, if my memory is correct, covered the land from Fitzwilliam Street over to Hanover Way.

I remember the wooden blocks representing the layout of the flats and do you remember the carved wooden bollards, like mini totem poles that lined Broomhall Street?. The flats I think where demolished in 1988, good riddance, I never did like them.


http://www.picturesheffield.com/cgi-bin/hpac.pl?_cgifunction=form&_layout=picturesheffield&keyval=sheff.id=6822

I knew I'd find a photo somewhere.

This shows the Domino pub which was situated at the bottom end of the Broomhall flats. The flats did'nt look any better in colour!. Also you dont get a true impression of the sheer size of the flats complex.


http://www.swineherd.free-online.co.uk/lostpubs/setfour/dominoa.jpg

Originally posted by Plain Talker
did devonshire green exist in '65?

(I was only one yr old, so i am not sure)

T
I'd no idea that you were such a young girl..your photo shows that are quite attractive...is your other half a jealous type?.

Originally posted by pietro
I knew I'd find a photo somewhere.

This shows the Domino pub which was situated at the bottom end of the Broomhall flats. The flats did'nt look any better in colour!. Also you dont get a true impression of the sheer size of the flats complex.


http://www.swineherd.free-online.co.uk/lostpubs/setfour/dominoa.jpg

wow, thanks for that photo, pietro!
I had forgotten quite how shabby the flats looked. (notice the prefabricated concrete slabs on the sides of the building.... ? They are crumbling good-style!)

The design of the flats was dreadful, particularly with regard to the appropraiteness of the materials used.

I remember hearing that the huge slabs of concrete were not held together well; there had not been enough bolts used (the construction company allegedly "skimped" somewhat, using perhaps four bolts, where ten or more may have been required to fix them together safely, -the construction as well as the corner-cutting,was similar to the Ronan Point flats, in London, which blew up, and collapsed, in the 1960's as a result of a gas leak... the broomhall was constructed around that time, and i believe that explosion was one of the deciding factors to make those flats all-electric)

Looking closely at the photo, the flats, without exception, are all unoccupied, which suggests that the date of the photo is very close to the demolition of the flats.

the domino pub is now a large student accommodation complex of flats, called "Domino House"

PT

Originally posted by Timbuck
I'd no idea that you were such a young girl..your photo shows that are quite attractive...is your other half a jealous type?.

thank you for the compliments, timbuck. I will accept them, graciously.

I am not too sure about the "young" ephithet... *comparatively* young to be the grandmother of three-and-a-half tots, certainly, but definitely a proud wheelie-nanna, nonetheless

I do like that particular photo of me, because I think that, yes, look good in it.

my other half is not *that* jealous. He trusts me, and that trust is justified... but he does expect, erm.... a certain level of conduct, shall we say.... (and I expect, and receive, the same from him in return.)

PT

If I remember correctly, the main problem was that the concrete that they were constructed with had High Alumina Cement (HAC) which meant it had the unfortunate habit that you mentioned of disintegrating.

They were quite nasty though. I remember them being demolished.

That's a very interesting picture of Devonshire Green. I didn't realise that the area was cleared that long ago.

I remember going to one of the first purpose built cinerama cinemas in Barcelona in 1959.

It was built on from an idea of Mike Todd who produced the 'Toddao' films that were shown.

He experimented with 'Smellerama' films which gave off different odours during the showing in the appropriate scenes.

Happy Days

Cinerama was the most complex of a variety of attempts to get improved widescreen cinema. It achieved a panoramic effect by filming simultaneously through three lenses. This was developed at a time when Technicolor was the only decent cine color system and at this time technicolor was done by filming simultaneously on three monochrome films through different filters. Hence the cinerama color camera was exposing 9 monochrome films simultaneously. Also specialised projection equipment and sound systems were needed in the cinemas in order to show it. You can begin to see now why it wasn't around for very long.

The most successful wide-screen system (Cinemascope) owes its success to the fact that it could use standard cameras and projectors.


I saw 'This is Cinerama', and yes it was on Devonshire Green. It was Gerry Cottle's Big Top which they used. A great experience, only marred by the two very obvious joinings on screen, as three projectors were used. If one frame was damaged in one reel, it and the same frame in the other two reels had to be cut out. When I got up after the show finished, I fell down again. We were so near the front, all I could see was the screen. It made me dizzy. Happy Days.