Tent on devonshire green in the 60s

[Cookingfat]

can anyone remember in the 60s i think what was like a huge circus tent and i think it was called cinerama never went but understand that the film went all round the construction

[jgcomp]

Here is a link to an old forum discussion on this ... http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/archive/index.php/t-10971.html

[soft ayperth]

Yes, I went. Mid 60s. Might have been Spartacus that was shown. It was definitely one of those epics.

[slick rick73]

I'm amazed devonshire green has been there that long.

 

I though it was a new thing!

[hillsbro]

I'm amazed devonshire green has been there that long. I though it was a new thing!

Devonshire Green itself is fairly new but the area used to be known as "Devonshire Street bombed site", as the buildings had been destroyed in the 1940 Blitz. Here is a link to a photo on the picturesheffield.com site showing how the area looked after the Luftwaffe had paid it a visit.

 

After the war the empty space was used as a convenient city-centre location for circuses etc. I also remember, in c. 1957, going to see "Jonah" the preserved whale there (do any other Forummers remember this? Here is a link to a BBC web page about Jonah). And in 1965 the site was used for "Itinerama", the travelling Cinerama. Another picture.sheffield.com photo shows the Cinerama marquee being erected, and here is an aerial view of the area showing the tent, also the Itinerama staff accommodation trailers, temporary buildings for ticket sales etc.

 

In March 1965 as a 17 year-old I was still at school and couldn't have afforded to go, but I sold part of my stamp collection (to "Titch" Taylor in form 5G...) to raise the money to take my girlfriend Susan to see the film

on a 100-foot wide curved screen. I think they also showed How The West Was Won and "Cinerama Holiday". I still have my ticket..

[Runningman]

I do remember walking from the Midland station to Devonshire Green with the circus, that is the various large vehicles containing the animals and I am sure the elephants walked in the procession also. That would have probably been around 1956.

[soft ayperth]

In the 60s, the university Rag Parade used to terminate on the old Devonshire bomb site.

[vanner]

I started work at Viners on Broomhall St in early Sept. 1961 and I can remember that a funfair used to turn up during the end of October beginning of November. I`m sure it stayed around until Nearly Christmas.

[echo beach]

can anyone remember in the 60s i think what was like a huge circus tent and i think it was called cinerama never went but understand that the film went all round the construction

 

I remember going to Bertram Mills' circus there in the early '50s.

The first time I saw 360 degree cinema projection was in 1964 at the Expo exhibition in Lausanne on Lake Geneva in Switzerland. You stood in the centre of the cinema and the film was projected all around you. The effect was amazing. The film shown was about America and I particularly recall one scene on a roller coaster which put "your heart in your mouth" as they say. Sounds from Hillsbro's description as though Cinerama in Sheffield was a little bit different.

[Banker]

I also remember the 1965 visit of Cinerama to Sheffield. One short film that was shown had been made in a roller-coaster and it was very impressive; just as if you were riding on it. The Cinerama effect is achieved by using three projectors and, as hillsboro wrote, a wide curved screen. Here is a diagram showing how it is done: http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=cinerama&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1280&bih=909&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=87rnEyeAxnL0WM:&imgrefurl=http://multiculturalfilm.wordpress.com/2011/03/29/hollywood-in-the-age-of-television/&docid=9gFGi6Z-SeVeEM&imgurl=http://livvy1122.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/indexcineramasystem.jpg&w=1256&h=1234&ei=x4rBTqC-NcPD8QPUtZmaBA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=545&vpy=140&dur=483&hovh=128&hovw=130&tx=111&ty=116&sig=104372485878681000342&page=1&tbnh=128&tbnw=130&start=0&ndsp=30&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0. I do recall that, between the central part of the picture and the two sides, there were two very slightly-blurred vertical lines where the images joined, but it was hardly noticeable.