Seattle Cinerama

The Cinerama in downtown Seattle is one of just three cinemas in the world still capable of showing three-panel Cinerama films on a curved screen. Though the theatre has been extensively renovated throughout the years, it still contains the original three projection booths. The photos below (of the central booth) show, in order, the Cinerama projector, the digital projector (which the theatre uses for most of its regular shows) and the 35mm/70mm projector. One picture shows the Cinerama screen, backstage. To project Cinerama films, the theatre must destroy its regular screen (and purchase and install a new one) and spend more than a day installing the Cinerama screen, which consists of thousands of individual vertical strips.

The theatre opened in 1963. The other two remaining Cinerama screens are the Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles and the Pictureville Cinema at the National Media Museum in Bradford, England. For more information on Seattle Cinerama, visit their site.

(All photos are copyright MeierMovies, LLC, and may not be used without written permission and copyright credit.)