Photo Info

Uploaded on: March 4, 2026

Size: 243.6 KB

Views: 31

License:

Compiled by: Michael Coate - Date: 11.05.2025

Louis de Rochemont’s “Windjammer” was the first and only feature-length travelogue produced in the large, deeply-curved-screen Cinemiracle format. The film, about the voyage of the Christian Radich, world premiered April 8th, 1958, at the Chinese Theater in Los Angeles.

“Windjammer” was presented exclusively in Cinemiracle- and Cinerama-branded cinemas. The print type was 26fps 6-perf 35mm x 3 plus 35mm magnetic fullcoat interlocked 7-channel audio.

The presentations cited in this work were “hard ticket” roadshow engagements (i.e. special, long-running, showcase presentations in major cities prior to the film being exhibited as a general release).

Much like a stage production, these typically featured advanced admission pricing, reserved seating, an overture/intermission/entr’acte/exit music, and an average of only ten scheduled screenings per week. Souvenir program booklet were sold, as well, and, in some locales, the film’s soundtrack album.

Out of the hundreds of first-run films released in North America during 1958, “Windjammer” was among only eight given deluxe roadshow treatment and one of only two in a large-aperture 3-panel format (“South Seas Adventure” in Cinerama was the other large-aperture 3-panel release).

Contributed by Greg Lynch -