All studios switched to widescreen cinematography around that same time, April and May of 1953. As Mr. Theakston pointed out in his informative lecture, every studio had their own preferred ratio, ranging from Paramount’s 1.66 to Universal’s 2.1

Widescreen and stereo movies did NOT begin with THE ROBE!

My takeaway was that studios started experimenting with large format gauges (like Fox Grandeur, a bona fide 70mm process, and I’m sure you’re familiar with multiple camera experiments like Abel Gance’s Napoleon) as early as the ’20s, but the Great Depression brought those to a halt (Academy ratio was standardized in 1932), and WWII effectively kept technology at a standstill, so it wasn’t until the postwar years that it could resume. CinemaScope dates to ‘53, and was largely a response to television (box office had been dropping since ‘46), which is why a bunch of 1.33:1 films were improperly projected–to get on the “craze.”

Fantasia in 1940 was actually the first commercial release with stereo sound.

Your description of the digital cunundrum is well stated. It does seem like technology we have to live with, and we can just hope that restorationists are as sensitive as possible to the issues.

Glad you enjoyed it, Esther!

I suspect that, as we continue into the digital age, we’ll have to come to accept some of the inherent differences between digital and film. Digital seems to allow restorative techniques previously unavailable, but at the same time can only approximate some of the unique aspects of film. If that’s the case, a fare trade off, perhaps? Though makeover does raise some interesting questions about how far the restorative process goes.

Enjoyed the post. Thanks for writing about the symposium.