"CinemaScope" was the process that ushered in the wide-screen revolution way back in 1953. The CinemaScope lens was discontinued in the late 1960s and replaced by Panavision, the anamorphic system that is still widely used today. As the wide-screen movies of the 1950s and 1960s are now enjoying a revival on wide-screen DVDs, it's time to revisit 164 of these wonderful films. For an overview of "CinemaScope 3: Hollywood Takes the Plunge", here are comments posted by editor, Roy Salmons, in his justly acclaimed "International Movie Making" magazine: John Howard Reid's movie books go from strength to strength. If you collect classic movies on film or DVD, or if you just enjoy reading about them, then these are the books for you. Written by a true enthusiast, these classic books include such titles as "Hollywood Movie Musicals", "Movies Magnificent: 150 Must-See Cinema Classics", "These Movies Won No Hollywood Awards: A Film-Lover's Guide to the Best of the Rest", "CinemaScope 3: Hollywood Takes the Plunge", "America's Best, Britain's Finest: A Survey of Mixed Movies", "New Light on Movie Bests", and a round-up of so-called "B" Movies, Bad Movies, Good Movies. These books are crammed full of facts about each selection of films, including stars and the characters they play, synopses and reviews, plus lots of fascinating background information. The third volume in the "CinemaScope" series is a truly massive book, detailing over 160 movies originally released in the CinemaScope wide-screen process. The movies are arranged in alphabetical order from "Around the World Under the Sea" (1965) to "The Wonders of Aladdin" (1961). Many of my personal favorites are included in this timely book (and most of these great movies can now be purchased in their original wide-screen format on DVD. Mind you, I don't always agree with the comments on these movies, despite the wide diversity of opinions published under the heading, "Other Views". For me, the movie books by John Howard Reid, are invaluable for their detailed credits. I know that much of this material is now available on the Internet Movie Data Base, but by no means all of it. And not every classic movie fan has access to the Data Base anyway. Furthermore, there is sometimes a disagreement between the credits John Howard Reid cites and those on the Movie Data Base. Following up ten such cases, I found by looking at the actual credits of the movies, that John Howard Reid was generally correct. In fact, in only one case, was the Data Base seemingly correct. But maybe JHR had access to "inside" information? When you come right down to it, whatever you seek to know or discover, "CinemaScope 3: Hollywood Takes the Plunge" rates as a most informative and entertaining book.
