Click here to buy this book! "CinemaScope" was the process that ushered in the wide-screen revolution 55 years ago -- way back in 1953. The CinemaScope lens was discontinued in the late 1960s and replaced by Panavision, a superior anamorphic lens that is still widely used today. The widescreen movies of the 1950s and 1960s are now enoying a revival on widescreen DVDs, so perhaps it is time to revisit 164 of these wonderful films. Ross Adams, in his review in "Dress Circle" magazine (August 2006), describes the contents of this book well. I will only add that, although this is the third book in the "CinemaScope" series, it is certainly the largest -- and I think the best! For an overview of just seven of the books in this great series, including, of course, "CinemaScope 3: Hollywood Takes the Plunge", I'd like to quote some 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 " '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 critiques. There are many illustrations. All the books in this series have full color front and back covers, with black-and-white photos inside. Paper size is large format. John Howard Reid is to be congratulated! Excerpt "Three Coins in the Fountain" is a typical entry which includes: (1) A complete cast list, starting with Clifton Webb (Shadwell), Dorothy McGuire (Miss Frances), Jean Peters (Anita) and concluding with Norma Varden (adoring fan). (2) Complete technical credits, ranging from director Jean Negulesco and screenwriter John Patrick to producer Sol C. Siegel. (3) Copyright and release details. (4) A synopsis. (5) Background notes, including re-makes, awards, nominations and boxoffice details. (6) An up-to-date review.

Professional Reviews
CinemaScope 3: Hollywood Takes the Plunge
This latest 368 page volume from John Howard Reid is a real winner.

Complete with full color covers and a myriad of poster reproductions, many great movies (164 in fact) are reviewed in Reid's usual in-depth manner, a credit to his methodical research methods.

As always, John Howard Reid gives alternative critics' comments, dates of release in the USA, New York, England and Australia, plus alternative titles and a full list of actors and production staff.

This is definitely a "must have" volume and worth every cent of its $24.50 USA price.

-- Ross Adams in "Dress Circle" magazine.

Widescreen Wonders
Widescreen Wonders: A review by George Addison of "CINEMASCOPE 3: HOLLYWOOD TAKES THE PLUNGE" in "International Movie Making".

The third volume in the "CinemaScope" series is a massive book of 352 large-format pages, detailing nearly 250 movies originally released in the CinemaScope wide-screen process from "Around the World Under the Sea" (1965) to "The Wonders of Aladdin" (1961). True, many well-known CinemaScope titles are missing. They were covered in previous volumes: "CinemaScope One: Stupendous in Scope" and "CinemaScope Two: 20th Century Fox". But many of my personal favorites are included in this timely book (and most of them 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.

Personally, I find all the advertising on the Data Base rather distracting, and even annoying. I would not mind so much if all the Data Base ads were movie-oriented, but many of them have nothing to do with movies whatever. Furthermore, there is sometimes a disagreement between the credits John Howard Reid cites and those on the Movie Data Base. In nine out of twelve of these cases, I found by looking at the credits of the movie, that John Howard Reid was correct. In only one case, was the Data Base correct. In the other two instances, both were possibly correct!

(How can this be? Well, I have an extensive collection of press books, and, as I’m sure everyone knows, the credits in press books sometimes differ from those on the movie itself. In both cases, John Howard Reid cited the press book credits while those on the Data Base were presumably culled from the movie. The only way to find out who is correct in the case of players would be to actually watch the picture. In the case of technicians, who knows?).

Illustrated with 99 black-and-white reproductions of original newspaper ads and posters (many of them full page), plus a beautiful front cover color photo of Liz Taylor (Marilyn Monroe in full color is featured on the back), "CinemaScope 3: Hollywood Takes the Plunge" rates as a most informative and entertaining book.

Want to review or comment on this book?
Click here to login!

Need a FREE Reader Membership?
Click here for your Membership!