Hacker Cinema
Around the World in 80 Days
1956 · Film · 182 min
Directed by Michael Anderson
AdventureComedyFamilyFantasyRomance
Based on the famous book by Jules Verne the movie follows Phileas Fogg on his journey around the world. Which has to be completed within 80 days, a very short period for those days.
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3 comments on Hacker News
"Bigger", as in IMAX, did not come from Expo 67. It came from a long line of attempts to make really wide screen films. Cinerama (1952), Todd-AO (1953), Cinemascope (1953), etc. The really wide screen systems required custom theaters and very elaborate machinery, and never really caught on. Cinemascope requires just a lens adapter for an ordinary 35MM projector, and it went mainstream.
What to do with widescreen cinematically was a big problem in the early days. Roller coaster demo reels introduced Cinemascope [1] and Todd-AO.[2]. 3D was tried in the same time period. Theaters were trying to do things TV could not do. But how do you tell a story on a huge screen without the screen getting in the way of the story? Most of the time, the screen won. (See the ending of "How the West Was Won" (1962).[3]) Michael Anderson (Around the World in 80 Days), not Kroitor, seems to be the director who figured that out. You make big-budget spectacles, with a plot in glorious locations. Ben-Hur and Cleopatra followed.
That's still the problem with IMax. The giant screen wins over the story.
[1] https://player.vimeo.com/video/266574534
[2] https://youtu.be/MU76gdjr-Dk
[3] https://youtu.be/8t_qToyqiOU?t=76
50 Years ago, in 1964, My Fair Lady was #3 at the Box Office, and won the Oscar for Best Picture. In 1956, Around the World in 80 days won and was #2.
In 2014, 12 Years a Slave was #44 at the Box Office, and won the Oscar for Best Picture. In 2013, Argo won and was #22.
I think this represents that "what sells" is no longer the same "the best movies". The OP says good movies are finding it harder to get made. Good stories, good acting, good "art", are being pushed out in favor of "popular".
Not sure anything can or should be done about that. But it's definitely a trend.
Some of the listed titles, since the site seems to be under heavy load:
Books:
* Winston Churchill, A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Volume I and Volume II
* Philip K. Dick, Minority Report
* Ian Fleming, Diamonds are Forever
* Fred Gibson, Old Yeller
* Billie Holiday, Lady Sings the Blues
* Alan Lerner, My Fair Lady
* Eugene O’Neill, Long Day’s Journey into Night
* John Osborne, Look Back in Anger
* Dodie Smith, 101 Dalmatians
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Movie titles:
* Around the World in 80 Days
* The Best Things in Life are Free
* Forbidden Planet
* Godzilla, King of the Monsters!
* It Conquered the World
* The King and I
* The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956 remake by Alfred Hitchcock of his 1934 British film)
* Moby Dick
* The Searchers (1956 film version with John Wayne from Alan Le May’s 1954 novel)
* The Ten Commandments (1956 version by Cecil B. DeMille, who also directed a similar film in 1923)