All early CinemaScope films were in stereo with the only sound option being 4-track (L/R/C/Surround) magnetic soundtracks. Later, monaural optical soundtracks were added to accommodate theaters that could not afford to convert to stereo. At that point, CinemaScope projection shrank from 1 to 2:55 to 1 to 2:35 to permit both magnetic and optical tracks.
Cinerama in 1952 used 7-track surround sound, but in 1940, Walt Disney's Fantasia introduced "Fantasound" a stereophonic surround system, at selected theaters. (See the trivia entry under Fantasia on IMDB.)
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cwente2
18 years ago
Interesting. Thanks, garyrc. Can you provide some clarification re the early soundtrack albums? Ie., stereo, mono, "enhanced" for stereo, etc. . .
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topaz-27
17 years ago
I don't know about the soundtrack album, but I think "River of No Return" was the first movie in stereo.
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bgoleary-1
17 years ago
The early soundtrack albums were mono because stereo records did not make their debut until 1958. "Electronically enhanced" for stereo records were introduced by RCA shortly after stereo records made ther debut. However, this type of processing was not required for the stereo "re-issues" of soundtrack albums for the ealry CinemaScope movies because the soundtracks had been recorded in stero in the first place.
The early CinemaScope movies (1953 to early 1955)were all released with an aspect ratio of 2.55:1 and with 4-track magnetic stereo soundtracks only. In 1955 Fox reacted to complaints from theatres that could not afford to install stereo sound systems by introducing the narrower 2.35:1 format. This allowed the use of an industry standard mono optical soundtrack in the same location that had been used for years. For the next two years most CinemaScope movies were released in both the 2.55:1 format with magnetic soundtracks only for use in fully equipped theatres and the 2.35:1 format with optical mono soundtracks only for general release. Some movies were released in the 2.35:1 format with mono optical soundtracks only. Some of the 1953-55 era movies were re-released in the 2.35:1 format with optical mono soundtracks.
In 1957 the magoptical soundtrack was introduced. These 2.35:1 prints had both magnetic stereo soundtracks and mono optical soundtracks. However these magoptical prints had standard sized sprocket holes rather than the narrower sprocket holes (often referred to as "Fox Holes") that the 2.55:1 prints sported. After the magoptical prints were introduced, Fox abandoned the 2.55:1 format altogether.
"Fantasia" in 1940 and "This is Cinerama" in 1952 had multi-track stereo soundtracks but these were optical soundtracks recorded on separate strip of 35mm film and played through a separate "sound projector". Both strips of film had a control track on them to keep the sound and images synchronized. This procedure was known as an "interlocked" soundtrack.
Fox originally planned to use an interlocked soundtrack with CinemaScope and have an aspect ratio of 2.66:1, and that is how "The Robe" was actually filmed. However, after "The Robe" had gone before the cameras a reliable method of making a magnetic soundtrack stay on the print (rather than flaking off) was developed and Fox decided to use magnetic soundtracks on the print instead of an interlocked soundtrack for CinemaScope. The aspect ratio was cropped to 2.55:1 in the print process to make room for the soundtrack on the print. Later movies were filmed at 2.55:1.
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