Cinema Research

        Most people consider that sound movies were not invented until 1928 with the release of Warner's 'The Jazz Singer'. It is certainly true that this was the first notable film using sound, but we must go back to the invention of the cinematograph to realise that experiments were being carried out using sound as well as picture from the very beginning. Edison wrote in one of his papers  In the year 1887, the idea occurred to me

that it would be possible to devise an instrument which should do for the eye what thephonograph does for the ear, and that by a combination of the two all sound and motion could be recorded and reproduced simultaneously.

Looking at diagrams and pictures of his early work certainly shows the inclusion of a phonograph to deliver sound with his pictures. When reading books about the development of sound in the cinema it is not uncommon to think that the only research was being carried in America. This is far from the truth and it is often found that other inventors were actually in front of the Americans. Using Edison's phonograph Frenchman Auguste Baron synchronised sound with picture in 1896 and gave a demonstration at an exposition in 1900 featuring Sarah Bernhardt reading Hamlet. Both Pathe and Gaumont were also working on disk systems based on the phonograph.

Sound Auditorium

        Film distributors were also searching for a system that would give the same effect as Cinerama but for a lot less cost, a system that was relatively simple to install and would fit into a normal sized theatre. Twentieth Century Fox employed a system using an anamorphic lens developed earlier by Frenchman Henri Chretien. The lens squeezed the photographed image horizontally, enabling a wide image to be photographed onto 35mm film. This image was then expanded during projection back to its wider ratio. Four channels of magnetic sound were laid down the sides of the release print to give three screen channels and an 'effects' channel to place sound around the auditorium.Daryl F. Zanuck, the head of Fox at the time, had all production stopped on their latest films 'An American in Paris' and 'The Robe' to have them remade in the new system. The film 'An American In Paris' was in fact completed first but its release held until after 'The Robe' which was thought to cinemas.

Right Surround

          Todd had 0.5mm shaved off each side of the print to make it only 34mm wide and thus making it a 'Roadshow Presentation'. Inspectors from customs and excise called at the theatre weekly to verify that the 34mm print was still being played, and that the cinema would not have to show its 'British Quota'. The sound was on separate 35mm full coat magnetic with five screen channels and the surround channel Perspecta encoded to give a left, centre, and right surround channel. After the heyday of development in the fifties the cinema industry did not see any new innovations until the seventies. This being mainly due to the dwindling audiences and a general apathy throughout the industry. Although there had been several attempts to improve optical sound quality in cinemas it was not until Dolby Laboratories, working out of Clapham at the time, looked to apply their already successful 'noise reduction' system to film sound. The first experiments were only mono and it soon became obvious to the engineers at Dolby that what the industry really wanted was high quality optical stereo

Long Ambition Filming

          The first film released in the format was Rogers and Hammerstein's 'Oklahoma', which opened at the Rivoli Theatre in 1955. Todd insisted it be screened as though it was a live theatre presentation, with one show a night including an interval, and the audience in evening dress. He even banned the sale of popcorn during the films run. After its huge success Todd sold the rights to the system to Twentieth Century Fox which then gave

him the money to achieve his life long ambition of filming 'Around the World in Eighty Days' in Todd-AO. However, because he had sold the rights to the system Fox stopped him from releasing his film in 70mm in many countries, one of which being England. Consequently anyone seeing the film at the Astoria Charing Cross Road in the fifties saw it in 35mm CinemaScope.  Strictly speaking this is not quite true, as at the time cinemas had to show a certain quota' of British films a year unless they were a 'special venue cinema'. That was a cinema showing a special format film, i.e. not in 35mm. To overcome this rule. 

Famous Technically

       Whilst all these various studios were fighting to win the formats wars one man was quietly working away to develop probably the most famous and technically superior system to date. Michael Todd working with the American Optical Company was developing a wide film format that would give the audience the same effect as Cinerama with far less complexity. However, wide film was not a new concept. Paramount, MGM, and Fox had all experimented with film widths from 55mm up to 70mm between 1920 and 1930 but non had been developed on a large scale. This new system was called Todd- AO and remains today as the Rolls Royce of film formats. The image was filmed on specially designed 65mm cameras running at 30 frames per second and transferred to 70mm wide film for release. The extra 5mm being occupied by the six track magnetic sound down each edge of the film. Five channels were behind the screen, the original three of CinemaScope not having enough coverage for the larger picture. 

Theaters Installed

           This signal was then amplified greatly and played into the cinema through massive sub bass speaker cabinets, which literally shook the thereat. There were cases reported of pieces of ceiling falling down in some of the older theaters that installed the system. The system was designed for those three films and has never been used since. Dolby in the mean time were going from strength to strength and had revitalised the sound side of the industry. Having improved optical sound they then looked at 70mm magnetic, firstly employing noise reduction and secondly devising a system which used the two inner tracks for sub bass signals giving an effect similar

to Sensurround as well as adding stereo surrounds  channels. Used experimentally for Warners' film  Superwoman' at the Empire, Leicester Square in 1978 and then on a world wide basis for 'Apocalypse Now', a year later. However, it was Dolby's optical stereo system which took the industry by storm, and became the industry standard. Cinemas world-wide began upgrading to stereo particularly the newly built American Multiplex style of cinemas. With this new building programme audiences were beginning to grow again, but the new audiences were younger people who were more aware of sound quality. With the advent of digital sound at home with the Compact Disk it was not long before this new audience was demanding the same quality of sound from the cinemas.