Ultra Panavision 70

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A frame from Ben-Hur, showing the extremely wide aspect ratio.

Ultra Panavision 70, also known as MGM Camera 65, was the marketing brand used to identify 65/70 mm movies photographed with Panavision anamorphic optics between 1957 and 1966.

The frame dimensions and six-track stereo soundtrack configuration of Ultra Panavision 70 were virtually identical to those established for the Todd-AO 65/70 mm process in 1955. However, the optics incorporated a 1.25X anamorphic "squeeze," yielding, at its widest, an ultra-wide projected aspect ratio of approximately 2.76:1.

1 History
2 Films
3 See also
4 References

[edit] History

The special optics were initially developed in association with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, who used it to photograph two movies, Raintree County (1956) and Ben-Hur (1959). These were advertised as being produced in MGM Camera 65.

MGM Camera 65 is a wide-screen film format developed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the 1950s, as a single-strip substitute for Cinerama. However, the screens used for showing Ben-Hur and Raintree County were not curved, as Cinerama and Todd-AO's were, but rectangular, in the manner of Cinemascope, and Raintree County was ultimately only shown in a 2.35:1 reduction print - the first film shown in Camera 65's full 70mm width was Ben-Hur. The process used 65 mm film stock and a special anamorphic lens developed by Panavision, which imparted a slight horizontal squeeze by a factor of 1.25x. This yielded an aspect ratio of approximately 2.76:1, which was considerably wider than three-strip Cinerama. It was only used on fewer than a dozen films due to the extremely large and heavy cameras and its unusually wide aspect ratio, which was incompatible with most theaters. 35 mm anamorphic prints made from Camera 65 negatives were usually letterboxed at 2.35:1, and were indistinguishable from Cinemascope films. (However, when Ben-Hur was originally released on laserdisc and DVD, it was issued in its original 2.76:1 ratio, giving it possibly the "widest" letterboxing ever seen on a home video release, with very large "black borders" on the top and bottom.)

The process was subsequently refined, re-named Ultra Panavision 70 and used to photograph seven additional features.

Many of the films advertised in Ultra Panavision 70 were presented in 70 mm Cinerama in selected theaters. Special lenses were used to project a "rectified" (optically pre-distorted) 70 mm print onto a deeply-curved screen to mimic the effect of the original 3-strip Cinerama process.

Portions of the 1962 Cinerama feature How the West Was Won were photographed using Ultra Panavision 70, and then optically converted to the 3-strip format. ^[1]

[edit] Films

Raintree County (1957) - credited as MGM Camera 65; released only in 35 mm CinemaScope prints
Ben-Hur (1959) - credited as MGM Camera 65, with "Photographic Lenses by Panavision"
How the West Was Won (1962) - selected scenes only
Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) - the last Ultra Panavision film using the full 2.76: 1 aspect ratio.
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) - presented in 70 mm Cinerama
The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)
To Be Alive! (1964) - 70 mm version created from original 3-strip format
The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) - presented in 70 mm Cinerama
The Hallelujah Trail (1965) - presented in 70 mm Cinerama
Battle of the Bulge (1965) - presented in 70 mm Cinerama
Khartoum (1966) - presented in 70 mm Cinerama