From Wikipedia about “THIS IS CINERAMA”: “The film begins in black-and-white and in standard 4:3 aspect ratio, as travel writer and newscaster Lowell Thomas appears on screen to discuss the evolution of motion picture entertainment, from the earliest cave paintings designed to suggest movement, up to the introduction of color and sound. At the conclusion of the 12-minute lecture, Thomas speaks the words This is Cinerama and the screen expands into the full Cinerama aspect ratio and color as a series of vignettes, narrated by Thomas begin.” As the lecture starts to end we see people getting on the roller coaster at Rockaway’s Playground, the coaster starts up the incline to that first drop and when Thomas says: “This is Cinerama.” The screen switches to what is the full range of human eye sight, the coaster starts down and the audience feels they are actually riding on it, but who invented this process and why? It was the man who shot King Kong twice. First as a movie and second from the front seat of the bi-plane causing Kong to fall from the Empire State Building Brigadier General Merian Caldwell Cooper and this is a small look at his remarkable life. Mention to most film buffs his name and they identify it with three films: 1933’s “King Kong”, 1933’s “Son of Kong” and 1949’s “Mighty Joe Young” and that’s as far as their knowledge of this man goes. Most would not even know that Cooper’s friends asked why he changed his name in Kong to Carl Denhom? The role Robert Armstrong played was that obvious. Born October 24, 1893 in Jacksonville, Florida, but getting most of his schooling in New Jersey. At the age of 19 Cooper was admitted to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. However, while there he discovered flying and during his senior year, 1915, Cooper resigned over a dispute on the direction he wanted to go, because the United States Navy did not believe in air power at the time. The following year found him in the Georgia National Guard as part of General John Joseph “Black Jack” Pershing’s force in Mexico chasing Pancho Villa. With America’s entry into World War One Merian C. Cooper entered the Army Air Service as a de Havilland (DH)-4 Bomber pilot. He was shot down and spent the remainder of the war as a German prisoner. Most men headed home at this point, but not Cooper. From the end of 1919 until March 18, 1921 when “The Treaty of Riga” was signed. Merican C. Cooper was a pilot for the Polish Air Force in the American Kosciuszko Squadron supporting the Polish Army in the Polish-Soviet War. Déjà vu set in as on July 26, 1920 he was shot down and spent six months as a prisoner of the Soviets probably in Lubyanka which was both a Soviet Prison and the Headquarters for the KGB. Just before this war was over he escaped and made it to Latvia and freedom. He would receive the highest Polish military decoration the Virtuti Militari. The attached picture has Cooper on the left with another American at that awards ceremony. The first movie ever made by Merian C. Cooper was 1925’s “Grass: A Nations Battle for Life”. In 1997 this film was selected for preservation as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant: That is all and good, but it is the backstory for this movie that is more interesting. On the surface this film was a documentary of Merian C. Cooper, Ernest Schoedsack (his lifelong friend and co-film maker. Along with being the man in the backseat of that bi-plane in Kong) and Marguerite Harrison’s journey from Angora (Ankara, Turkey now) to the Bakhtiari lands of western Iran. However, Marguerite Harrison was an American Spy and it is believed, but not substantiated, that so was Cooper on this “journey”. The American ambassador to Tehran who helped get the film crew authorized was killed a few weeks after the three finished their shoot for no apparent reason. On another note the finished film was the gateway for Cooper to be accepted into the “Hollywood” community. He would once more travel to the country we now call Thailand for his next film “Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness”. Again reflecting the character of Carl Denhom from King Kong as a maker of documentary films with cute animals, but in this case not so friendly. The month before the film’s release, March 14, 1927, Cooper became one of the founding members and served on the Board of Directors for Pan American Airways. Two years later in 1929 what is considered the last of the major Silent Films came out. Produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Cooper it was based upon British author A.E.W. Mason’s adventure novel about supposed cowardice and redemption among a group of British soldiers serving in Egypt in 1882. The film was also the 34th screen appearance of its star Fay Wray. It would be another 18 appearances on film for Wray before these two would cross paths again for 1932’s “The Most Dangerous Game” co-starring Joel McCrea. Then another three films later and the two made history with 1933’s “King Kong”. The success of “King Kong” caused Cooper and RKO to rush into production over the objection of Willis O’Brien of “The Son of Kong”. The film would be released 8 months in December of 1933 and immediately bomb. Although it did make money years later. As a comparison “King Kong” had a 1933 dollars budget of $672,000 and made $2,847,000. While “Son of Kong” was budgeted at only $269,000 and finally only made $616,000. Released also in December 1933 was “Flying Down to Rio” with Merian C. Cooper as Executive Producer. This RKO musical is famous for two things. One is the actual flying scene of dancing girls wing walking during one dance number and the first pairing of Ginger Rodgers and Fred Astaire. The following year Cooper produced a very gritty World War One movie. “The Lost Patrol” starred Victor McLaglen and Boris Karloff sans any monster make up. What is important is that on this film Cooper worked with a man who would also become a lifelong friend the director John Ford. The rest of 1934 were routine pictures RKO wanted him to produce. However, 1935 would start off with two semi-classics from that year. Based upon all four books in a series by H. Rider Haggard Merian C. Cooper was back in his element with “SHE”. The story of the 2,000 year old Queen of the ancient city of Kor. Ayesha “She who must be obeyed” and her reincarnated love Leo Vincey. Playing Ayesha was Helen Gahagan a Broadway Actress who later would marry actor Melvin Douglas. As Helen Gahagan Douglas she would enter politics in 1944, becoming a member of The House of Representatives for California’s 14th District and re-elected two more times. However, in 1950 she ran for the Senate in a race that divided her own Democratic Party against Richard M. Nixon. Nixon’s campaign distributed leaflets implying the Douglas sympathized with the Soviet Union. Nixon and his campaign did not want to come out and say Douglas was a Communist, or use the term “Red”. So Nixon in one speech referred to Helen Gahagan Douglas’ “Pink Panties” earning her the nickname “The Pink Lady” which the voters associated in their minds as the lady version of the color “Red”. However, in response Douglas gave Nixon a nickname of his own: “Tricky Dick”. Playing Leo Vincey was Randolph Scott whose career as a leading man was taking off after 27 films starting in 1928 and as Vincey’s best friend Horace Holly was pre-Doctor Watson Nigel Bruce. The sets of the Lost City of Kor where done in the Art Deco Style adding a surrealistic look to the place. The film is dated and so is the heavy make-up Helen Gahagan had to wear during Ayesha’s death scene, but the film has all the trappings of adventure and spectacle Merian C. Cooper was associated with. “She” was immediately followed by what was to have been a big budgeted version of Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s novel “The Last Days of Pompeii” even if it didn’t resemble the book. This was Cooper attempting a Cecil B. DeMille religious film with Basil Rathbone as Pontius Pilate and a tale of redemption through Christ of the lead character a blacksmith played by Preston Foster and Pilate himself. The original film was approved by RKO for a new Technicolor process, but ended up in traditional black and white. The special effects were done by Willis O’Brien, but planned scenes were cut until all that was left for O’Brien was the destruction of Pompeii by Mount Vesuvius. The bean counters again. One planned scene had gladiators fighting on planks over a pool with giant prehistoric size swordfish. Initially the film lost $237,000 on its release, but it was re-released on a bill with “She” in 1949 and as a result finally turned a small profit for Cooper and RKO. In 1940 Cooper released his last pre-World War Two film “Dr. Cyclops”, but was an uncredited producer on the project. In fact the film has no producer credits on the screen. The film was nominated for Best Visual Effects for the 13th Academy Awards. The following year his film career was interrupted by the Second World War. Merian Caldwell Cooper re-enlisted in the Army Air Forces and was commissioned a Colonel. Some of the highpoints of his Air Force career included being the logistics liaison for the Jimmy Doolittle “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” Raid. He served in China as Chief of Staff for General Claire Chennault of what was then called “The China Air Task Force”, or more colorfully “The Flying Tigers”. From 1943 to 1945 he would serve in the Southwest Pacific as Chief of Staff for the Fifth Air Force’s Bomber Command. Leading many missions himself and would end the war as a Brigadier General and be present aboard the USS Missouri to witness the official surrender of Japan. Following the war from 1948 until 1952 he would be an uncredited producer for his friend John Ford. The films actually produced by Merian C. Cooper without screen credit were: Fort Apache 3 Godfathers She Wore a Yellow Ribbon Wagon Master Rio Grande The Quiet Man There was one exception in his teaming with John Ford and that was released on July 27, 1949 with Ford as Executive Producer and Cooper as Producer and Writer. It was a little film entitled: “Mighty Joe Young” and apparently won Willis O’Brien his only Oscar for Best Special Effects. Although in truth O’Brien only supervised his apprentice Ray Harryhausen who did the actual stop motion animation for his mentor. Additionally the Academy, at that time, stated that the Producer of the film received all Oscar’s. However, for his work on that film and “King Kong” Merian C. Cooper represented the award to O’Brien in front of the gathered assembly. A nice roundabout way to get Willis O’Brien the recognition he deserved. Politically starting in the 1950’s Merian C. Cooper backed fully Senator Joseph “Tail Gunner Joe” McCarthy and his attacks upon the Hollywood Film Industry that he was a part of which led to the “Blacklisting” of many of his own friends and co-workers. Flash back to World War Two: Where the Army Air Force was having problems training new pilots and especially bombardiers in the small amount of time now required to get them overseas. Enter Merian C. Cooper. He came up with an idea involving motion pictures and started to talk not to the flight and bombardier trainers, but to the Medical Staff and especially those working with the eyes. The result was the creation of a three part process. The first was a curved screen that’s length and height actually covered the complete line of sight of the human eyes. Next he created a three camera system which would also cover that same line of sight. The third part was a synchronized three projection system. Not only did it work, but both the pilot and bombardier trainees started complaining of air sickness. The unexpected result was that the brain had been tricked into believing what the eyes were seeing on the screen was not a picture, but real life. Surprisingly the Air Force permitted Cooper to keep the patent on this process. On September 30, 1952 at the New York Broadway Theater the audience heard Lowell Thomas utter three words: “THIS IS CINERAMA” and Merian C. Cooper’s World War Two training method became a World Wide Movie Process. Not too bad for a guy most people associated with a 1933 film about a love sick giant gorilla. On April 21, 1973 at the age of 79 Merian Caldwell Cooper left this mortal plane, but that love sick gorilla will keep his memory alive.
Posted on: Sat, 07 Jun 2014 15:15:36 +0000
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