1969

 

 

Century 21 Theater

 

 

In 1964 my dad took the family there to see the first movie shown at the Century 21. It was impressing to watch a movie on a giant curved screen with high-fidelity stereo sound. And it was wildly funny, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Century 21 was promoted as the ultimate state–of-the-art movie viewing experience. Designed for Cinerama, the screen curved 164 degrees, around the audience, and measured 70 feet diagonally. Although the theater was originally designed to show Cinerama movies on three projectors simultaneously, none were ever actually shown here. Instead, the Century 21 helped pioneer Panavision, which used a single projector and became the dominant widescreen format.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the Century 21 Theater as it looked 1969, where my dad and I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Memorex

Al Shugart made a splash in the tech world when he left IBM to join Memorex. His official debut was announced in the August issue of Intercom, the monthly newsletter for Memorex employees.