Scope Gem

Scope Gem was a marketing series title that Warner Brothers used for documentary film shorts produced in Warnercolor and the wide-screen CinemaScope format. Most of these were travelogues.

Overview

Warner Brothers favored block-booking these one- and two-reel documentaries with their wide-screen features. The first official title of the series, Sportsman’s Holiday was released with the CinemaScope feature Battle Cry.

Carl Dudley, who contributed to several of these, also independently produced some in Vistarama (which used 16mm instead of 35mm size, perfected by cameraman Edwin Olsen) for Warner distribution just prior to the official inauguration of the Scope Gem series in 1954–1955. Many of these were processed in Warnercolor.[1][2]

Narration was handled by longtime veterans Art Gilmore and Marvin Miller, accompanied by the full orchestra scores of Howard Jackson and William Lava. Cedric Francis produced those not handled by Carl Dudley.

Although Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures and especially 20th Century Fox also released many more shorts in CinemaScope between 1953 and 1964, the Warner product received some of the highest praise in the periodicals of the time. One title by André de la Varre, Time Stood Still, was nominated for an Academy Award. As BoxOffice magazine's reviewer stated on January 8, 1958, of Alpine Glory: “While the Austrian Alps have been filmed before, and well done too, this short subject in color is so beautiful and breathtaking that it can well be the best film ever to deal with the subject.” Although seldom shown on TV on account of their frame format and never released on video, they were nonetheless successfully re-released to theaters through 1967, prompting a young Leonard Maltin to write in similar vocabulary in his The Great Movie Shorts (1972) “These are among the most breathtaking travelogues of all time”.[3]

Unfortunately Warner sharply curtailed feature films using wide-screen formats in 1957, using Technirama for only the most expensive productions. The studio's declining interest in CinemaScope, along with the shrinking market for short films, prompted an abrupt end to the series. During this same period, the concurrently released Joe McDoakes, Robert Youngson documentaries, Looney Tune and Merrie Melodie animated cartoons were released in the more standardized ratio but were equally successful at the box office.

The top cameraman of the series, André de la Varre, left Warner to rejoin the Burton Holmes company that same year, but did supply an occasional travelogue for the studio in the 1960s under its World Wide Adventures logo.

List of titles
TitleMajor creditsRunning timeRelease dateNotes
Aloha NuiCarl Dudley (producer)11 minutesSeptember 19, 1953“Stereophonic Special” filmed in Hawaii
Below the Rio GrandeCarl Dudley (producer)9 minutesApril 1, 1954“Stereophonic Special” filmed in Mexico
Coney Island HolidayCarl Dudley (producer); narrator: Art Gilmore9 minutesApril 1, 1954“Stereophonic Special” filmed in New York City
Valley of the SunCarl Dudley (producer); Richard Goldstone (director); narrator: Art Gilmore17 minutesJuly 3, 1954“Stereophonic Special” filmed in Arizona and New Mexico
Sportsman's HolidayCarl Dudley (producer); narrator: Art Gilmore10 minutesFebruary 2, 1955first official “Scope Gem” shot in Flagstaff, Arizona, and race tracks at Churchill Downs, Hollywood Park Racetrack, Epsom Downs and Belmont Park
Heart of an EmpireCarl Dudley (producer); script: Owen Crump; narrator: Marvin Miller9 minutesSeptember 1, 1955London
Journey to the SeaCarl Dudley (producer); script: Owen Crump; narrator: Marvin Miller16 minutesSeptember 1, 1955Rhine River in Europe
Ski ValleyAndré de la Varre (director); narrator: Art Gilmore9 minutesSeptember 1, 1955Sun Valley, Idaho
Springtime in HollandAndré de la Varre (director); story: Owen Crump; narrator: Marvin Miller9 minutesDecember 10, 1955Netherlands
Hero On HorsebackCarl Dudley (producer): Richard Goldstone (director); narrator: Marvin Miller17 minutesApril 7, 1956portrait of Kemal Atatürk with modern-day Turkey footage
Time Stood StillAndré de la Varre (director); story: Owen Crump; narrator: Marvin Miller9 minutesApril 21, 1956Dinkelsbühl
Italian MemoriesAndré de la Varre (director); story: Owen Crump; narrator: Marvin Miller17 minutesJune 9, 1956
Thunder BeachJack Glenn (director); narrator: Joe King9 minutesJune 23, 1956Daytona Beach Road Course
Viva! CubaCarl Dudley (producer); narrator: Art Gilmore9 minutesAugust 25, 1956
Crossroads of the WorldAndré de la Varre (director); story: Owen Crump; narrator: Marvin Miller9 minutesSeptember 26, 1956Singapore
East Is EastAndré de la Varre (director); script: Owen Crump; narrator: Marvin Miller17 minutesSeptember 26, 1956Malay, Burma and Thailand
South of the HimalayasAndré de la Varre (director); script: Owen Crump; narrator: Marvin Miller18 minutesOctober 6, 1956India
Magic in the SunCarl Dudley (producer); narrator: Howard Culver8 minutesNovember 6, 1956Haiti
The Legend of El DoradoTom McGowan (director); narrator: Marvin Miller18 minutesDecember 29, 1956Colombia
Under Carib SkiesCarl Dudley (producer); script: Owen Crump; narrator: Howard Culver9 minutesFebruary 16, 1957mostly Jamaica
Tales of the Black ForestAndré de la Varre (director); script: Owen Crump; narrator: Marvin Miller18 minutesJune 1, 1957Germany
The Blue DanubeAndré de la Varre (director); script: Owen Crump; narrator: Marvin Miller17 minutesJune 1, 1957Austria & Germany
Alpine GloryAndré de la Varre (director); script: Owen Crump (writer); narrator: Marvin Miller9 minutesAugust 3, 1957Austria

See also

explains the Vistarama process

References
  • Liebman, Roy Vitaphone Films – A Catalogue of the Features and Shorts 2003 McFarland & Company
  • Maltin, Leonard The Great Movie Shorts 1972 Bonanza Books
  • Motion Pictures 1950-1959 Catalog of Copyright Entries 1960 Library of Congress
  • BoxOffice back issue scans

Notes
  1. Motion Pictures 1950-1959 Catalog of Copyright Entries Library of Congress, (p. 11) states Warnercolor process for Aloha Nui
  2. BoxOffice. March 10, 1956 (Shorts Chart) & May 19, 1958 (Shorts Chart, p. 12) list titles under heading "Warnercolor Scope Gems"
  3. Maltin, Leonard The Great Movie Shorts 1972 Bonanza Books, page 208
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