{"id":626,"date":"2008-03-09T06:02:40","date_gmt":"2008-03-09T06:02:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/?p=626"},"modified":"2008-03-10T00:36:32","modified_gmt":"2008-03-10T00:36:32","slug":"the-united-states-presents-cinerama-in-damascus-1954","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/the-united-states-presents-cinerama-in-damascus-1954\/","title":{"rendered":"The United States presents Cinerama in Damascus, 1954"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posted by Alex<\/strong> <\/p>\n

This is a story from 1954. I wanted to share it with you because it is an example of a great public relations success for the United States in Syria, and the Arab world in General… a very different kind of initiative from the one behind the American warship(s) near Syria and Lebanon today. <\/p>\n

Maybe there are simpler ways to flip Syria … they will not cost three trillion dollars<\/a>, and no one will die. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

CINERAMA SECRET WEAPON OF THE COLD WAR<\/strong><\/p>\n

BY TOM LECOMPTE<\/a> <\/p>\n

1954: The Soviets had just exploded their first H-bomb; the McCarthy hearings had come to an ignominious end in Washington; Stalin had died and Khrushchev had risen to power in Moscow. And in Damascus, Syria, Harris Peel had a problem.<\/p>\n

Peel, the information director for the U.S. Embassy in the Syrian capital, needed something quickly. The Soviets were inaugurating a new front in the Cold War. The first Damascus International Trade Fair, slated to be the biggest in the Middle East, was due to open in just a few weeks, and the Soviets were pouring men, material, and money into it in an all-out effort to gain friends and influence in a region of growing strategic importance. They had hired 1,200 laborers and spent a half-million dollars to build a 40,000-square-foot pavilion that would be the largest in the fair, and would dominate the fairgrounds with a 100-foot steeple topped by an illuminated Red Star.
The United States, meanwhile, had nothing. With little time and zero budget, Peel cast about for some way to rescue his country’s prestige. Then he had an idea: Cinerama.<\/p>\n

The year before, in Washington, Peel had attended a showing of This Is Cinerama. Since its unveiling in 1952 at New York’s Broadway Theater, This Is Cinerama had been a runaway success, thrilling audiences with its stomach-convulsing views taken from the front of a roller coaster and its breathtaking low-level aerial shots of such landmarks as the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls. The movie’s revolutionary three-panel ultra-wide-screen projection technique immersed audiences in a panoramic view of the action. You didn’t watch This Is Cinerama, you experienced it. It had become the most-talked-about film since —well, since the introduction of talkies in 1927. How better to showcase the best America had to offer?<\/p>\n

A few phone calls later and it was arranged. Cinerama, Inc., agreed to donate everything needed to build a temporary theater. The Air Force agreed to fly over 12 tons of equipment, including a 75-foot-long, 25foot-high curved movie screen. A Cinerama crew and a handful of local laborers built a 2,000-seat open-air theater just in time for the opening of the month-long fair. “We busted our butts for five weeks to make this thing work,” Frank Richmond, the supervisor, told a reporter. “It worked, but God knows we had no right to think it would.”<\/p>\n

On opening night, September 2, 1954, throngs swarmed the fairgrounds. Tickets were distributed free by the U.S. Information Agency (USIA), and demand far outstripped supply. Thousands showed up without tickets. Richmond looked on in horror as the metal fence around the complex started to yield to the crowd. “It scared me to see those iron fences bending under the weight of hundreds of people pushing,” he said, “and inside, without protection, $100,000 worth of equipment.”<\/p>\n

The fences, however, held. Extra police were dispatched to maintain crowd control, and the U.S. Information Center in Damascus barred its doors and posted special guards to keep crowds from storming the building in quest of nonexistent tickets. Black marketers scalped passes, and a counterfeiting ring faked them. Each night people who couldn’t get tickets climbed nearby eucalyptus trees, stood on barrels, or balanced on bicycles to get a glimpse of the spectacle. A nearby restaurant with a partial view of the screen was packed every night. The USIA distributed 150,000 tickets during the show’s month-long run, and informal estimates had a total of nearly a quarter-million people seeing the show. The population of Damascus was 360,000.<\/p>\n

Peel’s idea was such an overwhelming success that the State Department investigated the possibility of installing Cinerama on a retired aircraft carrier and taking it to ports all over the world. The plan was abandoned only after the expense of taking a carrier out of mothballs was found to be prohibitive. At a subsequent fair in Bangkok, the demand for tickets was so great that the film was held over for two weeks after the fair ended.<\/p>\n

The Soviets, embarrassed and angry at being upstaged at the trade fair, resolved to acquire Cinerama’s secrets. Said Thomas: “Not long after Cinerama opened in London, they sent a planeload of scientists to the British capital, and while Washington slept and did nothing more about using this magic medium and failed to continue the success of Damascus and Bangkok, the Russians copied Cinerama.” He added that nothing less than our national security was at stake. No one knows exactly how the Russians learned the inner workings of Cinerama, but it may not have been too hard. Popular Science had run a cover story detailing the mechanics of Waller’s invention in August 1950, two years before the premiere of This Is Cinerama. <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"cinerama_syria_first.jpg\" <\/p>\n

Syrian newspaper headline: "Cinerama plays in Syria before any other country"<\/p>\n

[from the collection of www.mideastimage.com<\/a>]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"cineramadamairport.jpg\" <\/p>\n

American Globe Master air cargo, the largest plane to land at Damascus Maze Airport in 1954<\/p>\n

[from the collection of www.mideastimage.com<\/a>]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"presatassi.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Syrian President Hashem Atassi and other guests at the Damascus International Fair in 1954<\/p>\n

[from the collection of www.mideastimage.com<\/a>]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"egypt_stars1.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Egyptian movie stars Madiha Yosri and her husband Mohammad Faouzi watch Cinerama in Damascus<\/p>\n

[from the collection of www.mideastimage.com<\/a>]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"usapresents.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Sign in Arabic says: "The Unites States of America presents Cinerama" <\/p>\n

[from the collection of www.mideastimage.com<\/a>]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"princetalalfrichmond1954.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Nineteen year old Saudi Prince Talal Ben Abdel Aziz AL-Saud dressed in trendy black talks to Frank Richmond from Cinerama, in the projection room in Damascus. <\/p>\n

[from the collection of www.mideastimage.com<\/a>]<\/p>\n

\"lowellthomasjrrichmond.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Lowell Thomas Jr. (active promoter of Cinerama, and official photographer of the event) and Frank Richmond (Damascus project manager) in the projection room<\/p>\n

Lowell Thomas Sr. (father of Lowell Thomas Jr., above) was a nearly ubiquitous journalist, showman, radio commentator, and adventurer, a sort of one-man media empire. He had a daily radio show heard by millions and was the voice of Fox Movietone newsreels. His sonorous voice and distinctive “So long until tomorrow…” sign-off were brands to themselves. He was also a tireless promoter, a man who counted among his friends Presidents, Hollywood stars, and business titans.He was a correspondent during World War I in the Middle East with Gen. Edmund Allenby and T. E. Lawrence. <\/p>\n

[from the collection of www.mideastimage.com<\/a>]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"invitation.jpg\"<\/p>\n

US embassy in Damascus invite to a reception at the Damascus Orient Club. <\/p>\n

[from the collection of www.mideastimage.com<\/a>]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted by Alex  This is a story from 1954. I wanted to share it with you because it is an example of a great public relations success for the United States in Syria, and the Arab world in General… a very different kind of initiative from the one behind the American warship(s) near Syria and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[52,17,38,26,3,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alex","category-for-rels","category-russia","category-saudi","category-soc-cult","category-us"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe United States presents Cinerama in Damascus, 1954 - Syria Comment<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/the-united-states-presents-cinerama-in-damascus-1954\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The United States presents Cinerama in Damascus, 1954 - Syria Comment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Posted by Alex  This is a story from 1954. I wanted to share it with you because it is an example of a great public relations success for the United States in Syria, and the Arab world in General… a very different kind of initiative from the one behind the American warship(s) near Syria and […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/the-united-states-presents-cinerama-in-damascus-1954\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Syria Comment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-03-09T06:02:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2008-03-10T00:36:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/cinerama_syria_first.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alex\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@joshua_landis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@joshua_landis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alex\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/the-united-states-presents-cinerama-in-damascus-1954\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/the-united-states-presents-cinerama-in-damascus-1954\/\",\"name\":\"The United States presents Cinerama in Damascus, 1954 - Syria Comment\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/the-united-states-presents-cinerama-in-damascus-1954\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/the-united-states-presents-cinerama-in-damascus-1954\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/cinerama_syria_first.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-03-09T06:02:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-03-10T00:36:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7922fe7bbe65c4b948862481afad23b7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/the-united-states-presents-cinerama-in-damascus-1954\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/the-united-states-presents-cinerama-in-damascus-1954\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/the-united-states-presents-cinerama-in-damascus-1954\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/cinerama_syria_first.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/cinerama_syria_first.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/the-united-states-presents-cinerama-in-damascus-1954\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The United States presents Cinerama in Damascus, 1954\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Syria Comment\",\"description\":\"Syrian politics, history, and religion\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7922fe7bbe65c4b948862481afad23b7\",\"name\":\"Alex\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.creativesyria.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/author\/alex\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The United States presents Cinerama in Damascus, 1954 - Syria Comment","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/the-united-states-presents-cinerama-in-damascus-1954\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The United States presents Cinerama in Damascus, 1954 - Syria Comment","og_description":"Posted by Alex  This is a story from 1954. I wanted to share it with you because it is an example of a great public relations success for the United States in Syria, and the Arab world in General… a very different kind of initiative from the one behind the American warship(s) near Syria and […]","og_url":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/the-united-states-presents-cinerama-in-damascus-1954\/","og_site_name":"Syria Comment","article_published_time":"2008-03-09T06:02:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2008-03-10T00:36:32+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/cinerama_syria_first.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Alex","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@joshua_landis","twitter_site":"@joshua_landis","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Alex","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/the-united-states-presents-cinerama-in-damascus-1954\/","url":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/the-united-states-presents-cinerama-in-damascus-1954\/","name":"The United States presents Cinerama in Damascus, 1954 - Syria Comment","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/the-united-states-presents-cinerama-in-damascus-1954\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/the-united-states-presents-cinerama-in-damascus-1954\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/cinerama_syria_first.jpg","datePublished":"2008-03-09T06:02:40+00:00","dateModified":"2008-03-10T00:36:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7922fe7bbe65c4b948862481afad23b7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/the-united-states-presents-cinerama-in-damascus-1954\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/the-united-states-presents-cinerama-in-damascus-1954\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/the-united-states-presents-cinerama-in-damascus-1954\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/cinerama_syria_first.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/cinerama_syria_first.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/the-united-states-presents-cinerama-in-damascus-1954\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The United States presents Cinerama in Damascus, 1954"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/","name":"Syria Comment","description":"Syrian politics, history, and religion","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7922fe7bbe65c4b948862481afad23b7","name":"Alex","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.creativesyria.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/author\/alex\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p38J3A-a6","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}