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Vale John Mitchell

It is with a great deal of sadness that
we report the death of Australia’s
Cinerama expert, John Mitchell.
Although adept in a wide range of
engineering and electronics fields, it
was for his unique efforts in reviving
the awesome triple projector ultra-
widescreen system known as
‘Cinerama’ that he was internationally
famous for.

The saga of how John acquired the
title ‘Mr Cinerama’ would fill a large
book. Suffice to say Cinerama was a John beside one of his Cinerama projectors.
means of exhibiting motion pictures on Image: Bert Murphy
an enormous curved wide screen with
7-channel stereophonic sound as installed in both Sydney and Melbourne’s Plaza Theatres in late
1958
Around 1963, when this very costly system of presentation and its films were unceremoniously
junked, John devoted much time, money and effort to tracking the far-flung locations of
abandoned electronics, hardware and supplies of discarded sound and image film in order to
secure it for posterity. Then, for numerous years, he delighted his many friends with private
screenings in the world’s only private backyard Cinerama installation.

When, in more recent years, relevant overseas parties discovered that the best, or quite often the
only, surviving elements of many Cinerama releases were in the custody of some ‘Aussie bloke
in Willoughby’, John began to receive requests from top US film restoration specialists to aid
them in releasing this precious material to Blu-Ray for a new generation to enjoy.
After the final screenings of each title took place in his backyard, John gradually donated his
multitude of Cinerama reels to where they might best serve posterity. John never sought financial
compensation; it was enough for him to know that this hard-won collection would now go on to
fascinate a new worldwide audience.

Around twenty years ago John, took on the seemingly impossible task of restoring the large
Royal Cinema at Quirindi, near Scone, in northern NSW. Once operational, the cinema also
housed part of his large collection of cinema equipment and memorabilia.

John was fully aware of his situation but at no time gave the impression of feeling sorry for
himself, he continued to receive friends at his hospital bed and continued to discuss subjects of
mutual interest. John had been in declining health for some years. He died in the intensive care
ward of Royal North Shore Hospital. He was 79.
Text adapted from a FaceBook posting by Charles Slater. Used with permission.

4 REEL DEALS September 2020