Windjammer: The Voyage of the Christian Radich

I was fortunate to see Windjammer: the voyage of the Christian Radich in 1959 at the round Cooper Cinerama Theatre in Denver, while I was a high school student. I still have the stereo vinyl recording of the music, and the program book. The film was beautifully photographed and the Cinemiracle process and stereo sound provided a cinematic experience that has never been matched since. There seems to be some question as to whether the original negatives are still intact, who has or controls them, and what condition they might be in as far as a possible restoration and re-release of the film, perhaps in IMAX or 70 mm Panavision to maintain the 3-film aspect ratio, and perhaps in HD/DVD for home viewing. If one of the major film restoration organizations such as TCM were to adopt this project, they would be contributing to the preservation of one of the finest film classics ever produced. I certainly hope that someone will take on this challenge before the negatives deteriorate beyond use, if they have not already. It is difficult to understand why something has not been done already, although it is probable that cost-benefit analysis is involved. Anyone who has not seen Windjammer would be absolutely captivated by the beauty, majesty and adventurous challenge depicted in this exceptional production.

I recall having seen this movie in Dortmund/Germany in a big cinema which seemed to have been specially prepared for the occasion. It must have been in 1959 or 1960. I really felt "seasick" at certain passages of this movie, the impact of the stereo pictures and the sound was tremendous for me. It is not just this particular memory which makes this very movie dear to me (even though I never saw it again). This very movie is the reason for my introduction to, and consequently, love for, classical music. Grieg's piano concerto, practised by one of the cadets all the way from Oslo to America for a public performance there (under Arthur Fiedler - I recall his white dinner jacket when conducting) opened up this musical sphere to me forever. Up to this day this music and the Norwegian landscapes shown in the movie are closely connected in my mind. All this a "key event".

EL

it was spectacular. It may look dated today, but it was wonderful then. It opened up with scenes in Norway as the crew prepared for the voyage. Then the ship left port and once it unfurled its sails, the curtains pulled to the side for an incredible cinematic experience. The movie followed the actual voyage of a group of young Norwegian cadets as they sailed the world. The soundtrack for this move is beautiful. I would love to see this movie again and, in fact, that's why I searched for this title in the first place. I have never forgotten this movie.

This was released in southern California at Grauman's Chinese Theater where its three-projector and massive screen requirements were provided at an expense that would probably never be reproduced today. I doubt that the IMAX system is anywhere near as complicated and the specially built theaters for its presentation are possibly less expensive to construct, adjusting for inflation, than what was done at the Chinese.

The opening scenes on an ordinary size screen were a suspenseful buildup to what was eventually revealed: a seemingly infinite opening of the drapes to a dizzying crow's nest view of the storm-tossed Christian Radich Windjammer as it left Oslo's harbor for its voyage. The Cinemiracle three-camera system (which involved a complex setup with mirrors and other technical details too numerous for an amateur to recount here) and the three-projector theater presentation, with full stereophonic sound, was an amazement in its time and I have not been as impressed with my recent visits to IMAX theaters to see the usually less interesting subjects designed to wow us today. The kinetic feeling imparted to the late-Fifties audiences who saw this film was easily more realistic than anything that IMAX has attempted.

Some years later, after the initial release, at the Cinerama Dome Theater on Sunset Blvd. (which was never set up to show three-projector films, since "Cinerama" was by then a single camera process, generally shot with 70mm Panavision cameras) a return engagement of "Windjammer" was advertised. I told a film-loving friend of mine, who had not seen its original release, that we ought to attend a showing. Imagine my disappointment when all that was shown was the middle panel, leading to some really strange sequences when seascapes were blank for an extended period of time as the Christian Radich proceeded from the unseen left panel, across the middle one, and off onto the unseen third panel on the right! I really didn't understand why they didn't edit this version so that only the action in the middle panel was shown, but that would probably have required some tinkering with the soundtrack, something that the people who had gotten their hands on this curiosity were seemingly much too cheap to do. Anyway, I convinced my friend that we were wasting our time and, after complaining in the lobby to a representative of the Cinerama Dome's management about what was undeniably a rip-off, we went up to Hollywood Blvd. and saw a first-run film, probably shot in CinemaScope or one of its equivalents. Less than a week later the ads for "Windjammer" in the LOS ANGELES TIMES movie listings carried a tiny disclaimer that the film was not being presented in its original format. IMDb.com information on this film seems to indicate that the 1962 re-release, under the Cinerama Corporation's aegis, was an anamorphic presentation, but what we saw at the Cinerama Dome was nothing more than a reproduction of the original negative's center panel and there wasn't anything wide about it.

Obviously the original negatives were not preserved, since a major studio was not involved in the production, and so its eventual transfer to video (which was, for example, accomplished with M-G-M's three-camera/projector Cinerama extravaganza, "How The West Was Won" with clearly visible demarcations to the left and right of the center panel, which were much less obvious in the Cinemiracle process, by the way) is now something that is lost in the mists of movie-going memory.

In late August of 2001 my brother and I boarded the Christian Radich in Portsmouth, UK and sailed, taking our turn at the helm, etc. to New York City by way of Las Palmas and Bermuda. Gunner Uttgard was the skipper at that time. It was a great experience. The sunrises and sunsets were spectacular! Several times we swam in the Atlantic. There was a regular crew of about 15, about 20 Norwegian volunteers and about 35 trainees.

Much earlier in my life I held a small boat instructor rating and have a general idea of the principles of sailing. This experience was a dream come true. I would recommend such an experience to any adventuresome soul.

We were replicating the voyage of George May and Hanna Hobson May and their seven children who made a similar trip in 1852 on the Kennebeck. Their final destination was Salt Lake City. Only four of them made it. Reid May