Windjammer (film)

For the 1937 film, see Windjammer (1937 film).

Windjammer
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Directed by	Bill Colleran Louis De Rochemont III
Produced by	Louis de Rochemont
Written by	James L. Shute
Release date(s)	8 April 1958
Running time	127 min.
Country	U.S.
Language	English

File:Tall ship Christian Radich under sail.jpg

The Christian Radich,
the ship featured in the film.

Windjammer is a 1958 documentary film that recorded a 17,500-nautical-mile (32,400 km) voyage of the Norwegian sail Windjammer training ship Christian Radich. Windjammer was produced by Louis de Rochemont and it was the only film to be shot in the widescreen Cinemiracle process, which came with a seven-track stereophonic soundtrack.

The Christian Radich and its Norwegian crew were filmed while sailing from Oslo, across the Atlantic to the Caribbean, to New York City, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and then back home to Oslo. The movie featured a score by Morton Gould, with additional musical performances by cellist Pablo Casals and Arthur Fiedler conducting the Boston Pops Orchestra.

The film also features a meeting with the German ship Pamir, which sank in a hurricane in September 1957.

The world premiere was at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood on April 8, 1958 where the movie ran for 36 weeks. The East Coast premiere took place at New York's Roxy Theatre on April 9 where it was shown for 24 weeks on a special curved screen 100 by 40 feet (12 m) in size. The film was also exhibited at specially equipped cinemas in America, Canada, and Europe. Later it was shown in wide release in Cinerama theaters worldwide. It was particularly popular in the Scandinavian nations.

Presentation

The film begins in non-widescreen format (1.33: 1 aspect ratio) as the crew prepares for the voyage. When the ship finally sets out (about fifteen minutes into the picture), the screen expands to Cinemamiracle dimensions, virtually the same as those of Cinerama.

Cast

• Niels Arntsen, First officer
• Pablo Casals, Himself
• Arthur Fiedler, Himself
• Gunnulv Hauge, Doctor
• Nils Hermansen, Chief engineer
• Yngvar Kjelstrup, Captain
• Sven Erik Libaek, Cadet #35
• Harald Tusberg, Cadet #32

External links

• Good site with extensive coverage of the movie
• Windjammer at the Internet Movie Database