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The History of American Cinema: 1953

January - June

21/1 -

Henry Hathaway’s Niagara, starring an increasingly popular Marilyn Monroe playing opposite Joseph Cotten as her embittered husband, is released.   The posters scream, "Marilyn Monroe and Niagara -- a raging torrent of emotion that even nature can't control!" [ADD]

26/1 -

Rita Hayworth obtains a divorce from Prince Aly Khan in Reno, Nevada, after less than four years of marriage.  In an interview in September 1952 she stated, “impossible to continue with a marriage which has brought nothing but unhappiness. I want a divorce." [ADD]

1/2 -

20^th Century-Fox announces that all its films will be made in their new widescreen process, CinemaScope.   The aspect ratio is set at 2.66:1. [ADD]

5/3 -

Screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, brother of writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, dies of uremic poisoning in Hollywood at the age of 56.   He wrote more than 70 screenplays, including Citizen Kane (1941), Dinner at Eight (1933) and The Pride of the Yankees (1942) in a career spanning four decades. [ADD]

18/3 -

MGM chooses to use 20^th Century-Fox’s CinemaScope process under licence rather than develop its own.   Other studios follow suit to create an industry standard. [ADD]

19/3 -

The 25^th Annual Academy Awards are held at the RKO Pantages Theater in Hollywood.   The ceremony is shown on TV to 80 million viewers for the first time in its history. [MORE]

23/3 -

Fritz Lang’s The Blue Gardenia is released.   Anne Baxter stars in this atmospheric noir thriller opposite Richard Conte.   Raymond Burr also features. [ADD]

14/4 -

20^th Century-Fox sign an exclusive contract with optical manufacturer Bausch & Lomb to produce anamorphic lenses for CinemaScope, after finding shortcomings with the Chrétien lenses they originally acquired. [ADD]

17/4 -

Mary Elizabeth Vroman becomes the first black woman to join the Writers Guild of America after her adaptation of her own short story, Bright Road, is picked up by MGM.   The films marks the screen debut of Harry Belafonte. [ADD]

18/4 -

Something Fishy, the last Mickey Mouse short, is released. [ADD]

23/4 -

Alan Ladd’s flagging career receives a boost with the release of George Stevens’ Western, Shane.   He plays a mysterious loner protecting homesteader Van Heflin and his family (including young Brandon de Wilde) from hired killer Jack Palance. [ADD]

25/4 -

20th Century-Fox hold a trade and press demonstration of their new widescreen CinemaScope process on a 65ft x 25ft screen at the Roxy Theater in New York. [ADD]

25/4 -

Andre de Toth’s House of Wax, the first 3D film with stereo dialogue, is released by Warner Bros. [ADD]

7/5 -

In Washington, Robert Rossen, who had previously refused to give testimony to the HUAC hearings, admits to having been a member of the communist party from 1937 to 1947 and names 57 other communist sympathisers. [ADD]

25/5 -

The ultra-cheap 3D sci-fi flick It Came From Outer Space is released.   At some screenings, the audience is showered with foam rocks to simulate the landslide taking place on screen. [ADD] 

28/5 -

Melody, the first 3D animated short, is produced.   It is the first in the short-lived ‘Adventures in Music’ series (only one other was made). [ADD]

4/6 -

Joseph L. Manckiewicz’s screen adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, starring Marlon Brando, James Mason and John Gielgud, is released. [ADD]

5/6 -

Dooley Wilson, piano-playing singer of ‘As Time Goes By’ in Casablanca, dies of natural causes. [ADD]

11/6 -

20^th Century-Fox reduces the aspect ratio of CinemaScope from 2.66:1 to 2.55:1.   The sprocket holes are also slightly reduced from the industry standard to allow for four magnetic-stripe sound tracks. [ADD]

The History of Cinema: 1953