Abstract
Using 65mm camera film, specially designed wide-angle lenses, and six-track stereo magnetic sound, the Todd-AO system was first used to film Oklahoma, which was released in 1955. The success of this and a handful of subsequent Todd-AO films led to the introduction and establishment of a new wide-film standard of 70mm, which survives today as a major format for motion-picture presentation in the theater. This article reviews the development of the Todd-AO technology from the special wide-angle lenses designed by Dr. Brian O'Brien (former Professor of Optics at the University of Rochester), the 65 mm Mitchell camera, the Philips Todd-AO dual (35/70mm) projector, and the Altec six-track magnetic sound reproducer to the system's "corrected printing technique," which eliminated distortion when wide-film images were projected onto a deeply curved screen from a high projection angle.