Ultra Panavision 70

Ultra Panavision 70 is an anamorphic 70mm film process with a very wide aspect ratio of 2.76:1 and six-channel stereo magnetic sound. Originally named MGM Camera 65, it was designed by Douglas Shearer of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Robert Gottschalk of Panavision – but ultimately, it was only used on the shooting of nine feature films between 1956 and 1965. The format was designed for flexibility – the easy extraction of 35mm reduction prints, and other formats, theoretically made it compatible with all pre-existing widescreen systems. 

The origins of the technology can be traced back to 1953, when staff from Todd-AO were brought in by MGM, Culver City, CA, to carry out development testing on the 70mm process. At the time, the Hollywood studio was using Fox's CinemaScope for its widescreen productions. But, for the monumental remake of its 1925 historical epic Ben-Hur (not released until 1959, but already in its planning stages), the use of a competitor's widescreen technology was simply not an option. As head of MGM's Research and Development department, Shearer chose to team up with Robert Gottschalk and Richard Moore, the recent founders of Panavision Inc., a firm that specialized in the design and production of a range of anamorphic lenses that Shearer greatly admired. 

As indicated in an August 1955 memo (Shearer, 1955), the plan was to develop a 65mm process running at 24 fps (unlike the original Todd-AO spec of 30 fps), no significant image distortion (unlike CinemaScope) and, above all, improved definition, capable of producing quality copies for all types of projection (three-strip Cinerama, 70mm, anamorphic 35mm, etc.) (Lightman, 1960: p. 163). The Panavision engineers, including Tak Miyagishima, took on the task of adapting and soundproofing seven old Mitchell FC Grandeur 70mm cameras (dating from the late 1920s) to handle 65mm film with a frame five-perforations tall (Lipton, 2021: p. 573), while Walter Wallin developed a lens producing image anamorphosis at a 1.25 compression ratio. For projection in movie theaters, the same arrangement of six magnetic tracks used for the Todd-AO system were chosen.

Early test shoots carried out by Panavision in 1956 were positively conclusive. The process appeared ready for production, but the shooting of Ben-Hur was not, so director of photography Robert Surtees was the first use it, on the historical drama Raintree County (1957). Originally named “Ultra Panavision” by Gottschalk, the studio instead chose to brand the process “MGM Camera 65”, as stated in the film's opening credits. But the film was never released, as intended, on 70mm prints. It was only seen in a 35mm anamorphic version, with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio and mag-opt sound. Theaters equipped for 70mm were being monopolized at the time by the Todd-AO hit feature Around the World in 80 Days (Lightman, 1960: p. 163).

Ben-Hur, shot at the Cinecittà Studios in Rome with six of Panavision's available 65mm cameras, did premiere in anamorphic 70mm with a 2.76:1 aspect ratio, on November 18, 1959, at Loew's State Theatre in New York City (a theatre owned and run by MGM’s parent company). The film was a huge success and was also released in non-anamorphic 70mm (with a 2.55:1 ratio) and subsequently in anamorphic 35mm with 2.50:1 ratio, with masking. Ben-Hur went on to win eleven Oscars in 1960, while Gottschalk, Moore and Shearer were awarded the “Scientific and Technical Achievement” award for their MGM Camera 65 format (Scot, 1960: p. 302).

Towards the end of 1960, the studio planned to use the system again for another blockbuster remake, Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), but as a result of the film's mounting production delays and spiraling costs, in 1961 MGM was forced to sell-off several in-house departments to its competitors to offset the eye-watering overspends. The studio sold its camera department to Panavision, who in turn rented the equipment back to MGM. Miyagishima of Panavision worked on lightening the cameras and further refining their lenses, while the company re-introduced the original name, Ultra Panavision 70 – as seen in the film's credits – when Bounty was eventually released in December 1962. Sadly, the film proved to be the final production to be released in true anamorphic 70mm.

Although Ultra Panavision 70 continued to be used to shoot some films in 65mm during the early 1960s, other competing processes were ultimately used. In 1962, the format was used to shoot some of the action scenes (and rear projections) for How the West Was Won (1962), which was primarily shot in three-strip Cinerama (Lipton, 2021: p. 538). Indeed, some of the battle scenes illustrating the American Civil War were built-up using repurposed footage from Raintree County. The following year, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) was shot in Ultra Panavision, though it was distributed in the single strip 70mm Cinerama format. This was also the case for several other films shot in Ultra Panavision in the middle of that decade, except for The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), which was shot in Ultra Panavision 70, but only screened on 70mm with a 2.20:1 ratio and on standard 35mm.

The unwieldy size of the cameras put off many producers, and Ultra Panavision was shelved in fairly short order .... but, not for good! Almost 50 years later, cinematographer Robert Richardson persuaded the director Quentin Tarantino to shoot his The Hateful Eight (2015) in 65mm using the long dormant Ultra Panavision 70 process. Since then, the original Ultra Panavision lenses have been used for digital shoots such as Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019). For Sinners (2025), Ryan Coogler combined both 65mm IMAX film and Ultra Panavision 70.

But, despite its limited and sporadic use over the years, the Ultra Panavision 70 format will forever be remembered as a turning point in the history of the Panavision. Having taken up the challenge of developing an extra-wide large-format process of unparalleled quality, Panavision asserted itself on the professional camera market for decades to come.