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Cinemiracle was a widescreen cinema format competing with Cinerama developed in the 1950s. It was ultimately unsuccessful, with only a single film produced and released in the format. Like Cinerama it used 3 cameras to capture a 2.59:1 image. Cinemiracle used two mirrors to give the left and right cameras the same optical center as the middle camera. This made the joins between the projected images much less obvious than with Cinerama.
National Theatres acquired the rights to the patents and began development of a three camera system using the same system. The resulting camera was bulky at 600 pounds (272 kg)—but had a number of interesting features:
The system used a 120-degree curved screen—this is somewhat less than Cineramas 146-degree curve, and was probably because Cinerama held key on the design of deeply curved screens. However the smaller curve had the advantage of being cheaper and easier to make and install.
A film was needed to showcase the format, and this came in the shape of the travelogue Windjammer, about the actual voyage of a large sailing windjammer, the Christian Radich. Windjammer was produced by Louis De Rochemont and directed by his son Louis De Rochemont III. They had previously been involved with Cinerama Holiday, a travelogue in the similar Cinerama multi-projector format.
Jack L. Warner of Warner Brothers expressed an interest in the system and agreed to produce a film entitled The Miracle in the Cinemiracle format. However, it was later produced in Technirama instead. The patents for Cinemiracle were bought by Cinerama and effectively brought the format to an end.
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