Rolla by Rotoscope, program shares story of local inventors nearly changing history

Bold and ahead of its time, rotoscope technology offered local audiences an IMAX-like experience in an age of black-and-white television. Along the way, Carney and Smith also filmed hours of local people and views. Today, this footage represents some of the most unique historical artifacts in all of Missouri. 

“They were both tinkerers and inventors,” says Kathleen Seale, senior archivist at the Rolla Research Center. “Basically, what happened is Rowe went to New York and viewed Cinerama on Broadway. He thought, ‘We can do better than that.’ ‘We can make that better.’ The truth is, they really did.” 

Cinerama was a filmmaking system that debuted in the 1950s which used three cameras to simultaneously film scenes, and then three projectors to show movies in theaters on a 146-degree curved screen. The technique could create a breathtaking epic vista within a cinema, but also had limitations. Requiring three synchronized devices meant if one faulted, then all had to be reset. Additionally, jittering vertical lines were sometimes evident during showings where the three projected images joined on screen.   

Rowe Carney and Tom F. Smith saw the potential of immersive cinema and together developed a perfection of Cinerama based on their expertise. Carney had cut his teeth in the theater business at Phelps County’s Arlington resort town before later owning several local movie venues. He was also trained as a projectionist for the US Army during World War II. Smith was ostensibly his competition as operator of several regional drive-in theaters. Far from being enemies, the two were friends. Moreover, when Carney was struck by his vision to improve Cinerama, they became business partners. 

“This was an era when the movie business was just exploding,” Seale says. “They both really felt like they had something completely unique and revolutionary, and that they could pitch. … They even obtained national and international patents for their inventions.” 

Carney and Smith’s inspiration was solving Cinerama’s drawbacks by having three images captured by one camera using film strips divided into three cells. When shown in theaters, a single rotoscope projector would further bring films to life in a 180-degree spectrum. For the full effect, audiences were seated within the bend of a full half-circle. 

“The engineering alone is amazing,” Seale says. “I know they used several different kinds of lenses and even different kinds of mirrors to get the proper clarity. When they got to the screen, they realized they couldn't use standard movie screen fabric because the arc would lead to light bouncing off one side to the other causing glares. They actually ended up developing their own texture.” 

When Rowe and Smith perfected the rotoscope they began filming demo reels of its potential around Missouri. They even invented a vehicle rig to have a rotoscope mounted on a car for action scenes. The Carney-owned downtown Rollamo Theater was additionally retrofit with a curved screen so their movies could be shown to audiences. A roadshow was further developed to facilitate rotoscope broadcasts outdoors. 

“They have all sorts of promotions and right here in Rolla hosted movie theater owners and executives from Hollywood to come see showings,” Seale says. “There were rave reviews. A lot of people were amazed by it. They were really impressed, but at the same time, I think there was also a kind of sense of ‘What can we do with it?' 'How do we marketize this?' … The problem is you’d have to completely retrofit an entire theater to be able to show movies in rotoscope, and it will only be able to show those kinds of films. Everybody was really hesitant, and movie producers thought there was too much risk. No one wanted to be the first to take that step.” 

The rotoscope never found the big break to take its revolution to a national audience. However, by the 20th Century’s end, the spirit of Carney and Smith’s innovation would be proved prescient with the advent of IMAX, dome theaters and other immersive cinema concepts. What the duo did achieve is creating an amazing record of mid-20th Century life throughout Missouri.  

“Most of the footage I've seen is just them cruising around town,” Seale says. “The more notable ones are here in Rolla and show the university, Pine Street and Route 66. There is one in Jefferson City where you get to see the Capitol in the 1960s as well as the state penitentiary. He also goes tootling along Olive Street in St. Louis so you see the old stores and shops that used to be there. Just the cars along the street are amazing.” 

In the decades after the rotoscope became outmoded, the Carney family kept the device and old demo reels safe as an heirloom. Rowe’s son, Gene Carney, later donated the rotoscope artifacts to the State Historical Society of Missouri so they could be professionally preserved. The collection includes the mechanical devices, patents, film prints and promotional materials. 

Through the Rolla Research Center, Seale obtained a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation so four of Carney and Smith’s 50 demo reels could be restored and digitized for modern audiences. During the Sept. 21 program, those films will be screened, with some shown publicly for the first time ever. 

“We have a lot of diaries here [in the archives], but this work is so much more than that, especially with being on the science and technology campus,” Seale says. “I really want to push and promote, and bring in more collections that focus on that innovation you see across Missouri. There's some pretty amazing stuff Missourians have done, even right here outside our door.” 

The Sept. 21 program, Rotoscope: 180 Degree View, will be broadcast via Zoom. Visit https://shsmo.org/events/2021/rotoscope to register and view the event. 

“My hope is to introduce people to Rotoscope and the progress we’ve made so far as far as the preservation and digitization of everything,” Seale concludes. “Possibly next spring, or later, we’d actually like to do a full viewing and splice together some of those digitized films to host a screening. My next hurdle is how does one make a curved screen?” 

For more information about the State Historical Society of Missouri’s Rolla Research Center and its archive email sealek@shsmo.org or call (573) 341-4440.