The film includes scenes of a roller coaster, then moves on to a scene of the temple dance from Aida, views of Niagara Falls, a choir, scenes of the canals of Venice, a military tattoo in Edinburgh, a bullfight, more from Aida, a sound demonstration in stereo, scenes from the amusement park in Cypress Gardens, Florida for a water skiing sequence, and the playing of America the Beautiful as scenes are shown from the nose of a low flying B-25.
The film is narrated by travel writer Lowell Thomas. It was directed by Merian C. Cooper, Gunther von Fritsch, Ernest B. Schoedsack (uncredited) and Michael Todd Jr (uncredited). Cooper and Schoedsack had long experience with special movies, dating all the way back to King Kong.
This is Cinerama was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.
Because the new technology required a special setup of three projectors and multiple soundtracks, the film's distribution was also revolutionary. It was shown in a single theater in most cities, with reserved seats, and lengthy runs. The same distribution model was used by Imax films starting in the late 1990s.