How The West Was Won (Cinerama funkiness)

I caught How The West Was Won on TCM the other night (early morning,
actually) and I was struck by how poorly the Cinerama format transferred
into a widescreen version (I did see it in the theater in the '60s as a kid
but I guess I'd only seen it on TV before in P&S).

Is it prohibitively expensive to clean up the old Cinerama movies so the
separations of the three "panels" don't stick out like a sore thumb? It
seems if they just applied some kind of filter to "lighten" the dark areas
and/or "darken" the light areas throughout the entire movie, everything
would blend in and it wouldn't be quite so obvious.

Actually I'm not all that crazy about HTWWW itself, but I do appreciate the
ambitiousness of this classic western and it just got me to wondering.

Dennis M

"Dennis M" <> wrote in message
news:dennmac-...
> I caught How The West Was Won on TCM the other night (early morning,
> actually) and I was struck by how poorly the Cinerama format transferred
> into a widescreen version (I did see it in the theater in the '60s as a
kid
> but I guess I'd only seen it on TV before in P&S).
>
> Is it prohibitively expensive to clean up the old Cinerama movies so the
> separations of the three "panels" don't stick out like a sore thumb? It
> seems if they just applied some kind of filter to "lighten" the dark areas
> and/or "darken" the light areas throughout the entire movie, everything
> would blend in and it wouldn't be quite so obvious.
>
> Actually I'm not all that crazy about HTWWW itself, but I do appreciate
the
> ambitiousness of this classic western and it just got me to wondering.

In this digital age, everything's possible, but cost would be
prohibitive...and there are hundreds of more regarded movies in the queue
hoping to avoid crumbling into nitrate dust. I wouldn't hold out much hope
of anything soon.

Joe McC

Joe McC wrote:

>>Is it prohibitively expensive to clean up the old Cinerama movies so the
>>separations of the three "panels" don't stick out like a sore thumb? It
>>seems if they just applied some kind of filter to "lighten" the dark areas
>>and/or "darken" the light areas throughout the entire movie, everything
>>would blend in and it wouldn't be quite so obvious.
>
> In this digital age, everything's possible, but cost would be
> prohibitive...

Which is pretty verbatim the answer we got from Warner at the studio
chats when asking about "Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" (1962).

And even then HTWWW would still be farther ahead in line.

Derek Janssen (but, y'know, "Around/80 Days", they HAD to do that one)

Derek Janssen

"Dennis M" <> wrote in message
news:dennmac-...
> I caught How The West Was Won on TCM the other night (early morning,
> actually) and I was struck by how poorly the Cinerama format transferred
> into a widescreen version (I did see it in the theater in the '60s as a
kid
> but I guess I'd only seen it on TV before in P&S).
>
> Is it prohibitively expensive to clean up the old Cinerama movies so the
> separations of the three "panels" don't stick out like a sore thumb? It
> seems if they just applied some kind of filter to "lighten" the dark areas
> and/or "darken" the light areas throughout the entire movie, everything
> would blend in and it wouldn't be quite so obvious.
>
> Actually I'm not all that crazy about HTWWW itself, but I do appreciate
the
> ambitiousness of this classic western and it just got me to wondering.
I doubt that a better video transfer of HTWWW is a high priority. Not only
is it not that important a classic, but there's really not much point in
watching it on TV. Even watching it in 35mm scope ain't the real thing.

Warners did strike a brand new, gorgeous Cinerama print last year, which can
be shown in the three theaters in the world still capable of projecting
three-strip Cinerama. Watching it on that giant screen...well, the lines are
still annoying, but the spectacle of the thing makes you overlook them--and
the weak script.

Lincoln

Lincoln Spector

There was also a TV series called How The West Was Won starring James Arness.
I thought it was terrific and would love to see it released on DVD.

John

JMas493

On Fri, 13 Aug 2004 21:24:31 GMT, "Lincoln Spector"
<> wrote:
>
>Warners did strike a brand new, gorgeous Cinerama print last year, which can
>be shown in the three theaters in the world still capable of projecting
>three-strip Cinerama. Watching it on that giant screen...well, the lines are
>still annoying, but the spectacle of the thing makes you overlook them--and
>the weak script.
>
>Lincoln
>

For many years, one if my cinematic fantasies was to see "How the West
Was Won" again in Cinerama(as I did as an 11-year-old when it first
came out). So I dragged my wife to see the above-metioned print at
the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood. We had very good, though not ideal
seats, and the screen was not as deeply curved as it should have been,
and I've watched the full-frame laser disc many tiimes, and it's not
really a very good film--but the experience was still terrific. There
were a few times when, due to lighting, action, or placement of
objects in the frame, that the lines briefly seem to disappear,
leaving an apparently seamless image filling nearly all of one's field
of vision. Those moments were truly startling. I hope they bring it
back.

Jeff

Jeff Weisend