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Post by morrisondylanfan on Dec 22, 2019 3:25:36 GMT
The opening title proclaims, “Paramount proudly presents the first picture in VistaVision.” Not that it did me any good, because the video I watched was full screen. Can't say for sure about the copy you watched, but you might not have missed any picture area in full screen. VistaVision was a flexible system that was designed to be shot in aspect ratios ranging from the standard 4:3 to as wide as 2:1, and could be exposed either with an aperture plate to capture only a selected aspect ratio, or full frame with a "safe area" within it for projection screen masking. VistaVision was more about image quality than picture size or shape. By running the negative horizontally through the camera rather than vertically, with a frame eight-perforations wide instead of one four perfs high, it exposed twice the picture area of standard 35mm, and yielded a finer-grained image when printed down to standard 35 for theaters.  Paramount's sales pitch to exhibitors was that it required no special equipment or modifications, but it never caught on with other studios, and only a handful of non-Paramount VistaVision titles were produced before the process was retired as a production medium in 1961. But because of the superior quality of the images it produced, it remained in use by special effects houses for decades to accomplish complex composite shots with minimal loss of image quality. When first mastered for home video, some VistaVision titles were done full frame even though they'd been designed to be screened with only the safe area visible. An early home video release of North By Northwest (one of only two VistaVision features made at MGM) was an example, and some shots revealed the tops of sound stage sets that were never meant to be seen by audiences. EDIT: Just for fun, here's a clip of scenes from that film with the proper aspect ratio highlighted at the center, but revealing the areas seen beyond the safe area in full frame. Thank you for a excellent, really informative post Dog. With you mentioning about early releases of Hitch's North with the top of sound stages visible,I was wondering if there are any major VistaVision titles, which have still not been presented in their original ratio,on DVD/Blu? Thanks.
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Post by twothousandonemark on Dec 22, 2019 6:18:19 GMT
Probably its most enduring trait is helping make Christmas movies a genre of its own.
Otherwise, I'd just tune in for the title song.
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Post by louise on Dec 22, 2019 10:16:54 GMT
I quite like it, though it gets a bit too sentimental for my taste. Danny Kaye and Big Crosby doing 'Sisters' is my favourite bit.
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Post by Doghouse6 on Dec 22, 2019 18:05:03 GMT
Thank you for a excellent, really informative post Dog. With you mentioning about early releases of Hitch's North with the top of sound stages visible,I was wondering if there are any major VistaVision titles, which have still not been presented in their original ratio,on DVD/Blu? Thanks. And thanks awfully for your kindness. In return for it, I did a little homework, and compared the list of 75 Paramount titles, along with the couple dozen others (all but six of which were non-U.S. productions) against availability on the Blu-ray.com site. And the answer is: precious few. In addition to White Christmas and all of Hitchcock's VistaVision titles, only these 14 (in chronological order) are available: The Rose TattooRun For CoverStrategic Air CommandThe MountainThe Ten CommandmentsWar and PeaceFunny FaceGunfight At the O.K. CorralThe BuccaneerRock-A-Bye BabyOne-Eyed JacksNon-Paramount: Richard IIIThe SearchersThe Pride and the PassionThere are some that have been suitably mastered for Blu-ray, of which I've seen gorgeous HD broadcasts, but which still languish without releases. Among those are: The Desperate HoursWe're No AngelsThe Court JesterHigh SocietyThe RainmakerHouseboatKing CreoleThe MatchmakerIt Happened In NaplesIt was decades before the term "high definition" came into use; back in those mid-'50s days, Paramount's VistaVision logo carried the legend, "Motion Picture High Fidelity," the idea being that the process did for film what long-playing LPs and FM radio did for sound reproduction. I'll add that Paramount's color VistaVision releases always looked better than those from other studios like MGM due to their in-house specs that release prints be manufactured in Technicolor's dye transfer printing process, as opposed to using the cheaper Eastman system. North By Northwest, for example, simply doesn't dazzle the eye in the way To Catch A Thief does (the credits say "Technicolor," but it merely indicates the lab that made the prints).
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Post by wmcclain on Dec 22, 2019 20:28:42 GMT
Strategic Air CommandThe Ten CommandmentsThe Searchers I remember these as having exceptionally fine images on Blu-ray.
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Post by Doghouse6 on Dec 24, 2019 3:13:19 GMT
Strategic Air CommandThe Ten CommandmentsThe Searchers I remember these as having exceptionally fine images on Blu-ray. None of which I've seen in their entirety, although I did take a look at a bit of TCM's on-demand HD copy of The Searchers (likely from the same master used for Blu-ray) just last night. Spectacular; nearly 3-D in the presence and immediacy of its vivid imagery, giving the feeling you could reach out and almost touch the performers. It was the only film Warners' produced in the process. I wonder how that came about.
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Post by joekiddlouischama on Dec 25, 2019 7:04:32 GMT
I have seen White Christmas three times in the theater over the last five years—in December 2014, December 2017, and December 2019—and I have liked it more on each occasion. I consider the film "good," and perhaps what really makes it work is that it constitutes the rare musical (of sorts) that is unpretentious and genuinely humorous. And the ages of the actors do not bother me—indeed, consider that early on, the Danny Kaye character tells the Bing Crosby character something like, "If you don't find someone now, by the time that you do there won't be anything worth having." So, in that sense, the film acknowledges the ticking nature of Crosby's romantic viability. (That said, the Kaye character's gawkiness and hesitancy in a major scene with the Vera-Ellen character is indeed implausibly adolescent in nature.)
My one modernist critique would be that the film could have used some location shooting, actually showcasing Vermont or a reasonable facsimile. But in a romantic comedy, that aspect is not vital. The songs are melodic and sumptuously comedic, the dancing is athletic, and director Michael Curtiz provides technical grace. Plus, even a few years before Some Like It Hot, there is a little hint at the notion of "gay marriage," thus making White Christmas all the more humorous.
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Post by joekiddlouischama on Dec 25, 2019 7:09:46 GMT
White Christmas (1954), directed by Michael Curtiz. - Vera-Ellen ... Her long legs are of proportions normally found only in glamor illustrations.
In one of the dancing scenes, the viewer sees so much of her legs that it is rather raunchy and risqué—quite sensual.
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Post by hi224 on Dec 25, 2019 23:21:00 GMT
It’s cheesy, predictable...say what you want. But it’s one of 2-3 Christmas films I will watch over and over any time it’s on. One other is Holiday Inn, which shares some of the songs of white Christmas, notably the title tune and Abraham , and the bridge from Holiday inn dropped into Count your blessings. The last is Scrooge, the Alastair Sim version of the Christmas Carol. In all three cases it’s the score and the voices that keep me coming back. Say what you like about the script of White Christmas , the story may be thin, but it’s very witty. Danny Kaye and Bing Crosby are a surprisingly good combination and they land all the jokes with finesse. The dancing is thrilling with a Bob Fosse number thrown in uncredited ( I think it’s the jazz tap Abraham) Vera Ellen is remarkably versatile, moving from Ballet to adagio to jazz to real tap . Please stop spreading the falsehood that Vera Ellen was anorexic. It’s been dealt with over and over. Fhellow Cincinnatian George Chakiris scored a hit in the chorus of Love You Didn’t do Right By Me. The one number that really seems cheesy to me is the grand finale. In a town like Los Angeles full of dancing schools they could not find better child dancers that those squinty- eyed camera shy twerps? And the knight statue Bing gave to Rosie, really awful. yeah for me its White Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, and not to mention It's a Wonderful Life.
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Post by marshamae on Dec 26, 2019 17:53:31 GMT
Oh forgot Miracle on 34th Street Irresistable!
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Post by hi224 on Dec 26, 2019 18:32:54 GMT
Oh forgot Miracle on 34th Street Irresistable! we need another new xmas classic soon, i suppose Noelle could be?.
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Post by snsurone on Dec 26, 2019 20:21:00 GMT
Paramount originally wanted to re-team Bing Crosby with Fred Astaire, since they worked so well together in HOLIDAY INN and BLUE SKIES, although they were both mediocre films.
But by that time, Fred was under contract to MGM, and Dore Schary refused to lend him out for a "side-kick" role.
So, Danny Kaye was a last minute replacement.
The author of one of my movie books (sorry, I can't remember either one; I'll rummage through my library some day) said this movie contains "...a plot so sticky it could serve as flypaper,...".
But this author really despised three performers: Danny Kaye, Kathryn Grayson, and Frank Sinatra.
He had nothing good to say about any of them.
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