Sinatra LP Question and "Around The World In 80 Days" movie question

Capitol talked of lawsuits unless Reprise changed the title 'cause the old title was too close to the new Capitol release, so they did....

Someone else can fill in the blanks here. I'm off to a screening of "Around The World In 80 Days'. 24 frame/mag stereo/perspecta IB Technicolor long version from 1956. Music by Victor Young. My favorite score!!!

Back later...

 

Around The World In Eighty Days was filmed in 30 frame and 24 frame versions, each with different "takes".

The 24 frame version is the most common, but the film was cut by a good deal in 1968, and this is the version that is called the "long" version, because (alas) the film was cut again in 1980 (the "short" version).

So the REAL long version is the 1956 release "roadshow" version.

Mag stereo means that the film was coated with little magnetic strips on either side which contain the four (or six) channels of music, dialogue, surround sound.

Perspecta means that the surround channel was encoded to jump from left rear speaker to right speaker by special tones, ABOVE AND BEYOND the front stereo seperation. So that if a train is going by behind you, you can hear it move behind you from right to left. This was a big deal in 1956, let me tell you. You need a "Perspecta Box" to have this done correctly.

And, finally IB Technicolor. This is the true process, the one we know and love. The 70mm release prints of "Eighty Days" have all faded to pink, because they were processed in Eastman Color, and that process is unstable. BUT, the 35mm versions were processed in true Technicolor, therefore, the color looks as amazing today as it did when released. Technicolor was unable to process in 70mm back then, so that is why the 35mm prints are so cherished today, even though the ACTING IN THE 35MM VERSION IS CONSIDERED JUST A REHERSAL FOR THE 70MM 30 FRAME VERSION!

So, I had a good time at the screening.

The music by Victor Young is amazing. He pretty much gave his life for this score. By the time he was awarded the Oscar for it, he was dead.

It's my favorite.

 

There will be a DVD of "80 Days", but it won't be Tech. They will strike a new Eastman print from the 24 frame edited negative and use that. HOPEFULLY, they will at least edit in the missing scenes from a surviving Tech 1956 print.

Jeff Joseph of SabuCat Productions (the World's largest movie trailer collection) and I unearthed the actual Todd-AO six channel print master to "80 Days" some years ago, and had it shipped over to Warner Bros. sound dept. So they have it. Whether they will actually sync it up to the negative is anyone's guess. God, I hope so. This is probably the only movie that ever won the Oscar for Best Picture that is in such BAD shape.

 

Angel,

In the old days, when a "roadshow" version of a film was being prepared for release, it meant that the soundtrack of the movie was going to be "striped" on an actual print of the film AFTER it was developed. The little mag stripes were put on the film and then the "Print Master" was threaded up and copied onto the little mag stripes of the movie, in real time.

Yep, they did this for EVERY mag stereo print, both 35 and 70mm. Took weeks.

The "Print Master" of "Around The World In 80 Days" has six channels of sound. Five for the front of the screen and one for the surround channels.

If you've ever seen a real "Todd-AO" movie in a theatre, it is really amazing. I think the last one I saw was "The Sound Of Music" when I was a kid. Since there are FIVE discrete channels behind the screen, the range of movement is really amazing. The sound of the orchestra is truly awesome. The late Fred Hynes developed the Todd-AO (American Optical) 6 channel Westrex recording system. Jeff and I got to spend some time with him at Todd-AO studio B just before he died. A great guy and an amazing recording engineer!

Those were the good old days of movie sound. Nothing more awesome than hearing and seeing a 70mm magnetic striped film being projected correctly in some big theatre. Brings tears to the eyes!

 

Mikey,

The Glenn Miller Story MUSIC was recorded in three stripe 35mm mag at the Universal Scoring Stage in late 1953.

The "Roadshow" prints of the film were 35mm 4 track mag. So, the left, center and right channels were a combination of the music in stereo and the sound effects and dialog in mono. The fourth track was the surround music.

Ya have to give Universal credit for trying back then.

Paramount, for example, never DID get it together stereo mag wise!