Lawrence of Arabia (1962) 4K UHD ~ I don't care what kind of color it is, it's brilliant to look at, so whatever, everybody else was eating Technicolor's dust, anyway. Any "imperfections" in the film are so minuscule that they aren't worth discussing. The only competition that Lawrence has from 1960's restorations is 2001: A Space Odyssey, which puts both films in rarefied air. One cool thing about getting older is that age gives me a deeper appreciation for film. Watching Lawrence at the age of 21 was a different experience than today, at 48. I don't think I caught all of the sexual and mental health subtext when I was younger, yet it's not like the film shied away from these topics. Too many wow moments to mention. I can't recall ever feeling so isolated watching a film before. The desert is unforgiving.
I haven't watched it in last 3mos...but it's a beautiful release by Flicker Alley/ Blackhawk Films...
No damn way. This is the absolute worst three-strip presentation I've seen on any format. The grain is scrubbed. It's like a night at the wax museum. The DNR leaves in its trail some digital artifacts that are just a little better than Atari caliber. The matrices are misaligned. Got more halos than Jesus' twelve apostles. What a **** ing let down. The sorriest things is that this probably the best that the 2nd three-strip Technicolor film will get. I'm gonna go see The Dancing Pirate (1936) now. The 3rd three-strip feature film made.
You have to understand, Paramount sold its pre 1950 negatives to MCA Television and what happened after that is, um, too painful to go into here. Needless to say, if we get anything even just OK, it's by a ****ing miracle.
The Dancing Pirate (1936) - This was more like it, inasmuch as it didn't look as digitally manipulated as Pines. But it didn't look good either. The image does have a certain charm, though. Perhaps, it's that late-night movie veneer, seen on a color television from 1983. It's one I'd watch again. I assuredly will. I'd like to hear the commentary track. You know, I think I'll seek out the DVD of The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, or maybe not, to see if it looks any better than the BD. Meanwhile, of the first 5 three-strip Technicolor films, Becky Sharp and The Garden of Allah look the best. Ramona (1936) has not been released on Blu-ray.
Yes those Eastman House video’s are fantastic to watch. I learned a lot from them. One of the main reasons to buy these restored films is the special feature included in a lot of them about the restoration process. I still find that incredibly interesting. One of my favorites for that is The Who “Kids Are Alright” dvd. Beave
Last night wasn't a total waste in movie watching though (I'm only able to really watch on the weekends, so I pack as many as I can in). Lo and Behold, the Kanopy streaming service has 2 three-strip Technicolor films that aren't streaming anywhere else in 1080p, and not on Blu-ray. Wings of the Morning (1937) ~ I watched this last night. It was the first British three-strip feature film, sporting Ray Rennahan as the cinematographer, and Jack Cardiff as the camera operator. And let me tell you, it's a solid enough story, but an even better 1080p presentation. I think it's an Eastman dupe, but an extremely good one. I don't believe that it's sourced from an IP, like Blue Skies (1946), because Wings of the Morning has a bit of color fade, which I don't think that you'd get from an IP. Nevertheless, whatever the source, there's no mistaking that Technicolor pop, and the matrices are aligned enough for the naked eye. If this version came out on BD today, I'd be happy with it. The other is The Goldwyn Follies (1938) 1080p. I didn't watch it, because I need the time. It's a solid 2hrs. But I skimmed through it, and it's just as clear as Wings. Maybe even better. If I'm not mistaken, this one falls under WAC's umbrella, but who knows if they'll release it, or license it out to Kino, perhaps. What a windfall.
Love technicolor, especially musicals. One of my favorites currently up on The Criterion Channel: The Pirate (1948, Vincente Minelli) A girl (Judy Garland) is engaged to the local rich man (Walter Slezak), but meanwhile she has dreams about the legendary pirate Macoco. A traveling singer (Gene Kelly) falls in love with her and to impress her he poses as the pirate. It's a musical spoof on the old Hollywood pirate epics. Deliberate camp before there was such a thing. Needless to say that at the time of its release most of America didn't dig it. Shame. It's a lot fun. And Judy's comic timing was never better.
EVOLVIST, IP material is single strip color coupler FILM, and as such CAN fade - the only color film NOT color coupler AFAIK is Kodachrome. The very limited amount of stuff on YouTube for GOLDWYN FOLLIES shows a gorgeous Vera Zorina emerging from water in a one piece gold swimsuit, just beautiful! I’d buy this on blu-ray for sure. I have a budget priced (about $25) RITA HAYWORTH ULTIMATE COLLECTION on blu-ray I haven’t dug into yet: 12 films, several of which are 3-strip and I believe unavailable elsewhere … Tonight and Every Night (1945) Down to Earth (1947) The Loves of Carmen(1948) Salome (1953) You can also google Cover Girl 4K restoration for more about what you’re soon to be treated to when your Eureka! blu-ray arrives!
NickySee, THE PIRATE is a recent restoration/ release from the original 3-strip camera negatives on the Warner Archive label which I would expect to look substantially BETTER than the Criterion stream. Another recent one starring Gene Kelly and also restored from the original 3-strip negatives on Warner Archive blu-ray is THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1948) - thedigitalbits website put up a review of the disc a couple of days ago.
Cool, yeah Wings could be an IP then. It looks damn good. Of course it could be a lot better if there's enough of the OG source to restore; still, I was entirely captivated. Dude, you should spot-check the Hayworth discs for us. I'd totally be in for that set if they looked good. Be a pal. For $25 bones that sounds like a steal. Speaking of Eureka! Masters of Cinema, a friend ripped me his The Gang's All Here (1943), which is supposed to be great looking. That's on the agenda tonight. I don't usually go for rips, but I'm not paying $100+ for any BD. If a reissue is made I'll be the first in line to purchase. Also on the double-feature slate is The Black Pirate (1926), for two-color, Process Two, goodness. I got a copy of that OOP disc on the cheap. So, about pirates. I just watched The Dancing Pirate, now The Black Pirate, but I've owned The Pirate with Gene Kelly for a few months now. Kelly's number "Nina" is worth the price of admission, alone. Yeah, the film is awfully syrupy, but Kelly's dancing is always money. Hardcore money.
Glorious Technicolor (1998, Peter Jones) Angela Lansbury narrates this history of color photography in motion pictures, in particular the Technicolor company's work.
NickySee, The doc looks great, thanks! It’s a little too close to bedtime now to fully appreciate - I’ll watch it all, probably tomorrow. EVOLVIST, The Rita Hayworth set isn’t accessible at this time - it’s about 2/3 down an approximately 28” tall stack, which itself sits BEHIND another similarly tall stack, both of which are FLANKED by similar stacks. I’ll get to it … eventually! I read through the 5 pages of a thread at HTF about this, the consensus seems to be that Down to Earth is good, Tonight and Every Night is better, and best is Loves of Carmen and Salome. Since I didn’t have those titles in ANY form I don’t think 25 bucks + tax was a stretch for FOUR of them - like I said, I’ll take what I can get! I think you’ll love the Eureka Gang’s All Here - I thought the Twilight Time disc was excessively contrasty. Neither one comes from original elements which are apparently gone.
Yeah, it's Fox. They destroyed all of their original negatives to my understanding. The Gang's All Here has some great songs! It's not a bad story, either, although its told in a flimsy manner. I really enjoyed it. The performances are what makes it. Benny Goodman and orchestra were on fire! Tony Demarco looks clumsy on the dance floor. He's no Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly, that's for sure. RE: the Rita Hayworth box, yes, it's a no brainer. I don't have The Lady From Shanghai (1947) on BD, and that one is $14.99, alone, so when you part them out, the box is a steal. I'm returning The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, anyway, therefore, that's most of the box's price. Shame on Universal for doing that to this release. A 2022 release at that!
EVOLVIST, One of the things I didn’t mention about the Rita Hayworth Ultimate Collection (because it’s B&W!) is that pretty much everyone who’s commented on transfer quality singles out “Affair in Trinidad” as being especially fine, I don’t recall comments about “Lady from Shanghai.” Mixed comments about “Pal Joey” vs. the OOP Twilight Time I also have. By the way, “You’ll Never Get Rich” DOES feature Fred Astaire! chlboa, You reminded of an ancient Playboy magazine cartoon I saved which I think is somewhere deep in my bedroom closet: It depicts a man in an easy chair watching a TV showing colorful dancing girls and saying something like “This is incredible, I’ll never watch real life again!” <g>
I have a question. In Technicolor, when the camera pans, does the color temperature on the other side of the frame sometimes change a bit? Like there is suddenly more blue in part of the frame? If so, is it because the camera is moving past a light?
With the two-color films you could use some of the AI color restore algorithms and get a more three-color look. I don't mean those horrid colorizations tools that make everything purple or peach but the better ones that proporly set skin tones like the one at MyHeritage. Example of color corrected and enhanced Bing Crosby http://www.northtexasfossils.com/beatles/both.jpg
Really? Because I have seen it but didn't know what caused the color shift. I read that the color sometimes shift from frame to frame.
If the camera is moving away and leaving part of the frame in shadow, shouldn't the blue values increase a bit?
I don't know what accounts for color pulses in three-strip, but they happen. I've not seen color pulses in a full blown restorations, but plenty of them in scans of prints, of various gens away from the OG source.
Beats the hell out of me. I haven't gotten that far yet. I wouldn't think it's misaligned matrices, but maybe so.
