A Few Words About A few words about...™ Cabaret -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Aaron Silverman]

The stereo on the new Blu-ray, which sounds superb, and had me questioning what I was hearing, as I was aware that the original tracks did nor survive, was created from the mono mag, separating the vocals on one channel, from the composite M/EFX on the other. It all works to add some nice dimensionality.

I *think* I am misunderstanding you. . .are you saying that the new stereo mix has the vocals and dialogue on one side, and the music and effects on the other? As in left and right?

 

[Rob_Ray]

The film script is so much better than the original play that it is hard to see anyone going back willingly. Do we really want "An Ordinary Couple" returning? Or move "My Favorite Things" back to its original place?

Actually, yes I do. No one loves the 1965 film more than I, but if I want the 1965 alterations, I'll watch the 1965 film. I've never seen the stage play and this is a great opportunity to record it for posterity and provide a reason for those only familiar with the film version to revisit the story.

 

[Robert Harris]

Originally Posted by Aaron Silverman
I *think* I am misunderstanding you. . .are you saying that the new stereo mix has the vocals and dialogue on one side, and the music and effects on the other? As in left and right?

No. I'm saying that the music was nicely mixed to the sides in mono, with the dx where it should be.
The thought reminds me of the early stereo Beatles recordings.

 

[Mark-P]

I guess it would be too much to hope that the original scoring sessions of Cabaret are sitting in someone's basement to be discovered like they were for Vertigo?

 

[Bryan^H]

From image harvest, to digital clean-up and removal of the errant scratch, one would never know that they aren't viewing a scan from an original negative.  The image quality is that good! Color accurately represents the best 1972 dye transfer prints, with among the richest blacks you'll see on a Blu-ray.  I was immediately thinking of Mr. Brando's tuxedo in the opening of The Godfather, or a similar richness seen in The Red Shoes.  Shadow detail is exemplary.  Grain structure is magnificent.  Bottom line is that Geoffrey Unsworth's velvety, contrasty, colorful imagery is reproduced to perfection. Audio in DTS-HD MA 5.1 is rich and full.

Music to my ears.

 

[KMR]

I've also seen the film version with Brian saying F-maximillian rather than screw maximillian. All video versions seem to have "screw" max at that point.

"Screw" is the word that I distinctly remember from a 16mm print I saw sometime around 1982. I never had any reason to assume that wasn't how it was originally released.

 

[ahollis]

I saw the film in Washington DC at the Janus Theatre in its original release (I remember the support collum n the middle if the theatre). I recall the word being "Screw". However it has been a long time. If the F - word was used and in the context it was meant, the film surely would have had an R rating when released in 1972. The film was rated PG.

 

[bujaki]

"Screw" and I saw it first run in Puerto Rico, where we got foreign release prints that were not as encumbered by the Production Code as stateside prints.

 

[haineshisway]

I've also seen the film version with Brian saying F-maximillian rather than screw maximillian. All video versions seem to have "screw" max at that point. Just a quick request from anyone who has seen this new disc: is the F-word used at this point?

The only way, and I mean ONLY way you could have ever seen Cabaret with the F-word was if you saw an early preview, which would have pre-dated the release of the film by six months, which is what I saw. Directly after that preview when the film was submitted for rating and would have been given an "R", the line was re-dubbed with "screw" and that has been the only version ever heard once the film was released. The final mixdown to mono only had "screw" - the F-word was long gone.

 

[Michael1]

The sad thing is, since the musical material on the true stereo soundtrack album of CABARET almost exactly matches what's heard in the film itself, the stereo album masters might have been used to recreate the film's songs in true stereo for the Blu-Ray -- BUT that probably wouldn't have worked very well, because (1) there's a lot of reverb in the vocals on the album, (2) there's also a lot of left-right stereo separation of the vocals on the album that doesn't necessarily match the singers' positions in the film, and (3) all of the FX would have had to be added back into the mix, and I'm not sure that they are available on a separate track without the music.

 

[Robert Harris]

The sad thing is, since the musical material on the true stereo soundtrack album of CABARET almost exactly matches what's heard in the film itself, the stereo album masters might have been used to recreate the film's songs in true stereo for the Blu-Ray -- BUT that probably wouldn't have worked very well, because (1) there's a lot of reverb in the vocals on the album, (2) there's also a lot of left-right stereo separation of the vocals on the album that doesn't necessarily match the singers' positions in the film, and (3) all of the FX would have had to be added back into the mix, and I'm not sure that they are available on a separate track without the music.

Apparently no stems survive, per Mr. Price's research. Only mag was mono mixed Mx/Fx.

 

[Michael1]

Thank you, RAH. That's unfortunate. But at least if anyone wants to hear the music in stereo, they can get the soundtrack album, which sounds quite excellent.

 

[bryan4999]

The sad thing is, since the musical material on the true stereo soundtrack album of CABARET almost exactly matches what's heard in the film itself, the stereo album masters might have been used to recreate the film's songs in true stereo for the Blu-Ray -- BUT that probably wouldn't have worked very well, because (1) there's a lot of reverb in the vocals on the album, (2) there's also a lot of left-right stereo separation of the vocals on the album that doesn't necessarily match the singers' positions in the film, and (3) all of the FX would have had to be added back into the mix, and I'm not sure that they are available on a separate track without the music.

I believe that is how they restored the stereo tracks for GYPSY.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

No.  I'm saying that the music was nicely mixed to the sides in mono, with the dx where it should be. The thought reminds me of the early stereo Beatles recordings.

Ah, so the music in mono in the L/R channels and vox in the center, then? I am glad to have been mistaken.

 

[Malcolm Bmoor]

In two hours from now CABARET will be on one of the BBC's HD channels. I'll be asleep whilst it's recording and will be in suspense to discover if it's a preview of the latest incarnation, as reviewed here, or the usual old version.

 

[Malcolm Bmoor]

Well - were you all in suspense? The answer is that not even the orchestra was beautiful. The BBC were showing in HD the traditional old version with grainy far from HD worthy picture and optical sounding mono sound. I knew from the first second when the titles had a slight weave that I'm sure will have been steadied in the new version. The Blu-ray revelation awaits me.

 

[Phoebus]

The only way, and I mean ONLY way you could have ever seen Cabaret with the F-word was if you saw an early preview, which would have pre-dated the release of the film by six months, which is what I saw. Directly after that preview when the film was submitted for rating and would have been given an "R", the line was re-dubbed with "screw" and that has been the only version ever heard once the film was released. The final mixdown to mono only had "screw" - the F-word was long gone.

I saw this alternate version when I was a student in the UK in the early 1980s. It was probably a 16mm version since it was being shown in a different room to our usual 35mm projector. I dont recall any other key differences apart from this alteration in language. Not having seen the movie in the 70s I just assumed that was what an audience of that time would have encountered.

 

[haineshisway]

I saw this alternate version when I was a student in the UK in the early 1980s. It was probably a 16mm version since it was being shown in a different room to our usual 35mm projector. I dont recall any other key differences apart from this alteration in language. Not having seen the movie in the 70s I just assumed that was what an audience of that time would have encountered.

Sorry to disagree, but your memory is playing tricks on you - you could not have seen it with the F-word, because the F-word was part of the printed mono mix of the film anywhere. They replaced it before the final mono mix down was done and it simply does not exist anymore and never has outside of the separate mag used for the early previews - and, as we all know, that mag is lost now so it can't even be recreated, not that they would since it would require the film to be re-rated.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Just as a warning. . .I searched for "cabaret blu" on Amazon, and the third result in the list that came up on the screen was a movie whose cover is ABSOLUTELY NSFW!!! :jawdrop:

 

[Ethan Riley]

Oops! Wrong "Cabaret!" lol. Very icky, seeing that other Cabaret between the Liza version and Easter Parade on my search page...!