A Few Words About A few words about... The Searchers -- in SD (Some potential bad news See Post #139) (1 Viewer)

[Haggai]

Is the American Masters doc on Stagecoach disc 2 presented in 4X3 letterbox or 16X9 enhanced? I missed it in HD, but it'd be nice to have it in 16X9 on DVD.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Which elements were used for the transfer of The Searchers? The 8-perf 35mm VistaVision camera negatives?

I saw Ryan's Daughter this week. An incredibly awesome transfer. It will be very, very interesting to see the new 2001 transfer from 65mm.

 

[Jason_V]

My father always has been and always will be a John Wayne fan (never much cared for him myself). However, I had the pleasure to see The Searchers in a film class a couple years ago in college and loved every single second of it. Excellent news that this looks fantastic. I can not wait.

I may just get two of these: one for me and one as an olive branch for my father.

 

[Joel Fontenot]

Just might have to get The Searchers again on DVD.

I'm also anxiously waiting on The Quiet Man to be done to perfection by Paramount (yes, they are the current rights owners now).

 

[jim_falconer]

Thanks for the early preview of the box set Robert...can't wait till Amazon ships mine out! Two questions, if you don't mind:

1) How much of an improvement is Stagecoach over the previously released version? The one released in 1997 looked like it could have come from a PD company, and I'm really hoping this release will stand head-and-shoulders over it.

2) How is the letterboxed version of 'The Wings Of Eagles' look? FINALLY, finally...I get to see this under-rated gem in it's correct aspect ratio.

 

[Robert Harris]

The American Masters documentary is stereo and 16:9 enhanced anamorphic.

Searchers was restored by recompositing the black & white VistaVision, Ie. 8 perf masters, using WB's ultra-resolution process.

The results as are expected.

Beautiful.

RAH

 

[Jeff Newcomb]

Because Paramount had already bought the rights to the Republic library, and had control of the elements, but Artisan's contract with Republic to distribute their films on DVD hadn't expired yet. Paramount didn't want Artisan coming out with any restored special editions when they could do that themselves a year later.

 

[Robert Harris]

The Quiet Man situation has nothing to do with Paramount.

Republic (Artisan) released their initial public domain quality disc in 1999.

RAH

 

[Aaron Silverman]

That's an insult to the public domain! It had decent supplements, but the image quality is probably the worst of *any* disc in my collection.

 

[Haggai]

Thanks for the update. I was already expecting great things, of course, but this Wayne/Ford boxset just keeps sounding better and better.

 

[Jay Pennington]

A pan-and-scan version was on cable Friday night, and it looked so good I'm assuming it's from this new restoration. Crystal clear and colorful--no flaws apart from the odd sparkle of negative dirt.

Looking forward to upgrading!

 

[Jing_B]

What are the dimensions of this Ultra-Set? Are the discs housed in thin cases much like Fox's Family Guy Collections?

 

[Robert Harris]

The new Searchers set is also supported by two quality documentaries. One, produced c. 1998, regarding Wayne, Ford and the production, takes on the tonality and rhythm of a Ken Burns work.

To my mind, this is one of the finest companion pieces yet to arrive on DVD.

RAH

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Which other Warner films were shot in VistaVision?

 

[Patrick McCart]

It's the only one produced by WB. Of course, they own the two MGM productions: High Society and North by Northwest.

Universal and Columbia only tried out VV on one film. Rank made a ton of VV films, though.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

This is the film, first seen in a freshman college film class, that made me appreciate Westerns.

 

[Robert Harris]

Other WB productions using 8 perf were The Music Man and Gypsy.

RAH

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

I believe "Auntie Mame" and "The Miracle" were also 8-perf (Technirama) productions.

Regards,

 

[Robert Harris]

Quite correct.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Oh, so The Searchers was Warner's only VistaVision production?

Which element was used for the DVD transfer of The Music Man?

Also, is it true that MGM used the original 8-perf negative for the transfer of The Vikings? Gorgeous transfer. Is it easy to transfer an 8-perf Technirama element? Do you just run it through an 35mm telecine and then unsqueeze by 1.5x and flip over in the digital domain or do you need a 1.5x complementary lens?

Finally, which other 8-perf VistaVision transfers have Paramount created, aside from Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (a difficult transfer, apparently, but great results) and The Lonely Man[/b]?

Thanks for sharing the knowledge, Ken, Robert; much appreciated.