DVD Review HTF REVIEW: "West Side Story" Special edition (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) (with screenshots) (1 Viewer)

[Greg_M]

Jefferson,

If you start a "Dubbing" thread many people will be disappointed. In 90% of musical films, at least one voice was dubbed.

 

[Joe Caps]

No, No No == the story has been around for years that Marni Nixon did some dubbing for Natalie Wood for Gypsy - again, asked Marni about this and she said she did not know how that story got started.
IF you don't believe me, you can go to the USC arts library - the production records for Gypsy are kept there and the recording records show Natalie all the Way - so much so that there are memos from Warner Bros. records offering Natalie a recording contract.
Regarding King and I - Rita sounds terrible in My Lord and Master ( especially at the end - he'll never know I love another man - where she's unsteady all the way). This is technically not cut from the film - this was recorded AFTER the film was finished to fill out just the recordd album.
Concerning the other prerecord on the laser set of King and I dfor We Kiss in a Shadow - they do not name who that dubber is, but she is someone who was called in to do a test recording for the first person cast as Tuptim - Dorothy dandridge, who later refudsed the role.

 

[Jefferson]

If you start a "Dubbing" thread many people will be disappointed. In 90% of musical films, at least one voice was dubbed.

Well, then we will have lots to talk about.
This is interesting...(but it really is no longer
about the west side dvd..haaa)

 

[Joe Caps]

Whenever a performer says "Yes, I DID the singing and proud of it" you can't trust them. they may have done a test and been dubbed later - these people don't really want to know.
Two exapmples - Roz Russel maintained to the end that its all her in Gypsy. Of course most of it is the dubber, Lisa Kirk Oddly, Have an egg roll mr goldstone was not preredcorded but performed live on the set.
There are several acetates of Rox Russell singing her own songs in Gypsy - it aint good.
Anna Lee, a very charming woman still thinks she did all her singing in Sound of Music ( and she doesn't sing much)
but one line in the song Maria was not steady enough. When Anna sings "Maria makes me laugh" she is dubbed by Marie Greene. This is easy to check out. listen to the line on teh DVD. Then go to the suplements section and listen to that same line that is in the FIRST trailer. You canhear Anna before she is dubbed!!

 

[DeeF]

I don't know how many of us have actually watched this movie all the way through on this DVD, but I did today, and I have to report:

The Balcony Scene, "Tonight," is definitely out of sync, audio faster than the picture.

I tried watching it on both of my machines, a Fujitsu 50" plasma with a Panasonic RP-82 DVD player, and then on my MacG4 running system 9.5, and an Apple Cinema Display.

In both cases, the audio sync was off, during this scene.

 

[ScottR]

The audio is off on mine too...I noticed this on the old dvd, but it didn't seem as bad...anyone else?

 

[ScottR]

Man, I just checked it and it is very much off....especially noticeable during Tony's line "every sight that I see is Maria." How did this happen and can it be fixed?

 

[Greg_M]

I would think the studios purposely do this to prevent illegal copying, since the speaking sound is in sync and I've seen this happen on many titles.

 

[DeeF]

If that's true, Greg, why only on one number?

I think it's simply a mistake. The remix of the soundtrack into the 5.1 channels, the center channel is fine, but the stereo music mix is off, on this one scene.

It's quite aggravating.

 

[Roger Rollins]

I have a hard time believing that ANY studio (even MGM, who have had more than their share of snafus mastering DVDs) would purposely make a portion of a film out-of-synch as an
anti-piracy issue!

It's a careless mistake, and one that on a high profile title such as WEST SIDE STORY, is really inexcusable.

It's not the only boner I've noticed recently on an MGM DVD.
Their recent release of THE PRODUCERS is missing the tap-dancing sound effects during the "SPRINGTIME FOR HITLER" number! An amazing flub that surprisingly wasn't noticed by most reviewers.

 

[DeeF]

Roger,

Do you think most reviewers watch the whole movie?

Many times, they seem content to view some of the features, and some of the movie, so they have some basis for conclusions about picture quality, sound quality, etc.

But I don't think they really watch the whole thing, very often, particularly an older film that they're already familiar with. What happens to Tony and Maria? We already know....

I agree, it's a huge error, this out-of-sync scene.

Next question: what can be done about it?

 

[ScottR]

Is there a contact number for MGM home video? There was also an audio glitch on Warner's Roots dvd and I contacted them and got positive results...they even sent a replacement disc for me. The lady there said that they want to know about problems since the consumer pays for a product that is expected to be without technical flaws. The Tonight scene in West Side Story is one of the most popular and important scenes in the film, and this problem should be corrected.

 

[Jefferson]

I've also rewatched the documentary,
and i am not disappointed in it AT ALL.

I cannot fault a documentary on ANY film,
let alone a forty two year old one,
that gathers the
insight of so MANY of the creators and talent...
AND includes footage "on the set"
and extra/unheard music....


PLEASE, what is included here is all first rate.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Jefferson!

Do you experience the sync problem on your copy?

I haven't purchased my copy yet and am wondering if I should hold off.

P.S. I agree with your earlier comments about how wonderful the dubbing discussion in this thread has been. A wealth of knowledge is shared here. Thanks everyone!

 

[Michael St. Clair]

How on earth would screwing up a DVD prevent piracy?

 

[Jefferson]

Mike Frezon....YES,

as indicated
above, there are several TONIGHT lines
that are ever so slightly out of sync...it
is not for the entire song, however.

I'm hanging on to mine for now.

This is a very impressive release,
and they are (in my opinion) slow to fix
these things....and in the case
of GREAT RACE, for instance...sometimes
they dont fix music problems at all, so...
:frowning:

 

[Greg_M]

Over at DVD Talk http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/
Glenn Erickson - DVD Savant reviews the DVD

Glenn actually worked cutting the WSS documentary and gives more insight to the Disc. Glenn also cut the "musical storyboard-scene comparison, and helped configure the new Intermission insert."


He also states:
"MGM's Special Edition DVD Collector's Set of West Side Story is such a weighty package, an MGM Marketing executive told me it's more of a publishing product than a video show."


Most of the cost seems to have gone into the accompanying booklet (which is impressive). The documentary was made years ago but held up in legal rights, and at one time was aired on AMC or TCM.


It is highly doubt full MGM/UA will ever correct the sync problem, since the Discs have been pressed and shipped and the box set is supposedly a limited edition - which probably means no future pressings in this package.

So you'll have to wait for the next "WSS" DVD, probably in Super-bits or HD. Or If MGM issues it as a single Disc next year.

I can't understand how a sync problem like this naturally occurs since the film soundtrack is in sync with the picture on the negative. Why wouldn it transfer differently during a song?:

 

[george kaplan]

Does this same sync problem exist on the previous dvd? I haven't had time to watch and do the comparison, but am curious if this is a new problem, or a continuation of an old problem. Since this is supposedly the same transfer, it seems odd that it would be a new problem.

 

[Joe Caps]

Greg - the picture is ont in syn on the negative - a film negative has nos soundtrack - there is the film negative for WSS and the six channel stereo soundtrackmag which is completely separate from the negative.

 

[DeeF]

I find the syncing of this scene more than a little off. It is hugely distracting, particularly when they begin to sing together "today, the world was just an address,"

I agree that the studio will probably do nothing about this problem.

I can see that the problem exists on the previous DVD, but not to the same extent. The soundtrack was remixed for this release, but I don't know how that plays into the problem.

DVDs store the soundtrack, digitally, in a completely different part of the disk than the picture, presumably, and that's why there are sync problems.

But for a high-profile release like this, it's a shame.