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CHARLY aspect ratio?

Can anyone tell me whether the currently-available DVD of the film CHARLY contains the widescreen version of the film? I searched through previous threads about the disc, and as best I can tell, MGM was originally going to release it as a full-screen-only DVD, but delayed it for several months and eventually released it as a dual-sided disc containing both widescreen and full-screen versions.

However, both Amazon and IMDB list the DVD as containing only the full-screen version of the film, and some of Amazon's user comments complain that it indeed contains only the full-screen version, while others say that it contains both. I know that several dual-ratio DVDs have been reissued in full-screen only, though I believe that Sony has been the chief culprit. Is MGM guilty of this as well? If I order CHARLY from Amazon right now, can I expect to receive the widescreen version of the film?

Thanks for your help.

Simon Howson

Re: CHARLY aspect ratio?

My copy is is the dual sided widescreen & fullscreen version. The full UPC code (all the numbers) is 027616912015. It clearly states that it contains widescreen and full screen versions at the bottom left hand corner of the back cover. It has the number "1007059" printed at the bottom right hand corner, I assume this is the catalogue number and it may possibly be different for the pan and scan only version.

It was shot in Techniscope and includes some split screen sequences that are incredibly grainy because it is half of a two perf frame. They should've shot those sequences in 4 perf, because the quality degrades a great deal in those scenes - it really must've been a low budget production!

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Stephen_J_H

Re: CHARLY aspect ratio?

I'd check the B&Ms if I were you. MGM has released several dual sided discs as single sided versions, without even changing the menus in the case of some special editions (IAMMMMW, for one) and has released several films shorn of their extras in P/S only versions (West Side Story and Dances with Wolves come to mind). I like Amazon, and their return policy is great, but I just wouldn't take the chance in this instance.

\"My opinion is that (a) anyone who actually works in a video store and does not understand letterboxing has given up on life, and (b) any customer who prefers to have the sides of a movie hacked off should not be licensed to operate a video player.\"-- Roger Ebert

Chuck Pennington

Re: CHARLY aspect ratio?

The version I got out of the local library was anamorphic widescreen. I thought this was the only version that has been released on DVD. I didn't notice if a P/S version was also included.

Chuck Pennington

Re: CHARLY aspect ratio?

Gordon McMurphy

Re: CHARLY aspect ratio?

I watched this film again recently for Cliff Robertson's brilliant, prophetiv "a TV in every room," speech. It was shot in Techniscope. It must looks like faeces in pan and scan - it's grainy in 2.35:1 and the elaborate split-screen mosaics would have to be aborted in 1.33:1 pan and scan. Techiscope was a weird choice for this film, come to think about it.