[Can't seem to get rid of the big print ... sorry]
I should add the following to my last post:
Virtually all movies I saw presented in 70mm in San Francisco, San Jose, and L.A. back in the '50s, '60s and '70s (I counted about 50, when including 70mm prints blown up from 35mm, 35mm full-frame horizontal, and 55mm) had better detail than any Blu-ray I have seen.
Year of origin did not seem to be a big factor, except there was a noticeable increase of crispness starting in 1959 with Sleeping Beauty and Ben-Hur (but not Porgy and Bess, also in '59 --- and one might want to exclude Sleeping Beauty, since cartoons are photographed under ideal conditions).
Even 70 mm prints that were slightly softer in perceived acutance still had extraordinarily high apparent resolution. For instance, Phileas Fogg's carpet bag in Around the World in 80 Days (1956) was so detailed that you could almost smell it.
These films had a "reach out and touch it" quality, and several critics/commentators of the time used those exact words. When the Todd-AO bunch projected test footage showing two couples at a picnic on a makeshift screen to convince Rodgers and Hammerstein to make Oklahoma! in 70mm Todd-AO (they did, in 1955), either Rodgers or Hammerstein said, "I felt like I could reach out a take a doughnut," and the other one said, "And then, both girls" (remember, this was the '50s).
Several of my circle were amateur photographers (& one professional). We agreed that 70 mm projection of the '60s was higher quality than we got with our 35mm double frame cameras (including a borrowed super expensive Leica), and mysteriously rivaled -- and sometimes seemed to exceed -- larger format still photography. We rightly or wrongly attributed this to the fact that, in movies, as opposed to stills, the brain was given many samples from which to synthesize a more detailed image.
Several 70mm films had a super crisp etched quality.
The only two 70 mm films that I know of that were re-released for longish runs in 70 mm (Ben-Hur in 1968, nine years after its premiere, and Sleeping Beauty, later) held up beautifully.
Although today's film emulsions are technically much better, projection tends to be darker and smaller, and not necessarily sharper appearing. Old 70mm tended to be sparkling bright, due in part, I'm told, to the larger hole in the aperture plate, and, of course most theaters used carbon arc lamps. Arthur Knight, in The Liveliest Art, used the word "sparkling" to describe the look of 70mm Todd-AO in Around the World in 80 Days (1956). There was an enhanced sense of depth in 70mm, even though the ultra wide angle lenses that would be expected to increase depth were rarely used. All in all, 70mm projection was a far more immersive experience than we get today.
