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Olive announced first titles from the Republic catalog: "High Noon" and the original "Invasion of th (1 Viewer)

SeanAx

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Olive announced today the upcoming releases of High Noon and the original 1956 The Invasion of the Body Snatchers on DVD and Blu-ray on July 17, 2012. The latter will be released in the 2:00:1 Superscope ratio.

Press releases and art below:



[SIZE= 20pt]ONE OF THE GREATEST FILMS OF ALL TIME – FIRST TIME ON [/SIZE]Blu-ray©
[SIZE= 18pt]RESTORED[/SIZE][SIZE= 18pt] IN HD FROM THE FILM’S ORIGINAL NEGATIVE
DAY & DATE (DVD & BLU-RAY)[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 16pt]WINNER OF 4 ACADEMY AWARDS[/SIZE]
BEST ACTOR | BEST EDITING | BEST SCORE | BEST SONG
NOMINATED FOR 3 ACADEMY AWARDS:
BEST PICTURE | BEST DIRECTOR | BEST SCREENPLAY

GARY COOPER | GRACE KELLY | THOMAS MITCHELL | LLOYD BRIDGES | KATY JURADO[FONT= 'Century Gothic'] [/FONT]|[FONT= 'Century Gothic'] [/FONT][SIZE= 18pt]OTTO KRUGER | LON CHANEY | HARRY MORGAN | LEE VAN CLEEF | JACK ELAM[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 36pt]HIGH NOON [/SIZE][SIZE= 18pt](60TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION) [/SIZE]
[SIZE= 11pt]Directed by [/SIZE][SIZE= 14pt]FRED ZINNEMANN | [/SIZE][SIZE= 11pt]Written by[/SIZE][SIZE= 14pt] CARL FOREMAN | [/SIZE][SIZE= 11pt]Produced by[/SIZE][SIZE= 14pt] STANLEY KRAMER[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 16pt]PREBOOK[/SIZE][SIZE= 16pt] 6/19/12 STREET 7/17/12[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 14pt]DVD UPC# 887090037006 CAT# OF370 $19.95srp
BLU-RAY UPC# 887090037204 CAT# OF372 $29.95srp[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 11pt]This groundbreaking western was voted at the 33rd greatest film of all time by the AFI® (100 Years… 100 Movies). Gary Cooper won the Oscar® for Best Actor in this classic tale of a lawman who stands alone to defend a town of cowardly citizen against a gang of killers seeking revenge. In one of the greatest showdowns in cinema history, Cooper’s Sheriff Will Kane stands to lose not only the town, but also his bride, Grace Kelly. The stellar cast includes Lloyd Bridges, Thomas Mitchell, Katy Jurado, Otto Kruger, Lon Chaney, Henry Morgan, Jack Elam and Lee Van Cleef. High Noon won a total of four Academy Awards® including Best Editing, Score (Dimitri Tiomkin) and Song, “Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling”, written by Tiomkin and Ned Washington and sung by Tex Ritter. High Noon also received Oscar® nominations for Best Picture (Stanley Kramer), Best Director (Fred Zinnemann) and Best Screenplay (Carl Foreman). [/SIZE]
1952 | B&W | 85 Minutes | Not Rated
[SIZE= 14pt]SPECIAL FEATURES:
[/SIZE][SIZE= 11pt]THE MAKING OF HIGH NOON[/SIZE][SIZE= 11pt] [/SIZE][SIZE= 11pt](1992 – 23 MINUTES) - NARRATED BY LEONARD MALTIN
Includes Interviews with LLOYD BRIDGES | STANLEY KRAMER | FRED ZINNEMANN | JOHN RITTER | DAVID CROSBY | Archival Interview with GARY COOPER
[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 14pt]• [/SIZE][SIZE= 11pt]THEATRICAL TRAILER[/SIZE]

[SIZE= 12pt]GARY COOPER GRACE KELLY in “HIGH NOON” with THOMAS MITCHELL LLOYD BRIDGES
KATY JURADO OTTO KRUGER LON CHANEY HENRY MORGAN LEE VAN CLEEF
Music Composed by DIMITRI TIOMKIN Theme sung by TEX RITTER Screenplay by
CARL FOREMAN Produced by STANLEY KRAMER Directed by FRED ZINNEMANN
[/SIZE]
HIGH NOON © 1952 MELANGE PICTURES LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.



26f2a797_HighNoonBD.jpeg





[SIZE= 20pt]ONE OF THE GREATEST & MOST INFLUENTIAL SCIFI FILMS OF ALL TIME[/SIZE]
FIRST TIME ON Blu-ray©
[SIZE= 18pt]RESTORED[/SIZE][SIZE= 18pt] IN HD FROM THE FILM’S ORIGINAL NEGATIVE
DAY & DATE (DVD & BLU-RAY)[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 18pt]KEVIN McCARTHY | DANA WYNTER | CAROLYN JONES | LARRY GATES[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 28pt]INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS [/SIZE][SIZE= 18pt](1956)
A Film by DON SIEGEL (CHARLEY VARRICK
)[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 16pt]PREBOOK[/SIZE][SIZE= 16pt] 6/19/12 STREET 7/17/12[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 14pt]DVD UPC# 887090034302 CAT# OF343 $19.95srp
BLU-RAY UPC# 887090039000 CAT# OF390 $29.95srp[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 11pt]One of the greatest and most influential Sci-Fi films of all time stars Kevin McCarthy as a doctor in a small California town whose patients are becoming hysterical and accuse their loved ones as emotionless imposters. Plant-like extra-terrestrials have invaded Earth, replicating the villagers in giant seed “pods” and taking position of their souls while they sleep. Realizing that the epidemic is out of control, in a terrifying race for his life, he escapes to warn the world of the deadly invasion of the pod people! Directed by the great Don Siegel (Dirty Harry) and co-starring Dana Wynter, Carolyn Jones, Larry Gates and King Donovan. Remade in 1978, 1997 and 2007.[/SIZE]
1956 | B&W | 80 Minutes | 2.00:1 SUPERSCOPE | Not Rated

[SIZE= 12pt]“INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS” [/SIZE]Starring[SIZE= 12pt] KEVIN McCARTHY DANA WYNTER[/SIZE]
With [SIZE= 12pt]LARRY GATES KING DONOVAN CAROLYN JONES JEAN WILLES RALPH DUMKE[/SIZE]
Screenplay by[SIZE= 10pt] [/SIZE][SIZE= 12pt]DANIEL MAINWARING [/SIZE]Based on the Collier’s Magazine Serial by[SIZE= 10pt] [/SIZE][SIZE= 12pt]JACK FINNEY[/SIZE]
Produced by[SIZE= 10pt] [/SIZE][SIZE= 12pt]WALTER WANGER[/SIZE][SIZE= 10pt] [/SIZE]Directed by[SIZE= 10pt] [/SIZE][SIZE= 12pt]DON SIEGEL[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 8pt]COPYRIGHT © 1956 Melange Pictures LLC. All Rights Reserved.[/SIZE]



02b6dc2a_InvasionBodySnatchersBD.jpeg
 

Bob Furmanek

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NOTE - This post has been edited with updated information. See post 50 for the update.
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS was shot for 1.85:1 and JOHNNY GUITAR for either 1.66:1 or 1.85:1.
The decision to release IOTBS in Superscope 2.00:1 was made after the film had completed shooting.
From my Aspect Ratio Research thread:
Allied Artists officially announced 1.85 as their house ratio on July 6, 1953, although some AA features had already been composed for that ratio in June. With a few exceptions of 1.75 or 2.55 for individual titles, all of their productions from that point forward were composed for that ratio. IOTBS began filming on March 23, 1955, Siegel would have been composing for the studio ratio. It would appear the decision was not made to adapt the film to 2.1 SuperScope until May, one month after the film had wrapped production.
 

kingofthejungle

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I'm super excited about these, both will be first day buys for me.
BUT...those covers look awful, guys. I'm a graphic designer...I'll work for a free copy now and then if necessary, but please get these classic films some better cover art.
 

Bob Furmanek

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I like the covers, I always prefer seeing the poster art. Here are the original release one sheets.
970d6270_lf.jpeg
 

kingofthejungle

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I got no problem with original poster art. I do have a problem with the ugly substitute fonts they used on the credits in both cases, as well as bad size formatting in the case of High Noon (look at how claustrophobic the cropping of the cover seems compared to that one sheet you posted.) It's obvious the designers of those posters spent some time making the choices they did, the new olive covers look hastily reformatted for cover-size, losing much of the grace of the original designs.
 

John Hodson

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Bit of a let down on the extras front - the last Lionsgate release of High Noon had:
• Commentary by Maria Cooper-Janis, Jonathan Foreman, Tim Zinneman, John Ritter, and David Crosby.
• Featurette: Inside High Noon (49:56).
• The Making of High Noon (22:09).
• Featurette: Behind High Noon (9:47).
• Featurette: Tex Ritter: A Visit to Carthage Texas (5:57).
Tex Ritter performing the Oscar winning theme song on The Jimmy Dean Show (2:54)
• Radio broadcast with Tex Ritter on the Ralph Emery Show (5:35).
And nothing for 'Body Snatchers'?
 

Bob Furmanek

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You have a good eye and I see what you mean.
I also noticed how Grace Kelly was elevated to co-starring position when she was originally fifth-billed in 1952!
 

SeanAx

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Originally Posted by Bob Furmanek /t/320319/olive-announced-first-titles-from-the-republic-catalog-high-noon-and-the-original-invasion-of-the-body-snatchers#post_3920278
For the record, both INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS and JOHNNY GUITAR were composed and intended for 1.85:1.
The decision to release IOTBS in Superscope 2.1:1 was made after the film had completed shooting.

I'd been led to understand that many of the Superscope releases were formatted after shooting, without the director's involvement. I don't know which or what percentage, and I don't have any information specific to Body Snatcher as to when (if ever) Siegel was informed of the decision. The wide compositions do look fairly well balanced, however. I don't know if that's because Siegel had an idea that they would release wide, or just lucky that, composing for 1:85, the difference between 2:1/2.1:1 was close enough to be fudged.

Siegel never even acknowledges the Superscope in his biography.

8d7fd5f8_InvasionBodywide.jpeg
 

SeanAx

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More research:

According to David Bordwell, Invasion of the Body Snatchers went into production as a Superscope project:

SuperScope was a widescreen system devised by Irving and Joseph Tushinsky for RKO . It extracted a wide image from the 1.37 standard frame and printed it as a squeezed anamorphic frame, to be unsqueezed at a ratio of 2.0 to 1. (A later version allowed for a 2.35 stretch.) In principle, it’s an early version of what Super 35 does now. Some RKO films, notably Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), were shot in knowledge that they would be given the SuperScope treatment; others were SuperScoped after the fact.

(edit)

Slightly Scarlet and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, both released in 1956, were designed to be given the SuperScope treatment. The films carry the logo in their credits, and contemporary Variety reviews mention the process by name (15 February 1956 and 29 February 1956).

85546d57_SuperScope-500.jpeg


http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/category/film-technique-widescreen/
 

Bob Furmanek

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The announcement of SuperScope for the film was made in May, approximately one month after the film had wrapped up production. They were probably in the editing stage when he learned of this decision.
You're right, the difference between 1.85:1 and 2.00:1 is negligible, but it can wreak havoc with a carefully composed image. I'm sure Siegel was not pleased.
 

JoHud

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Whao, they wasted no time getting these out the front gate. Bravo, Olive.
And I approve of using the cover art, at least in these cases. As someone who has some Olive titles with "original" cover designs (Skidoo, anyone?), I think its best for them to stick with original artwork when they can.
The only lackluster DVD cover using original poster art I recall was The Buccaneer (1938) only because it looked very washed out, like a botched photocopy.
 

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I mentioned this in another thread, but years ago the Perspecta soundtrack for INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS was sent to Audio Mechanics to see if it could be successfully transferred to stereo surround, and I was told it was quite good and remarkable. I know we don't have all the specs, but it would be a shame if this feature was not included.
 

Bob Furmanek

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According to David Bordwell, Invasion of the Body Snatchers went into production as a Superscope project:
I'd like to see some documentation from primary source materials for that statement.
There is no mention of Superscope when the film began shooting on March 23, 1955. Siegel would have been composing for Allied Artists house ratio of 1.85:1 which was announced by the studio on July 6, 1953.
Didn't Siegel go on record as complaining about the Superscope treatment?
 

Bob Furmanek

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John Morgan said:
I mentioned this in another thread, but years ago the Perspecta soundtrack for INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS was sent to Audio Mechanics to see if it could be successfully transferred to stereo surround, and I was told it was quite good and remarkable. I know we don't have all the specs, but it would be a shame if this feature was not included.
Perspecta would only be heard in the front 3 channels.
I ran the first reel in Perspecta about ten years and for that reel, it was limited to only the opening titles. The music came from all three speakers and the rest of the reel was center channel only. Paramount utilized the same minimal approach to the system on their VistaVision titles.
I had approached Paramount with Bob Eberenz (the man who helped develop the system with Fine Recording) to transfer all of their 3 channel Perspecta tracks in the mid-90's. They weren't interested...
 

Bob Furmanek

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Bob Furmanek said:
According to David Bordwell, Invasion of the Body Snatchers went into production as a Superscope project:
I'd like to see some documentation from primary source materials for that statement.
There is no mention of Superscope when the film began shooting on March 23, 1955. Siegel would have been composing for Allied Artists house ratio of 1.85:1 which was announced by the studio on July 6, 1953.
Didn't Siegel go on record as complaining about the Superscope treatment?
As a point of reference, when BENGAZI (aka FLIGHT FROM BENGAZI) began shooting on April 25, 1955 and THE TREASURE OF PANCHO VILLA in late April, both are announced as Superscope productions.
IOTBS was not.
420ba9e8_March51955.jpeg

790d193e_April21955.2.jpeg

This is why I believe in doing research from original, documented source materials.
Our upcoming article on the dawn of widescreen cinematography (February 1953 - September 1956) will be all original research taken from studio production files and industry trade journals.
 

Bob Furmanek

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I agree Matt, I just want to be sure they're done in the correct AR.
IOTBS is an interesting case: it was composed for widescreen but released in a process slightly wider than the director intended. Which ratio would you go with?
For the record, the film completed shooting in 1.85:1 on April 27, 1955 and the announcement of a 2.00:1 Superscope release wasn't made until a month later on May 28, 1955.
5bb1d279_May281955.jpeg
 

John Hodson

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Normally, I'd have to go for OTAR, but in cases like this, I'd love to see the film as shot as the director and cinematographer intended. Anybody want to see Shane in 1.66:1 though? No - I thought not... :)
 

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