- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
- Messages
- 18,437
- Real Name
- Robert Harris
Pillow Talk is the quintessential Rock Hudson / Doris Dayromantic comedy. It was a huge hit in its day, and due to the talents of all those involved, stands the test of time beautifully.
What does not stand that test of time is the film itself. The stuff that holds the image.
Shot on 5248, released in late 1959, and with lab work by Pathe, things couldn't be looking worse.
We're talking faded original negative, bad...
take that back.
Horrible dupes.
And then half a century of wear and tear.
While I'm not a big fan of precisely how far Universal is taking grain reduction, I must admit that their final products will look terrific to the consumer, even if that consumer isn't aware of the condition of the original elements.
Beyond dye fade, which is a primary problem, another major secondary problem on Pillow Talk are the numerous opticals, which although also faded, are two generations further from original, in a time when dupes were not our friend. Add to that the single strand cutting of the negative, which means that printer functions are also dupes, and one has a very interesting patient.
Let's examine the patient, and the information provided is courtesy of Universal Technical Services.
The original 1959 cut picture negative is in poor condition. Extreme color fade and shrinkage. All dupe shots cut into original are very grainy, exhibit heavy dirt (I presume optically duped in), as well as density flicker.
The film has an overall grainy appearance, heavy to moderate dirt, stains, scratches and occasional film damage.
The original negative was used as the basis of the digital restoration.
The original dub master (separate mono dialogue, music, effects) was in fair condition, but has hiss and an uneven floor noise throughout. If readers don't know what floor noise is, I've heard it most recently in broadcast of The Closer. When there is no dialogue, and the track should be quiet, it hisses.
The audio was restored in 2008, and although there are still occasional areas of minor distortion, music pumping and noise, the feeling was that further processing would leave negative artifacts in their wake, and was not performed.
All image harvest was scanned in 4k on an Arri scanner, with DICE applied. Workflow was 2k.
From what I've so far sampled, the color looks excellent. Very nice flesh tones. Good shadow detail and blacks. The Mercedes 300 SL that Tony Randall drives early in the film looks almost new.
Bottom line is that, although I personally feel that the image is a bit too de-grained, Universal has made a silk purse from a sow's ear. Nicely done.
Image - 4
Audio - 3
Highly Recommended.
RAH
What does not stand that test of time is the film itself. The stuff that holds the image.
Shot on 5248, released in late 1959, and with lab work by Pathe, things couldn't be looking worse.
We're talking faded original negative, bad...
take that back.
Horrible dupes.
And then half a century of wear and tear.
While I'm not a big fan of precisely how far Universal is taking grain reduction, I must admit that their final products will look terrific to the consumer, even if that consumer isn't aware of the condition of the original elements.
Beyond dye fade, which is a primary problem, another major secondary problem on Pillow Talk are the numerous opticals, which although also faded, are two generations further from original, in a time when dupes were not our friend. Add to that the single strand cutting of the negative, which means that printer functions are also dupes, and one has a very interesting patient.
Let's examine the patient, and the information provided is courtesy of Universal Technical Services.
The original 1959 cut picture negative is in poor condition. Extreme color fade and shrinkage. All dupe shots cut into original are very grainy, exhibit heavy dirt (I presume optically duped in), as well as density flicker.
The film has an overall grainy appearance, heavy to moderate dirt, stains, scratches and occasional film damage.
The original negative was used as the basis of the digital restoration.
The original dub master (separate mono dialogue, music, effects) was in fair condition, but has hiss and an uneven floor noise throughout. If readers don't know what floor noise is, I've heard it most recently in broadcast of The Closer. When there is no dialogue, and the track should be quiet, it hisses.
The audio was restored in 2008, and although there are still occasional areas of minor distortion, music pumping and noise, the feeling was that further processing would leave negative artifacts in their wake, and was not performed.
All image harvest was scanned in 4k on an Arri scanner, with DICE applied. Workflow was 2k.
From what I've so far sampled, the color looks excellent. Very nice flesh tones. Good shadow detail and blacks. The Mercedes 300 SL that Tony Randall drives early in the film looks almost new.
Bottom line is that, although I personally feel that the image is a bit too de-grained, Universal has made a silk purse from a sow's ear. Nicely done.
Image - 4
Audio - 3
Highly Recommended.
RAH
