A Few Words About A few words about...™ An American in Paris -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Matt Hough]

I agree. They can't come fast enough for me, so the recent announcement that Blu-ray versions of SINGIN' IN THE RAIN and MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS and A STAR IS BORN will be coming in the next one to three years was a little dismaying. Glad to get them, but that's a LONG wait!

 

[Ronald Epstein]

We also saw footage from the upcoming A Star is Born and
I don't think I need to emphasize how much care Warner also gave
to that title.

The fortunate thing for us is that all these really important titles
are under the care of a studio that would do more for them than
probably most any other.

I have also decided to start collecting musicals on Blu-ray. I don't
have many in my sDVD collection (The Music Man, 1776, The Sound
of Music) and I think it's finally time I start owning some of these
films.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I just watched this film completely for the first time ever.

Thought it was a pretty damn good film. Wasn't overly pleased
with the musical numbers, that is, until the film's final 20+ minutes
where I witnessed the most amazing dance number I have ever seen
on screen.....I mean....WOW!

The thing that disappoints me about this film is the limitations of
technology at the time. First, this is a film that begs for cinemascope.
Secondly, the audio is awfully flat. Can you imagine how much better
that dance sequence would have been widescreen with a more robust
audio that really pulled you into it all?

I noticed a technical glitch that was probably magnified by the
Blu-ray format. When Lise and Jerry share a cab ride, you can see
the rear screen effect putting very hard trace lines around the actress.
It looks very unnatural and I wonder if this is what audiences originally
saw.

The film looks incredibly clean, but I noticed a lot of sparkling in the
final moments of the film as Jerry races down the stairs into the arms
of Lise.

Other than that, this is a first-rate film done beautifully on Blu-ray.

Trivia: Noticed actress who played Aunt Harriet on "Batman" and actor
who would play Dr. Bellows on "I Dream of Jeannie"

 

[Matt Hough]

If you look a wee bit harder you'll notice Noel Neill who played Lois Lane in THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN during its last five seasons as the art student who wants to talk about his lack of perspective whom Kelly abruptly dismisses right before he meets Milo (Nina Foch).

 

[Mike Frezon]

I wonder if the absence of a loss-less audio track contributes to the flat audio here, Ron?

I understand the limitations of certain 1950s recordings...but at the same time Matt notes in his official HTF review of the BD release that the audio is only a 192 kbps DD 1.0 soundtrack while the clips of AAiP on That's Entertainment sopund much, much better.

I've decided to hold off on this title because of this audio treatment. AAiP is a marginal title for me...but I probably would have pulled the trigger with better audio reviews.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

There is a TRUEHD track that I went in and selected. Isn't that the
lossless? I haven't done much reading on this title so forgive me if
I am missing something.

Yeah, audio wasn't anything to write home about.

 

[Edward Weinman]

...Joe Caps, who posts here often, responded to my previous query re: the original recording sessions, which were recorded in multi-track but then reduced to mono due to...you know, I don't remember what he said! Oh, well! It's really a shame that, of all musicals at MGM, these original recordings could not be salvaged.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I don't have the disc, but Matt's review and a couple of others on the 'net are pretty clear that there are only DD 1.0 tracks in English, Spanish, German, Italian & French. According to Matt, the snippets of AAiP used on That's Entertainment really sound good compared to this BD. It's too bad.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Lossless really makes a difference, even for "old mono" movies. So many DVDs that sound "dead" that most folks just assumed is the sound of old mono soundtracks, open up with shockingly life-like clarity and realism on my old (lossless) PCM laserdiscs... really ticks me off that WB stuck with the low bit-rate Dolby on this. Even must maxing out the mono lossy track with 640 or even 448 would have made a big improvement.

We've been told that this title was "already in the pipeline" when WB finally got their act together with setting a studio-wide policy for supplying lossless on all BD titles. Let's hope this gets revisited at some point... and let's hope that WB really sticks by its word on future BD releases... yes, even "old mono" movies.

p.s. all sources have indicated that this title has lossy only, and that's what several reviews have indicated. I should have my screener (running late obviously) this week and will check myself and also compare against the "That's Entertainment" clips which have TrueHD.

 

[Matt Hough]

According to the liner notes on the Rhino soundtrack CD of AN AMREICAN IN PARIS, there were some multidirectional recordings done but not for the entire score. Some of those recordings have not survived, but the ones that have were included on the soundtrack CD. Warners opted not to use any multidirectional audio tracks for the audio track of the Blu-ray.

According to the liner notes for the CD, the 18 minute ballet was NOT recorded using multidirectional mics! I find that absolutely shocking! What were they thinking!

 

[RobertSiegel]

I couldn't agree with you more David. If anyone doubts your statements, all they need do is pop in their dvd of the last release of South Pacific and then listen to the new blu-ray with DTS MA. Every aspect of the soundtrack is improved. The richness, the tonal quality, the dialogue, the soundstage comes alive at last. While laserdisc did provide some good lossless, the problem then was that they were not mastering the soundtracks like they are now. We have come a long way with sound remastering since those days. And there is absolutely no reason to think that a single channel film would not benefit from lossless audio. Those who think that just because a film contains one channel and it's ok to simply do a lossy transfer are mistaken.

If this release was planned and prepped prior to Warner's decision to use lossless all of the time, then why is Gigi in Dolby True HD? They both came out at the same time so I would assume they were prepped around the same time as well. I could be wrong, but I basically feel that any studio taking the path of using lossy because a film is mono is doing a great dis-service to the track of those films.

 

[Edward Weinman]

Yes! Of all the musicals they planned, developed and produced...to do this type of recording, especially for the ballet, is just a terrible blow. I'd have loved to be on the sound stage to hear that orchestra's sessions!

 

[benbess]

Watched the blu of An American in Paris with Gene Kelly. Wonderful film. Great pq in blu. I thought the Oscar Levant character was very funny. What an amazing pianist and comic he was! Oscar Levant supposedly once said, "There's a thin line between genius and insanity. I've erased that line." My 8-year old daughter loved the film, from beginning to end, and started dancing around the house in the end in imitation of the surreal epic climax.

 

[Edward Weinman]

Levant also supposedly once said..."I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin."

 

[benbess]

another funny one~

 

[Tom Fynan]

If you enjoy Levant's humor, you should try to track down any of his three books: "A Smattering of Ignorance," "Memoirs of an Amnesiac" and "The Unimportance of Being Oscar." They are hilarious, and ultimately heartbreaking.

 

[benbess]

Thanks for the recommend! The titles are hilarious on their own!

 

[Keith Cobby]

Watched this again to decide if it is a keeper. Love Leslie Caron and Nina Foch, tolerate Gene Kelly ( prefer Astaire) but loathe Oscar Levant. Unusually on the fence but it is a keeper ( will skip OL scenes on future viewings!).

 

[AnthonyClarke]

I really enjoy watching grumpy old Oscar (and his books are gems) but can totally understand why he could provoke such a reaction. I think his best outing is in 'The Bandwagon' -- he's not at his scintillatingly depressing best in 'An American in Paris'.

 

[Nick*Z]

Best Oscar Levant movie ever - Humoresque, in which the stars are Joan Crawford and John Garfield.

"I don't like to play the piano. It makes me too attractive."
"It's not what you are, it's what you don't become that hurts."
"Tell me, Mrs. Wright, does your husband interfere with your marriage?"
"She was born with a silver flask in her mouth."
"Hey, you just spoiled the beginnings of an odious relationship."
"I envy people who drink. At least they know what to blame everything on."
"You'll do all right. You have all the characteristics of a successful virtuoso. You're self-indulgent, self-dedicated, and a hero of all your dreams. One of us is offensive. Why don't you blow?"
"I hate cold showers. They stimulate me. Then I don't know what to do."
"Oh, Mrs. Wright, this is my friend, Paul Boray, and I'm sure that any friend of mine is not welcome here."

Other gems by Levant, unrelated to the movies he appeared in:

"Now that Marilyn Monroe is kosher, Arthur Miller can eat her!"
"So little time...and so little to do!"
"Marriage is a triumph of habit over hate."
"When I appeared before the draft board, the examiner asked me if I could kill. 'I don't know about strangers', I replied, 'But friends? Certainly!"
"She's a lovely person. She deserves a good husband. Marry her before she finds one."
"I never watch The Dinah Shore Show...I'm a diabetic."
"I play an unsympathetic part - myself."
"Every time I look at you I get a fierce desire to be lonesome."
"Strip away the phony tinsel of Hollywood and underneath you'll find the real tinsel."
"There is a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased that line."
"What the world needs is more geniuses with humility....there are so few of us left!"
"A politician is a man who will double-cross that bridge when he gets to it."
"I've given up reading books because I find it takes my mind off myself."
"I was once thrown out of a mental hospital for depressing the other patients."
"I'm controversial. My friends either dislike me or hate me."
"In some situations I was difficult, in odd moments impossible, in rare moments loathsome, but at my best unapproachably great!"
"It'd be nice to please everyone but I thought it would be more interesting to have a point of view."
"I've changed, I'm nice to people and I'm not so self-centered. What I'm trying to do now is think of the other person. The only trouble is, I've found that the other person thinks only of himself."

Personally, I love Oscar Levant.