A Few Words About A few words about...™ Vertigo -- in Blu-ray (2 Viewers)

[rsmithjr]

I certainly was offended at the Oscar for best original score that The Artist won, given that the most powerful musical moment belonged to the creators of Vertigo, most especially Herrmann.


Vertigo did not win an Oscar for best original score, or anything else! It wasn't even nominated for the score.

 

[Nelson Au]

Great Charles! If you are referring to the book, make sure the CD is included. I listened to a few of those tracks on YouTube, great to be able to preview it.

 

[Charles Smith]

I did. There are many copies out there without the CD.

 

[haineshisway]

I certainly was offended at the Oscar for best original score that The Artist won, given that the most powerful musical moment belonged to the creators of Vertigo, most especially Herrmann.


Vertigo did not win an Oscar for best original score, or anything else! It wasn't even nominated for the score.

You were offended that a score that lasts probably the entire duration of The Artist, i.e. over eighty minutes of music, won the Oscar? Because there was a three-minute bit from Vertigo. His score for The Artist is superb. And it was not the composer's idea to use Vertigo. He very much deserved the Oscar he won.

 

[rsmithjr]

I didn't comment on the duration of the clip, merely the fact that it was, in my opinion, the best and most effective part of the score. Just my opinion.

 

[Patrick McCart]

To be perfectly fair, contemporary silent film scores often used existing pieces rather than totally original music. It's perfectly appropriate in this case since it fits the visuals, even if it can be distracting to those familiar with Vertigo.

There is a video out there made up of classic film clips to resemble a 1940s noir version of The Lord of the Rings. The music entirely made up of Bernard Herrmann's film scores.

 

[Cineman]

With all the recent posts about Vertigo's soundtrack and score, I wanted to share a recent experience I had with watching it, my favorite movie, on a no-name DVD in Thailand that I purchased simply because it happened to have a Thai dubbed option and I wanted a Thai friend of mine see it for the first time. We used a front projector on a portable screen in my living room, the sound coming through a decent A/V receiver with 5.1 sound/speaker arrangement. BUT...there was nothing about the picture and sound of this screening that would impress anyone on this forum. It was simply an ok DVD version of Vertigo presented on an 84" screen with ok sound, nothing more.


My friend is Thai with limited English skills and I felt in this case it was important for a first time viewer of Vertigo not to be caught up reading subtitles rather than focusing as much as possible on the visuals. So I opted for the Thai dubbed version with no subtitles at all, not even English ones for me since I have seen this movie well over a dozen times and knew what the characters were saying at any given moment. Again, I didn't want the presence of English subtitles at the bottom of the frame to distract from the visual image.


This option also allowed me to let the dialogue, the actual words spoken, drift into the background as simply another element of the soundtrack. I could hear the emotional sentiment of the words by the dubbing actors (who were quite good I thought), but was not really focusing on their exact meaning. More than any previous viewing of this great movie, my focus was on every visual, every camera move, every gesture and reaction shot of the actors, every element of Hitchcock's direction and Herrmann's music without reliance on words, I suppose as close as possible to watching it as a "silent" movie and absorbing the intentions of the filmmakers primarily through image and music. I think Hitchcock and Herrmann would have approved. I even think the actors would have approved since watching it this was revealed more underlying elements of their physical performances than ever before.


Viewing Vertigo that way, admittedly with the advantage of already knowing what the spoken words were, provided the most emotional experience I have ever had with it after more than a dozen viewings. A truly awesome movie.

 

[Powell&Pressburger]

Thursday May 14th the Heights Theater in MPLS MN will be showing a 70MM presention provided by Universal Pictures

http://www.heightstheater.com (scroll down for Vertigo) other great classics being shown in 35MM also)

Really curious to see this as actual film and 70MM! Can't wait to get home afterwards and try to compare memory to the BLU.

RAH - Anything my eyes should notice for comparison sake.

 

[Steve...O]

I have made two road trips to the Heights for classic showings. It is well worth the visit for anyone in the vicinity. The theater itself is a classic that has been lovingly restored by its owners. First class all the way. If I lived in the Minneapolis area I would be there constantly. Their programming (often on 35mm) is varied and a classic buff's dream.

 

[Powell&Pressburger]

Vertigo 70mm film print 7:30 showtime SOLD OUT so they added a second show later tonite at the Heights Theater in Twin Cities MN.

Excited theater is filling up and about 45mins away from showtime.

 

[Powell&Pressburger]

Interesting film presentation in 70mm and I believe this was a restored print from 1997. My only connection with the film is thru the VHS release after that 97 restoration and then quickly the laserdisc soon after. Etc etc

I felt at times the film seemed a bit faded it certainly had its share of print damage marks from previous film runs. I didn't find it distracting because it comes with the territory. The print seemed to push to a yellow/ brown look which Infelt fine with but I couldn't decipher what color Stewart's suite should have been in some scenes early on it looked plum in Midges first apartment scene. on BLU it doesn't look that way. The film print didn't have what I would call deep blacks most scenes looked milky, smoky black. My observations are not a meant in one way or another.

I would assume the 70mm print is very much the product of that restoration during 97 from the look that was best preserved. The first pan of the pillars at San Juan Batista about 71 mins into the film at my screening looked more sunlit yellow then on the current BLU as one example. watching the BLU at home is a much different experience and the BLU with the issues that it has I have to admit I'm shocked at the amount of detail and strong color the BLU contains. the skyline pan 89 mins into the film on BLU tends to have a fuzziness within the sky which seems more like active noise then grain the presentation I viewed tonite didn't seem to have that activity in the sky portion. 98 mins in as Scottie leaves Judy the processed shot of the flashback is very apparent but on the disc it has been toned down.

I found the overall experience well worth the 10.00 admission. Theaudience really loved it and laughed at good moments in the film (not like at Exorcist screenings which tends to make fun of) the line, it can't matter to you, in regards to changing of hair color got a huge laugh. the audio which was of the reconstructed foley was quite intense esp the gunshot at the start of the film. I know that topic has been argued but I think Robert and Alan did the best work they felt could preserve the film at the time and To be honest it was a most enjoyable audio presentation theatrically.

Anyhow these were just some thoughts. For better or worse the BLU contained more work / changes to be sure.

 

[Robert Harris]

Thursday May 14th the Heights Theater in MPLS MN will be showing a 70MM presention provided by Universal Pictures

http://www.heightstheater.com (scroll down for Vertigo) other great classics being shown in 35MM also)

Really curious to see this as actual film and 70MM! Can't wait to get home afterwards and try to compare memory to the BLU.

RAH - Anything my eyes should notice for comparison sake.

A number of problems that could not be overcome in the analogue world, and some that still need to be attended to in the digital. Probably the most egregious was the flashback, for which we were forced to use the masters, which had been made from the dupe.


That sequence looks far superior in Universal's recent work, as digital was extremely helpful.


RAH

 

[Powell&Pressburger]

Thanks for the info. I loved the chance to see one of those prints for sure. I was in high school when your restoration was hitting the major cities and I lived in the south east and I had a teacher in school who while on a trip in NY at the time got to see the restored print and told me about it and I was so jealous because I was just getting into the classic movies at that time and I owned the CD soundtrack and seemed to know it by heart.

 

[Malcolm Bmoor]

THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY


The quality available from original 8 perf VistaVision sources is utterly amazing. Recently BBC2 showed NORTH BY NORTHWEST in HD with 5.0 and yesterday THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY, in original mono, which I'd not previously seen.


I didn't know anything about it but loved every moment , especially as the picture quality was breathtaking. I'm sure it was the same source as the Blu-ray so if you've not seen it try a unique, amongst Hitchcock films, experience.


We're privileged to see these VistaVision films so much better than in the cinema as, until the restoration of VERTIGO in 70mm, distribution prints were almost always 35mm reductions.

 

[Robert Harris]

THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY

The quality available from original 8 perf VistaVision sources is utterly amazing. Recently BBC2 showed NORTH BY NORTHWEST in HD with 5.0 and yesterday THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY, in original mono, which I'd not previously seen.

I didn't know anything about it but loved every moment , especially as the picture quality was breathtaking. I'm sure it was the same source as the Blu-ray so if you've not seen it try a unique, amongst Hitchcock films, experience.

We're privileged to see these VistaVision films so much better than in the cinema as, until the restoration of VERTIGO in 70mm, distribution prints were almost always 35mm reductions.

"Always" may not be a wonderful word to use for this bit of cinema history.

Although prints may not survive, I did see a few feet of The Court Jester on 70mm stock, so at least experiments were performed contemporaneous with production to see what might be achieved. Also, keep in mind that the concept was fully formed with Technicolor's creation of Technirama, for limited distribution.

RAH

 

[davidmatychuk]

VistaVision news:


http://www.theasc.com/asc_blog/parallax-view/2015/05/27/wagner-collects-vistavision-camera-no-1/

 

[YanMan]

Mr. Harris,


I'm pulling a quote of yours from your recent Spartacus restoration thread:

Universal knows their library, and respects its value. They made a very substantial investment in order to see that work is being done properly, and are controlling things beautifully via the internal route. I've mentioned the concept of the New Universal recently. This is all about their attitude toward getting as close to perfection as possible, when creating digital asset protection, especially of endangered productions.

RAH

Given your above statement and good experience with Universal on the Spartacus restoration, do you feel there is any chance Universal will work with you (or on their own) on getting Vertigo "frame perfect", as you put it earlier in this thread?

 

[Robert Harris]

Mr. Harris,

I'm pulling a quote of yours from your recent Spartacus restoration thread:





Given your above statement and good experience with Universal on the Spartacus restoration, do you feel there is any chance Universal will work with you (or on their own) on getting Vertigo "frame perfect", as you put it earlier in this thread?

No idea. It all comes down to budgets. Much of Vertigo is fine as it stands. Certain sequences need some serious work.

RAH

 

[rsmithjr]

Vertigo will be shown in 70mm at the Castro Theater in San Francisco over Labor Day weekend in a few weeks. This has become a tradition at the Castro.


http://castrotheatre.com/p-list.html#sep04


Located in a vintage but very lively theater in San Francisco, the Castro is only a few blocks from Mission Dolores, one of the Vertigo locations. This is the venue that Robert Harris and team chose for the 1996 premiere of their 70mm/DTS restoration.


Vertigo is all about the importance of location and how location connects us to the past. By going back to a place, you can go back in time, perhaps, and even find something (or someone) you lost. Sigh.


Thankfully, this film is not lost. This is the best place to see Vertigo, with the special magic of 70mm exhibition, still in my opinion the top format.


Hope to see you there. I will be in the city all weekend, who knows how many more viewings that will make possible.

 

[Oblivion138]

THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY


The quality available from original 8 perf VistaVision sources is utterly amazing. Recently BBC2 showed NORTH BY NORTHWEST in HD with 5.0 and yesterday THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY, in original mono, which I'd not previously seen.


I didn't know anything about it but loved every moment , especially as the picture quality was breathtaking. I'm sure it was the same source as the Blu-ray so if you've not seen it try a unique, amongst Hitchcock films, experience.


We're privileged to see these VistaVision films so much better than in the cinema as, until the restoration of VERTIGO in 70mm, distribution prints were almost always 35mm reductions.

For my money, in a box set where PQ runs the gamut from stellar to terrible, The Trouble With Harry boasts the single best transfer in the Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection. And it's a great movie, as well. Hitch did black comedy so well. I've loved the film since my teens, but never got to see it in anything approaching the quality seen on its BD transfer. Upon playing the BD for the first time, I was actually somewhat in awe.