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Criterion's January release of Magnificent Obsession: all good news (1 Viewer)

Thomas T

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Thanks for the good news, Bob! That should put any anxiousness to rest. If Criterion's transfer for Magnificent Obsession is as lush as their transfers for Written On The Wind and All That Heaven Allows, we have a real treat in store for us.
 

BillyFeldman

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More fools. I mean, in this thread we have proof of the ratio - but they know better and they call people HERE kids! Someone please go teach them a lesson. Not that they learn - they know more because, you know, most of them discovered classic films from open matte TV showings.
 

WadeM

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So, from Criterion Forum, in the link that Martin provided, they state this:


Is there anything to this, and can anyone explain?
 

Jack Theakston

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Unfortunately, the person at the Criterion Forums is confused. There is a difference between SuperScope (which is projected at an AR of 2:1) and simply flat 2:1, of which MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION falls into the latter.

Because many theaters were setting up for CinemaScope, exhibitors wanted to get the most width out of their flat image as possible, and therefore the already tight constraints of 35mm grain were pushed with the 2:1 ratio. Universal used it for at least another three or four years, and intermittently thereafter for about another decade or so.

I will also post here what I posted at Criterion:

 

Charles H

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There are still some Criterion-worthy Sirk titles left out there: THE TARNISHED ANGELS, THERE'S ALWAYS TOMORROW (plus the Stahl version and an Errol Morris commentary), and a CinemaScoped A TIME TO LOVE AND A TIME TO DIE).
 

Lord Dalek

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Joel Henderson
And this forum is any different?

Seriously though, its nice that this was all squared away. Now maybe Criterion can acquire "This Island Earth" from Universal and do it in its correct aspect ratio.
 

James 'Tiger' Lee

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The UK DVD is 1,85:1 and anamorphic

I recall the Criterion forumbase being very snobby about the idea of an Equinox DVD. They can be quite elitist sometimes
 

Lord Dalek

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Apparently they forgot all the "mainstream" films Criterion did in their laserdisc days.

Criterion did Ghostbusters??? PROVE IT!
 

BillyFeldman

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Oh, my Lord, the stupidity on that board is frightening. A bunch of "experts" who will not believe the proof in front of their eyes, and who talk about aesthetics as if THEY knew what Metty and Sirk had in their minds. As if Sirk was some sort of adored auteur at the time of Magnificent Obsession - he wasn't. He was a guy who directed films for a major studio - and whether he liked it or not, Magnificent Obsession was a widescreen film because the studio wanted it to be and he, being a professional HIRED HAND, and Mr. Metty, being a professional HIRED HAND delivered the film they were HIRED to deliver. I love all this film scholar talk (think these people have read a little too much Andrew Sarris?) about mise en scene, as if Mr. Sirk was trying to do anything other than make a good film which he was hired onto to direct.

Feel free to use any of this post, because it is impossible to register on that forum. I wrote them about it, to no response.
 

Thomas T

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To be fair Mr. Feldman, while Sirk may have been a "hired hand", he still applied his artistry to each assignment, imposing on each film his cinematic sensibilities within the studio system. Many other "hired hands" such as Nicholas Ray, Vincente Minnelli, Anthony Mann and Samuel Fuller were also able to create their own distinctive "style" (or mise en scene if you prefer) and create a distinct structure which made the film their "own".

It's what separates the artists from the hired hands and why Sirk, Mann, Ray, Fuller and Minnelli are remembered and talked about (and get the Criterion treatment) while other "hired hands" (meaning no disrespect to their craftsmanship) like Henry King, Walter Lang, Charles Vidor, Gordon Douglas, Roy Rowland and Norman Taurog to name but a few aren't.
 

Sergio A

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The Region 2 release of Sirk's MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION is 2:1 and looks exceptionally tight that way and a lot of the compositions really seem compromised - over at the Criterion forum David Hare has posted several screen grabs under the "Douglas Sirk on DVD" thread - and I for one am convinced by his arguments, specially when you compare the aspect ratio of ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS for instance which is 1:77 and which feels much more sympathetic to the genral design of the shots.

I watched MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION just the other day and the cropping really feels way too tight - that it was exhibited this way in some venues as discussed above may well be like what happened with SHANE and THE TALL T which were cropped after production to get on the widescreen bandwagon and which were highly unsatisfying in that presentation. I don't suppose Criterion have much say in the master that Universal is licensing to them, but I for one am very sorry to hear that they are using the 2:1 aspect ratio.
 

BillyFeldman

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Sirk's artistry is not in question. But he wasn't in the position of a Hitchcock or Ford - he did the job he was hired to do, and brought his brilliance to it, just as Mann did. But they were hired hands, nonetheless, who did not buck the studios.
 

BillyFeldman

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While it's been a while since I've run the region two, my memory is that I thought they'd matted a zoomed in source - if that's the case (it looks way too grainy to be anything other than that), then that's why it's too tight - I'm guessing the Criterion transfer will look just right because it will be off a non-zoomed in source. Jack and Bob have explained this repeatedly.
 

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