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Hello Dolly (1969) (1 Viewer)

OliverK

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As i said in my earlier post you would be impressed with this transfer, it is one the best.
Indeed, leaves the mediocre and horrible efforts we had to suffer in the dust. I have maybe about 2 dozen Blu-Rays from large format movies and this one is certainly a candidate for the top 5.As in the last years I have watched Hello, Dolly! in new and vintage 70mm prints I would not have put up with anything else.
 

moovtune

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I finished watching this last night. Fortunately my copy matches the one "Haineshisway" has and not the ones a few of you seem to have gotten. It's a gorgeous looking transfer that's hard to believe was filmed 44 years ago. The sound on my home theater was full and rich - it wasn't hyped up like some movie theaters tend to do, with subs set too loud. It had a natural orchestral balanced feel. And my copy had directional dialogue which was reported missing on someone elses copy. It's astounding how pressing discs from the same master can create so many different versions of the same title. (And I'm kidding of course)
 

bryan4999

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My face hurts from smiling for 2 hrs and 28 minutes last night. Awesome.

I watched it late, and out of courtesy to the family, I listened with earphones. The dialogue is definitely directional, however, whether it as extreme as it was in the original TODD-AO mix I have no way to know. A good is example is just prior to "So Long, Dearie", as Barbra and Walter leave the Harmonia Gardens, she is on the one side of the frame, and he is on the other, and I heard their dialogue in the appropriate ear. I am looking forward to watching selected parts today out loud.
 

Charles Smith

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My copy just arrived!

I was careful to specify on my order that I wanted the one that Messrs. haineshisway and moovtune got, so let's just hope they didn't screw up and send me the one with the bloomin' arse whites and no bass.

And I'm not even peeking at it now, in the middle of the day with construction noise from a nearby house and any number of other distractions. I look forward to a quiet evening later by myself, watching in ideal conditions, cranking the volume, and reveling in everything Fox has to offer.
 

Noel Aguirre

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BBbrowd said:
Found some screen caps online. For those who've seen the blu already, are these accurate? If so.. Wow! Looks stunning.

blulargecaps2.jpg

blulargecaps3.jpg
Interiors are stunning. It's the exteriors unfortunately that are problematic. Overexposed- the whites bloom. Not in a terrible way- but it's there. And I don't mean to rain on anybody's parade- no pun intended.

Can you posts some exterior caps for comparison ?
 

bryan4999

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Thanks to the clarity of HD, I noticed two cases of stand-ins in far shots. The first is in the melee in Harmonia Gardens, when Horace is chasing Ambrose around the bar. The far shots are obviously Matthau's stand-in. Then, at the very end, after Matthau and Barbra kiss and wave, it cuts to a far shot and it is very obvious that stand-ins walk into the church, especially the man, who has a very different shaped face than Matthau.
 

KPmusmag

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My reaction to this disc is: Hello, gorgeous! What a pleasure to see Dolly looking so good. This movie seems to have grown on a lot of people over the years, including Jerry Herman, but I loved it from the first time I saw it, which was not in the original run, but in 1976 at a neighborhood theater in my home town that was sponsoring a Monday Matinee during the summer, which was comprised mostly of musicals (in this series I also saw The King and I, Carousel, and Camelot). I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to see it on the big screen before seeing it on TV, which is how I first saw most of the big screen musicals.

I can only speak to my own experience with this disc, of course, but I got a good deal of bass in my home theater, in fact, I could feel the bass drum in my hardwood floor during parts of the parade sequence. I may be a heretic to say this, but I think they actually added a little too much bass to The Sound of Music 7.1 track, and I prefer the 4.0 track they provide, because it sounds more to my ear like I remember it.
 

rsmithjr

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I have already watched this 3 times and stopped at the intermission last night heading for a 4.

The Blu-ray is virtually perfect on my system. The dialogue may be a bit less directional than it was but it is still somewhat directional. As to the color balance and contrast, this loos like 70mm Deluxe printing at its very best. IMHO, this is comparable to South Pacific for a Blu-ray made from a 70mm production. I still slightly prefer the soundtrack on South Pacific, but I have seen SP many more times theatrically so I have more to compare.

I always liked Hello, Dolly. I showed it to my daughter this week (a big musical theater fan) and we got a big kick out of the massive overproduction; they spent too much money on almost everything, but hey, it really works. $25M and worth every penny at the end of the day. I kept her guessing about what would they do in the next number to top the last one. The over-the-top design philosophy continues through the cast call and wedding scene at the end.

I particularly like Danny Lockin in his scenes. He out-dances both Michael Crawford and Tommy Tune, and has huge stage presence.

Of course, Barbara is a miracle. She knocks every song out of the park, and her humor is really good (and probably works better today than it did in 1969).

The late-60's musicals are really excellent in my opinion, totally underrated and underappreciated, and this one took a lot of hard criticisms. The criticisms just don't hold up but the film does.
 

Mark-P

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rsmithjr said:
I always liked Hello, Dolly. I showed it to my daughter this week (a big musical theater fan) and we got a big kick out of the massive overproduction; they spent too much money on almost everything, but hey, it really works. $25M and worth every penny at the end of the day. I kept her guessing about what would they do in the next number to top the last one. The over-the-top design philosophy continues through the cast call and wedding scene at the end.
How can something be massively over-produced, too costly, and worth every penny? That's a contradiction in terms! :D
 

rsmithjr

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Mark-P said:
How can something be massively over-produced, too costly, and worth every penny? That's a contradiction in terms! :D
Yes, that is an interesting question. I think the answer lies in the origins of the story and the underlying themes.

The story goes back at least to Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker, although the same basic plot has existed earlier, as has been documented. The Matchmaker is an intimate stage play; this play is pretty well represented by the 1958 film version with Shirley Booth and an interesting cast. It is a small affair.

The Jerry Herman musical opens it up considerably but still retains some of the intimacy. I have seen many stage productions of the musical, 3 times with Carol Channing. All focus on the characters and the various comedic plot turns (deceptions, mistaken identities, etc.).

Now comes the movie: everything is as big and as grand as it can be. Every number, every opportunity for a number, becomes a Barnum-sized affair. I am sure that the powers that be at Fox really regretted this "extravagance" when they saw a film that barely made back its cost after some years of release. But is the show just a stuffed whale?

Not at all. Certainly everything is done with the maximum of professional care and attention to detail using the best talents in the industry. Take a look at the credits and look at the depth and breadth of the quality presented. But does it really work?

My answer is a resounding "yes". The reason is as follows. This story is about "adventure": getting out into the world, doing things you have never done before, taking risks, having fun. Every character in the film is doing just this, with Cornelius and Barnaby at the center of the "adventure". So, having the show open up into amazing numbers performed on huge sets, all photographed in 70mm and 6-track sound, really brings the adventure theme to life in a grand way.

As Wall-E discovered, this film will last a long time and will represent the optimism and exuberance of our civilization, the wonder at something big, new, and fun.
 

haineshisway

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DP 70 said:
Review is up @ Blu Ray.com.
You know I hate screen caps, but Noel, the man who claims that there is no BLUE in this transfer and that the skies are always WHITE, especially in Before the Parade Passes By, should visit and check out the screen cap of Parade - I don't know, sky looks blue to me - in fact it looks exactly like a smoggy day in LA circa late 1960s. Oh, well. Note to Noel: You might want to have someone come out and calibrate both your TV and your sound system. :)
 

ahollis

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haineshisway said:
You know I hate screen caps, but Noel, the man who claims that there is no BLUE in this transfer and that the skies are always WHITE, especially in Before the Parade Passes By, should visit and check out the screen cap of Parade - I don't know, sky looks blue to me - in fact it looks exactly like a smoggy day in LA circa late 1960s. Oh, well. Note to Noel: You might want to have someone come out and calibrate both your TV and your sound system. :)
Agree! You are right, that is exactly how I viewed it.
 

Will Krupp

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Wow Wow Wow! I've had this sitting on my shelf since Tuesday (taunting me!) but haven't gotten the chance to even give it a sneak peek until tonight.

Jeeze Louise but this looks just beautiful! (and yes I was lucky enough to get a copy with blue in it. Special thanks to Allen Hollis and Bruce Kimmel for giving me the special code I needed to enter at checkout :P )
 

Powell&Pressburger

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I've only recently become a newbie fan of Barbara Streisand and each time Ive watched one of her films it is a revelation of talent. I think the first film I ever watched her in that I can recall was What's up Doc?, she is a comedic genius and her voice so perfect for the slam bang dialogue. Same here with Hello Dolly - this was the very first time Ive ever seen this classic. Only had viewed moments of it as seen in WallE from Pixar. I must say for such a rainy dreary day in MN this film's color palate would burn got Regina's out! It looked insanely good on my Panasonic 50" plasma. I have to say of many large format transfers avaiable this one is in my Top 5 for sure. The film really is a joy to watch, everyone is just great in it. I can't praise it enough. I only wish My Fair Lady could shine as Hello Dolly does on this Blu-Ray. (I've seen Funny Girl/ Funny Lady several years back on DVD can't wait for BDs for each film to be rewarded hopefully Funny Lady won't be far behind.
 

Mark-P

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Will Krupp said:
Wow Wow Wow! I've had this sitting on my shelf since Tuesday (taunting me!) but haven't gotten the chance to even give it a sneak peek until tonight.

Jeeze Louise but this looks just beautiful! (and yes I was lucky enough to get a copy with blue in it. Special thanks to Allen Hollis and Bruce Kimmel for giving me the special code I needed to enter at checkout :P )
Hey Will, I hope you got the version with good sound, because apparently the blue-less version is also bass-less. Luckily I got the right one, which sounds and looks incredible.
 

Rob_Ray

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Mark-P said:
Hey Will, I hope you got the version with good sound, because apparently the blue-less version is also bass-less. Luckily I got the right one, which sounds and looks incredible.
The only things that are baseless and the criticisms. I hope this bodes well for Cleopatra, the OTHER little Todd-AO "sleeper" due out soon.
 

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