Roy Rogers in TruColor and Uncut (3 Viewers)

[Clemdog]

Just received "Under California Stars" today. It's hideously bad...

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Was Trucolor much like Cinecolor?


Are any of the Trucolor or Cinecolor movies out on DVD or Blu-ray

that were restored from

separate scans of the original elements

and

recombined digitally ?


Finally, do you know what method is being used for "The Cariboo Trail" restoration that is coming to Blu-ray from Kino?

This page has accurate technical data but the frame grabs are poor The original prints are not green. They also list Cinecolor being used in the late 50's on some TV shows and that's wrong. The labs were closed for good in 1954.


http://zauberklang.ch/filmcolors/timeline-entry/1297/#/


http://zauberklang.ch/filmcolors/timeline-entry/1298/


http://zauberklang.ch/filmcolors/timeline-entry/1294/


http://zauberklang.ch/filmcolors/timeline-entry/1295/

 

[aPhil]

This page has accurate technical data but the frame grabs are poor The original prints are not green. They also list Cinecolor being used in the late 50's on some TV shows and that's wrong. The labs were closed for good in 1954.


http://zauberklang.ch/filmcolors/timeline-entry/1297/#/


http://zauberklang.ch/filmcolors/timeline-entry/1298/


http://zauberklang.ch/filmcolors/timeline-entry/1294/


http://zauberklang.ch/filmcolors/timeline-entry/1295/

I notice that they list "Invaders from Mars" as Cinecolor subtractive 2 color (dated 1932 - 1950)

and not under SuperCinecolor subtractive 3 color (dated 1951 but no terminal date listed),

although I would assume that "Invaders from Mars" would be 3 color.


Also, they do not use the term 'Natural Color' beside 2 color Cinecolor,

but they do use it beside SuperCinecolor.

I find that confusing as the title card on the print of 1947 "Scared to Death" simply says 'Natural Color'.

 

[John Sparks]

Okay, here's my mini review of The Film Detective Restored Classic taken from a 16mm archive print of Roy Rogers "SPRINGTIME IN THE SIERRAS" in Trucolor.


The movie ran at 73:59 minutes, progressive, in color and the sound offered no distortion and opened with the Republic logo. It was a tad soft, color was bright with mainly reds/pinks, greens, red/browns, orange and a very light blue...a partial glimpse of the flag. The skies were more green than blue and it looked very good, considering the source. Don't know how good 16mm can be made to look.


I do want to add that it's a DVDr and didn't play on my HDA1 which I use for all my DVD upscaling. This is only the 2nd DVDr that has not played, though it played okay on my BD player.


All the singing was in place which made it very enjoyable to watch and a great addition to your collection!


I compared it with 2 other copies of DVDs, interlaced and both were in B&W. Both had no Republic logo at the beginning, all songs cut out, 53 min. running times which made it a completely different picture than the 75 min. Trucolor one. Both had whites blown out and a very soft picture.


Next I'm going to get Film Detectives restored version of "BELLS OF SAN ANGELO and possibly UNDER CALIFORNIA STARS," which are the only three they have out in color. BELLS and UNDER have many color DVD releases that I can A&B. I checked out one color version of BELLS and it was partially washed out, but with some color left. All the colors were there, but on the light side, such as blue skies, green grass and brown horses, etc. If it was restored using a print like that, it would look quite beautiful.

 

[borisfw]

Thanks for the review John . I think I feel safe enough to test the waters .Look forward to your next Roy review.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Yes, INVADERS FROM MARS is 3-color.

 

[John Sparks]

Thanks for the review John . I think I feel safe enough to test the waters .Look forward to your next Roy review.

You're welcome!

 

[Bob Furmanek]

I know there was talk several years ago about Paramount doing preservation on some of these titles.


TRIGGER JR. was done from the color elements and I'm told it looks fabulous.

 

[John Sparks]

Just viewed BELLS OF SAN ANGELO from Film Detective Restored Classic and it was just beautiful! Run time was correct with the beginning credits of Republic. The other 3 copies of it on different labels are almost completely washed out. Not sure if this print is from 16mm or 35mm.

The sky is blue with just a hint of green in it. Skin, browns, greens are not super bright but better color than SPRINGTIME IN THE SIERRAS. Blacks look black, whites look white and audio is very clear.

This is a beautiful DVD and a worthy $10 addition to your collection.

 

[Richard Gallagher]

Just viewed BELLS OF SAN ANGELO from Film Detective Restored Classic and it was just beautiful! Run time was correct with the beginning credits of Republic. The other 3 copies of it on different labels are almost completely washed out. Not sure if this print is from 16mm or 35mm.

The sky is blue with just a hint of green in it. Skin, browns, greens are not super bright but better color than SPRINGTIME IN THE SIERRAS. Blacks look black, whites look white and audio is very clear.

This is a beautiful DVD and a worthy $10 addition to your collection.

Not perfect but the best we are likely to see. There are some places, particularly in the first half of the film, where it is obvious that a frame or two is missing and the audio momentarily drops out. However, the climactic shootout and fistfight scene looks very good. It's a rather adult Roy Rogers feature with quite a few killings!

 

[borisfw]

Great news to hear that the run times seem to be correct and the pictures seem to be pretty good . I will try to order a couple this week .

 

[Professor Echo]

I'm woefully behind in catching up with this thread in its entirety since I last left it awhile back, but I know it is a tremendous resource for information about these terribly neglected films. As such, I have a question for the Roy Rogers experts out there who are still participating in this thread.

I've picked up the Mill Creek ROY ROGERS set based on information earlier in the thread and also some individual releases by Roan and VCI, but no Alphas nor now the ones from Film Detective. My question is this: I've read that arguably Roy's best films were his early ones and not the later entries. As I don't have a lot of money to spend on his titles nor am I able to try compiling a complete set, what are some of the early titles and best DVD versions of them I should be searching for? In other words, do you have a subjective BEST OF list that I could go by? If it helps at all, I will add that I am no fan of Pat Brady and generally avoid the TV series because of what I see as an "intrusion" of comic relief. I can handle Gabby and Smiley and many other comic sidekicks in B westerns, but when it consistently and obviously disrupts the dramatic flow, it annoys me.

 

[Bob Gu]

Earlier in the thread I gave a lot of detailed information on Roy Roger titles I thought were interesting and which releases were more complete. I realize my old posts appear as huge blocks of type since the previous site host migration lost my paragraph separations. With this new site host it seems the paragraphs are back but still close together.

Glen, I would not stay away from Alpha releases for some of the titles. For example, the Alpha SPRINGTIME IN THE SIERRAS is the same restoration as the Film Chest and has a slightly longer runtime, than Film Chest or the Film Detective runtime John reports. And Alphas can be had for $3.99 at the oldies.com site.

I was going to pick up the Film Detective, BELLS OF SAN ANGELO because of the listed 78 minute runtime. ( For years sellers claimed the 75 min. version was complete, but it was really missing two songs, I think.) But now, John has said the Film Detective edition is 75 min. So I guess I won't bother. I must have four or five 75 min. DVD/VHS versions of BELLS.

Glenn, for the casual Roy Rogers fan, I suggest you skip all the early ones and start with the ones that have the Sons of the Pioneers. Here's a list of some that stand out for me, story or music-wise and what version I have.

RED RIVER VALLEY- Gale Storm and the first Sons of The Pioneers. (Sinister Cinema) I think something,(a song?), is missing from the beginning of this one, as Roy and Gale are riding together but don't seem to know each other well.
ROMANCE ON THE RANGE- peppy songs, good story. Features Linda Hayes, who is the mother of Cathy Lee Crosby. (Sinister Cinema)
IDAHO- Good story and great music with the Robert Mitchell Boys Choir., plus Virginia Grey. (Sinister, VCI, Alpha). I'd go with the VCI.
KING OF THE COWBOYS- I wrote about this one in post #56, about there being two versions.
HOME IN OKLAHOMA- Carol Hughes is great as the bad girl who is kind of sympathetic. Decent mystery. (Sinister, Alpha) I'd go with Sinister on this one.

That's a start, I have to go. There are many other good ones, but the titles of these westerns all run together after awhile. I have not watched them lately.

 

[John Sparks]

The 3 collections that I have plus single picture/double picture copies are:

1-Roy Rogers, Over 13 hours(St. Clair Vision)(12 movies)-eBay has it for $15
2-Roy Rogers, The Ultimate Collection(Bridgestone)(28 movies, says uncut, but they're not)-eBay/Amazon have it for $15-$30
3-The Roy Rogers Collection(Mill Creek)(20 movies)-eBay/Amazon has it $15
4-Roy Rogers, King of the Cowboys(Timeless)-only the 5 movie disc-everyone has the 20, not the 5

Well, I'm going thru all my movies to see what's cut and what's not. So far, 8 that I've watched from The Roy Rogers Coll., The Ultimate Coll., and Happy Trails Theater almost all are cut. Only one is uncut and that is "Billy the Kid Returns" from The Roy Rogers Collection.

I'll be re-watching all 51 that I own and so far "CUT" is the word. I'm using the run times from different sources, so how exact that is, is anyone's guess.

On to my HT and watch another 2..."The Carson City Kid and Colorado!"

EDIT: In reference to the restored Film Detective Trucolor "Bells of San Angelo" run time, sources say 78 m but the disc is 75 m. I don't know which is correct. (IMDB=78 m/Amazon Prime=76 m/You Tube=76 m/Disc=75 m/TCM=78/71 m.)

 

[John Sparks]

Just viewed "Bells of San Angelo" from Film Detective and compared it to the version from the Roy Rogers Collection (20films) from Mill Creek and it looks like they used the same source.

Jumps and scratches are in the same spots and run time almost identical, 75:19 for Film Detective and 75:17 for the RR Coll

Which is better, the Roy Rogers Collection copy. Film Det. has a slightly bright picture which seems like the brightness will bloom out at any moment,

Save your $10 and buy something else.

The Carson City Kid and Colorado both ran at 53 min.

 

[John Sparks]

Just viewed "Bells of San Angelo" from Film Detective and compared it to the version from the Roy Rogers Collection (20films) from Mill Creek and it looks like they used the same source.

Jumps and scratches are in the same spots and run time almost identical, 75:19 for Film Detective and 75:17 for the RR Coll

Which is better, the Roy Rogers Collection copy. Film Det. has a slightly bright picture which seems like the brightness will bloom out at any moment,

Save your $10 and buy something else.

The Carson City Kid and Colorado both ran at 53 min.

 

[RBailey]

No new info on anything Roy Rogers-related (besides Kino apparently having the rights to one Rogers film to release later)...but I thought I'd post a link to Mike Cline's website with a great story about Roy Rogers visit to Salisbury, North Carolina...

http://www.mikeclinesthenplaying.com/p/tuesday_16.html

 

[Rodney]

No new info on anything Roy Rogers-related (besides Kino apparently having the rights to one Rogers film to release later)...but I thought I'd post a link to Mike Cline's website with a great story about Roy Rogers visit to Salisbury, North Carolina...

http://www.mikeclinesthenplaying.com/p/tuesday_16.html

That link didn't work for me, but I think I found the post: A WHITE CONVERTIBLE INSTEAD OF A HORSE

Great story, and makes me want to see Mackintosh and T.J.

 

[John Sparks]

Wouldn't it be great if they could find one of Roy Rogers Trucolor films and restore it to look like Johnny Guitar?

 

[DFurr]

Wouldn't it be great if they could find one of Roy Rogers Trucolor films and restore it to look like Johnny Guitar?

Sparky next time you're over here remind me to run my 35MM restored Roy Rogers Riders Club clip. I've got it in B&W as well as restored color. Pretty cool clip!!