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TCFHE Press Release: The Sound of Music 45th Anniversary (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

benbess

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Originally Posted by Brianruns10

I believe you are correct. As I recall, the o-neg existed at the MOMA, but was too fragile to handle. A specialist was brought in who made a 35mm anamorphic fine grain master from the neg, which is how it survives today.


Another early 70mm film, "The Bat Whispers," survives in both 35mm and 70mm.
Interesting.


How is The Bat Whispers as a film?
 

Stephen_J_H

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Not bad, actually. Image released a DVD back around 2000 with bot the 70mm and 35mm versions, which I had an opportunity to borrow from the local library. As both an early talkie and a 70mm film, it's definitely a 30s product, but well done.
 

benbess

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Originally Posted by Stephen_J_H

Not bad, actually. Image released a DVD back around 2000 with bot the 70mm and 35mm versions, which I had an opportunity to borrow from the local library. As both an early talkie and a 70mm film, it's definitely a 30s product, but well done.


Is it a Western too?
 

MatthewA

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I saw it at the Crossroads 20 in Cary, NC. Save for a little chromatic aberration, the projection wasn't bad. But as for the restoration, let me put it this way:


It's amazing, it's stupendous, it's colossal, it's fantastic.


And it's good, too. The color balance was perfect, saturated but not blooming. Flesh tones were properly tan, and not too pink or too yellow. The natural grain structure seemed to be intact. And there were some details I had never noticed before, like Maria's freckles as her wedding vail is being lifted, and what looks like a covered-up pimple on Friedrich's face in the two-shot with him and Liesl in Maria's bedroom. I was in awe of the film's cinematography, not just the obvious prettiness of the Salzburg exteriors, but of the bold and effective use of lighting, almost chiaroscuro in parts. The sound is good; I'm happy to report that the directional dialogue has been preserved. As an added bonus, they even left in the 1970s era "G" rating tag (presumably added for the 1973 reissue).


I had fun singing along; I couldn't really hear anyone else singing along very loudly, but I could tell some did. There were about 40 people there at most, and I got applause for hitting the high notes on Climb Every Mountain.
 

ahollis

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Originally Posted by benbess





Is it a Western too?

Who done it, mystery, old dark house. The 35mm camera moves around some, while the 70mm has a stage play effect. Kind of like, well everyone is in frame so why move this big bulky thing around.
 

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I went to the digital screening here in Burbank and I must say I was blown away. They showed the brand-new restored Todd-AO digital version and it was flawless. There was not one scratch or blemish of any kind. The detail was razor-sharp and I felt like I was watching a brand-new film. I saw detail and reds I had never seen before in this film. Even though it was a sing-along, I just wanted to see what the film looked like and it was breathtaking. The thing that surprised me most is that I could see every single strand of hair on Julie Andrews' head as well as every freckle and eyelash. Every fiber in every costume was razor sharp. At first I thought the saturation was too high, but I got used to it and decided this was how it was meant to be. When the scene in the Salzburg montage at the vegetable market came up, you could feel the air being sucked out of the room because of the shock of the vibrancy of the reds of the radishes in the background and the unbelievable red of the tomatoes! If this is what we get on the new blu-ray, then we are in for a treat. They also played a digital short before explaining the restoration process which was a longer version of the one on Facebook. This film is so viscerally exciting to watch on the big screen with a live audience and you really get a sense of the experienced artistry that went into every frame.
 

benbess

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Originally Posted by warnerbro

I went to the digital screening here in Burbank and I must say I was blown away. They showed the brand-new restored Todd-AO digital version and it was flawless. There was not one scratch or blemish of any kind. The detail was razor-sharp and I felt like I was watching a brand-new film. I saw detail and reds I had never seen before in this film. Even though it was a sing-along, I just wanted to see what the film looked like and it was breathtaking. The thing that surprised me most is that I could see every single strand of hair on Julie Andrews' head as well as every freckle and eyelash. Every fiber in every costume was razor sharp. At first I thought the saturation was too high, but I got used to it and decided this was how it was meant to be. When the scene in the Salzburg montage at the vegetable market came up, you could feel the air being sucked out of the room because of the shock of the vibrancy of the reds of the radishes in the background and the unbelievable red of the tomatoes! If this is what we get on the new blu-ray, then we are in for a treat. They also played a digital short before explaining the restoration process which was a longer version of the one on Facebook. This film is so viscerally exciting to watch on the big screen with a live audience and you really get a sense of the experienced artistry that went into every frame.

Great review! I agree.


Three cheers not just for restoration, but to 20th Century Fox and the Zanucks and the Todd-AO process. When Cleopatra almost ruined the studio, iirc, they shut down everything and fired almost everyone, but they kept this production going in a first class way, and even filmed it in 70mm. That's maybe how we can see the delicate freckles of Julie Andrews just before the wedding...


PS Of course Ernest Lehman's terrific script had something to do with it. And those songs by R & H! And Christopher Plummer....and....
 

warnerbro

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I agree with you, Ben. The credit to this movie goes to so many ultimate artists who were at the top of their game and assembled at the same time: Robert Wise, of course Rodgers and Hammerstein, Julie Andrews as Maria, and one of the under-appreciated, Ernest Lehman's took a pretty weak stage play and many of the things we love about the movie were nowhere in the play. The play has a completely different script and almost none of the same lines. When Fox originally asked Gene Kelly to direct the movie, he said: "I want nothing to do with that piece of sh-t!" Of course he was referring to the stage play and Ernest Lehman had not written the screenplay yet. Lehman went back to the original books and very carefully crafted a story that was strong and moving without being corny. Robert Wise and Julie Andrews were determined to remove any "of the schmlatz" as they put it. The only part of the movie last night that got any applause was after "Climb Every Mountain." Another person mentioned this as well and I think there's a very special reason that is the high point of the movie. When Robert Wise saw the play on Broadway, he said it was staged where "Climb Every Mountain" was staged with the Mother Abbess moving center downstage and belting out the number and he said he felt like he wanted to crawl out of the theatre. In the movie, he decided to film it almost in the dark with most of it sung by Peggy Wood (lipsynching to another singer) in silhouetted profile. There are a few cutaways of Julie Andrews just listening carefully. This was so powerful last night in the theatre. The lighting of that scene creates a mood where the listener is able to ponder his own situation and project his own thoughts as to what that song is saying, rather than the director broadcasting what you are to think.
 

MatthewA

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Originally Posted by RobertSiegel

I agree with you, Ben. The credit to this movie goes to so many ultimate artists who were at the top of their game and assembled at the same time: Robert Wise, of course Rodgers and Hammerstein, Julie Andrews as Maria, and one of the under-appreciated, Ernest Lehman's took a pretty weak stage play and many of the things we love about the movie were nowhere in the play. The play has a completely different script and almost none of the same lines. When Fox originally asked Gene Kelly to direct the movie, he said: "I want nothing to do with that piece of sh-t!" Of course he was referring to the stage play and Ernest Lehman had not written the screenplay yet. Lehman went back to the original books and very carefully crafted a story that was strong and moving without being corny. Robert Wise and Julie Andrews were determined to remove any "of the schmlatz" as they put it. The only part of the movie last night that got any applause was after "Climb Every Mountain." Another person mentioned this as well and I think there's a very special reason that is the high point of the movie. When Robert Wise saw the play on Broadway, he said it was staged where "Climb Every Mountain" was staged with the Mother Abbess moving center downstage and belting out the number and he said he felt like he wanted to crawl out of the theatre. In the movie, he decided to film it almost in the dark with most of it sung by Peggy Wood (lipsynching to another singer) in silhouetted profile. There are a few cutaways of Julie Andrews just listening carefully. This was so powerful last night in the theatre. The lighting of that scene creates a mood where the listener is able to ponder his own situation and project his own thoughts as to what that song is saying, rather than the director broadcasting what you are to think.

I was about to post something similar, and I agree with you. No one could have done a better job of adapting the play for the screen with as much skillful craftsmanship and wit as Ernest Lehman did. He saw the show, saw its potential as a film, and understood the strengths and weaknesses of the play better than anyone else.


This is just one of those films where everything seemingly came together beautifully as if by magic. Truly, it is a film that has everything: music, drama, wit, scenery, suspense, romance, sentiment that is organic and natural instead of forced, and of course the performances. Julie Andrews, on top of her game here as both a singer and an actress, brought so many different dimensions to the role of Maria, from the fear and apprehension as she leaves the abbey to the childlike joie de vie as she teaches the children to sing, and from the passion with which she implores Captain von Trapp to pay attention to his children to the understated sexual tension between the two of them as they gaze into each other's eyes while dancing the Laendler. Mary Poppins may have gotten her the Oscar, but it is this film that is her crowning achievement. Christopher Plummer brings strength, subtlety, and humanity to the role of Captain Georg Von Trapp. His transformation is totally believable: he warms to his children and falls in love while still maintaining the stoic demeanor of a Naval hero. His chemistry with Andrews is as strong as that of any of the great screen lovers, from their first scene in the living room—just watch their facial reactions after Maria sarcastically says "Yes, sir!" after the Captain shows her how to use the whistle—to their ultimate admission of their love for one another. Eleanor Parker is perfectly cast and sorely underrated as The Baroness. As an antagonist, she is cool, calculating, and catty yet subtle. I simply love her end of act one send-off: "Goodbye Maria, I'm sure you'll make a very fine nun." Richard Haydn makes for a delightful bit of comic relief as Uncle Max, the "very charming sponge", while Peggy Wood brings a strong sense of warmth and authority to the role of Mother Abbess, and the children manage to be cute without being cloying, a very difficult thing to do.


Robert Wise directs the film with energy, style, and a strong, even pace which never lets it lag during any part of its 173 minute running time. Many films based on plays in this era, including a good deal of the major musicals based on Broadway shows, stay close to their theatrical roots both dramatically and stylistically. While there's nothing inherently wrong with that, Wise was wise enough to know that this piece needed to move as a movie for it to work. His staging is dynamic and fluid but never gimmicky, and Ted McCord's cinematography compliments it beautifully. The color is vibrant but never garish, the use of lighting is bold and bright yet never blown-out or flat—an impressive feat considering the relatively low ISO of film stock of the era combined with the fact that color film doesn't provide as great an opportunity for lighting contrast as black and white does—and the Todd A-O process is used to its greatest effect. The unforgettable Rodgers and Hammerstein score, full of songs that we'll sing for a thousand years, soars under the direction of Irwin Kostal.


If any one element had been different, we may have ended up with a decidedly different, and possibly lesser, film. And the release seemed perfectly timed: right between the assassination of JFK and the backlash against the Vietnam War, not to mention the cultural upheaval that came with it. The Hollywood that made The Sound of Music no longer exists—it was practically gone within five years of the film's release—and the world that first fell in love with it is has virtually nothing in common with the world of today. The people who inspired its story, which at no time claims to be a biography of the Trapp Family Singers, are mostly deceased, and no one involved in the film who is still alive is under 50. And the movie musical is still largely considered a thing of the past, Chicago, Moulin Rouge!, and others notwithstanding. Yet the film still endures, warming all but the absolute hardest of hearts. It's the subject of countless artistic re-interpretations and endless pop cultural references that need no explanation; Family Guy should have a revolving line of credit with the Rodgers & Hammerstein organization as many times as they've referenced it. With the possible exception of The Wizard of Oz, what other musical can make that claim?


I first saw this film when I was six. After watching the edited-for-TV version my Mom taped off NBC, I got the VHS tape of the whole film at a toy store after my baby sister was born. Then I upgraded to the 25th anniversary VHS tape and got the other Rodgers & Hammerstein movies in that collection. I was probably the only one in the second grade who knew the words to "Bali Ha'i" or "A Puzzlement". As far as I was concerned, my classmates could keep the plagiarizing rappers in puffy pants and the dreary slobs in lumberjack shirts. Later, I received the mammoth 30th anniversary laserdisc box set as a present and immersed myself in the depth of the extras, and have refused to watch the movie in pan and scan ever since. Then, I bought the Five-Star collection DVD. The limitations of my TV made it hard to see the notorious edge enhancement problems. The 40th anniversary DVD, which I got in the Rodgers and Hammerstein box set, solved that problem but had the same transfer. Seeing it in 70mm, where it sometimes seemed the hills really were alive, twice made watching the film on TV seem like an underwhelming experience. Now it seems the Blu-Ray will finally bring it as close to home as possible.


Like many other HTFers, I am deeply disappointed that Fox has done so little to celebrate its alleged 75th anniversary except repackage existing DVDs and start playing hardball on their TV show sub-license with Shout! Factory. But where they are sorely lacking in quantity, they seem to have made up for in quality on the Blu-Ray front. It's less than two weeks to the release, but now I have confidence (pun intended) this set will truly not only the best the film has looked and sounded on Blu-Ray, but the best disc of the year. It had better be.
 

benbess

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Matthew A:


Wow. What a review! Many, many thanks for sharing your insights, memories, and everything else that makes this film so special.


Best, Ben
 

benbess

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Originally Posted by warnerbro

I agree with you, Ben. The credit to this movie goes to so many ultimate artists who were at the top of their game and assembled at the same time: Robert Wise, of course Rodgers and Hammerstein, Julie Andrews as Maria, and one of the under-appreciated, Ernest Lehman's took a pretty weak stage play and many of the things we love about the movie were nowhere in the play. The play has a completely different script and almost none of the same lines. When Fox originally asked Gene Kelly to direct the movie, he said: "I want nothing to do with that piece of sh-t!" Of course he was referring to the stage play and Ernest Lehman had not written the screenplay yet. Lehman went back to the original books and very carefully crafted a story that was strong and moving without being corny. Robert Wise and Julie Andrews were determined to remove any "of the schmlatz" as they put it. The only part of the movie last night that got any applause was after "Climb Every Mountain." Another person mentioned this as well and I think there's a very special reason that is the high point of the movie. When Robert Wise saw the play on Broadway, he said it was staged where "Climb Every Mountain" was staged with the Mother Abbess moving center downstage and belting out the number and he said he felt like he wanted to crawl out of the theatre. In the movie, he decided to film it almost in the dark with most of it sung by Peggy Wood (lipsynching to another singer) in silhouetted profile. There are a few cutaways of Julie Andrews just listening carefully. This was so powerful last night in the theatre. The lighting of that scene creates a mood where the listener is able to ponder his own situation and project his own thoughts as to what that song is saying, rather than the director broadcasting what you are to think.

Warnerbro: I knew Ernest Lehman deserved a lot of credit, but I didn't know how much. Thanks for sharing these insights. I've never seen it on stage...
 

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Great post, Matthew! I was going to post something similar but I can't improve on what you said. I've always been apprehensive about singalongs which would turn a movie I treasure into an object of camp, so I passed on this event. I also saw The Wizard of Oz and wasn't overly impressed with the concept of these digital screenings. There were technical glitches which reminded me too much of 60s era network "please stand by" glitches. The whole presentation seemed like a glorified TV screening.


So you've seen it in 70mm and now in digital. How did the digital presentation compare with a 70mm screening? I've seen it several times in 70mm, which was another reason that I wasn't too keen on a digital event.
 

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My answer won't be as good as Matthew's, but....


I wasn't that impressed with The Wizard of Oz digitally in the theater. The film itself was fantastic--way beyond expectations for a film from 1939--but the projection looked rather digital video, imho.


This was digital too, but it looked to my eyes a bit more like film. I should emphasize a bit more, because somehow it was clear to me that it wasn't film.
 

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My impression on The Wizard of Oz was exactly the same as yours. I felt I was watching a large TV screen. However, last Monday I saw a 6K digital print of The Ten Commandments at Grauman's Egyptian as was blown away by the quality. Except for the fact that there were no film artifacts, it otherwise seemed very filmlike. It looked and sounded spectacular.
 

benbess

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Originally Posted by Rob_Ray

My impression on The Wizard of Oz was exactly the same as yours. I felt I was watching a large TV screen. However, last Monday I saw a 6K digital print of The Ten Commandments at Grauman's Egyptian as was blown away by the quality. Except for the fact that there were no film artifacts, it otherwise seemed very filmlike. It looked and sounded spectacular.


Rob Ray:


Last Monday! Wow. Does this mean that The Ten Commandments on Blu-ray is very near? I must have missed the announcement....


Best, Ben
 

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The rumor in the auditorium was that a Bluray would be coming out in time for Easter. But I hate starting internet rumors. No official announcement to this effect was made.
 

I've been thinking that about The Ten Commandments all year. ABC presented a beautifully restored print in HD this Easter and next year is the 55th Anniversary.
 

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