WB Announces Easter Parade & The Band Wagon SE's and more.... March 15th, 05. (1 Viewer)

[Andrew Budgell]

Can't wait for EASTER PARADE and BRIGADOON! Love 'em both!

Andy

 

[Drew Salzan]

To my knowledge, the original music prerecordings for THE BANDWAGON, although recorded on magnetic tape in stereo, no longer exist. According to the liner notes on the soundtrack CD, they were erroneously mixed down to mono. For SINGIN' IN THE RAIN and MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, a viable 5.1 mix was possible because the original session master angles survived. I hope it's not a fake pseudo-stereo mix. Anyone care to comment?

This is a collection that am sure to get. I can't wait.

 

[Joe Caps]

MGM used Angles on optical recprdings, but didn't seem to do so once they went to mag tape. Singin in the Rain is on mag but it does have single channel orchestra tracks and separate tracks for vocal soloists and chorus. Probably Band wagon is the same, where they spread out the single channel orchestra. this can sound very good, as we know from Gone With the Wind and Singin in the Rain.

 

[Drew Salzan]

From what I've read, Singin' in the Rain was made during the transition from optical to magnetic recording. Some of the tracks were recorded optically while others magnetically. Angles I guess refer only to optical methods of recording. When magnetic methods started being used, they indeed recorded orchestral tracks stereophonically. Even non-CinemaScope releases that had mono soundtracks were recorded this way. The session tapes for Kiss Me Kate, Athena, Deep in My Heart, I'll Cry Tomorrow, and The Long, Long Trailer are some examples.

It's true what you say about the tracks for SITR; it does sound as if the music is a mono spread with discrete vocal and sound effects. Meet Me In St. Louis was recorded using multiple orchestral angles, so even the music is true stereo.

 

[Peter Kline]

To bad "Brigadoon" is only offered in the 'Scope version.

 

[bob kaplan]

i am sure the release of these titles is due to more than the efforts of just one man, but a big thank you to Mr. F. i was amazed at the laser releases of long ago when he was working with MGM LaserDisc, and appreciated the work even back then. But sure Warner has a problem now...we will continute to expect wonderful things!!

 

[Joe Caps]

Drew, you 're right about tracks recorded in stereo for mono films. One exception - you list Kisss me kate and that film was released in stereo in theaters. I wish we would get a release of athenma, complete in stereo.
Does anyone on the net have the covers for these new releases?

 

[Jayson Wall]

I would've liked to have the flat version of BRIGADOON as well.....Anyhow, the outtake musical numbers for BRIGADOON were on the Gene Kelly laserdisc box set, and are fun to have....let's hope a 2:55:1 It's Always Fair Weather is not too far down the road from Turner/WB---that too has some great outtakes as well!

JW

 

[Roger Rollins]

Given Warner's track record of late, I feel confident will get a 2.55 16x9 FAIR WEATHER that finally isn't faded, and that has an impressive 5.1 remix. The outtakes will surely be there as well.

It's not a perfect film, but it is fascinating, and very underrated. You can see what the creators were attempting...a total screen original both in terms of story and score. It's a shame it isn't a masterpiece, but it has moments of brilliance in it. and deserves to be rediscovered.

Assume WB will deliver it to us for next Xmas or the following year. I assume it will be another sterling release.

Meanwhile, WB's March line-up of musicals and comedies has me beyond thrilled. THE BAND WAGON is one of my very favorite films, right up there with the best musicals ever made. It deserves to be more famous, and maybe this DVD will help restore its reptuation. I'll be fascinated to see what this looks like in Ultra-Resolution.

So, I'll appease my inability to wait for these great titles, with the comfort of knowing that the 6 Warner Gangster pictures are only a few weeks away!

 

[Ira Siegel]

Pete writes,
This got me looking, and IMDB shows that these four movies were made with a cinematographic process IMDB calls "Spherical (alternate spherical version)."

Brigadoon (1954)

Knights of the Round Table (1953)

The Robe (1953)

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)

Can anyone point me to a web site which explains what this process is?

 

[HaigH]

I just soiled myself!

Warner is the classic DVD god

*kneels to photo of JL*

 

[Everett S.]

This is GREAT! news.
I have one ? are the extras in the boxed set?

thanks,

 

[John Whittle]

Knights of the Round Table (1953)
The Robe (1953)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
Brigadoon (1954)

Ira,

What IMDB is trying to say in it's own obsure way is that these pictures were shot twice. Onces with flat (spherical or standard optic) lenses and onces with scope (anamorphic or squeeze) lenses. At this point in history, no one knew if the new "Cinemascope" process would take off (or become another "3-D") so the studios did this for insurance.

We have both version of 7 Brides for 7 Brothers (finally!), it'll be nice just to get the 16:9 version of Brigadoon of the scope version, I don't know if the other negative is existant and if so what condition it's in. For many years, studios used a pan and scan version of the scope negative for TV rather than going back to the flat negative.

John

 

[JPCinema]

I guess the cut number "Necessity" from FINIANS RAINBOW which is on the cd will alas not be presented as a deleted scene on the DVD.

 

[Roger Rollins]

While it's disappointing that the deleted NECESSSITY isn't going to be on the FINIAN DVD (It probably only exists in audio form only, otherwise WB would surely have included it)I'm just grateful we're getting a DVD in 16z9 w/ 5.1 audio of the film itself.

That's worth cheering about in my book.

I'm very intrigued and excited that Coppola is providing an intro & commentary!

 

[GerardoHP]

It's not a process per se. Spherical refers to the type of lenses used to shoot these films non-anamorphically. Spherical lenses are regular lenses that shoot films for flat projection. Those films were shot twice, once in anamorphic CinemaScope and once in full screen (spherical) for release either in 1.33:1 or in 1.85:1 because in the very early days of CinemaScope most theaters were not equipped to project films anamorphically.

 

[Al (alweho)]

Me too - I sure as heck want to know why he insisted on only filming Fred Astaire from the waist up during the dance numbers.

 

[Derek Estes]

This is great news! Warners is blazing the trail, I hope that these releases are successful, and encourage other studios to be this brave with the quality and volume of their releases. Top Drawer!

 

[Ira Siegel]

Wow. A big increase in costs.

Thanks for the info John and Gerardo.

 

[Drew Salzan]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that FINIAN'S RAINBOW was shot Academy standard 1.85 and blown up for Panavision 2.35. The resulting cropping that would have occurred may account for this. Any thoughts?