Kyrsten Brad
Senior HTF Member
And a Hearty Happy Sunday Morning to all here. Thought I'd type this up before church. Now I was going to start titling my reviews "Some Briefs By Brad About" being a military guy and use of the term "Brief" but then I realized I'd be opening myself up to "briefs vs. boxers" jokes big time. So onward.
Finally got around to watching my Carousel blu-ray (part of the R&H Collection Set) mainly because my MIL really wanted to see it (she being a teenager back in 1956) and our beloved neighbor Joanie (again a be-bopping teenager back in 1956) and this is the first time they saw the movie well since they saw it at the theater back in 1956 (don't know if it was a regular sit-down theater or one of this 1950s era drive-ins). So everyone came over and we all had a nice evening.
Viewed the movie on the 70" Vizio E-Series (a TV that I've really been impressed with since I got it at the Wal-Mart Black Friday 2013 sale, $700 off the $1698.00 price).
The Movie: It kept me interested to be sure (having seen a on-stage production of Carousel back in the 1990s). I do like these "come back from the dead to assist" type films (a la Heaven Can Wait or Ghost). Lordy was Shirley Jones a drop-dead gorgeous teenager (or portraying a 18 y/o ish teenager, she was 22 in real life in Carousel). No wonder that 14 years later (Partridge Family Days) I wanted her to be my mom, but my real mom was quite a beauty queen herself. ( I didn't say that back then, all my friends from school did ). Not only was Shirley beautiful, she was showing that she could act as well.
Gordon McRae playing the part of "Billy" played it quite well too. Safe to say that back in the 1950s, the "sensitive guy" character was relatively rare as Billy was definitely a muscleheaded bully who even hit his own wife (we never say any actual hit in the film) Seems like the movie was trying to portray Billy as a tough guy but with a soft streak he kept repressed which the film looked to portray in a sympathetic way (No way would any film today, especially with the Ray Rice episode in the news would give any sympathetic treatment to any man who hit his wife).
Overally I could see why this film is now such a classic. And being a musical, plenty of singing from Shirley Jones (now I know why she sang backup on the later Partridge Family songs) and from Gordon McRae who wasn't half bad either. But in a way I wish Frank Sinatra had not walked away from this film. Oh what could have been.
The Technical Aspects:
From IMDB:
Carousel (1956) Technical Specifications
Showing all 9 technical specifications
Runtime
2 hr 8 min (128 min)
Sound Mix
4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) | 6-Track Stereo (premiere only) | 4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)
Color
Color (CinemaScope 55)
Aspect Ratio
2.55 : 1
Camera
Bausch & Lomb Lenses
Laboratory
DeLuxe (color by) (as De Luxe)
Negative Format
55 mm
Cinematographic Process
CinemaScope 55
Printed Film Format
35 mm
My opinons. My PQ rating, 4.3. Actually I was quite pleased with the quality even though I've read some accounts of less than stellar PQ, including a "blue cast" which I did notice in some scenes but flesh tones seemed OK even in those scenes. No characters came off looking like Smurfs. I had the "Smooth Motion" setting set on low for this film (like I do with most films) and it lent a nice real-life feel to the film without too much "soap-opera effect". Soundwise Carousel sounded really good (on my combo of a Vizio 2.1 Soundbar and the old-but-still-functioning Aiwa sound system) and will probably sound a lot better this Christmas when I get the new Denon E400 AVR/ Boston Acoustics 5.1 Speakers combo up on the 70.
Note: I did a search for Carousel on the forum before putting this up. While I found several references, there was no dedicated thread so thought I'd put this up.
Summary: Everyone at our condo was very impressed with the presentation (no RAH-caliber critics in the crowd though RAH's opinions are always welcome here). That along with South Pacific (the theatrical version) made for a nice weekend viewing while waiting for NFL Football.
Finally got around to watching my Carousel blu-ray (part of the R&H Collection Set) mainly because my MIL really wanted to see it (she being a teenager back in 1956) and our beloved neighbor Joanie (again a be-bopping teenager back in 1956) and this is the first time they saw the movie well since they saw it at the theater back in 1956 (don't know if it was a regular sit-down theater or one of this 1950s era drive-ins). So everyone came over and we all had a nice evening.
Viewed the movie on the 70" Vizio E-Series (a TV that I've really been impressed with since I got it at the Wal-Mart Black Friday 2013 sale, $700 off the $1698.00 price).
The Movie: It kept me interested to be sure (having seen a on-stage production of Carousel back in the 1990s). I do like these "come back from the dead to assist" type films (a la Heaven Can Wait or Ghost). Lordy was Shirley Jones a drop-dead gorgeous teenager (or portraying a 18 y/o ish teenager, she was 22 in real life in Carousel). No wonder that 14 years later (Partridge Family Days) I wanted her to be my mom, but my real mom was quite a beauty queen herself. ( I didn't say that back then, all my friends from school did ). Not only was Shirley beautiful, she was showing that she could act as well.
Gordon McRae playing the part of "Billy" played it quite well too. Safe to say that back in the 1950s, the "sensitive guy" character was relatively rare as Billy was definitely a muscleheaded bully who even hit his own wife (we never say any actual hit in the film) Seems like the movie was trying to portray Billy as a tough guy but with a soft streak he kept repressed which the film looked to portray in a sympathetic way (No way would any film today, especially with the Ray Rice episode in the news would give any sympathetic treatment to any man who hit his wife).
Overally I could see why this film is now such a classic. And being a musical, plenty of singing from Shirley Jones (now I know why she sang backup on the later Partridge Family songs) and from Gordon McRae who wasn't half bad either. But in a way I wish Frank Sinatra had not walked away from this film. Oh what could have been.
The Technical Aspects:
From IMDB:
Carousel (1956) Technical Specifications
Showing all 9 technical specifications
Runtime
2 hr 8 min (128 min)
Sound Mix
4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) | 6-Track Stereo (premiere only) | 4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)
Color
Color (CinemaScope 55)
Aspect Ratio
2.55 : 1
Camera
Bausch & Lomb Lenses
Laboratory
DeLuxe (color by) (as De Luxe)
Negative Format
55 mm
Cinematographic Process
CinemaScope 55
Printed Film Format
35 mm
My opinons. My PQ rating, 4.3. Actually I was quite pleased with the quality even though I've read some accounts of less than stellar PQ, including a "blue cast" which I did notice in some scenes but flesh tones seemed OK even in those scenes. No characters came off looking like Smurfs. I had the "Smooth Motion" setting set on low for this film (like I do with most films) and it lent a nice real-life feel to the film without too much "soap-opera effect". Soundwise Carousel sounded really good (on my combo of a Vizio 2.1 Soundbar and the old-but-still-functioning Aiwa sound system) and will probably sound a lot better this Christmas when I get the new Denon E400 AVR/ Boston Acoustics 5.1 Speakers combo up on the 70.
Note: I did a search for Carousel on the forum before putting this up. While I found several references, there was no dedicated thread so thought I'd put this up.
Summary: Everyone at our condo was very impressed with the presentation (no RAH-caliber critics in the crowd though RAH's opinions are always welcome here). That along with South Pacific (the theatrical version) made for a nice weekend viewing while waiting for NFL Football.