84 Charing Cross Rd: MAR only from Columbia (1 Viewer)

[PatrickL]

From DVDFile:

Also announced for 5/21 are two catalog favorites, Agnes Of God and 84 Charing Cross Road. Both are straightforward movie-only editions, featuring English and French 2.0 surround tracks, production notes, talent files, and trailers. Agnes Of God is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, while 84 Charing Cross Road is full frame only.

Is it my imagination, or is "full frame only" starting to become more frequent from Columbia? I know they've faltered and released an MAR-only disc now and then, but coming after the recent p&s only of "Scent of Green Papaya," and the previously announced MAR-only "To Gillian..." this seems like a bad habit getting worse.

I won't buy non-OAR discs, and I'll write yet another complaint letter, but if this is becoming policy over at Columbia I want to do more. But, what else can be done? I'm frustrated.

 

[Rain]

As disappointed as I am in this news (I would have liked to have picked up 84 Charing Cross Road and, of course, now I will not), I have to laugh.
Formatting films to fit a 4x3 TV is something that is done to sell to Joe Six Pack. Does Columbia actually think J6P will be buying 84 Charing Cross Road? It's really quite laughable.
Surely this must be an error on the part of DVDFile, for nobody, even a studio executive, could really be so naive...could they?
Patrick, if you would be so kind as to email me the appropriate address, I would be happy to pen a letter of complaint as well.

 

[Mark Bendiksen]

Formatting films to fit a 4x3 TV is something that is done to sell to Joe Six Pack. Does Columbia actually think J6P will be buying 84 Charing Cross Road? It's really quite laughable.

LOL. Good point, Rain.
C'mon, Columbia. Say it ain't so.
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[Jason Hughes]

I'd bet (and pray) this is a mistake. DVD File (God bless 'em) but they do sometimes list incorrect aspect ratios and the like.

Rain makes the best point, JSP would never, ever buy this. JSP has probably never even heard of this movie.

If, for some strange reason, the full frame version is preferred by the director, than I'm cool with that, but Colubmia should also make that clear in their press releases.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Either it's a mistake or Columbia got lazy and used the old TV transfer.

 

[Rain]

JSP has probably never even heard of this movie.

I just checked.
Rain: "Ever heard of a movie called 84 Charing Cross Road?"
J6P: "84 children?"
I'm not making this up, folks.

 

[Rain]

There may be an explanation for this...or at least some creative speculation on my part.
I just looked into this title and discovered that 84 Charing Cross Road was originally made for TV in 1975. The AR of that one obviously would have been 1.33:1 or full frame.
IMDB lists no AR for the 1986 theatrical film, but based on the time period and the absence of any special widescreen process, my assumption would be an OAR of 1.85:1.
This presents two more possibilities:
1. Someone has confused the TV movie with the theatrical film resulting in an error about the AR.
2. It may be the 1975 TV movie that is being released on DVD.
I suppose I may be being overly optimistic, but I thought I'd mention it.

 

[John Berggren]

Though this is far from my favorite film, it is that of a coworker, and for her this would be a system seller (she does not yet have a DVD player). There would be a lost DVD sale as well as a lost DVD player sale as a result of improper AR.

OAR only!

 

[Jay E]

I'm also hoping that this is a mistake. Didn't Columbia release another movie recently that wasn't OAR (besides Scent of Green Papaya)?. Definitely a no sale for me if this is true.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

I trust everyone posting here has read the book....one of my favorites and a must for any book lover. The movie's good too, but the book is far better.

 

[MickeS]

I read a review of this DVD on the Swedish website http://www.dvdforum.nu and it lists it as Regionfree and 16:9 anamorphic.
I shot off an e-mail asking the reviewer if that is correct, and also asked if it's NTSC or PAL, haven't heard anything from him yet.
Does anyone else know if this is correct?

 

[Marty M]

Either it's a mistake or Columbia got lazy and used the old TV transfer.

I'm voting that Columbia is getting lazy. They are probably thinking they can start sliding in these lesser known movies in full screen. This could be the beginning of the end if we don't tell them "We're mad as hell and we're not going to take it."

 

[Julian Lalor]

I shot off an e-mail asking the reviewer if that is correct, and also asked if it's NTSC or PAL, haven't heard anything from him yet.

If it is a Swedish DVD it will be PAL. And yes, the R2 version is anamorphic widescreen, although it doesn't appear to look the best. A review of the UK DVD is here:
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