A Few Words About A few words about...™ Love Me Tender -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

One might wonder what goes into decision-making at Fox regarding what films to release in-house, and what to license.

I'm presuming that the internal distribution of Love Me Tender, a Richard Egan, Deborah Paget film, would have ended up over at Twilight Time, had it not be for the fact that it introduced of one Elvis Presley.

The mind sometimes plays tricks, and as I've not seen this film in years, I was interested in seeing how dye fade might affect LMT's mid-1956 color emulsion.

Was I surprised when the Fox logo came up in black & white?

Yes.

As photographed by Leo Tover, who after years behind the camera at Paramount and RKO, joined Fox c. 1939-40, Love Me Tender is a CinemaScope gem.

On Blu-ray it takes on a very interesting look. Almost charcoal-like is some sequences. Grain structure is delicate, shadow detail is generally good, but something is going on that gives the image a bit of a higher contrast feeling, and for a film that has a certain grittiness, especially in the opening scenes, I like it.

Audio is offered as both DTS-HD MA, presumably based upon the original stereo mix, and also in mono. I'm not certain of the stereo, as it seems quite centered, and I wonder if the original elements actually survived.

Regardless, the audio works nicely.

Image - 4.5

Audio - 4.5

Recommended.

RAH

 

[John Hermes]

I'm glad to hear things look/sound good. Elvis fan here. I'll be ordering this along with the MM films released the same day.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

I recall someone claiming this was originally magnetic mono only.

Is that possible?

 

[lukejosephchung]

The music tracks at least were discovered 20 years ago at Fox's vaults and used to create a true stereo release of the soundtrack album on CD at RCA, as they were recorded in 3-track multichannel...

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Were they three track or binaural?

 

[kingofthejungle]

I can't speak about all of the songs, but at least the title track is in true stereo. According to Steve Hoffman, who mixed the stereo version of LMT, it was recorded on 'three channel 35mm mag film at 20th Century Fox on the scoring stage.' I suppose that's probably the case for the other tracks as well.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Isn't the title song binaural with vocal on one track and guitar on the other?

 

[kingofthejungle]

The vocal is centered, guitar on one track and Jordanaires on the other.

 

[kingofthejungle]

Actually, scratch that. The Jords obviously aren't on the title track. Good question, Bob. The best info I can find is the Hoffman quote.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

http://www.elvisrecordings.com/

 

[lukejosephchung]

I have the title song stereo recording...it's Elvis centered, guitar on the left and background singers on the right...

 

[kingofthejungle]

Here's a thread where Hoffman discusses the history of Love Me Tender:
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/hiss-on-love-me-tender-mono-mix.91346/

 

[Joe Caps]

Ken Darby, vocal director at Fox ( and for this film) told me the film was only done in mono.

I also have an original pressbook for the movie. fox pressbook ads always told if the film was in stereo.
this pressbook makes NO mention of stereo.

 

[lukejosephchung]

Ken Darby, vocal director at Fox ( and for this film) told me the film was only done in mono.

I also have an original pressbook for the movie. fox pressbook ads always told if the film was in stereo.
this pressbook makes NO mention of stereo.

Joe, original 35mm 3-channel mags were located in Fox's vaults in the late '80s...the threadlink posted to Steve Hoffman's website explains how he was able to make true stereo mixes of Elvis' songs from the movie using them!!!

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Luke, the mags found in the late 80's were for the recording session, not the final film.

 

[lukejosephchung]

Luke, the mags found in the late 80's were for the recording session, not the final film.

Bob, the original sound elements for this production were apparently located and used for this remix...if anybody finds it historically objectionable, the ORIGINAL mono soundtrack IS included as well on the the disc...

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Ken Darby, vocal director at Fox ( and for this film) told me the film was only done in mono.

I also have an original pressbook for the movie. fox pressbook ads always told if the film was in stereo.
this pressbook makes NO mention of stereo.

Very interesting.

Are there other examples of mono-only mag releases from that period?

 

[Robert Harris]

Joe, original 35mm 3-channel mags were located in Fox's vaults in the late '80s...the threadlink posted to Steve Hoffman's website explains how he was able to make true stereo mixes of Elvis' songs from the movie using them!!!

Sorry.

We need to be more explicit in defining film elements.

I presume that you're referencing an MED as opposed to three-track stereo, i.e.. a three track monaural mag with one monaural
track each of Music, Effects and Dialogue.

Is this correct?

RAH

 

[Bob Furmanek]

The 35mm magnetic elements that were discovered were the three-channel masters for Elvis' recording session only, not the final MED or underscore.

 

[schan1269]

I think some people forget...Just because it has more than 1 track, doesn't mean it is automatically stereo.