A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Sound of Music -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[PMF]

STAR was a very underrated film when it was first released. Business was not up to expectations and Fox shortened the film and released it under a new title THOSE WERE THE DAYS for general release. It definitely demands a bluray release..I am still waiting for a bluray release of the original roadshow version of THE SAND PEBBLES - not the heavily cut version that is available now. Until its is released , I will have to be content with the dvd version which is uncut.

I doubt that FOX will misread you, but just in case;
it's "Star!" that "definitely demands a bluray release"; rather than "Those Were The Days". Agreed?
Meanwhile, the BD of "The Sand Pebbles" looks fantastic. When you speak of a BD of the original roadshow version, what content could I be looking forward to? Meanwhile, I agree with you. Furthermore, I feel that ALL films originating as a Roadshow should strictly be brought to BD fully intact. And I can't imagine that there's anyone here who would feel differently, on that front.

 

[PMF]

Sometimes I wonder if Robert Wise was mostly drawn to projects that were dominated by the letter "S".
Let's see, we've got "West Side Story", "The Sound of Music", "The Sand Pebbles" and "Star!"; all in Seventy.
Think its a coincidence, eh?
Then throw in "Star Trek" and consider how "Citizen" is pronounced.
Surely, within this premise, I'm certain that "Somebody" will agree.
But, then again, don't think too much about it;
as this silly observation serves only to bring "Strain" to the brain.

 

[Rob W]

Not to be a nitpicker, but wasn't the reissue title for Star ! called Those Were The Happy Times ?

 

[PMF]

They should have called the shorter version "Gertie"

 

[PMF]

I wonder how difficult it would be for FOX to obtain the 1956 West German film entitled "Die Trapp-Familie"?
Wikipedia describes this film as a comedy-drama, based on Maria's memoirs.
Additionally, this aforementioned film had spawned a sequel entitled "The Trapp Family in America"
What a package these two films would make as a separate disc inclusion to the hopeful "Ultra" of "The Sound of Music".

 

[Will Krupp]

Fox shortened the film and released it under a new title THOSE WERE THE DAYS for general release.

I think the actual title was THOSE WERE THE HAPPY TIMES (though it also played 35mm general release engagements under its original title in a shortened form that wasn't QUITE as short as HAPPY TIMES but still wasn't the full roadshow version.)

 

[Will Krupp]

They should have called the shorter version "Gertie"

From what I recall, I think the title GERTIE WAS A LADY was an option at one point.

 

[ahollis]

I wonder how difficult it would be for FOX to obtain the 1956 West German film entitled "Die Trapp-Familie"?
Wikipedia describes this film as a comedy-drama, based on Maria's memoirs.
Additionally, this aforementioned film had spawned a sequel entitled "The Trapp Family in America"
What a package these two films would make as a separate disc inclusion to the hopeful "Ultra" of "The Sound of Music".

I'm under the impression that they already own the German film.

 

[B-ROLL]

I'm under the impression that they already own the German film.

Apropos of nothing
I believe I saw this title

at Wal*Mart ...but It is also available through Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Von-Trapp-Family-Music-Digital/dp/B01B1LE304

 

[cinemiracle]

I doubt that FOX will misread you, but just in case;
it's "Star!" that "definitely demands a bluray release"; rather than "Those Were The Days". Agreed?
Meanwhile, the BD of "The Sand Pebbles" looks fantastic. When you speak of a BD of the original roadshow version, what content could I be looking forward to? Meanwhile, I agree with you. Furthermore, I feel that ALL films originating as a Roadshow should strictly be brought to BD fully intact. And I can't imagine that there's anyone here who would feel differently, on that front.

As I previously mentioned in another forum some time ago, THE SAND PEBBLES was 196 minutes long when I saw it at the Rivoli cinema in NYC. Fox later cut the 70mm roadshow prints in most countries to 179 minutes. I also managed to see the film where I worked in New Zealand ( before it was released publicly) , at 196 mins. However, Fox then cut 17 minutes from the film. It was the same for the 70mm prints in Australia. The dvd ran for 196 minutes but the bluray only runs for 179 minutes.Luckily I kept the dvd as that is the only version that I will watch .

 

[PMF]

As I previously mentioned in another forum some time ago, THE SAND PEBBLES was 196 minutes long when I saw it at the Rivoli cinema in NYC. Fox later cut the 70mm roadshow prints in most countries to 179 minutes. I also managed to see the film where I worked in New Zealand ( before it was released publicly) , at 196 mins. However, Fox then cut 17 minutes from the film. It was the same for the 70mm prints in Australia. The dvd ran for 196 minutes but the bluray only runs for 179 minutes.Luckily I kept the dvd as that is the only version that I will watch .

I will join you on this campaign.
As a matter of fact, I would double-dip for "The Sand Pebbles" on BD; but only if the original and much documented running time of 196 minutes were reinstated.
It doesn't make any sense as to why FOX had previously offered a complete 196 minutes version of "The Sand Pebbles" for a DVD, but then resorted to the creation of a fantastic looking BD; yet turned around and short-changed the grander experience by 17 minutes.
It also doesn't make sense to me, as FOX has those missing minutes readily at hand.
What gives, FOX?

 

[Rob_Ray]

.e
I will join you on this campaign.
As a matter of fact, I would double-dip for "The Sand Pebbles" on BD; but only if the original and much documented running time of 196 minutes were reinstated.
It doesn't make any sense as to why FOX had previously offered a complete 196 minutes version of "The Sand Pebbles" for a DVD, but then resort to a creating a fantastic looking BD; yet turned around and short-changed the experience by 17 minutes.
It also doesn't make sense to me, as FOX has those missing minutes readily at hand.
What gives, FOX?

As I recall from viewing the DVD a few years ago, the roadshow version of THE SAND PEBBLES apparently only exists in a badly faded print deemed not suitable for bluray. It would probably take a lot of time, effort and more money than it's worth to make it look like anything better than mediocre. Be glad you have that DVD.

 

[PMF]

As I recall from viewing the DVD a few years ago, the roadshow version of THE SAND PEBBLES apparently only exists in a badly faded print deemed not suitable for bluray. It would probably take a lot of time, effort and more money than it's worth to make it look like anything better than mediocre. Be glad you have that DVD.

Important information, for sure.
But how much more expense would there incurred, when addressing the restoration of just17 more minutes?
Looking forward to your reply.

 

[Rob_Ray]

Important information, for sure.
But how much more expense would there incurred, when addressing the restoration of just17 more minutes?
Looking forward to your reply.

I'm not in film restoration, so I won't venture any guesses. But it seems to me that you can't restore anything if you don't have suitable source materials, like separation masters. A faded 70mm print isn't a source that's going to let you restore much of anything. You might be able to tweak a video master similar to MAD WORLD, but that's not a restoration. And THE SAND PEBBLES isn't as high profile a title as MAD WORLD, regardless of what one make think of its quality compared to the other, so even that might not be feasible.

 

[PMF]

All is feasible.

 

[Paul Rossen]

Important information, for sure.
But how much more expense would there incurred, when addressing the restoration of just17 more minutes?
Looking forward to your reply.

Re: The Sand Pebbles. Not so simple. The longer cut is 2:20 while the shorter is 2:35. At this stage I would really like to see the long version restored on blu ray. Also, I would really like to see the preview version of 202 minutes shown at the Rivoli in NYC prior to the official premiere. This preview version supposedly was shown in some theaters before being pulled.

 

[John Maher_289910]

I'm under the impression that they already own the German film.

Because they do. As well as its sequel. In fact, they released a dubbed version of both films, edited into one.

 

[ahollis]

Because they do. As well as its sequel. In fact, they released a dubbed version of both films, edited into one.

That's exactly what I thought. Thanks.

 

[OliverK]

All is feasible.

Here is an example of what is feasible with a faded 70mm print - of course in the usual low bitrate youtube quality:



Time has marched on and techniques have improved since the LD color was inserted back into the Criterion version of IAMMMMW. Savage Pampas keeps getting delayed but it hopefully will be out on Blu-ray and UHD by the end of the year so it should give everybody an idea of what can be achieved on a moderate budget with a faded print. I recommend for people to buy it just to see what can be done with a faded print that is usually not seen as a good source for anything but maybe a DVD quality release of a a roadshow version that is not available in any other form. You cannot expect perfection but the result will certainly be a lot better than a DVD.

 

[Dick]

I doubt that FOX will misread you, but just in case;
it's "Star!" that "definitely demands a bluray release"; rather than "Those Were The Days". Agreed?
Meanwhile, the BD of "The Sand Pebbles" looks fantastic. When you speak of a BD of the original roadshow version, what content could I be looking forward to? Meanwhile, I agree with you. Furthermore, I feel that ALL films originating as a Roadshow should strictly be brought to BD fully intact. And I can't imagine that there's anyone here who would feel differently, on that front.

Five years ago, such an argument would have held more sway with studios (although there were calls for TSP roadshow back then, too, so you can imagine the lack of enthusiasm for it now). From what I gather, the trims needed to produce such a Blu-ray release are in crappy condition and only scraped by in laser disc resolution. The cost of a restoration of these elements to Blu-ray standard would be prohibitive, and almost certainly counter-intuitive for Fox's brass. A compromise, if the film is ever re-issued, would be to add a bonus DVD that included the road show version (if the laser disc master even still exists), with a disclaimer about alternating PQ.