UHD Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ - Paint Your Wagon -- in 4k UHD (2 Viewers)

[Robert Harris]

Paint Your Wagon, a 1969 motion picture based upon the 1951 Broadway musical by Lerner and Lowe has been derided since it appeared on movie screens.

As directed by Joshua Logan, it can be beautiful at times, work at times, but ultimately never makes it. Mr. Logan also directed Camelot for Jack Warner a year earlier, and while that one seems to work better, it also has its naysayers. I've always enjoyed it, and the fact that most actors performed their own songs - same as Paint Your Wagon.

A DVD staple since the early 1950s, as far as I'm aware, Paint Your Wagon never made it to Blu-ray, but courtesy of Kino has gone direct to 4k UHD, and it's generally a lovely release.

With a single problem, that will only be noted by those viewing from a Critical Viewing Distance (CVD) as opposed to a Nominal Viewing Distance (NVD).

Color and densities here work beautifully. Black levels are on target. Grain structure is generally great and seems original. The only problem that I'm seeing, and I have no idea why it's there, are frozen sky blobs (FSBs), in which grain structure takes an a life of its own. I make that note only to be critically precise, as I doubt that any NVD viewer will see a trace of it.

From a NVD, Paint Your Wagon is glorious.

Audio, likewise, is bright and proscenium-filling, especially with the orchestrations from Andre Previn, who was working in music departments since he was 17, and whose work can be heard as composer, conductor or arranger going back to the late 1940s. His work in musicals can be heard in the likes of Small Town Girl, Kiss Me Kate, Bells are Ringing, My Fair Lady and Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Be aware that audio defaults to 2.0 stereo, and must be set to 5.1.

For those trying to figure out how well a film from this era shot in 35/4 Panavision equates to 4k, make sure that you examine the main title sequence, which can be knife sharp, as opposed to production photography.

This is a very nice 4k upgrade.

Image – 8 (Dolby Vision)

Audio – 10 (DTS-HD MA 5.1)

Pass / Fail – Pass

Plays nicely with projectors - Yes

Makes use of and works well in 4k - 7.5

Upgrade from Blu-ray - Yes!

Worth your attention - 6

Slipcover rating - 2

Recommended

RAH



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https://www.amazon.com/Paint-Your-Wagon-4KUHD-UHD/dp/B0CSSV6F73/ref=sr_1_3?crid=XNM4WGAFTK95&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ShdzgEo3M9gazbUJtEtjMd70I0gmn7HZfhXd3IQ368kGPtOx4MPA9y30ASlzUKPcq9F3oMh7OeLqRYgiXxLAA5rM3-v73aDZoZi3ui4iFTk.kmFtssUhOUGU4BIPcY7vQozqJEtyUeKQ61HQbJQHNPU&dib_tag=se&keywords=paint+your+wagon+4k&qid=1710776866&sprefix=paint+your+wa,aps,82&sr=8-3

 

[Angelo Colombus]

Lets not forget it was a laserdisc staple since the late 1940's.

 

[Dick]

Lets not forget it was a laserdisc staple since the late 1940's.

View attachment 216647

Ah, yes...how I do miss the old pan-and-scan days!

 

[jayembee]

A DVD staple since the early 1950s, as far as I'm aware, Paint Your Wagon never made it to Blu-ray, but courtesy of Kino has gone direct to 4k UHD, and it's generally a lovely release.

If memory serves, Kino had originally announced this for just a standard Blu-ray release. Presumably their success with UHD releases, perhaps specifically with respect to Eastwood's films, caused them to add a UHD/BD release as well.

 

[Malcolm R]

Yes, the original announcement seemed to be blu-ray only:

Kino-Lorber Insider Announcement Thread (Read Guidelines Post #3)

Coming May 2nd! https://kinolorber.com/product/film-noir-the-dark-side-of-cinema-xiii-spy-hunt-the-night-runner-step-down-to-terror FILM NOIR: THE DARK SIDE OF CINEMA XIII • Brand New HD Masters - From 2K Scans of the 35mm Fine Grains • NEW Audio Commentary for Spy Hunt by Entertainment...

www.hometheaterforum.com

 

[owen35]

Me when I get the disc and start looking for "frozen sky blogs (FSBs)".

 

[garyrc]

The movie version was not made until 1969!

But:

• • A DVD staple since the early 1950s, as far as I'm aware,

Lets not forget it was a laserdisc staple since the late 1940's.

But, but, but .... was there another movie version earlier?
But, but, but .... DVD was not invented until around 1996
and
LaserDisks were first available to the public in around 1978.

Moving right along, Paint Your Wagon was shown in 70mm in San Francisco. It was rollicking, in punchy 6 channel (5 for music) stereo, more so than a number of other musicals. We visited the projection booth afterward (as we often did) to look over the equipment and chat with the projectionists. They told us the distributor had carried a message from the studio that the sound was to be at standard level at first, then when the wagon rolls down the hill a few minutes after the opening credits, when the audience expects the audio to be loud, the projectionists were to turn the audio up by a certain number of dB (I forget how much), and leave it there. Very interesting! Decades later an old coot (even older than me!) I corresponded with who had projected a lot of 70mm (80 Days, Ben-Hur, etc.) said he had heard similar requests from studios before, but couldn't remember from whom. I was surprised that the theater's AMPEX power amps were only 125 wts RMS (I know, I know) for each of the 6 channels. I suppose the reason is that their 4 woofer per channel, horn loaded speakers were very, very sensitive ("efficient"). They didn't know, but guessed at 60 dB EMI (was it EMI?) I (which would be the equivalent of approx. 109 dB @ 2.83v (1 wt into 8 Ohms) @ 1 Meter, I think, per speaker.

Why all these loose associations? I am still angry that when I took my new girlfriend (now my wife of 49 years) to PYW in 35mm (all that was available at that time) it was in mono optical, and sounded pretty horrible, with practically no dynamics! So now, we play it at home, in 5.1, good and loud, with a little punch up when the wagon careens down that hill.

 

[RichMurphy]

The movie version was not made until 1969!

But:

But, but, but .... was there another movie version earlier?
But, but, but .... DVD was not invented until around 1996
and
LaserDisks were first available to the public in around 1978.

Moving right along, Paint Your Wagon was shown in 70mm in San Francisco. It was rollicking, in punchy 6 channel (5 for music) stereo, more so than a number of other musicals. We visited the projection booth afterward (as we often did) to look over the equipment and chat with the projectionists. They told us the distributor had carried a message from the studio that the sound was to be at standard level at first, then when the wagon rolls down the hill a few minutes after the opening credits, when the audience expects the audio to be loud, the projectionists were to turn the audio up by a certain number of dB (I forget how much), and leave it there. Very interesting! Decades later an old coot (even older than me!) I corresponded with who had projected a lot of 70mm (80 Days, Ben-Hur, etc.) said he had heard similar requests from studios before, but couldn't remember from whom. I was surprised that the theater's AMPEX power amps were only 125 wts RMS (I know, I know) for each of the 6 channels. I suppose the reason is that their 4 woofer per channel, horn loaded speakers were very, very sensitive ("efficient"). They didn't know, but guessed at 60 dB EMI (was it EMI?) I (which would be the equivalent of approx. 109 dB @ 2.83v (1 wt into 8 Ohms) @ 1 Meter, I think, per speaker.

Why all these loose associations? I am still angry that when I took my new girlfriend (now my wife of 49 years) to PYW in 35mm (all that was available at that time) it was in mono optical, and sounded pretty horrible, with practically no dynamics! So now, we play it at home, in 5.1, good and loud, with a little punch up when the wagon careens down that hill.

Perhaps you are new to the humor style of Mr. Harris, which Angelo Columbus brilliantly emulated.

 

[B-ROLL]

Perhaps you are new to the humor style of Mr. Harris, which Angelo Columbus brilliantly emulated.

Especially since no one mentioned the VCD version from 1923 !

 

[OliverK]

Me when I get the disc and start looking for "frozen sky blogs (FSBs)".

View attachment 216732

Not sure you really want to look for it but here you can get an idea what it is:

Invasion of the Body Snatchers • UK Ultra HD Blu-ray vs. US Ultra HD Blu-ray

caps-a-holic.com

You can see that the Arrow release from the same master has a really good reproduction of film grain while the Kino disc either by choice or by accident has something quite different. This is only a frame and it will look different in motion, more like frozen sky blogs (FSBs) to quote RAH.

If you are interested a bit more in some of this here is a nice sniplet of an interview with David Mackenzie of Fidelity in Motion where he goes into the nuances of his job.

They have done some very good work and they also did the encode of Invasion of the Body Snatchers from Arrow and many other releases:

Fidelity in Motion

fidelityinmotion.com

 

[TallPaulInKy]

Paint Your Wagon, a 1969 motion picture based upon the 1951 Broadway musical by Lerner and Lowe has been derided since it appeared on movie screens.

I was working in theaters in the 1960s when Paint Your Wagon came out as a road show attraction. Admittedly, I was a high school kid, but the film stinks. Sorry. Honestly, Lee Marvin in a musical?

Paint Your Wagon never made it to Blu-ray, but courtesy of Kino has gone direct to 4k UHD,

KL is also issuing it in BluRay for us folks not buying 4K.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/910ubKb6-rL._SL1500_.jpg

 

[maltby]

I was working in theaters in the 1960s when Paint Your Wagon came out as a road show attraction. Admittedly, I was a high school kid, but the film stinks. Sorry. Honestly, Lee Marvin in a musical?


KL is also issuing it in BluRay for us folks not buying 4K.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/910ubKb6-rL._SL1500_.jpg

From wikipedia, "Lee Marvin's version of the song "Wand'rin Star" became a number 1 single in Ireland and the UK, keeping the Beatles at number 2 in the UK with their single Let It Be"

 

[Alan Tully]

I was working in theaters in the 1960s when Paint Your Wagon came out as a road show attraction. Admittedly, I was a high school kid, but the film stinks. Sorry. Honestly, Lee Marvin in a musical?


KL is also issuing it in BluRay for us folks not buying 4K.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/910ubKb6-rL._SL1500_.jpg

But...Lee Marvin is the best thing in it by a country mile, I'd hate to think what the film would be like without him, I probably wouldn't be interested in it, & I much prefer his voice to Clint Eastwood's (there's a lot of living gone into Mr Marvin's voice). And the 4K is not that much more expensive the the single Blu-ray, in fact only $5 more, & it does include the standard Blu-ray, so you're getting the 4K for only $5! A lot of the studios seem to have stopped including a standard Blu-ray disc in with a 4K now.

 

[RichMurphy]

I saw this film in the late, not-so-great Roth's Americana Theatre in Annandale, VA, with a friend who had a very distinctive laugh. While I found the film entertaining in a goofy and amusing way, he found it hilarious and almost got us thrown out of the theatre.

The 2015 New York Encores stage version was a mixed bag, but at least the Lerner and Loewe score was well sung by Keith Carradine, Justin Guarini, and others.

 

[Mark B]

This new release will fit in nicely with the rest of my Wagon media collection.

 

[edelweissflower]

The film of 'Paint Your Wagon' is Ok but nothing like as good as the original 1951 stage musical on which this film is based. nor is it as good as film of 'Camelot' 1967 which is also based on the fabulous 1960 stage musical of the same name which starred Richard Burton and Julie Andrews. I sincerely hope with this release that KL release 'Camelot' on 4k ASAP.

 

[edelweissflower]

Paint Your Wagon, a 1969 motion picture based upon the 1951 Broadway musical by Lerner and Lowe has been derided since it appeared on movie screens.

As directed by Joshua Logan, it can be beautiful at times, work at times, but ultimately never makes it. Mr. Logan also directed Camelot for Jack Warner a year earlier, and while that one seems to work better, it also has its naysayers. I've always enjoyed it, and the fact that most actors performed their own songs - same as Paint Your Wagon.

A DVD staple since the early 1950s, as far as I'm aware, Paint Your Wagon never made it to Blu-ray, but courtesy of Kino has gone direct to 4k UHD, and it's generally a lovely release.

With a single problem, that will only be noted by those viewing from a Critical Viewing Distance (CVD) as opposed to a Nominal Viewing Distance (NVD).

Color and densities here work beautifully. Black levels are on target. Grain structure is generally great and seems original. The only problem that I'm seeing, and I have no idea why it's there, are frozen sky blobs (FSBs), in which grain structure takes an a life of its own. I make that note only to be critically precise, as I doubt that any NVD viewer will see a trace of it.

From a NVD, Paint Your Wagon is glorious.

Audio, likewise, is bright and proscenium-filling, especially with the orchestrations from Andre Previn, who was working in music departments since he was 17, and whose work can be heard as composer, conductor or arranger going back to the late 1940s. His work in musicals can be heard in the likes of Small Town Girl, Kiss Me Kate, Bells are Ringing, My Fair Lady and Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Be aware that audio defaults to 2.0 stereo, and must be set to 5.1.

For those trying to figure out how well a film from this era shot in 35/4 Panavision equates to 4k, make sure that you examine the main title sequence, which can be knife sharp, as opposed to production photography.

This is a very nice 4k upgrade.

Image – 8 (Dolby Vision)

Audio – 10 (DTS-HD MA 5.1)

Pass / Fail – Pass

Plays nicely with projectors - Yes

Makes use of and works well in 4k - 7.5

Upgrade from Blu-ray - Yes!

Worth your attention - 6

Slipcover rating - 2

Recommended

RAH



Thank you for supporting HTF when you preorder using the link below. As an Amazon Associate HTF earns from qualifying purchases. If you are using an adblocker you will not see link.

https://www.amazon.com/Paint-Your-Wagon-4KUHD-UHD/dp/B0CSSV6F73/ref=sr_1_3?crid=XNM4WGAFTK95&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ShdzgEo3M9gazbUJtEtjMd70I0gmn7HZfhXd3IQ368kGPtOx4MPA9y30ASlzUKPcq9F3oMh7OeLqRYgiXxLAA5rM3-v73aDZoZi3ui4iFTk.kmFtssUhOUGU4BIPcY7vQozqJEtyUeKQ61HQbJQHNPU&dib_tag=se&keywords=paint+your+wagon+4k&qid=1710776866&sprefix=paint+your+wa,aps,82&sr=8-3

Also I forgot how about a 4k release of 'Brigadoon' already on Blu -Ray if they are going to release 'Paint Your Wagon ' on to 4k again 'Brigadoon' better adaptation of 1947 stage musical than PYW.

 

[Alan Tully]

Also I forgot how about a 4k release of 'Brigadoon' already on Blu -Ray if they are going to release 'Paint Your Wagon ' on to 4k again 'Brigadoon' better adaptation of 1947 stage musical than PYW.

The trouble is that there's two different "they": Paramount for Paint Your Wagon (& they didn't release it themselves, they licensed it out to Kino), & Warner for Brigadoon, which as I understand is a 2K scan of an interpositive, so they'd have to start again from scratch for a 4K release, which I can't see happening. But it will be interesting to see what MGM films are released this year, Blu-ray & 4K.

 

[Nick*Z]

Paint Your Wagon has never worked for me.

It's just infested with the bloat and rot inexplicably affecting mid-sixties road show musicals in general. Some survived it.

My Fair Lady, The Music Man, West Side Story, Hello Dolly!, Fiddler on the Roof, Half a Sixpence, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Funny Girl, Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music...all good stuff - in some cases, great - actually.

More problematic with movies like Star!, Gypsy, Goodbye Mr. Chips, Bye-Bye Birdie, Can-Can, Oh What A Lovely War, Camelot, Oliver! and, Sweet Charity - though I would still classify each as a fascinatingly uneven artistic failure, rather than a grotesque implosion of the Hollywood hybrid musical as an art form.

For that, I turn to Paint Your Wagon, On A Clear Day You Can See Forever, Man of La Mancha, and, (choke!) the musical remake of Lost Horizon.

 

[Alan Tully]

Lots of musicals & westerns in the sixties...hardly any now, but then we do have all those superhero films