A few words about…™ The Long, Long Trailer – in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[KPmusmag]

Wow, interesting photo as Liza dated Desi Jr at one point.

 

[Chuck Pennington]

Just finished making this if anyone was interested. I zoomed in on the DVD to match the Blu-ray framing, which finally utilizes the proper theatrical matting.

 

[Will Krupp]

Watched this last night. It was a very satisfying experience in every way. So nice to have this finally looking so good!

 

[Artanis]

 

[Robert Harris]

Watched this last night. It was a very satisfying experience in every way. So nice to have this finally looking so good!

Reality is that it has never looked this good - or highly resolved.

 

[lark144]

Reality is that it has never looked this good - or highly resolved.

I remember seeing it in 35mm at MOMA either during the MGM or Minnelli retro and thinking the color was a tad greenish and underwhelming, wishing it had been photographed in three-strip. It never looked anything like this, which is revelatory, way beyond the master for Escape From Fort Bravo. Now I understand why Minnelli liked Ansco color.

 

[Robert Harris]

I remember seeing it in 35mm at MOMA either during the MGM or Minnelli retro and thinking the color was a tad greenish and underwhelming, wishing it had been photographed in three-strip. It never looked anything like this, which is revelatory, way beyond the master for Escape From Fort Bravo. Now I understand why Minnelli liked Ansco color.

Properly struck original prints would never had a cyan bent. Sounds as if all that was available to them/survived, was a reject.

 

[Will Krupp]

Properly struck original prints would never had a cyan bent. Sounds as if all that was available to them/survived, was a reject.

You know, sir, that brings up a question I've always had. Did the "print by Technicolor" credit in 1954 automatically mean it was a dye transfer print taken from the Ansco negative or could it also have meant a color positive print? Do we know which types of prints Technicolor would have sent out in February of 54?

It feels too early to have taken advantage of the improvements Kodak made to the resolution in Technicolor's matrix stock, in which case would any dye transfer prints have been quite soft?

 

[Cineman]

I wonder why the couple are playing newlyweds which in my opinion made the actors too old for their roles. I think the characters could have already been married at the start of the picture and decided to live in a trailer because of his job and it wouldn't have changed the story. If they must be newlyweds, make it that they were previously married to others who passed away as it was the 1950's and no one talked about divorce. Lucy was in her early 40's when the film was made.

Glad the film looks so good Wish more could be done to Ansco Color "7 Brides" to look better. I guess popularity plus the 70 MM blowup re release took their toll on the elements of that film.

Just a guess but had they not been newlyweds and instead been married for 10-15 years as might have been more age-appropriate, we wouldn't have gotten that hilarious and nerve-wracking first meeting with Desi's In-Laws, him trying to maneuver that long, long trailer into a tight parking space while all of his new family members watched in horror at what happens.

I think that is one of the two or three best and most memorable scenes in the movie, right up there with Lucy cooking that special meal in the trailer.

The tension in that scene relies a lot on Desi wanting so much to make a good first impression on the family. The way Lucy intervenes to calm everyone down while Desi is sweating bullets on the ragged edge of mental collapse is priceless and tells us much about her love for him. It would not have been nearly as horrible/hilarious if he was already a known, loved and accepted member of the family.

And in terms of the story, that is one of the traumatic experiences that tested their new marriage and love for each other.

 

[Cineman]

"...if you happen to like Lucy."

Mr. Harris, you always give us a generous "tell" to clue us in to what you're up to.

 

[lark144]

Properly struck original prints would never had a cyan bent. Sounds as if all that was available to them/survived, was a reject.

Yeah. It wasn't wonderful. I think they had trouble getting an archival print. The timing changed from reel to reel, as I recall. But I had never seen it before, so I was pleased.

 

[Chris55]

I wonder why the couple are playing newlyweds which in my opinion made the actors too old for their roles. I think the characters could have already been married at the start of the picture and decided to live in a trailer because of his job and it wouldn't have changed the story. If they must be newlyweds, make it that they were previously married to others who passed away as it was the 1950's and no one talked about divorce. Lucy was in her early 40's when the film was made.

Glad the film looks so good Wish more could be done to Ansco Color "7 Brides" to look better. I guess popularity plus the 70 MM blowup re release took their toll on the elements of that film.

Lucy seemed to really like to push that age thing and the best one was , apart from "Mame", of course, "Yours, Mine and Ours" (68) where she has a baby at age 57 ! .
Meant to mention that the reviews really missed the point that "Trailer" is a really funny movie and one of Lucy's best comedies of all time, the other probably being "The Fuller Brush Girl" (50).

 

[Garysb]

My favorite Lucille Ball movies are surprisingly not comedies. They are "Five Came Back" and "The Dark Corner". She was on record as saying she hated making "The Dark Corner" but I enjoy the movie even though Clifton Webb is almost playing the same character as he did in "Laura".

 

[Robin9]

My favorite Lucille Ball movies are surprisingly not comedies. They are "Five Came Back" and "The Dark Corner". She was on record as saying she hated making "The Dark Corner" but I enjoy the movie even though Clifton Webb is almost playing the same character as he did in "Laura".

Did she explain why she hated making that film? She's really good in it and should have been pleased with her performance.

 

[Robert Harris]

You know, sir, that brings up a question I've always had. Did the "print by Technicolor" credit in 1954 automatically mean it was a dye transfer print taken from the Ansco negative or could it also have meant a color positive print? Do we know which types of prints Technicolor would have sent out in February of 54?

It feels too early to have taken advantage of the improvements Kodak made to the resolution in Technicolor's matrix stock, in which case would any dye transfer prints have been quite soft?

I believe Tech was doing both direct positive and dye transfer in 1954. Kodak was already in its second generation of Eastman stock - 5248.

Generally “Print by Technicolor” meant direct positive, but from what I’ve heard in the past (I’ve not examined a print) Long, Long Trailer appears to have been dye transfer.

The word “Technicolor” or “in Technicolor” would denote dye transfer, while “Print by” would mean direct positive.

It all seems to come down to words with specific meanings. Or not.

Totally different subject. LLT was originally considered by M-G-M for 3D.

 

[Will Krupp]

Thank you for that info!

The word “Technicolor” or “in Technicolor” would denote dye transfer, while “Print by” would mean direct positive.

See, I had always been under the impression that an "in Technicolor" credit meant that Technicolor handled all stages of the process, while "print by Technicolor" meant they just handled the final release prints. I didn't know it was designed to differentiate between dye transfer and color positive. I appreciate the clarity!

 

[Garysb]

Did she explain why she hated making that film? She's really good in it and should have pleased with her performance.

She didn't get along with the director Henry Hathaway.
From a Lucie Arnaz intro on the 2016 TCM Cruise

 

[Noel Aguirre]

Looks like RAH hooked a few again. You guys really think that RAH didn’t know when their TV series started.

Not everyone is an avid reader of HTF and could have simply google searched a review of TLLT.

 

[Rob W]

She didn't get along with the director Henry Hathaway.
From a Lucie Arnaz intro on the 2016 TCM Cruise

I was on that cruise - and saw Lucie Arnaz introduce 'The Long, Long Trailer ! "

 

[Noel Aguirre]

Does anyone know if the duplication of prints and so forth by Eastman Kodak was responsible for much of the pollution of the Hudson River in NY?