A Few Words About A few words about…™ Wings of the Hawk – in Blu-ray & 3-D (1 Viewer)

[Rob W]

Question for Bob :

We know that Hypnotic Hick went out with Wings of The Hawk in many engagements but the cartoon is 1:33 and Wings is 1:85 ( the very first composed for that ratio, as you report .)

How did they project this combo? Knowing how carefully lenses need to be aligned for 3D , I can't see projectionists switching lenses for the two ratios multiple times a day ( on two different projectors yet! ) And these were the days when showmen adjusted the masking to match the projected aspect ratio as well.

Did theatres run this open matte 1:33 in order to accommodate the cartoon ? Or, was the cartoon run matted to 1:85 to match the main attraction since it's 'just' a 6 minute cartoon and likely not given much thought ? I believe 1:33 window-boxed prints didn't come along for several more decades.

I guess the other option would be to start the program in 1:33 and then change the aperture plates & lower the masking for 1:85 when the feature began, but that would have given audiences a smaller picture for the feature attraction than the opening cartoon.

And if this was the first feature composed for 1:85, outside of the premiere locations, could most theatres run it at 1:85 anyway ?

 

[Bob Furmanek]

I suspect the cartoon was cropped to 1.85 to match the feature.

This would’ve played widescreen in every major city as all the big houses and chains had converted by the fall of 1953..

 

[Timothy E]

I suspect the cartoon was cropped to 1.85 to match the feature.

This would’ve played widescreen in every major city as all the big houses and chains had converted by the fall of 1953..

I appreciate very much that Hypnotic Hick is not cropped on this disc. I believe that the sublime composition of the stereophonic images in the cartoon would be diminished in a cropped presentation. I have no way of confirming, but I am convinced that the 3D presentation of the cartoon and the feature film on this disc is superior to what movie audiences would have seen in 1953. I know the 3D Film Archive worked hard on correcting alignment issues to surpass the original presentation.

 

[Bob Furmanek]

We always present the film in the directors intended aspect ratio during production.

 

[Reed Grele]

VERY HAPPY with the film, cartoon, and other extras. GREAT JOB! KUDOS to all involved!

Haven't listened to the running audio commentary yet, and perhaps it will be mentioned there, but does anyone know what the title: "Wings of the Hawk" refers to???

 

[sbjork]

My copy finally showed up -- right after I sent out the crossovers from my Vandersteens to have the batteries replaced. So now I have to wait until they get back to experience the 3.0 audio. Grrr.

 

[TJPC]

As I have said before I love 3D but usually hate westerns, unless they “come with pasta”. This arrived today. As usual, technically the disc and 3D are flawless.

I enjoyed the cartoon, and so far in the first 1/3 of the movie, it appears to be more of a “Mexican” rather than a Western, which to me is a big mark on the plus side. I am really looking forward to the commentary.

(My main system is older now, kept because I have a large collection of 3D movies and want to invest in a projection system if the Covid Apocalypse is ever over. We have also gone over to the dark side and have been streaming a lot. I guess I had not played a disk there for a while. I put “Wings of The Hawk” in and — nothing. The PS3 accepted the disc, lit up, and the screen stayed blank. I panicked at first and then checked the back. The HDMI cable was unplugged!)

 

[RolandL]

About a dozen extreme pop-outs. Some are only inches from your face.