Aspect ratio for "To Hell and Back"?

[Bob Engleman]

I haven't been able to find this disc locally, and the online merchants with whom I've checked aren't showing the info, nor have it available by phone; please help. Thank you.

Bob Engleman

 

[Randy Korstick]

According to the box scan over at DVDEmpire it is Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1. Which definately gives me a sigh of relief. Looking forward to finally seeing this great war film in widescreen.

 

[ChristianB]

Watched it on Saturday night and it's 2.35:1 anamorphic

 

[Joe Caps]

is this film stereo. - should be 4.0

 

[Randy Korstick]

Nope, Its 2.0 Mono

 

[Thomas T]

To Hell And Back was not in stereo sound.

Universal wasn't a big believer in stereo during the early CinemaScope era. I believe only two films, Douglas Sirk's Sign Of The Pagan (1954) and Pillars Of The Sky (1956) a Jeff Chandler/Dorothy Malone western were given the stereophonic sound treatment.

Perhaps someone else can shed some light on why Universal was so reluctant to use stereo when every scope film from Fox was in that process.

 

[Joe Caps]

Not True. If you wanted Cinemascope, you had to license it from Fox who had twop conditions - the films had to be in color and had to bbe in stereo. Other Universal scope and stereo releases include - Black Shield of Falworth, Sign of the pagan, Captain lightfoot, To Hel and Back, The second Greatest Sex, a Time to Love and a Time to Die, this Earth is Mine.
in 1953, pre- scope, Universal released several films in interlock stereo - It Came form Outer Space, Thunder Bay, the Man form Alamo, Wings of the Hawk, Walking My Baby Back Home (Universal has this track), Chief crazy Horse, Taza son of Cochise.

 

[John Morgan]

Huh????
TCM ran a letterbox version of this film a few weeks ago and it was most surely stereo! Are you sure the DVD is mono?

 

[Douglas R]

I had a VHS version of To Hell and Back a few years ago and that was certainly stereo.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The dvd is in 2.0

 

[Joe Caps]

Robert - you say the dvd is in 2.0 = is that 2.0 mono or 2.0 stereo?

 

[RolandL]

Three ads from a 5/16/53 issue of Boxoffice magazine that promote stereo sound for pre-scope movies.

http://cinerama.topcities.com/s1953_may.htm

 

[TedD]

While studios may have had to release mag prints to satisfy the contractual requirements, 1 or 2 mag prints would do it.

In Hawaii, in the time between 1955 and 1965, I don't believe I saw a single 35mm magnetic print for any Scope Universal picture available from the Consolidated film exchange. Columbia was a little better, maybe a total of 5 or so Scope titles in that time period in mag sound.

By contrast, more than 70 to 80% of the MGM and Fox Scope titles had mag or magoptical prints available from the Consolidated film exchange.

Ted

 

[John Morgan]

I just got the DVD of this title, and although the back states 2.0 mono, the film is true stereo. It sounds wonderful.