3D Creature from the Black Lagoon 3D (1954) (1 Viewer)

[Charles Smith]

How does Film Forum handle these? I don't think I've been to any of their 3D offerings.

 

[RolandL]

When I saw Dial M for Murder at the Film Forum in dual projection 3D it was 1.33:1

 

[Bob Furmanek]

The first time I saw any Golden Age 3-D projected in widescreen was at the second 3-D Expo in 2006.
Jack Theakston and I had to fight to get those projected properly!

 

[rsmithjr]

When I saw Dial M for Murder at the Film Forum in dual projection 3D it was 1.33:1

All theatrical 2D and 3D showings of Dial M that I have seen have been 133. That is the way that I am used to seeing it and I would prefer to continue that practice.
The most recent showing in 3D was at the Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto, which had a very large and successful 3D festival. Both Dial M and Creature were shown in 133.
I suspect this is another one of these cases where a film is "officially" some wide screen aspect ratio but was in fact filmed for a wider variety of actual presentations. I have always felt very comfortable seeing such films in the narrowest AR that actually works (without showing booms or something) rather than discarding vertical information. Every theatre that I worked at followed this practice.
I have, however, been criticized for this position on this forum.
But I think people forget the confusion going on in theatres during the 50's and the accommodations that studios made. Roughly the studio line was: "Yes, it is of course 185 'wide screen' since everything has to be wide screen now in this post-Cinerama era, but no, you can actually run it at 133 if you like and it works just fine."
I will be comparing the new Blu-ray to my 133 DVD in a day or so and will see what I think about it.

 

[JamesNelson]

The first time I saw any Golden Age 3-D projected in widescreen was at the second 3-D Expo in 2006.
Jack Theakston and I had to fight to get those projected properly!

A lot of those prints were provided by you, were they not? Who did you have to fight?

 

[David Weicker]

David, let us know. I'd like to know how Amazon UK handles returns and replacements.

I did the online 'chat' with one of their representatives (Sunil).
Originally I was told I would have to return the whole set (using their 'defective reason'), and they would send me out a replacement.
I tried to explain that seven of the eight discs were ok, and wondered if I could just return the defective disc. That wasn't allowed. I even mentioned that since Amazon UK was selling the films as individual releases (something the US isn't doing ... yet), could we treat it as an individual return, but that also wasn't allowed.
I then mentioned that, being in the US, and that these were 'Halloween' movies that I was planning on watching this month, I was not happy about the shipping time. The original shipment took nine days. If I sent it back (9 days plus processing), and then waited for a replacement (another 9 days?), that would basically preclude me from watching these in the timeframe I wanted.
But Amazon UK came through. As it stands now, they are sending the replacement set (all eight discs). When it arrives, and I've had the time to check that the discs (Creature and the others) are not defective, then I can return the set with the defective disc.
So, overall, I an tentatively happy. I am able to watch the seven good discs now, and should get a replacement sometime in the next two weeks. Then I can use their return process (which is pretty good - I had to return a duplicate item last year)
David

 

[Bob Furmanek]

The Archive provided 21 of the 34 features screened at Expo 1 and roughly the same for the second one.
Dan Symmes wanted to see everything in 1.37:1. He finally gave in, but not on all titles. Jack and I argued for CREATURE for 1.85 and he wouldn't hear it.

 

[JamesNelson]

The Archive provided 21 of the 34 features screened at Expo 1 and roughly the same for the second one.
Dan Symmes wanted to see everything in 1.37:1. He finally gave in, but not on all titles. Jack and I argued for CREATURE for 1.85 and he wouldn't hear it.

Interesting. Yet he acquiesced for Revenge of the Creature at Expo II?
May I ask his overall reasoning?

 

[Bob Furmanek]

Dan was a wonderful guy, but could be very stubborn. I guess he felt REVENGE was less important to him. We were fighting for presentation accuracy, he wanted to see everything exposed in the camera. if the film had been shot open matte, he would have wanted to see that!

 

[Worth]

Bob, I ran a repertory cinema in Toronto during the mid 70's to mid 80's and we always showed classic films from the 50's that were shot for wide screen projection matted to their intended ratios. There was another rep cinema in town that was proud of the fact that they only showed films in the "classic" 1.33 ratio. We had a heated discussion about this once and neither one of gave in.

Was the other rep theatre The Revue by chance? I remember them running all non-scope films in 1.33, and constantly seeing the boom pop in the frame.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I did the online 'chat' with one of their representatives (Sunil).
Originally I was told I would have to return the whole set (using their 'defective reason'), and they would send me out a replacement.
I tried to explain that seven of the eight discs were ok, and wondered if I could just return the defective disc. That wasn't allowed. I even mentioned that since Amazon UK was selling the films as individual releases (something the US isn't doing ... yet), could we treat it as an individual return, but that also wasn't allowed.
I then mentioned that, being in the US, and that these were 'Halloween' movies that I was planning on watching this month, I was not happy about the shipping time. The original shipment took nine days. If I sent it back (9 days plus processing), and then waited for a replacement (another 9 days?), that would basically preclude me from watching these in the timeframe I wanted.
But Amazon UK came through. As it stands now, they are sending the replacement set (all eight discs). When it arrives, and I've had the time to check that the discs (Creature and the others) are not defective, then I can return the set with the defective disc.
So, overall, I an tentatively happy. I am able to watch the seven good discs now, and should get a replacement sometime in the next two weeks. Then I can use their return process (which is pretty good - I had to return a duplicate item last year)
David

Are they paying for the return postage?

 

[David Weicker]

Are they paying for the return postage?

I'll let you know. I seem to remember when I returned the duplicate item that I was able to print out a pre-paid label.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

I'm in the group that prefers proper ratio - I don't care what is on the negative to be seen, and I dont care if there's nary a boom to be seen.
If the studio mandated new ratios, that is the way they were designed to be seen at their premiere engagements, even if they were protected for the venues that were still catching up and not yet investing in new screens etc.
It's not about seeing MORE picture, it's about seeing the INTENDED picture.

 

[Johnny Angell]

My Coffin arrived today and my initial reaction was mild disappointment, in the coffin. I had expected it to be a decent grade of plastic and it's basically a cardboard box into which the movies are jammed.
I had no choice but to put in The Creature and watch it in 3D and my reaction is yahoo! The 3D is fabulous, there's depth and in-your face. The underwater scenes were fabulous in 3D. On my 55" Samsung LED I saw alignment problems. I was watching for it early on when they were having the meeting early in the picture and didn't notice a problem. There was a moment early in their trip down the river when one short shot of the river seemed to have others images super-imposed on it. That was the only problem I noticed.
3D made CFTBL like a new picture for me. I was noticing props and plants in the foreground that I hadn't before. It was natural, but because it was knew, I was noticing.
Seeing it in this aspect ratio reminded me of a mistake Tom Weaver made in his commentary which I remember from previous 2D viewing. When the Rita is motoring down the river he points out a telephone pole or an antenna in the background and wonders how that made it into the film. He should have said it wouldn't be visible in the proper aspect ratio.
Highly Recommended.

 

[Jon Lidolt]

Was the other rep theatre The Revue by chance? I remember them running all non-scope films in 1.33, and constantly seeing the boom pop in the frame.

I didn't want to mention the cinema by name, but yes, that's the one.

 

[David Weicker]

Are they paying for the return postage?

I'll let you know. I seem to remember when I returned the duplicate item that I was able to print out a pre-paid label.

Well, I got my notice from Amazon UK that my return was received.
I did have to pay return postage up front, but now that Amazon UK has received the package they have automatically credited me for the postage (it might not be exactly equal due to the exchange rate, but it will be close).
David

 

[Johnny Angell]

Thanks for letting us know how the return was handled. It gives me a little more confidence when buying from Amazon UK.

 

[Sgt Pepper]

Sorry if this has already been discussed, but my UK copy is glitching and freezing about half way through. Is this a known problem?

 

[David Weicker]

Sorry if this has already been discussed, but my UK copy is glitching and freezing about half way through. Is this a known problem?

I had a similar issue. I ended up getting an exchange. Some of the UK Creature discs did have problems (I wasn't the only one who reported it).
Unfortunately, I had to return the entire set and get a whole new set. On the bright side, I was able to talk Amazon UK into sending me the replacement set first before I had to send back the original one.
David

 

[Matt Hough]

My UK 3D disc worked perfectly.