In November, The Far Country (1955) coming from Arrow (1 Viewer)

[Bob Furmanek]

Just dailies at the studio and early industry demonstrations, including the NY Roxy on April 24.

Fox modified the AR to 2.55:1 on May 12, four months before release.

It's all covered here, with primary source documentation: http://www.3dfilmarchive.com/the-first-year-of-widescreen

 

[PatrickDA]

How hard did people at Universal search for elements for this film?

Did some person just see a few cans of film 'Original Camera Negative - The Far Country' and just send that over to Arrow or what?

I hope this was handled the right way. I wonder if Arrow would pull this release and do more work on it?

I've never heard of "Silver Salt Restoration, London"...are they known within the film restoration industry?

Mr. Harris is on Mt. Rushmore compared to my novice eyes, but this doesn't look like any "restoration" from an OCN that I've ever observed.

 

[OliverK]

How hard did people at Universal search for elements for this film?

Did some person just see a few cans of film 'Original Camera Negative - The Far Country' and just send that over to Arrow or what?

I hope this was handled the right way. I wonder if Arrow would pull this release and do more work on it?

I've never heard of "Silver Salt Restoration, London"...are they known within the film restoration industry?

Mr. Harris is on Mt. Rushmore compared to my novice eyes, but this doesn't look like any "restoration" from an OCN that I've ever observed.

I posted the information I received from Arrow in post 65. It says that the OCN was scanned in 4k at Universal, so only the digital assets would have been shipped. Maybe somebody mixed up the hard drives / tapes because as you say this does not exactly have OCN written all over it.

 

[Trancas]

I posted the information I received from Arrow in post 65. It says that the OCN was scanned in 4k at Universal, so only the digital assets would have been shipped. Maybe somebody mixed up the hard drives / tapes because as you say this does not exactly have OCN written all over it.

I think this is Arrow's canned customer service response since it's word for word the same as Arrow's message to DVDBeaver.
It appears to be taken directly from Arrow's insert booklet that comes with the disc.
You'd think that with Arrow's years of experience handling vintage film scans, they would be very skeptical of a claim by Universal that this is a 4k scan from "the original 35mm camera negative".

Arrow's message to you:
The Far Country was exclusively restored by Arrow Films and is presented in both original aspect ratios of 2.00:1 and 1.85:1 with mono sound. The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 4K resolution at NBC Universal’s Studio Post facility. The film was graded and restored at Silver Salt Restoration, London. The original 35mm negative had undergone serious deterioration, resulting in excessive density fluctuation throughout all the reels, affecting colour and detail throughout the film. Unfortunately no other suitable pre-print elements had been kept, so extensive work was undertaken to reduce the damage while retaining the original film grain and image detail. Previous DVD releases of The Far Country had also used this source element but the effect of the film damage was reduced by Universal’s standard application of noise/grain reduction, as well as the work being completed in the lower SD resolution.


Arrow's message to DVDBeaver:
Arrow has sent us this message: "The Far Country was exclusively restored by Arrow Films and is presented in both original aspect ratios of 2.00:1 and 1.85:1 with mono sound. The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 4K resolution at NBC Universal's Studio Post facility. The film was graded and restored at Silver Salt Restoration, London. The original 35mm negative had undergone serious deterioration, resulting in excessive density fluctuation throughout all the reels, affecting colour and detail throughout the film. Unfortunately no other suitable pre-print elements had been kept, so extensive work was undertaken to reduce the damage while retaining the original film grain and image detail. Previous DVD releases of The Far Country had also used this source element but the effect of the film damage was reduced by Universal's standard application of noise/grain reduction, as well as the work being completed in the lower SD resolution."

 

[OliverK]

I think this is Arrow's canned customer service response since it's word for word the same as Arrow's message to DVDBeaver.

I would only call it canned if they say the same about other movies. If it is correct information then there is no reason to give different answers to different people/sites every time somebody asks.

From what RAH says the disc does not look much better than the caps so there is reason to be doubtful about the origins of this disc but what does that mean? The answer to what went wrong IF something went wrong could only come from Universal or Arrow but would we get a new release in significantly better quality?
Probably not so for now this release is as good as it gets and people who are interested in the movie should buy and people who would only buy if the release looks stunning shouldn't.

 

[Robert Harris]

I think this is Arrow's canned customer service response since it's word for word the same as Arrow's message to DVDBeaver.
It appears to be taken directly from Arrow's insert booklet that comes with the disc.
You'd think that with Arrow's years of experience handling vintage film scans, they would be very skeptical of a claim by Universal that this is a 4k scan from "the original 35mm camera negative".

Arrow's message to you:
The Far Country was exclusively restored by Arrow Films and is presented in both original aspect ratios of 2.00:1 and 1.85:1 with mono sound. The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 4K resolution at NBC Universal’s Studio Post facility. The film was graded and restored at Silver Salt Restoration, London. The original 35mm negative had undergone serious deterioration, resulting in excessive density fluctuation throughout all the reels, affecting colour and detail throughout the film. Unfortunately no other suitable pre-print elements had been kept, so extensive work was undertaken to reduce the damage while retaining the original film grain and image detail. Previous DVD releases of The Far Country had also used this source element but the effect of the film damage was reduced by Universal’s standard application of noise/grain reduction, as well as the work being completed in the lower SD resolution.


Arrow's message to DVDBeaver:
Arrow has sent us this message: "The Far Country was exclusively restored by Arrow Films and is presented in both original aspect ratios of 2.00:1 and 1.85:1 with mono sound. The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 4K resolution at NBC Universal's Studio Post facility. The film was graded and restored at Silver Salt Restoration, London. The original 35mm negative had undergone serious deterioration, resulting in excessive density fluctuation throughout all the reels, affecting colour and detail throughout the film. Unfortunately no other suitable pre-print elements had been kept, so extensive work was undertaken to reduce the damage while retaining the original film grain and image detail. Previous DVD releases of The Far Country had also used this source element but the effect of the film damage was reduced by Universal's standard application of noise/grain reduction, as well as the work being completed in the lower SD resolution."

From my experience with universal, they don't claim anything. They work with facts

 

[Trancas]

A comparison of a crop of a Far Country screenshot next to a samesize cropped screenshot of The Hanging tree.

Here is the same crop of both screenshots, but the Hanging tree shot (only) has been downsized to 408p and then resized back up to 1080p (I tried the same process using 360p and 480p but 408p looked the closest to the lack of definition in the Far Country cap). Do you think The Far Country screencap has any more detail than the upscaled 408p Hanging Tree screencap?

Here's the whole Far Country screencap with a portion of the samesize original resolution Hanging Tree screencap dropped in the center.

I used The Hanging Tree to compare to The Far Country because it's one of the few 50's westerns that's been 4k scanned directly from the camera negative and it wasn't shot anamorphically. Yes, The Hanging Tree was released in 1959, while The Far Country was released 4 years earlier. Although it's claimed that the Far Country "negative" has deteriorated, the colors look pretty fresh, pretty varied. Meanwhile it's obvious that there's been some fading in the Hanging Tree negative that Warners has compensated for.

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Far-Country-Blu-ray/250543/#Screenshots
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Hanging-Tree-Blu-ray/195015/#Screenshots

 

[JohnMor]

With so much attention paid to the audio masters (and so much secrecy on the part on Universal), does anyone how many, if any, film elements may have been lost in the Great Universal Vault Fire? Could that possibly account for the lack of other pre-print elements to use?

 

[Robert Harris]

With so much attention paid to the audio masters (and so much secrecy on the part on Universal), does anyone how many, if any, film elements may have been lost in the Great Universal Vault Fire? Could that possibly account for the lack of other pre-print elements to use?

I don’t believe pre-print was in the affected vault. And I’m finding zero secrecy at Universal in regard to older elements. I’ve always found them to be extremely cooperative, and transparent.

 

[JohnMor]

I don’t believe pre-print was in the affected vault. And I’m finding zero secrecy at Universal in regard to older elements. I’ve always found them to be extremely cooperative, and transparent.

I meant their secrecy about the fire and what was lost. On that point, they were far from transparent.

 

[PatrickDA]

I think Universal is lying.

I guess the "Snow Falling on Cedars" OCN is "missing"...
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Snow-Falling-on-Cedars-Blu-ray/42398/#Forum

 

[Thomas T]

From my experience with universal, they don't claim anything. They work with facts

I think Universal is lying.

Oh dear! Who to believe? Someone with first hand knowledge and who has actual experience and worked with Universal or a personal opinion?

 

[Robert Harris]

Oh dear! Who to believe? Someone with first hand knowledge and who has actual experience and worked with Universal or a personal opinion?

I believe Patrick’s comment was in jest. That’s how I read it.

when I see annotations regarding “restoration” work on the back (or front) of packaging, I think of the errant lab worker at Technicolor, who inadvertently visited the men’s room with the entire OCN of The Little Mermaid wrapped around his jogging boots, thereby destroying it!

He was hanged from a lamp post on Lankershim, and left there as crow chow, as a warning to others.

The smell carried all the way to Century West BMW.

 

[PatrickDA]

I just wish Universal would be more...um...open to disclosing what was lost in that fire. I understand it was mostly TV shows back-up recordings and music recordings. I don't know what film materials would've been stored in that facility.

Where would the OCN for "Snow Falling on Cedars" be? Do OCN's of recent films go missing? I think that was a problem for films in the 80's made by those minor companies.

 

[OliverK]

I just wish Universal would be more...um...open to disclosing what was lost in that fire. I understand it was mostly TV shows back-up recordings and music recordings. I don't know what film materials would've been stored in that facility.

Where would the OCN for "Snow Falling on Cedars" be? Do OCN's of recent films go missing? I think that was a problem for films in the 80's made by those minor companies.

While this has nothing to do with The Far Country Snow Falling on Cedars is only listed on imdb as presented by Universal and the main production company seems to have been The Kennedy/Marshall Company.
http://kennedymarshall.com/films/snow-falling-on-cedars/

You may want to ask them what happened to that negative. They do not exactly look like a one hit wonder fly by night outfit so they should know what happened IF they have held the negative and maybe it is not really lost?

 

[OliverK]

A comparison of a crop of a Far Country screenshot next to a samesize cropped screenshot of The Hanging tree.

Here is the same crop of both screenshots, but the Hanging tree shot (only) has been downsized to 408p and then resized back up to 1080p (I tried the same process using 360p and 480p but 408p looked the closest to the lack of definition in the Far Country cap). Do you think The Far Country screencap has any more detail than the upscaled 408p Hanging Tree screencap?

Here's the whole Far Country screencap with a portion of the samesize original resolution Hanging Tree screencap dropped in the center.

I used The Hanging Tree to compare to The Far Country because it's one of the few 50's westerns that's been 4k scanned directly from the camera negative and it wasn't shot anamorphically. Yes, The Hanging Tree was released in 1959, while The Far Country was released 4 years earlier. Although it's claimed that the Far Country "negative" has deteriorated, the colors look pretty fresh, pretty varied. Meanwhile it's obvious that there's been some fading in the Hanging Tree negative that Warners has compensated for.

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Far-Country-Blu-ray/250543/#Screenshots
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Hanging-Tree-Blu-ray/195015/#Screenshots

Interesting comparison that shows the lack of detail in this particular cap. Even if others look a bit better I doubt that detail goes much beyond 540p. Still to clear this up somebody would have to contact the right people at Universal and ask them why this one looks as it does and if there possibly was some kind of mixup or misunderstanding about what was delivered to Arrow.

 

[Robin9]

I'm very pleased to announce that my disc arrived today and I'll be watching it tonight. I'm really looking forward to forming my own opinion! Arrow normally have such high standards. The film itself I love.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Yeah, it’s a fantastic movie, and by default it’s gonna look better than the crummy DVD. I’m looking forward to getting my copy.

 

[OliverK]

Yeah, it’s a fantastic movie, and by default it’s gonna look better than the crummy DVD. I’m looking forward to getting my copy.

Yep, better definition, widescreen aspect ratio and from the looks of it some really excellent extras are three reasons to get this and on top of that I also happen to think that it is a really good western.

 

[Trancas]

Interesting comparison that shows the lack of detail in this particular cap. Even if others look a bit better I doubt that detail goes much beyond 540p. Still to clear this up somebody would have to contact the right people at Universal and ask them why this one looks as it does and if there possibly was some kind of mixup or misunderstanding about what was delivered to Arrow.

The lack of detail seems to be consistent.