IT's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World Restoration (1 Viewer)

[Joe Lugoff]

Now I'm confused ... of the "story" Cinerama movies, I thought only "Brothers Grimm" and "How the West Was Won" would need to be smileboxed, because starting with "Mad World" the Cinerama movies weren't really Cinerama.

 

[RolandL]

is a movie that takes full advantage of the 2.76:1 apect. Whatever the DVD is, it chops off some important information from the original, including actors faces.
I have an illustration I sent to MGM, I'll post later.

The movies that were filmed in the MGM Camera 65/Ultra Panavision process and released on DVD in the proper aspect ratio are:
Ben-Hur
Mutiny on the Bounty
Battle of The Bulge
Greatest Story Ever Told
The following movies have not been released on DVD or the DVD does not show the full frame of the MGM Camera 65/Ultra Panavision film
Raintree County
How The West Was Won (segments)
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
The Fall of the Roman Empire
The Hallelujah Trail
Khartoum

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Well, that would show you how it appeared in a Cinerama theatre. But, only the three-strip films are true Cinerama and should be shown in the Smilebox process on DVD.

Debatable. Widescreen Museum contains a discussion of "rectified" Ultra Panavision films for the purposes of Cinerama presentation. Whether or not this process was ever applied to IAMMMMW is a mystery, but should be noted in any event. Here's a link: http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/wingcr6.htm

 

[RolandL]

Debatable. Widescreen Museum contains a discussion of "rectified" Ultra Panavision films for the purposes of Cinerama presentation. Whether or not this process was ever applied to IAMMMMW is a mystery, but should be noted in any event. Here's a link: http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/wingcr6.htm

It's not a mystery. Prints of IAMMMMW for Cinerama theatres were rectified so that they looked fine (no one looked too fat or skinny) on the curved screen. But, as Marty Hart says on his web site "While Cinerama photographed and projected an image of 146 degrees, the Ultra Panavision 70 photography in "Mad World" rarely used lenses that covered more than 50 degrees. Stanley Kramer, much to his credit, has stated flatly that this was nowhere near being Cinerama. The impact of Cinerama had been killed and only its reputation kept the name alive. "

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Thanks, Roland. On a barely related topic, do you know if the Seattle Cinerama has any plans to do another festival?

 

[Mark B]

"rectified" Ultra Panavision films for the purposes of Cinerama presentation. Whether or not this process was ever applied to IAMMMMW is a mystery

You can see in the laserdisc version and in the outtakes/deleted scenes on the DVD that some of the shots are from a rectified print, because the far left and right of the frame are distorted.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

A question for anyone that might be in the know.

ASSUMING the will from whoever owns the film was there, and an appropriate budget was made available -

Is it still possible to restore the roadshow version of this film?

We keep reading, over the years of this thread, that on the one hand, more and more footage has been tracked down, so that we are within a minute or two of the full length (missing audio in some places and image in others) and on the other hand that materials have gone to vinegar and have been junked.

Or should we maybe all just zip our lips and as RAH has stated, fly under the corporate radar.....

 

[widescreenforever]

It's already in the can and ready to go..
just need some backers and hackers ....
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/movies...inerama04.html

 

[Moe Dickstein]

well one would assume that alternate copies was found of what had to be junked due to disinigration. That's good news. As long as time hasn't rendered things impossible, there's always hope then.

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

But 13 minutes are still missing. Unless RAH has found it in the meantime...?

 

[Moe Dickstein]

I don't know if that 210 minutes figure is right, as I believe that previously RAH had stated that they had, in one form or another 193 minutes of a 197 minute Roadshow version.

That article is coming on 3 years old - has anyone here seen the version they talk about that was shown in Seattle? If so, comments?

 

[Douglas R]

I don't know if that 210 minutes figure is right, as I believe that previously RAH had stated that they had, in one form or another 193 minutes of a 197 minute Roadshow version.

The souvenir brochure, given out at the roadshow presentations, gave the running time as "210 minutes including intermission".

 

[Moe Dickstein]

well that might just mean that the portion where you're not in the lobby is 197 minutes, and the "intermission" with no image on the screen is 13 minutes. (6.5 of which would have included the radio calls)

I'm not claiming to KNOW just going by what I saw here.

hopefully we'll have a DVD to time out someday

 

[Joe Lugoff]

I think it's mentioned somewhere in this thread, but it's worth repeating, that all the original reviews of this movie (e.g., Variety, The New York Times) gave the running time as 195 minutes. I think the 210 minute running time includes a 15-minute intermission, which arguably could be counted because those "bulletins" played through it.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

I think it's also mentioned in the 3-year old article that spawned this thread.

 

[RolandL]

I think it's mentioned somewhere in this thread, but it's worth repeating, that all the original reviews of this movie (e.g., Variety, The New York Times) gave the running time as 195 minutes. I think the 210 minute running time includes a 15-minute intermission, which arguably could be counted because those "bulletins" played through it.

Here is a review from the November 11, 1963 issue of Boxoffice magazine - http://cinerama.topcities.com/1963iammmmwreview.jpg

 

[Paul Richards]

Since there haven't been any postings or updates on this thread in some time, I thought I'd check to see if anyone, particularly but not limited to, Mr. Harris, can share anything about a SE or resored version of IAMMMMW.

 

[mike--]

It just doesn't seem fair to have this film along with a couple others ( The Alamo-the John Wayne version, and Hawaii ) be given 'restored version' treatment with laserdiscs and VHS issues.........and nothing for DVD!!!

 

[Joe Lugoff]

It just doesn't seem fair to have this film along with a couple others ( The Alamo-the John Wayne version, and Hawaii ) be given 'restored version' treatment with laserdiscs and VHS issues.........and nothing for DVD!!!

Let's start campaigning for a completely restored version for the film's 50th anniversary in 2013. That'll give them 6 years to work on it.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

If there are any decent film elements left by then.