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MGM (UA) SPECTACLES (1 Viewer)

john a hunter

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" The version screened was the 124 minute version."

Are you sure, Brian. I recall a full roadshow with intermission, which would seem a little pointless with this running time.
I rememberl the Odeon as being very confortable but let down by a screen far too small for 70mm.
 

AdrianTurner

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Thanks for that, Douglas. I, too, saw Barabbas at the Odeon Haymarket. I thought that was almost a lovely cinema, quite intimate, with cossetting blue seats and golden roll-up curtains. I also distinctly remember its smell, or scent: artificially sweet, somehow perfumed, probably because of its basement environment. It was probably too small for 70mm presentations and I was very disappointed that Taras Bulba had no souvenir brochure, no overture, no 70mm. It was just a movie.

Basement cinemas were never entirely, successful, were they? The Royalty, the Columbia, the Ritz, Academy Two, the Paramount when the Plaza was twinned etc. It's the low ceiling, I think, that spoils everything.
 

Brian Sharp

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Strange because the BBFC in March 1963 gives a running time of 123mins 51secs after cuts were made to get the "u" certificate. As I recall there was definitely no overture or exit music and I do not recall having an intermission in the 70mm print we screened. I doubt that there was more than one 70mm print of this title in the UK. The English language print shown at Karlsruhe this year shows a running time of 122mins.
Was there a longer version elsewhere in the world?
 

ahollis

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Below is a little information concerning the three MGM Spectaculars that are to be released on DVD this spring (I still have a problem calling these UA films MGM). In all the below source material and other pieces of information, I never located any statements on any of the films having an Overture/Intermission/Exit Music. This is not say that some of the Solomon and Sheba runs did not for while most sources give the 139 running time for the film, two sources also list 141 minutes as the running time. That extra two minutes could be some type of Overture or Intermission. I have a laserdisc of Solomon and Sheba and while it plays over three sides, it does not have an Overture/Intermission/Exit Music.

Taras Bulba – Heicht-Curtleigh Productions (Avala Film sometimes credited as co-producer)
Distributed by United Artists
Opened - 19 December 1962 – Chicago, IL
Eastman Color, Prints by Deluxe - Panavision -122 minutes.

Kings of the Sun – Mirisch Corp.
Distributed by United Artists
Opened – 18 December 1963 – Los Angeles, CA
Deluxe Color - Panavision – 108 minutes

Solomon and Sheba – An Edward Small Production
Distributed by United Artists
Opened – 27 October 1959 – London
25 December 1959 – New York
Technicolor – Super Technirama 70 – 139 minutes

I seem to recall that Solomon and Sheba did not have large 70mm run in the states, only a dozen runs, and since the first 70mm blow-up was not until The Cardinal in 1963, Taras Bulba nor Kings of the Sun received the Roadshow promotion.

I must say that most of the discussion has been from the UK friends and all this information is US, and I am aware of differences in releases, this is just our side of the story.

Sources – American Film Institute Catalogue of Feature Films, AFI Feature Film site, IMDB, Epic Films by Gary A. Smith.

While I am US, I have a fondness of the British Cinemas. I pulled out a book on West End Theatres and re-read the background of the Odeon Haymarket. The pictures showed it was an interesting theatre and one that films could be enjoyed in.
 

AlanP

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What was cut from "SOLOMON AND SHEBA" to give it that rating ??
Or what needed to get cut to make it pass the censors ??
It would be great if they had Gina do some commentary on this film !!!!
 

Simon Howson

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DVDpacific.com have Kings of the Sun and Taras Bulba in stock already if anyone is interested. They aren't due out until the 25th.
 

ahollis

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Picked up Taras Bulba and Solomon And Sheba today and was able to look some of both. The transfer looks good with good color. The transfer of Solomon is much better than the old LD I own. I can not wait until I have the time to sit for the entire films.

Did Solomon and Sheba run as a Roadshow at anytime? The DVD does not have an Overture, Intermission or Exit Music nor did the LD.
 

JPCinema

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Picked up all 3 yesterday. I am very pleased with the transfers.....and nice to have stereo tracks on all 3. KINGS OF THE SUN has the weakest stereo track.
SOLOMON AND SHEBA's transfer is the best I've seen for that film...nice stereo surround. TARAS BULBA looks and sounds great.
Too bad that a trailer could not be provided for any of the films.
I'm looking forward to more new releases of classic UA titles.
 

BillyFeldman

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I'm baffled by the Solomon and Sheba stereo sound comment. The default is mono. I then played the Dolby Surround and it sounds like reprocessed mono. Just to make sure I wasn't completely batty, I put on my region 2 DVD of Solomon and Sheba and sure enough there was a real stereo track that sounds completely different than the new region 1 - wide separation and really beautiful-sounding. The region one sounds like spread mono to me and is nothing like the real thing that's on the region 2. However, the image quality is amazing on the region one and much less so on the region two - I'll be keeping the latter for the sound, and the former for the image.
 

RobertSiegel

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Billy, I certainly don't experience anything mono or simulated stereo about Solomon and Sheba, I am hearing great stereo, horns in the right, violins in the left, carriages coming from the left side to the right. I am very impressed by the track. Everything about this track is true stereo and it's a great sound transfer, maybe something is wrong with your copy? This seems very strange.

Kings of the Sun doesn't sound nearly as good in my opinion, I have a hard time hearing stereo from that one. Taras Bulba hasn't arrived yet.
 

Douglas R

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I don't understand why the default soundtrack on TARA BULBA is mono. Many people will be totally confused by this and will play the DVD in mono. Is it the same for all three releases?
 

BillyFeldman

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Yes, the default is mono for all three. And I still think the Solomon and Sheba is reprocessed mono and not a true stereo track, or, if it is a true stereo track they've done something awful to it, because the stereo track on the region 2 sounds amazing and has wide spread, and just sounds like a real stereo track. A world of difference.
 

RobertSiegel

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Billy, I just watched Solomon and Sheba for the 2nd time last night...it is one of the better mag stereo tracks I have heard in the past couple of years. Horns in the right, violins in the left, sound effects and dialogue pan across the screen. Is it possible that something went wrong in production with some discs and maybe the one you have, because mine is pure true stereo and excellent stereo for the film's age. Has anyone else played theirs? This seems very confusing to me, I would expect anyone who has the same one I have to be delighted with such a magnificent soundtrack.
 

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