Lord Dalek
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2005
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- Real Name
- Joel Henderson
Its worth pointing out that Lady and the Tramp's soundtrack was recorded in mono, despite it being released in three-track.
Yes, unfortunately very few London suburban cinemas were equipped for stereo, with the exception of the Granada circuit where stereo sound was very noticeable for the Guns of Navarone in 1961 at the Granada, North Harrow. The following year I went to my very first central London 70mm presentation to see Barabbas which had highly directionalised stereo sound at the splendid Odeon Haymarket.The first film where I remember noticing stereo was 2001 at the Casino Cinerama. I don't think any old my local cinemas were equipped to handle stereo. As I live alone in a small terraced cottage, with nice quiet neighbours, I tend to wear headphones when watching stereo films, that way I can have it nice & loud & punchy, & it's still a novelty hearing these films in stereo (& I'm a headphone user with music, so it seems natural).
Yup, a class cinema.The following year I went to my very first central London 70mm presentation to see Barabbas which had highly directionalised stereo sound at the splendid Odeon Haymarket.
robin and the 7 hoods - one of the best original scores, ever- I have the stereo soundtrack but the DVD really needs this upgradeTHere are many musicals and films with very distinguished soundtracks/songtracks which have been released on disc but in mono audio only - not that there's anything wrong with that - either due to the stereo version or the multi-track masters being lost or too difficult to restore, or because little or no effort was made to locate them, or because it's simply the way the soundtrack was recorded & the studio decided to just leave it be (to the delight of purists, ofcourse).
Anyway, here are 10 films which I feel would greatly benefit - again, not that they aren't totally fine as they are - from a new stereo or surround mix (either from restored/remastered session materials or digitally-created):
CAT BALLOU (1965)
MAN WHO KnEW TOO MUCH, THE (1956) (For whatever reason, almost none of Doris Day's films on disc have stereo sndtrks, orig. or otherwise. I realize most came out well over 50 yrs ago)
MONSTER CLUB, THE (1980)
OCEAN's 11 (1960)
RADIO DAYS (1987)
ROBIN & THE 7 HOODS (1964)
THIRD MAN, THE (1949)
THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR, THE (1968)
TILL THE CLOUDS ROLL BY (1946)
WICKER MAN, THE (1973)
Is there a film or 2 you might add to the list?
No, I don't think that can happen. They all got back together after the filming finished & recorded the stereo album, you'd have to cut in the rerecorded stereo songs whenever a song came up, & I don't think the sound would match & there would probably be lip-sync problems. I think we have what we have.robin and the 7 hoods - one of the best original scores, ever- I have the stereo soundtrack but the DVD really needs this upgrade
Are you referring to the fact that many people have complained that the stereo mixes on video are so bad, that people think it might as well be mono? Because all the releases on video have been stereo including some of the VHS releases. The DVD and Blu-ray releases are 5.1AFAIK, all of the releases of Scorsese's NEW YORK, NEW YORK are in mono, except the Laser Disc.
You are correct regarding Cat Ballou. The Twilight Time disc has a very nice stereo mix and isolated score.Well I think you could lose a couple off that list:
Radio Days - Knowing Woody Allen's dislike of stereo, I wouldn't think stereo had any part in that production.
Cat Ballou - I have the Twilight Time Blu-ray, & it's in 5:1 & 2:0 all stereo (I've just checked it using headphones) & the isolated score is also in stereo. Such a shame it's OOP & has yet to turn up on any other label, as it's a stonking Sony Transfer of a great sixties film.
It's a bit annoying when musicals are made in mono, I'm thinking of, Li'l Abner (1959) Paramount, & Robin & The 7 Hoods (1964) Warner. But for me, the age of DVD & Blu-ray, is the age of films in stereo, as I first saw so many films in mono (esp 50s films) that are now in great sounding stereo.
Yes, Perspecta.That's funny I was just thinking the exact same thing. I passed up the bluray because there were those complaining that on a large TV the images were less than what should have been expected from a Vistavision release and my 4k TV is on the large size. We shall see. A Funny Face 4k release I can't imagine is on the top of any executives list but hope springs eternal. Maybe the film was done in Perspecta?
High Society was a VistaVision release and would be lovely in blu-ray or, of course, 4K. I was watching the short documentary on the new Tender Trap WA blu-ray. The scenes from High Society looked quite good. The stereo recording of the songs on Sinatra’s Hollwood boxed CD set is excellent. Louis Armstrong’s selections from that film also sound great in stereo on one of his compilation CDs. Any word on High Society coming to us at some point?I've always been disappointed by Funny Face not being recorded in stereo even though it was a VistaVision release. I would love to see a new 4K restoration of this classic with a new stereo mix done with all the computer magic now available.