TCM Goofed again. (1 Viewer)

[Ken Garrison]

How come TCM is showing Nevada Smith in Pan and Scan? It was from 1966. I know it was in widescreen originally because the credits said, "Filmed in Panavision". I sure hope to God TCM don't behave like AMC does now. They're gonna lose some subcribers if they're gonna be showing Pan and Scanned movies.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Ken,
What's up with the TCM bashing again? Paramount which is working on a dvd release of this film probably didn't make the OAR version available to TCM. This dvd release was originally scheduled for June 4th, just like "Five Card Stud" and "Will Penny", but Paramount ran into problems with the restoration process. Martin Blythe of Paramount mentioned on this forum that the dvd release will be delayed either later this year or expect a release sometime next year. So let's not jump the gun and level charges that TCM is going down the same road as AMC.




Crawdaddy

 

[Ken Garrison]

I'm sorry. I get a little panicky if TCM shows a widescreen film in Pan and Scan. Guess they made it up by showing How the West Was Won. Cinerama's pretty cool. Like to go to an actual Cinerama theater. When my dad got home, he asked, what's this? It's How the West Was Won. Oh, this is one of them Cinerama Films. And he pointed the stitch lines to me. I go, yes, I know all about it. He started telling me about the Cinerama theater with the huge wrap around screen. I told him, yes, I know everything about it. I read all about it. Guess he understands OAR better than I thought.

 

[george kaplan]

I for one am willing to give TCM the benefit of the doubt when this occasionally happens. Worrying because we end up with p&s 1 time out of 100 (probably due to factors beyond their control) is like thinking AMC is going to turn it around on those rare occasions when they show a widescreen movie. It's just an aberration in both cases.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Again, other than WB (who owns TCM) and MGM, the other studios don't put a lot of effort into giving TCM the best prints. The times TCM airs an OAR print compared to a P&S print is about 1000 to 1.
What you SHOULD do is to complain to Paramount and tell them to send over a correct transfer. Then again, many films have only one transfer around. This WAS the case with a few films.
This is a channel that made a letterboxed transfer of Around the World in Eighty Days as a favor to a fan. They really try hard to show the best possible stuff. They even aired Austin Powers in OAR in their spy films marathon.
AMC will occasionally air a letterboxed print (about 1 in 1000 ) while TCM will occasionally air a non-OAR print (about 1 in a 1000 ) Think of it as AMC is potted meat while TCM is kobe beef.

 

[Scott Leopold]

Try to catch TCM's explanation of why they show letterboxed movies. Robert Osborne explains why letterbox is better, then states that TCM shows the best possible version of each movie they air. If they aren't showing a letterboxed version of a widescreen film, it is not an error on their part--it is simply the only version available to them.

 

[Mark Pfeiffer]

If they were going the P&S direction (which it doesn't appear that they are), they might lose viewers but not subscribers. At least where I am, TCM isn't a pay channel. It's included with a lot of other channels on that tier (the next one after the very basic ten channel lineup).