The Hallelujah Trail coming from Olive Films on 2/27/18 (1 Viewer)

[cinemiracle]

This is great news but Kino and TT repeatedly reported that this film like the Alamo is in need of a major restoration which we know wasn't done so we should have very low expectations for this. It will probably look along the lines of The Pride and The Prejudice. But its probably the best we will ever get so I'm in. I have given up on a restoration of the Roadshow Alamo and just hope someone will give us the Roadshow version of the Alamo in existing form.. An HD upconvert with some color correction to Blu Ray will still be a big step-up from my Laserdisc. The Alamo is one film that after watching the roadshow version I can't watch the shortened theatrical version anymore. 37 minutes cut. Just so much continuity to the film and the historical details is missing. Plus the wonderful Birthday party scene.

I agree with you in that cutting 37 minutes out of the film ruined it. I saw it originally in 70mm upon its original roadshow release.I do have a poor quality dvd of the Roadshow version..You can forget about the missing historical details being removed as much of the film was based on fiction. The film did have it's strong points- unforgettable music and a very moving finale. It was a pity that the acting was not so good and the story didn't stick to the facts.

 

[OliverK]

Wow, talk about surprises!

I take it that this might look as bad as The Greatest Story Ever Told but seeing that Olive is releasing it i hope that they got something better from MGM. Even a quick and cheap 2k scan like the one that MGM ordered for Khartoum can lead to decent results so there is a good chance we will at least get The Hallelujah Trail in the ultrawide format.

 

[B-ROLL]

I'm pretty certain the dvd was 5.1

That's what the back disc cover says ..

AND EVERY ONE OF THESE COVER SPECS ARE ALWAYS ACCURATE ...*

*Accept when they're not ....

 

[Dick]

Did you know that IAMMMMW was not even listed in the top 50 comedy films ever made? (U.K site)

Was HALLELUJAH TRAIL?

Anyway, opposite opinions are what I enjoy about this forum.

 

[Paul Rossen]

Saw THE HALLELUJAH TRAIL as a teenager at the Warner Cinerama (I believe) on Broadway, and, although I loved about almost any movie I got to see back then, especially on a massive screen in NYC, I was bored to tears by this. The last "comedy" I had seen in a curved screen was IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD which had me in stitches beginning to end. This movie left me feeling exhausted and unentertained. A waste of two and a half hours. I'm glad this is being released on Blu-ray because the film definitely has its champions, but I am not among them, in spite of the cast and the music score.

The Hallelujah Trail played in NYC Roadshow at the Loews Cinerama(Capitol). I believe that the Cinerama's screen was much larger there than at the Warner...and that one was quite large.

 

[Rick Thompson]

And, of course, if you did a western back then, you had to have Elmer Bernstein do the music! Maybe it was required (Dimitri Tiomkin was acceptable).

 

[ahollis]

It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World is hilarious and everyone I’ve showed it to agrees. However, Hallelujah Trail does not have that same love since there is not a good Blu or even a good DVD to show, hopefully that will be rectified.

 

[Alan Tully]

And, of course, if you did a western back then, you had to have Elmer Bernstein do the music! Maybe it was required (Dimitri Tiomkin was acceptable).

Alas, if you're making a western today, you have no such choice

 

[RolandL]

The Hallelujah Trail played in NYC Roadshow at the Loews Cinerama(Capitol). I believe that the Cinerama's screen was much larger there than at the Warner...and that one was quite large.

90 by 33 - Loew's Cinerama
81 by 30 - Warner Cinerama

 

[usrunnr]

The Hallelujah Trail played in NYC Roadshow at the Loews Cinerama(Capitol). I believe that the Cinerama's screen was much larger there than at the Warner...and that one was quite large.

I saw HT at the Warner Cinerama on Hollywood Blvd in Hollywood. Don't know how to compare the size of the screen though. I remember the film as big, but long, and not particularly funny. But, what a cast!

 

[commander richardson]

That's what the back disc cover says ..

AND EVERY ONE OF THESE COVER SPECS ARE ALWAYS ACCURATE ...*

*Accept when they're not ....

The UK DVD release was |I believe a different release print which was very nice viewing and had English sub-titles which the Region 1 omitted...

 

[Randy Korstick]

That's what the back disc cover says ..

AND EVERY ONE OF THESE COVER SPECS ARE ALWAYS ACCURATE ...*

*Accept when they're not ....

Yes the fact that the surround channels are non-existent on this except for the music soundtrack smells of 2.0 fake upconvert to 5.1 which was common on older movies released to DVD in their 1st decade as 5.1 was a big selling point. Which is one of the reasons many Kino and TT Blus contain 2.0 tracks because they are going back to the original sound that the studio is providing before it was altered for DVD.
I still expect this Olive Blu Ray to be 2.35 widescreen and DTS-HD 2.0 stereo.

 

[Randy Korstick]

Duplicate

 

[Alan Tully]

Well the great thing about the internet & sites like this one is that you can find out about all this stuff before you buy.

 

[OliverK]

I still expect this Olive Blu Ray to be 2.35 widescreen and DTS-HD 2.0 stereo.

I have seen what TCM HD airs and that is 2.35:1 but it also looks more or less like a DVD and too bad to be released on Blu-ray.

So I would expect this to be from work that has been done more recently and due to that I would expect to see the full 2.76:1 aspect ratio of an anamorphic 65mm production.

Maybe somebody should ask Olive about it so I just did that

 

[Randy Korstick]

I have seen what TCM HD airs and that is 2.35:1 but it also looks more or less like a DVD.

So I would expect this to be from work that has been done more recently and due to that I would expect to see the full 2.76:1 aspect ratio of an anamorphic 65mm production.

I guess somebody should ask Olive about it

Yes the fact that TCM's HD master is 2.35 is also why I believe it will be 2.35.1. As Olive will more than likely be releasing the same transfer as this just appeared on TCM 4 years ago and I doubt another master has been made already for this now obscure film.

 

[RolandL]

What has Olive done with other film titles? Not much improvement over previously released DVD's? I also emailed Olive and no response yet.

 

[haineshisway]

If Twilight Time passed on this title, which I believe they did, I'm not sure I'd expect much here.

 

[JPCinema]

I bought on iTunes years ago and it is unwatchable..non anamorphic.
I'll be happy to have anamorphic and that wonderful score 5.1, since there will never be a release of the complete score on cd.

 

[Stephen PI]

There is one thing that concerns me with the 5.1 track on "THE HALLELUJAH TRAIL".
Back when the laserdisc was produced, the 4-track composite stereo master of reel one was missing, only the mono was available. So to overcome this problem, the stereo track of the main title from the album master was used. The album unfortunately was not the original tracks but a re-recording!
The remainder of the reel was stereo enhanced. The overture I believe was unaffected as it probably came from the stereo m&e track.
Recently some stereo material of reel one was discovered. I only hope MGM updated their stereo master with this material.
The difference in quality and performance of the main title between the original, as recorded on Goldwyn's scoring stage seven, and the re-recording is considerable.

I neglected to mention that the foreign language mixes are unaffected by this issue. Unfortunately the chorus is in a foreign language on the main title and as it is married to the orchestra it cannot be used for the english.