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The Ultimate List of Mono to Stereo Remixed Soundtracks (1 Viewer)

WaltWiz1901

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Ryan Bannon
If the final mix of the movie is mono, and then a later release comes out in stereo, then for the purposes of this thread that counts as a remix regardless of when it was created.

It's [also] possible Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and The Rescuers could have carried Dolby tracks, but I've never heard that. As for 101 Dalmatians, Jungle Book, and The Aristocats, these were pre-Dolby so the only way there could have been stereo prints for them is if the prints were magnetically striped and I've certainly not heard reports of that being the case.
The soundtracks to these five movies were recorded in stereo, but were mixed down to mono on optical '60s-'70s release prints. The Platinum/Diamond DVDs/Blu-rays of One Hundred and One Dalmatians and The Jungle Book present the films' "original" soundtracks in 1.0 mono, not 2.0 stereo/surround.

AFAIK, the (primary) audio mixes on the following releases of 101/TJB/TA/WtP were derived from their original stereo score elements:
- Most (if not all) releases of One Hundred and One Dalmatians and The Jungle Book
- The Aristocats: 1996 Masterpiece Collection VHS/LaserDisc and 2000 Gold Classic Collection VHS/DVD
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: 1996 Masterpiece Collection VHS/LaserDisc (and presumably the 2002 25th Anniversary Edition VHS)
 

Lord Dalek

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^The "mixdown" you're referring to is actually from a three-track DME mag master with each element occupying a single track. Typically the multitrack tapes are mixed straight to mono before they ever hit film and the dialogue and effects were never created in stereo in the first place.
 

Dick

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So I’ve compiled a list (by no means comprehensive) of all the movies that were originally released as mono and have since been remixed into stereo or multi-channel. Unlike aspect ratio or black & white versus color, the decision to mix sound as mono or stereo is not an artistic decision (excluding one Mr. Woody Allen) but merely a financial one. Nobody in the music industry chose to continue to record monaural once hi-fis became the norm. Also once television began broadcasting in stereo (circa 1983) TV programs retooled pretty quickly to begin mixing their soundtracks in stereo. Movies are another kettle of fish. Stereophonic sound debuted in the early 1950s, only to quickly die off due to the exorbitant cost. Magnetic sound striping doubled the cost of film prints and theaters were plagued with the bothersome maintenance of keeping those magnetic soundheads clean. So stereo sound in movies became scarce, reserved only for the blockbusters with the biggest budgets. Then in the 1970s Ray Dolby came along with a new optical stereo process that solved all the cost problems and stereo was finally here to stay. By the 1990s nearly every movie had a stereo soundtrack.


So now we have all these movies that were released as mono due to cost. In the era of home video the studios have now seen fit to go back and remix many of them into stereo. This list only includes films that were mono for their original release. Not included are any films that were in stereo and have since been remixed to newer standards even if the original stereo mixes have been lost, such as with House of Wax, From Here to Eternity, or Cabaret. If a film was released mono in 35mm, but there were 70mm prints struck with 6-track sound, those films are also not included. Also note that I have disqualified anything where they used a fake, synthesized stereo process. Only soundtracks remixed from original sound stems, or from separate dialog and music & effects tracks will be included. And lastly any title that was originally released in Perspecta “Stereo” that has been remixed into true stereo IS included because I consider Perspecta to be mono, thus White Christmas makes the list.


Please feel free to contribute listings to this thread as I am sure there are many titles that I have missed.




1937

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs


1939

Gone With the Wind

Jesse James

The Wizard of Oz


1940

Pinocchio


1941

Dumbo

How Green Was My Valley


1942

Bambi


1943

Saludos Amigos (streaming version)


1944

Meet Me in St. Louis


1945

The Three Caballeros (streaming version)

Ziegfeld Follies


1947

Fun and Fancy Free

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

Miracle on 34th Street


1948

So Dear to My Heart


1949

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad

A Letter to Three Wives

Twelve O’Clock High


1950

All About Eve

Cinderella

Treasure Island


1951

Alice in Wonderland

A Christmas Carol

The Day the Earth Stood Still

A Place in the Sun


1952

Singin’ in the Rain


1953

The Band Wagon

Escape from Fort Bravo

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Hondo

Niagara

Peter Pan


1954

The Caine Mutiny

On the Waterfront

Seven Samurai

White Christmas


1955

It Came from Beneath the Sea

To Catch a Thief


1956

Earth vs. the Flying Saucers

Giant

High Society

The Ten Commandments


1957

20 Million Miles to Earth

The Bridge on the River Kwai

Funny Face

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

Jailhouse Rock

Old Yeller (Blu-ray mono only)

Pal Joey

The Tin Star


1958

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad

Vertigo


1959

North by Northwest

On the Beach

Some Like it Hot

Third Man on the Mountain


1960

Anatomy of a Murder

The Apartment

Home from the Hill

The Magnificent Seven

Pollyanna (Blu-ray mono only)

Psycho

Swiss Family Robinson


1961

Breakfast at Tiffany’s

The Hustler

Judgment at Nuremberg (Australian Blu-ray mono only)

One Hundred and One Dalmatians

The Parent Trap


1962

Dr. No

The Manchurian Candidate

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

To Kill a Mockingbird


1963

From Russia with Love

Hud

Jason and the Argonauts

McLintock!

Savage Sam

The Sword in the Stone

Tom Jones (Laserdisc)


1964

Americanization of Emily

Dr. Strangelove…

Dr. Syn: Alias the Scarecrow

Fistful of Dollars

Goldfinger

A Hard Day’s Night

Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear

A Shot in the Dark


1965

For a Few Dollars More

Help!

Major Dundee

Thunderball

Von Ryan’s Express


1966

Aflie

Fantastic Voyage

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Hawaii (Laserdisc)

Return of the Seven


1967

The Graduate

In the Heat of the Night

The Jungle Book

You Only Live Twice


1968

Bullit

Easy Rider

Hang ‘Em High

Head

The Odd Couple

Once Upon a Time in the West

Yellow Submarine


1969

A Boy Named Charlie Brown

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Guns of the Magnificent Seven

The Love Bug

Midnight Cowboy

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies

True Grit

The Undefeated


1970

The Aristocats

Beneath the Planet of the Apes

The Boys in the Band

Love Story

MASH

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

Rio Lobo


1971

Bedknobs and Broomsticks

Big Jake

A Clockwork Orange

Diamonds Are Forever

Dirty Harry

Duel

Escape from the Planet of the Apes

Macbeth

The French Connection

THX 1138


1972

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes

The Godfather

The Magnificent Seven Ride!

Snoopy Come Home


1973

Battle for the Planet of the Apes

The Exorcist

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad

High Plains Drifter

Live and Let Die

Magnum Force

Robin Hood

Serpico

The Sting

The Three Musketeers

The Way We Were


1974

Benji

Black Christmas

Blazing Saddles

Chinatown

The Conversation

The Four Musketeers

The Godfather Part II

Herbie Rides Again

The Man with the Golden Gun

Murder on the Orient Express (StudioCanal Blu-ray mono only)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre


1975

The Apple Dumpling Gang (Blu-ray mono only)

Barry Lyndon

Bite the Bullet

Escape to Witch Mountain

Jaws

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Posse

Three Days of the Condor


1976

1900

Assault on Precinct 13

Carrie

The Enforcer

Freaky Friday

The Omen

The Outlaw Josey Wales

The Pink Panther Strikes Again

Rocky


1977

For the Love of Benji

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo

The Rescuers

Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger

Smokey and the Bandit


1978

Animal House

Every Which Way But Loose

The Fury

Return from Witch Mountain

Revenge of the Pink Panther


1979

The Amityville Horror

China Syndrome

Kramer vs. Kramer


1980

Coal Miner’s Daughter

The Fog

Friday the 13th

Herbie Goes Bananas

Prom Night

The Shining

Terror Train


1981

An American Werewolf in London

Body Heat

The Evil Dead

Excalibur

The Fox and the Hound

Friday the 13th Part 2

Gallipoli

The Howling

My Bloody Valentine

On Golden Pond (Shout! Factory Blu-ray mono only)

The Prowler

Reds

Stripes


1982

Amityville II: The Possession

Conan the Barbarian

Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Friday the 13th Part III

An Officer and a Gentleman

Sophie’s Choice

Tootsie (Criterion Blu-ray mono only)

The Verdict

The World According to Garp


1983

The Big Chill

Sudden Impact

Terms of Endearment

Trading Places


1984

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter

Nightmare on Elm Street

Once Upon a Time in America

Racing with the Moon

Sixteen Candles

The Terminator

The Times of Harvey Milk


1985

The Breakfast Club

Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning

Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge

Mask

Reanimator


1986

Heartburn

Peggy Sue Got Married

Salvador

Stand By Me


1987

Evil Dead II

Full Metal Jacket

The Hidden

Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors

Prick Up Your Ears


1988

Eight Men Out (streaming version)

A Fish Called Wanda

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad


1992

Troll 2

An amazingly comprehensive list, Mark. Thanks. If you find time on your hands, could you (or someone) add an astrerisk to those which have been released with a discreet stereo soundtrack on Blu-ray? I own most of these, and only and handful play as real stereo on my system.
 

Stephen PI

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I worked at Disney for twenty two years. During that time I was able to access audio files.
I worked directly on two titles for home video JUNGLE BOOK (1967) and PETE'S DRAGON.
The stereo re-issue of JUNGLE BOOK utilized the original 3-track music masters. I know this because I personally did the transferring myself around 1995 (The stereo tracks were offered to Disney records, but was turned down and the CD is mono!).
PETE'S DRAGON's, original short theatrical version was 4-track discrete. When we did the long version for home video the entire film was re-mixed in Dolby Stereo.
BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS music survives in 3-track format and was recorded at Samuel Goldwyn Studios on Formosa Avenue.
SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON has no stereo music. There are records stating which Disney classics were stereo on their original theatrical release and SWISS and 101 DALMATIANS weren't on that list.
Some stereo music survives on THIRD MAN ON THE MOUNTAIN, which was recorded at Denham Studios in England, but was released in mono theatrically.
 

Lord Dalek

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Screenshot_20220506-072749.jpg
 

Stephen PI

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Thanks for showing that. Records didn't indicate anything about a Dolby Stereo theatrical release, only 4-track, so there's the proof. (Could have been released in both formats).
 

RolandL

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I worked at Disney for twenty two years. During that time I was able to access audio files.
I worked directly on two titles for home video JUNGLE BOOK (1967) and PETE'S DRAGON.
The stereo re-issue of JUNGLE BOOK utilized the original 3-track music masters. I know this because I personally did the transferring myself around 1995 (The stereo tracks were offered to Disney records, but was turned down and the CD is mono!).
PETE'S DRAGON's, original short theatrical version was 4-track discrete. When we did the long version for home video the entire film was re-mixed in Dolby Stereo.
BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS music survives in 3-track format and was recorded at Samuel Goldwyn Studios on Formosa Avenue.
SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON has no stereo music. There are records stating which Disney classics were stereo on their original theatrical release and SWISS and 101 DALMATIANS weren't on that list.
Some stereo music survives on THIRD MAN ON THE MOUNTAIN, which was recorded at Denham Studios in England, but was released in mono theatrically.

Thank you for the information!

Do you have any knowledge of two Cinerama films that Disney currently owns - Custer of The West and Krakatoa, East of Java?
They were released on Blu-ray with mono sound by Kino Lorber but had 6-track stereo 70mm prints when shown at Cinerama theatres in the late 1960s.
 

Lord Dalek

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Thanks for showing that. Records didn't indicate anything about a Dolby Stereo theatrical release, only 4-track, so there's the proof. (Could have been released in both formats).
The only films I am aware of to be released in both Dolby and 4-track mag domestically (I don't count Kagemusha) are Yentl and Scarface, which were the last ones altogether. That doesn't necessarily mean more exist though.
 

Stephen PI

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Thank you for the information!

Do you have any knowledge of two Cinerama films that Disney currently owns - Custer of The West and Krakatoa, East of Java?
They were released on Blu-ray with mono sound by Kino Lorber but had 6-track stereo 70mm prints when shown at Cinerama theatres in the late 1960s.
All I can recall on those titles (plus SONG OF NORWAY) is 70mm prints. I don't know what the condition was if it could have been possible to have had the sound transferred from them.
I agree it was frustrating they were released in mono. I don't recall if any stereo magnetic masters were amongst the ABC inventory. The original mixes on CUSTER and KRAKATOA were 4-track produced at Pinewood Studios and spread to six.
Stereo track of BIG FISHERMAN survives also with Disney.
 

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