Klarinet Archive - Posting 000992.txt from 2003/04

From: "Lelia Loban" <lelialoban@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Benny Goodman
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2003 00:45:28 -0400

Jim Lytthans wrote,

>The film, from 1955, was photographed in full screen,
>not wide screen. The majority of movies made that year
>were 1.35:1.

Do you know for a fact that *this* movie was photographed in full screen
(i.e. TV format)? What is your source of that information? Or are you
guessing or assuming?

Sorry to be picky and cantenkerous, because I don't know for a *fact* about
this movie, either, but my guess is an educated one. The majority of
movies made in 1955 were black and white, in 1.37:1 aspect ratio--but the
majority of movies made in the more expensive Technicolor process in 1955
were widescreen, often extremely wide, even by today's standards. "The
Benny Goodman Story" was shot in Technicolor and the DVD is in Pan & Scan
format, according to the back of the box. If it had been shot in 1.35:1
aspect ratio, then it would have been a pointless waste of money to use the
Pan & Scan process to transfer it to video in 1.33:1 aspect ratio. Has
anyone got the DVD? See if it's got a title card before the opening
credits that says something like, "This motion picture has been altered
from its original version. It has been formatted to fit your TV screen."

Sorry about the all-caps titles in my previous message, by the way. Didn't
mean to shriek. I've been writing movie criticism for _Scarlet Street_
since 1994. The magazine's house style is to put movie titles in all-caps.
Hard habit to break.

Lelia Loban
lelialoban@-----.net

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