Klarinet Archive - Posting 000996.txt from 2003/04

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausmann1@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] "The Benny Goodman Story" redux
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2003 00:45:32 -0400

At 03:08 PM 4/21/2003 -0400, Lelia Loban wrote:
>I think THE BENNY GOODMAN STORY was originally widescreen for two reasons:
>because it was shot in Technicolor, a process Universal reserved for its
>higher-budget "A" features, most of them widescreen; and, more importantly,
>because there's *no reason* to release a VHS or a DVD in Pan & Scan format
>*unless* it was a widescreen movie. 1.37 : 1 movies (the typical format
>for cheaper "B" pictures in the mid-1950s) look pretty good in TV format
>1.33 : 1 aspect ratio, losing only a little bit on the sides--usually not a
>noticible enough difference to make re-formatting worthwhile. But mid-20th
>century musicals, in particular, were usually produced in widescreen
>format, and IMHO they lose a lot in Pan & Scan.

I can't think of any VISUAL reason why it would have been logical to film
it in a wide-screen format. No big dance scenes, etc. My videotape
version was taken off AMC. It is full frame, although they do sometimes
show movies in letterbox format. Frankly, unless one has a LARGE-screen
TV, I think the pan-and-scan version is often PREFERABLE. That's probably
why they included that version in the "Roger Rabbit" package just
released. It will look better on the little video units they are
installing in cars these days.

Bill Hausmann

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is TOO LOUD!

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