[e-mail] Reviews

Grand Canyon (1958)

A visual and aural tone poem depicting the Grand Canyon

[10/10 · 8 August 2017]

One critic at the time said this short had "Fire, splendor and tenderness." I would agree.

I think the reasons it was originally teamed with Sleeping Beauty were: 1) Both used great music, although SB's Tchaikovsky was lightened a bit. 2) Both were in multi-channel stereo, and the theaters exhibiting SB during the first several months had to be equipped for 70mm to qualify, therefore were also equipped for multi-channel stereo. SB was in Super Technirama 70 and 6 channel stereo, and Grand Canyon was in 35 mm CinemaScope and 4 channel stereo.

Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

Good in DVD, but hypnotic in 70 mm!

[10/10 · 2 April 2008]

Around the World in 80 Days (1956) may seem good on DVD, particularly if you have a home theater, great sound, and sit close, BUT it was HYPNOTIC when projected from a 70 mm print in Todd-AO. I saw it many times that way during its long run (well over a year) in San Francisco in 1956-1957. It was one of the few films (along with 2001: A Space Odyssey) that used 70mm, and a huge deeply curved screen suggesting the arc of vision in a way that produced a truly mesmerising effect. At the time, people discussed whether the screen filling spinning world globe near the end of Edward R. Murrow's prologue could have produced true hypnotism, but, no it was just the magnificent photography, the engulfing nature of Todd-AO, the extremely powerful, involving sound (a 114 piece orchestra and 6 channel stereo, warmer and probably better than today's digital), and the high level of audience involvement.

If a fully restored 70 mm print is ever shown in one of the few remaining 70 mm theaters (e.g., in Seattle, Wash), I urge you to go!

See http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/ and http://in70mm.com/

The Miracle of Todd-AO (1956)

Beautiful, sparkling Todd-AO demonstration film

[8/10 · 27 October 2006]

I saw The Miracle of Todd-AO on the same bill as the Todd-AO version of Oklahoma! in the 1950s. There never was a better wide screen process. The image was almost perfect, and truly impressed our photography club. The roller-coaster ride, if anything, was better than the one in This is Cinerama, because there were no jiggling join lines to cause disbelief. The San Francisco motorcycle ride was even better. But it was the picture window clear, grainless, sparkling nature of the 70mm (twice as wide as the normal 35mm) presentation that was the most impressive. Because of the 30 frames per second (faster than the 24 fps standard), what little grain there was (visible only from the first few rows of the theater) did not obscure the detail -- the clarity rivaled that of still photography with an 8 by 10 negative in a Linhoff. The deeply curved screen simulated the arc of vision, and the 2.2:1 shape became more like 2:1 or 1.9: 1 because of the curve taking up some of the spread. This was a much more comfortable shape than the 2.35:1 that is often seen in 35mm Panavision, CinemaScope, and the like.

Todd-A0 was later brilliantly used in Around the World in 80 Days (1956), The Sound of Music, Baraka, and many other films.

I'm hoping for a revival of 70mm. Because of the bigger aperture in the projector's film gate, much more light gets through to the screen, a feature much needed today, now that the industry has abandoned the old, brilliant carbon arc projector lamps. I'm tired of dark projection in theaters!

Hasn't IMAX replaced and bettered Todd-AO? No! The IMAX shape is much too square to simulate the arc of vision, and IMAX is much too dark, except from the seats right in the center. The 6 channel stereophonic sound in 1956's Around the World in 80 days, 1959's Porgy and Bess and 1965's Sound of Music (and most other Todd-AO films) is actually superior to that of IMAX, because the average Todd-AO equipped theatre had(has)speakers that grab a lot more air than the usual smaller IMAX speakers. The IMAX subwoofers reach a little farther into the bass, but there is much more sonic impact in Todd-AO in the range where the punch is (about 50 Hz to about 300Hz) providing the impression of more and deeper bass. Most Todd-AO soundtracks are very warm sounding, and the 80 days soundtrack, with its 114 piece orchestra, is one of the best cinema recordings ever (but one must hear it in Todd-A0, not squeaky mono optical). Several large cities have 70mm projection facilities, just waiting for 70mm prints!