So long at the fair (1949) Bogarde, Simmons

[theuofc]

Really?! I had no knowledge that THE SINGER NOT THE SONG was to be released. Thanks for the (potentially) great news. Who's releasing it?

Hi Asiamiles:

Strawberry Media/Spirit Entertainment is releasing The Singer Not the Song on 14th March. Movie Mail will have a three month exclusive on sales.

Here are the DVD packshot and details along with the other eight Bogarde DVDs being released this year, which is Bogarde's 90th birthday.

http://www.britmovie.co.uk/forums/ac...ogarde-22.html

Best,

Barbara

[asiamiles]

Oh, it's a cropped 4:3 presentation. Pass. Hard to imagine anyone shelling out good money for such an abomination.

[theuofc]

Oh, it's a cropped 4:3 presentation. Pass. Hard to imagine anyone shelling out good money for such an abomination.

It's a shame that the company didn't go to the expense of restoring the print to its original Cinemascope, 2.35 : 1 aspect ratio for this new release. But it takes money. I wish they had.

Yet, to my knowledge, none of the prior commercial (not theatrical) releases were in the original 2.35:1, including the German and Australian releases. They are in the 4:3 aspect ratio. Certainly, a viewer doesn't have to "shell out good money" for the 4:3 version, but if a fan wants to see the movie, it's either that or not at all. The film is rarely screened in theatres, and I can't think of one in recent years in the States, except possibly at a film festival.

One of these days, companies will see the light and take the leap of faith that there are discriminating viewers who will pay more money to defray the costs of restoring a film to its proper ratio. Or at least I hope that fans will pay more money as an incentive. Maybe not.

Best,

Barbara

[darrenburnfan]

Many people don't realise that 50% of the image area is cropped off in a pan and scan transfer of a 'Scope film and therefore only half the picture can be seen at any one time. Now, that's a hell of a lot of the picture cropped off. So, as we're only getting half the film, maybe they should consider dropping the price of the DVD by half.

[Bruno]

The IMDb states the aspect ratio of this film is 1.37 : 1. Is that not correct?

[darrenburnfan]

Yes, Bruno, correct for So Long At The Fair, but I was alluding to The Singer Not The Song, a few posts above, which was in 2.35:1 CinemaScope.

[theuofc]

Many people don't realise that 50% of the image area is cropped off in a pan and scan transfer of a 'Scope film and therefore only half the picture can be seen at any one time. Now, that's a hell of a lot of the picture cropped off. So, as we're only getting half the film, maybe they should consider dropping the price of the DVD by half.

Hi, DBF,

Well, you and I, and purists who care about the way a film was really shot, realise and despair that both ends of the frame are lopped off. And to the credit of TCM-US, a short by Martin Scorsese is often aired showing viewers the difference between a 4x3 of Gigi vs. the original because Scorsese is against such dastardly lopping and wants to educate viewers. In one frame we have Gigi dancing with the bottle of champagne behind Jourdan; yet the 4 x 3 crops her out and we miss that joyous moment.

Back to The Singer Not the Song: it'd be loverly if MovieMail, which has the three-month exclusive in selling this Bogarde film, did cut their price a second time from the original £12.99 to advance purchase £9.99 for the 14 March release...to £4.99, but I don't think that will happen.

We probably have to take a different tack in persuading producers to 'shell out good money' to restore a circulating print to its original format. But when it comes to money and producers' actual knowledge of the film, I don't have much hope. They always have it in reverse, i.e. "Let's see how this version sells, and if there is a market, we'll restore it and issue a Collector's Edition." To Strawberry Media's credit, as soon as I asked, begged for a version in the original format, they didn't say No.

Criterion's restored releases run about £15.99, maybe more. Would fans pay that for TSNTS in its original format? I would! I would! but will enough fans pay that to give a producer some profit over the high costs involved?

All best,

Barbara

[Bruno]

Sorry for the misunderstanding, DBF.

[MrT]

Just had an email from Play to say that this has been posted, so looks as though they are a bit ahead on the official release date!

[Dr Amicus]

David Pirie, in A Heritage of Horror (1st edition - I don't have a copy of the new one), has some interesting things to say about this. As part of his auteurist view of Fisher (largely valid I think, at least with respect to his Hammer films) he sees it as a proto-horror film arguing that it would only take minor changes to make this

  Spoiler:

a vampire film.

Although one of the reasons I think he spends so long on this film is that a lot of Fisher's other early work wasn't available to him when he wrote the book in the early 70s.