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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Author
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Topic: 35mm Film Shrink-Ruler & Film Shrinkage
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Donald Brown
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 131
From: Lincoln, DE
Registered: Sep 2009
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posted 02-12-2017 09:09 PM
During the time that I have been operating outdoor theatres, one of my fondest recollections dates back to the late '80s and early '90s, when a friend of mine, who was a film collector, would visit. After the venue had closed for the night and all of the patrons had departed, we would run off reels of old drive-in advertising and intermission material.
While much of this stock was worn, warped, and shrunken, the only machine that provided any difficulty handling it was a Simplex Five Star sound head. The drum tension roller did not have a keeper, and the film frequently escaped from the intended path.
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Frank Angel
Film God
Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 02-15-2017 09:31 AM
I ran (what I wsa told) was the one surviving IBT, 4chn mag print of PORGY AND BESS (reduction from the TODD-AO negs) back in 2003 or 4. I believe it came from the UCLA. At that time, two reels were badly vinegar-ed to the point that I had to have a second projectionist in the booth to thread up the next reel so I could continually refocus on the principal actors & action as the film was malformed badly enough that it couldn't be in focus across the whole frame. But for all the warpage, the print never went off the sprocket rollers, which has to say something about how well Fox sprockets deal with print shrinkage and warpage. Even the "good" reels that stayed in focus were badly warped enough that at times you could see the soundtracks & sprocket hole edges sneaking into the image area. But DAMN that Technicolor color was sumptuously rich; and of course the mag soundtrack made for a great presentation. Too bad the Gershwins prevented it from being seen in public venues for so many years. They only allowed it to be shown by special permission.
A year later, we wanted to play it again and found out that they had shipped it to France for an engagement and they claimed the print was deemed vinegar "junk." Hard to hear that about a print that is the only extant IBT mag version. I bet I could have nursed more screenings out of it had they let us book it.
There were always stupid legal issues about that title; it was blocked from being screened to the public for decades because the Gershwin family didn't like it -- the old, "If we don't like it, YOU can't see it" syndrome. The only way they relented for us was because we were an arthouse connected with a performing arts center connected to a university, not to mention, one of our theatres was named The George Gershwin Theatre. They also put an unusually high rental price on it so as to discourage even those "special screenings" from happening. You also had to have a "scholarly discussion" after the screening. They did relent to a public screening a while ago at the Ziegfeld a few years back. I don't think it was 70mm though as those prints are said to no longer exist. My understanding was that our screening was the first time it had been screened in like a decade.
I heard there were some fairly good bootleg DVDs floating around for awhile, the claim being that they were made from an EK print. I wonder if Columbia has a DCP available or it the estate still is as touchy about it now as they were when the Gershwins were still alive. Perhaps the estate is now more interested in how much $$$ it can earn....hopefully they would be happy to book it to anyone who would play it, but, oh wait, they don't have a print! And who knows what juvenile censorship provisions the Gershwins may have been written into the legal flotsam & jettsam in order to extend this shortsighted nonsense into perpetuity.
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Frank Angel
Film God
Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 02-15-2017 09:20 PM
I will bet the Ziegfeld screening was the same UCLA print that we ran. From what the UCLA curator told us, that was the only extant 35mm IBTech mag print.
Much of the withholding problem of this title originally stems from the Gershwins being unhappy with the less than stellar critical reviews it garnered at its few roadshow opening engagements. In addition they were unnerved by the unhappy response it received by prominent Black leaders and I think possibly the NAACP was also pretty vocal about the portrayal of Blacks as prostitutes, gamblers, nare-do-wells, pimps and gamblers, not to mention the undercurrent themes of violence and corruption that run throughout and finally the very uncomfortable and disturbing image of a Black man on his knees -- a symbol of degradation not easily missed.
Many of the Black actors who Goldwyn wanted to cast would not sign on. Harry Belafonte said the part was demeaning and strongly resisted and wouldn't be persuaded even by his agent. He only begrudgingly OKed it because he was afraid he would be shunned by other producers for other parts.
But the nail in the coffin was that Sammy Davis Jr happen to wind up at a party with the Gershwins (Ira and his wife) attended. Davis who was eager to get a part in the film was trying to schmooze Goldwyn, but was such a vulgar potty mouth that Ira's wife demanded that Goldwyn promise up and down that no way was Davis to be hired even as an extra in the film. Goldwyn promised her but eventually hired him anyway. The Gershwins were no fans from then on. The family also didn't like Previn's arrangements which were more orchestral than the jazz styling that was uniquely Gershwin's.
Plus the title has been in legal limbo with the two Gershwin estates fighting over ownership rights. The estates never fully settled the legal differences along with MGM, Samuel Goldwyn, Columbia, even Warners and Turner may have at one time or another had their hooks in the rights. It's still a legal labyrinth, so with all the bickering, that means that there will probably never be any restoration work done on it and now, even if some distributor HAD the rights, there's no print to book!
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