Newsgroups: rec.video.releases

re: A more appropriate title would be:
 
                  "A Technicolor Trailer Disc"

The July 1992 issue of LaserDisc Newsletter had a full-page ad for "The
Archival Film Disc" (AFD) from "Motorcade Entertainment".  At $100 (plus $5
shipping), a post office box address, no phone number, and a checks-only
policy, many of you were not willing to take a chance on this product.
Well, the product is real, although the ad was a little misleading.  I
ordered one on 09 Jul.  It arrived on 08 Aug.  Here's a review.

Evidently intended as the video companion to Richard W. Haines book
Technicolor Movies (McFarland pub - no other info available), this limited
edition (1000) disc includes spherical Technicolor IB (aka imbibition or
dye-transfer) trailers for over 30 films from 1934 to the 70's.  It also
includes the complete "La Cucaracha" (1934, 21 minutes), the first 3-strip
live-action Technicolor film.

The trailers are a mix of full screen, and "letterboxed" semi-widescreen
reductions from the original formats of the feature films.  The trailer for
"Khartoum" is presented in split-screen, with a faded Eastmancolor version
at the top and an IB print at the bottom.

Film archivist/director Haines speaks briefly at the beginning of most of
the chapters.  On analog channel 1/R, he focuses on film technology.  On
2/R, he discusses the film at hand.

Despite what the ad might have implied, although many of the films were hard
widescreen format (CinemaScope, Todd-AO, Panavision, Technirama,
TechniScope, etc.), all of the trailers are spherical extraction/reductions
(so that theatres could run them without having to switch to anamorphic
lenses).  Anamorphic trailers exist, but are rare, and none were used for
this disc.  The material on "The Robe" (1st CinemaScope release) and the
VistaVision promo are both full 1.33:1.  Some of the trailers for the
widescreen features are matted or letterboxed, but the max ratio is about
2.0:1.  And as is common for trailers, they don't have the quality of the
feature prints.

AFD is a normal 12-inch two-sided, chaptered CLV M/NTSC disc (no TOC) made
by Pioneer Communications of America (the "industrial" arm of Pioneer).  The
pressing quality is above average for Pioneer and I have no complaints
there.  The running time is 117 minutes.  The mint marks are 05-684A1-02 and
05-684B1-02.

"05-684" is as close to a "catalog number" as this disc has.  It is supplied
in a lined paper sleeve in a plain white PCA jacket bearing the LaserDisc
logo.  Each copy (of the presumed 1000 made) has a hand-written serial
number on the jacket and media labels.  Mine is only #039, which implies
that copies may yet be available for sale.  The jacketed disc was shipped
UPS in a PVC sleeve inside a typical LP-style box about 1-inch thick.

The materials supplied include a 2-sided 8x10" card with a chapter index
(1-30) on one side, and printed comments by Haines.  There is a smaller card
describing the audio (original source on digital, commentaries on 1L/2R).

The most unusual materials supplied were in a small paper envelope with
descriptions printed on the front.  There were 4 strips of 35mm print film:
 - two strips (3 frames each) of Technicolor IB from the 1966 re-issue
   trailer of "The Ten Commandments" (4-perf hard matte spherical widescreen.
   "Ten C." was shot in 8-perf VistaVision);
 - 4 faded frames of Eastmancolor from the 1966 trailer for "Khartoum" (also
   hard matte spherical widescreen), and;
 - 5 fading Eastman frames from an unidentified 1971 anamorphic feature.
I suggest you transfer all of these to 35mm storage sleeves, available at
any photo shop, to deter handling damage and because the envelope may not
have been made from stable acid-free paper.

Chapter Index:

Side-                               Side-
Chap#  Description                  Chap#  Description
1-0    Overscan chart               2-16   "Around the World in 80 Days"
1-1    "La Cucaracha" (complete)    2-17   "The Alamo"
1-2    "Master of the World"        2-18   "John Paul Jones"
1-3    "Jack the Giant Killer"      2-19   "Spartacus"
1-4    "Torn Curtain" (French dub)  2-20   "El Cid"
1-5    "Petulia"                    2-21   "PT 109"
1-6    "The Valley of the Gwangi"   2-22   "A Distant Trumpet"
1-7    "The Wild Bunch"             2-23   "The Great Race"
1-8    "Frenzy"                     2-24   "You Only Live Twice"
1-9    VistaVision (several titles) 2-25   "The Wild Bunch"
1-10   "To Catch a Thief"           2-26   "The Adventurers"
       "Vertigo"
1-11   "The Man Who Knew Too Much"  2-27   "Khartoum"
       "The Trouble With Harry"
2-12   CinemaScope ("The Robe")     2-28   "Exodus"
2-13   "Bridge on the River Kwai"   2-29   "Lawrence of Arabia"
2-14   "My Man Godfrey"             2-30   "Once Upon a Time in the West"
2-15   "Goliath and the Barbarians"

Regards,                                              Hewlett-Packard
Bob Niland      Internet: rjn@FC.HP.COM               3404 East Harmony Road
                CompuServe:  71044,2124               Ft Collins CO 80525-9599

This article represents only the opinion[s] of its author, and is not an
official or unofficial position of, or statement by, the Hewlett-Packard
Company.  The text is provided for informational purposes only.  It is
supplied without warranty of any kind.
Newsgroups: rec.video.releases