Criterion Theatre

Looks like the red neon frame on the marquee was still up at this point for Willard before they got rid of the neon and replaced it with silver aluminum. This means I saw it but had forgotten. It looked great surrounded by the Bond’s neon. And with the Gordon’s Gin spectacular above it was the last of the old great Times Square blocks.

Believe it or not I heard two different people in the late 70s/early 80s when I was walking on the opposite side of the street when they saw the decrepit disrepair the site was in say ‘I never thought I’d see that block look like that.’ I myself would have loved to be going to the Criterion during the roadshow era. Just the marquee announcing some big buget epic or musical must have been exciting.

“Funny Girl” premiered here 50 years ago today. It would go on to play 72 weeks.

If you look at the two links the one in in 2006 the entire roadshow print was restored:

‘FotoKem Restores “South Pacific”
“Bigfoot” Scanner Restores 65mm Classic to Better Than Original Condition with 14 Minutes of Lost Footage’

But at the second link the AFI print was 157 minutes.

The current Bluray and TCM showing completely ignore the restoration as if it never happened. So did it? And if so why is that not acknowledged? What happened to it?

I should also say that as a record collector from way back the current young people who run companies sometimes have no idea what they are doing(not always.) They ruin older recordings with compression or brightening or they do not find the best sources for a reissue.

Not having been around way back when their sense of what things should sound like or how to go about finding the best sources is severely compromised.

I have the 2-disc Blu-Ray of “South Pacific” released in 2010 in the United Kingdom in a Regions A, B, & C format. Disc 1 is the Theatrical Version taken from a 35mm print. Disc 2 is the ‘Road Show’ Version taken from a Todd-AO print.

A notice on Disc 2 states: “What you are about to see is the "Road Show version of Rogers and Hammerstein’s "South Pacific” as it played in movie theaters when it was first released, with an intermission. Later a shorter “General Release” version was created, and that has been the version seen throughout the years.

For this release we have restored the master which was taken from the original negative and the master sound elements, cut for the “General Release”. There are approximately 14 additional minutes in the “Road Show” version, and you will notice a significant difference between that footage and the footage that is shared between the two versions. Over time, the best elements unique to the “Road Show” version have been lost or destroyed, so we have taken those sequences from the best source material available."

The “Road Show” version has Overture music, Entr'acte music and Exit music after the credits (all played on a black blank screen. The running time given is 151 minutes (157 minutes General Release in theatres) There is no running time given for the Road Show release (but it ran 171 minutes in theatres). Sound is 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio or 4.0 Dolby Surround.

‘All 70mm/35mm prints are archived, including audio tracks and separation negatives. Release on home video is at the discretion of the copyright holders.’

Big deal. What difference does it make if the copyright owners have no interest in properly restoring the 70m version and making it available to the public? This bluray and the TCM showing were clearly deceptive. It’s really the anniversary of the general release which would be what year? Nice packaging for a shoddy product. And the reviewer of the bluray.com review should be ashamed of himself for not pointing this out.

I wouldn’t put much credence in a theater chat site unless there was more specific information. Unless somebody asked the theater staff they would not know if it was a blu ray or 2k or 4k whether downloaded from satellite as typical or harddrive. As to colors, it was a digital version & such scans do not always resemble what the film had. As stated, in my experience, the Fathom TCM screenings are NOT blu rays- I’ve asked. But, at one of those screenings, the colors looked ridiculous & when checked online that was the criticism of the digitization of that film.

Vindanpar, are you sure it was a showing of the Blu ray rather than a 2k or 4k version (even if not the roadshow)? In 2012, I saw a beautiful 70mm print of the roadshow at AFI Silver, so there’s a roadshow available to digitize if not already done. When I’ve attended Fathom screenings- which this was, they usually are 2k or so.

Did anyone know there was just a TCM theatrical showing of South Pacific?

It was a showing of the blu ray of the general release not roadshow version. What in the world was the point of that? Does the Todd AO original release no longer exist or can no longer be restored? Shades of Hawaii as concerns the roadshow cut.

Dave Gelinas Flickr link with a July 9, 1955 photo.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/117891934@N07/13965921696/in/photostream/

My Fair Lady anniversary blu ray is stunning. Best I’ve seen it since ‘78 at the Warner. Harris’s best work. My only caveat is with the sound. But nothing is going to replace the 6 track analog soundtrack sound of a great roadshow house. The movie has its detractors as being too stately and it could do with more reaction close ups but wow how I regret commercial filmmaking went so horribly off the rails with the American new wave of the late 60s early 70s. And then with the success of Spielberg and Lucas it became hopeless.

This is a movie.

I saw EVILS OF THE NIGHT here on Halloween night, 1985.