In watching some of the Roy Rogers movies today, and the Loretta Young previously, I can't help comparing the 1935-1940 movies of RKO, and Republic against MGM and Warner Bros. By comparison I mean, not only the calibre of talent, but also the difference in camera work, lighting, dialog, etc. For instance in the last hour we had Robin Hood of the Pecos, made at Republic Studio in 1940. If you watch that, then follow up with 1940's All this and Heaven Too, with Bette Davis, you can't help but be bombarded by the glaring failures of one against the other. Not that I did, but I happened to see Heaven too, last week. The clarity, even on a channel that didn't show a renovated version is startling. It makes me understand why some people simply refuse to watch classic movies. They don't realize how many have been updated to letterbox and/or just newly configured.
I've noticed some of the 1935 Gene Autry movies are beautifully reformatted, and if not for the dialog, you would think they were from 1960 at least.
In another thread someone noted that seeing Loretta Young's pre-code movies caused a re-thinking process.
Those of you trying to get friends and relatives interested in classic movies, might want to keep this in mind when choosing what movies to use as introductions.
Anne
Gems and Surprises
Gems and Surprises
Anne
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pktrekgirl
- Administrator
- Posts: 638
- Joined: April 14th, 2007, 1:08 pm
- Location: Atlanta, GA, USA
You know...I have wondered about this as well.
I have stumbled across silents that are better preserved than a few films I've seen from the late 40's and even the 50's!
It's incredible sometimes, the difference. When I was new at this, I used to assume that the older a film was, the worse shape it would be in. But that isn't necessarily the case.
I have stumbled across silents that are better preserved than a few films I've seen from the late 40's and even the 50's!
It's incredible sometimes, the difference. When I was new at this, I used to assume that the older a film was, the worse shape it would be in. But that isn't necessarily the case.
My wife said she'd help young people, ... That's what I'd do. Help young people, then buy a big motor home and get out of town.
~ Gary Cooper
~ Gary Cooper
Even as a kid, I recall not choosing to watch anything previous to 1940 because they were invariably bad prints. Now I know, it wasn't necessarily the print, it was the studio. I guess the smaller studios like RKO and Republic basically used hand me downs so to say, and therefore the films were not on a par with bigger studios offerings. I know for a fact that the recent showing of His Kind of Woman was a much better print than the one I saw 40 years ago on a Friday night showing. The technology of today has improved older films so much, they are often like new.
Anne
Anne
Anne
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