reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (05/06/85)
I just heard from a highly reliable source (the curator of the LA County
Museum of Art's film department) that whoever it is who now owns RKO Studio
has decided that RKO is not going to release any more 35mm prints, just 16mm
ones. Those not up on studios or print formats may want a little more
information to find out why this is undesirable. First, 35mm prints look
a lot better than 16mm prints. The larger size of the 35mm frames leads
to a sharper picture. Most professional films were originally shot in 35mm.
Therefore, seeing a 16mm print means it's just not going to look as good as
it would in 35mm.
OK, having established what the problem is, what is it going to effect?
Since RKO went out of the production business in the mid 1950s, many people
don't remember what they made. (RKO recently did a couple of coproductions
with other studios, but I haven't heard anything about them reentering the
business in a big way.) So, what films are we destined to see in inferior
formats? "Citizen Kane", "The Magnificent Ambersons", "King Kong", "Gunga
Din", "Bringing Up Baby", "The Informer", the Charles Laughton "Hunchback of
Notre Dame", "The Pride of the Yankees", "Cat People", "None But the Lonely
Heart", Hitchcock's "Suspicion" and "Notorious", "The Best Years of Our Lives",
"It's A Wonderful Life", "Out of the Past", "I Remember Mama", "Fort Apache",
"She Wore a Yellow Ribbon", "The Thing", and all of Astaire's and Rogers'
musicals together.
The reason, not clearly explained to me, has something to do with not cutting
into video sales. Perhaps they fear that people might prefer to see good
prints on a big screen in a revival house rather than the limited quality
one gets from a TV set. (As far as I'm concerned, they're right.) Whatever
the reason, it sucks. I hope that other studios do not follow their lead.
Do your bit by not buying videocassettes of RKO's movies.
--
Peter Reiher
reiher@ucla-cs.arpa
{...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiher