greg@olivej.UUCP (Greg Paley) (01/30/85)
More impressions of HiFi videocassettes I've rented over the last couple of weeks. I've viewed all of these in Beta format, although most if not all are also available in VHS HiFi format and I would expect differences in quality to be negligible. (1) A Star Is Born - This is the "restored" version of the 1954 Judy Garland/James Mason film. Although better than standard TV-quality sound, there is a great deal of blasting and distortion on the soundtrack, in addition to which it seems to have been electronically processed to fake a "stereo" effect. Video quality was generally very good. For the "restored" version, the vaults of Warner Bros. were scouted for every snippet that might have been removed from the original. All that were found were added in. For certain scenes, soundtrack tape was found but only stills were found for the corresponding video portion. Therefore, certain scenes show only the stills while the dialogue is heard. Odd as it is, it does allow for a certain bridging of continuity that would otherwise be lost. In the lengthened version I appreciated James Mason's performance even more than I had. I found myself bothered, however, by Garland herself. This version adds several musical numbers, and the undisciplined outpouring of energy she exhibits in all of the songs gets tiring after a while. She was in very good voice at the time, but the gestures seem repetitive and hammy, the grimaces verging on the grotesque. There are still wonderfully touching moments, but what had been an effective intensity in the edited versions, becomes a monotonous manic quality with the extra footage - always on the verge of screaming hysteria. I know there are those who disagree with this, who found the restored version "dazzlingly effective" (our local newspaper reviewing the theatrical presentation a year or so ago). (2) Vertigo - Although by no means an "audiophile" recording, the use of the HiFi track gives the Bernard Herrmann score the chance it needs to make this film engrossing. The video quality was fairly good, although I found it hard to say when the reproduction was cloudy and when it was a deliberate effect. I find this a fascinating and frustrating film in which the viewer is teased to a degree that cannot, and is not, ever brought to a satisfactory resolution. Incidentally, although the move soundtrack recording was reissued about 8 years ago in genuine stereo, the sound on the HiFi soundtrack was mono. I generally found Jimmy Stewart's performance far more credible than Kim Novack's, but she certainly was ethereally beautiful. One funny thing - I would swear in several sections where Stewart and Novack are driving to San Juan Baptista that the background projection has him driving on the wrong side of the street. Was Hitchcock homesick for the British Isles? (3) The Sound of Music - I know the critics flayed this one, but I've always enjoyed it. With the HiFi sound it's a different, and better, movie altogether, although the voices in musical numbers are too closely miked for my taste. The video quality was excellent, and the gorgeous countryside surrounding Salzburg is captured magnificently. Easy as it is to make fun of Julie Andrews' excessive wholesomeness, she sang the numbers with a fresh, clear, bright sound over a wide range (extended over the original broadway score to exploit her top register) that would have been hard for anyone else to beat. Even those repelled by the "kitsch" and sentiment will enjoy Eleanor Parker's excellent performance as the ultimately- rejected Baroness. There are two points, however, that have always puzzled me: (a): How was von Trapp a navy captain in a land-locked country? (b): How could the family escape the Nazi's at the end by crossing the mountains? Once they crossed the border there they'd be in Germany. (4) Yentl - This one-woman ego-trip wasn't helped by harsh, overmiked recording which, if anything, emphasized the nasality of Streisand's singing. I don't deny that Barbra is a very multi-talented lady, but I can't be enthusiastic about what is intended to be a grand, panoramic project which reduces everyone but the star to being a bit part. One thing that I've found is that in several of the local rental dealers who carry a good supply of HiFi videocassettes, the staff themselves seem unaware of the distinction. This can be a bit of a problem in two cases: (1) Where there are multiple copies of a given film and not all are HiFi. Many stores file their copies only by title, and I've had to have the people check that the copy of "Star Wars" or "Sound of Music" was the one out of six that was in HiFi format. (2) Some stores appear to copy their "master" tapes and rent the copies, although almost all deny doing this. What appears to have happened in some cases is that the copy was made using a "non-HiFi" VCR in which case, of course, the HiFi track is lost. - Greg Paley
jlg@lanl.ARPA (02/02/85)
> [...] There are two points, however, that > have always puzzled me: > (a): How was von Trapp a navy captain in a > land-locked country? > (b): How could the family escape the Nazi's > at the end by crossing the mountains? > Once they crossed the border there > they'd be in Germany. This doesn't really belong here but here goes. (a) Von Trapp was an Austrian noble not a navy captain. His commission in the navy was a 'gift' of the NAZI government after the take-over of Austria. (Actually, I think Von Trapp did have some naval training with the Germans during WWI. Anyway, the navy he was in was the German navy.) (b) The Von Trapp estate was near the border with Switzerland, Their walk over the mountains brought them into eastern Switzerland. I think the movie (and the original Broadway book for that matter) simplified the details of the escape enormously. There is (or was) a book out which describes the history of the Von Trapp family in more detail (I've never read it, but a girl I once dated had - which is where I got this scant ammount of information). J. Giles