John McElwee at Greenbriar Picture Shows has posted a terrific piece — two parts with more on the way — on Paramount’s VistaVision process and its debut feature, White Christmas (1954, one of Laura‘s favorites).
Of all the various wide and otherwise-shaped screen formats, VistaVision is my favorite. John does a marvelous job of not only explaining the process, but how it was unveiled back in ’54. (The ad above was swiped from one of those posts.)
Like CinemaScope’s wide image, the deep focus and increased clarity of VistaVision are ideal for Westerns. Just look at the Monument Valley vistas in The Searchers (1956) and you’ll see what I mean. So with the process in mind this morning, here’s a more or less complete list of the Westerns released in “motion picture high fidelity.”
Run For Cover (1955)
The Searchers (1956)
Three Violent People (1956)
Gunfight At The O.K. Corral (1957)
The Lonely Man (1957)
The Tin Star (1957)
Last Train From Gun Hill (1959)
One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
We’re pretty fortunate that most of these VistaVision Westerns are available on DVD. One-Eyed Jacks is a real mess, infecting stores with rancid PD releases. (Here‘s a bit on that.) The Lonely Man is incredible with its black and white cinematography by the severely underrated Lionel Lindon. The Searchers has even received the Blu-ray treatment, and it’s marvelous. Sadly, Run For Cover is nowhere to be seen.
From its resolution to its aspect ratio, today’s TVs and Blu-ray discs are what the process has been begging for since the last frame of film ran (sideways) through the VistaVision camera. Now if we could just get more true double-frame screenings.
Love Vistavision. The Searchers Blu-ray is a great demonstration disc for the virtues of the process; seems that based on the little I’ve seen and most of what I’ve read, Warners is consistently above average with their BR packages, and they’re very cheap, generally, at least on Amazon.
Pulled out Criterion’s Stagecoach the other day and re-watched Tag Gallagher’s short video essay on Ford’s visual style and liked it every bit as much as the first time. It’s a real treat–if I was teaching a class, I’d make it a required part of the study.
And happy Christmas, y’all.