I’m really looking forward to VCI’s widescreen Tennessee’s Partner (1955), slated for the 19th. Their current edition of the film, which looks just fine, is full frame. The above image shows you about what to expect aspect-wise. Superscope pulled a 2:1 anamorphic image from a full-frame negative.
The film itself, supposedly Allan Dwan’s personal favorite of the 10 pictures he made with producer Benedict Bogeaus, is a lot of fun. Dwan’s breezy direction and John Alton’s luscious cinematography make this a real piece of eye candy — the way the camera glides through Rhonda Fleming’s gambling hall is worth the price of admission. It’s one of those instances where a sound stage is better than real life.
During the researching and writing of this book (and all the posts on this blog), these Dwan pictures have become some of my favorite 50s Westerns, especially Silver Lode (1954). I can’t recommend them highly enough.
Expect (still) more on Tennessee’s Partner once I get a load of the new DVD.
What a great shot of Payne at the gambling table! Very eye-catching indeed.
Looking forward to hearing more!
Best wishes,
Laura
Here is a still from Carlotta Edition from France.
http://img813.imageshack.us/img813/6971/tp035.jpg
Just can’t understand why to cut off a part of the screen, it seems to me better the full frame than this. I believed that in the 4/3 a part was cut off from the original frame, instead, if I have well understood, in the superscope 2:1 a part of the original full frame image is off.
Superscope films were shot full frame, leaving dead space at the top and the bottom of the frame. A 2:1 image was taken from the middle of that 4:3 frame.
This explains why Superscope pictures are a bit grainy, and why they play so well on TV (they could just revert back to full frame for TV prints).
Here’s an older post on Superscope:
http://tinyurl.com/3cszllb
Many thanks, Toby, for your clear explanation, I have red the older post too and understood more about Vera Cruz and the movie a bit grainy look.