haineshisway
Senior HTF Member
Just a few peeks at the new Twilight Time batch.
I began with Peyton Place. They don't make 'em like that anymore and it's too bad. First off, for me John Michael Hayes is one of the great screenwriters ever. Mark Robson was a wonderful director. And what a cast. And what a score by Franz Waxman. And what photography by William C. Mellor. It's a brand new transfer and it looks absolutely fantastic with stunning and perfect color (I'm just waiting from the blue brigade to start - I'm ready, baby) . The sound is excellent but I'm fairly certain given what I know about the sound elements that it's not true stereo, but some kind of faux stereo spread - it does sound full and lovely, though. I loved the movie back when it came out, even though I was probably too young for it, and I love it now. High-gloss, soapy moviemaking at its finest, plus a gorgeous new Fox transfer equals a happy me.
Our Man in Havana - I saw it back in the day and didn't understand a word of what was going on. So, I stayed away from the film for years and years. But I got the UK DVD when it came out, and seeing it after all those years was interesting. It doesn't quite come off, but boy is it entertaining and boy does it have the most amazing cast - Alec Guiness, Noel Coward, Ralph Richardson, Ernie Kovaks, Burl Ives, Maureen O'Hara, and a screenplay by Grahame Greene (who wrote the novel), and direction by the great Carol Reed (no stranger to Grahame Greene he). On top of that the usual and by now expected great transfer from Sony. Nothing like black-and-white scope.
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying - first thing that must be said: MGM/UA. I think by now everyone pretty much knows they simply do not care about their assets other than licensing them out with whatever they happen to have on hand. Yes, they have a LOT of HD transfers, most of them done for the MGM-HD channel almost ten years back. But first, the film. I saw it about six months before its release - Coffee Break, if memory serves was in at that point. I loved the movie (hadn't seen the show, although I ended up playing Finch in two different productions just a year later). The cast was first-rate and of course you could never do better than Robert Morse and Rudy Vallee. Thankfully they recreated Mr. Fosse's choreography, which was wonderful (keep your eye out for two West Side Story movie veterans - Anthony "Scooter" Teague who plays Frump, and Tucker Smith (Ice from WSS), who here is just an ensemble dancer. Also future director Hy Averback plays an executive - I'd work with him a decade later in a pilot). Michelle Lee is terrific, as is Maureen Arthur and David Swift keeps it all moving along swiftly. I saw it again at another preview about two weeks before it opened and Coffee Break was, of course, gone. The transfer is typical MGM/UA - not quite perfect color, although it's pretty good in that regard, and certainly a better transfer could be had if anyone there actually cared - but if you've seen it on MGM-HD it's the same transfer and is certainly okay - we're all just spoiled by the studios who don't settle for just okay.
And finally, Baby Boom. These kinds of "of the moment" 80s comedies are really tiresome to me - they were tiresome then and they're even more tiresome now. That may just be me, but I especially find this husband and wife writer/director's work not to my liking. But these films were all the rage back then. That said, Diane Keaton and the rest of the cast are such wonderful actors that I kind of enjoyed myself this time around. The transfer is, once again, MGM-UA - it's fine - looks exactly like a release print would have and has that 80s diffusion so no problem for me, transfer-wise, other than it could be better.
This is a strong batch, actually, in terms of enjoyment - but Peyton Place and Our Man in Havana are no-brainers, and if you love musicals you'll be really happy with How to Succeed, and if you love 80s romantic comedies, you'll also enjoy Baby Boom.
And there you have it.
I began with Peyton Place. They don't make 'em like that anymore and it's too bad. First off, for me John Michael Hayes is one of the great screenwriters ever. Mark Robson was a wonderful director. And what a cast. And what a score by Franz Waxman. And what photography by William C. Mellor. It's a brand new transfer and it looks absolutely fantastic with stunning and perfect color (I'm just waiting from the blue brigade to start - I'm ready, baby) . The sound is excellent but I'm fairly certain given what I know about the sound elements that it's not true stereo, but some kind of faux stereo spread - it does sound full and lovely, though. I loved the movie back when it came out, even though I was probably too young for it, and I love it now. High-gloss, soapy moviemaking at its finest, plus a gorgeous new Fox transfer equals a happy me.
Our Man in Havana - I saw it back in the day and didn't understand a word of what was going on. So, I stayed away from the film for years and years. But I got the UK DVD when it came out, and seeing it after all those years was interesting. It doesn't quite come off, but boy is it entertaining and boy does it have the most amazing cast - Alec Guiness, Noel Coward, Ralph Richardson, Ernie Kovaks, Burl Ives, Maureen O'Hara, and a screenplay by Grahame Greene (who wrote the novel), and direction by the great Carol Reed (no stranger to Grahame Greene he). On top of that the usual and by now expected great transfer from Sony. Nothing like black-and-white scope.
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying - first thing that must be said: MGM/UA. I think by now everyone pretty much knows they simply do not care about their assets other than licensing them out with whatever they happen to have on hand. Yes, they have a LOT of HD transfers, most of them done for the MGM-HD channel almost ten years back. But first, the film. I saw it about six months before its release - Coffee Break, if memory serves was in at that point. I loved the movie (hadn't seen the show, although I ended up playing Finch in two different productions just a year later). The cast was first-rate and of course you could never do better than Robert Morse and Rudy Vallee. Thankfully they recreated Mr. Fosse's choreography, which was wonderful (keep your eye out for two West Side Story movie veterans - Anthony "Scooter" Teague who plays Frump, and Tucker Smith (Ice from WSS), who here is just an ensemble dancer. Also future director Hy Averback plays an executive - I'd work with him a decade later in a pilot). Michelle Lee is terrific, as is Maureen Arthur and David Swift keeps it all moving along swiftly. I saw it again at another preview about two weeks before it opened and Coffee Break was, of course, gone. The transfer is typical MGM/UA - not quite perfect color, although it's pretty good in that regard, and certainly a better transfer could be had if anyone there actually cared - but if you've seen it on MGM-HD it's the same transfer and is certainly okay - we're all just spoiled by the studios who don't settle for just okay.
And finally, Baby Boom. These kinds of "of the moment" 80s comedies are really tiresome to me - they were tiresome then and they're even more tiresome now. That may just be me, but I especially find this husband and wife writer/director's work not to my liking. But these films were all the rage back then. That said, Diane Keaton and the rest of the cast are such wonderful actors that I kind of enjoyed myself this time around. The transfer is, once again, MGM-UA - it's fine - looks exactly like a release print would have and has that 80s diffusion so no problem for me, transfer-wise, other than it could be better.
This is a strong batch, actually, in terms of enjoyment - but Peyton Place and Our Man in Havana are no-brainers, and if you love musicals you'll be really happy with How to Succeed, and if you love 80s romantic comedies, you'll also enjoy Baby Boom.
And there you have it.