Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Into the Arms of Strangers

This is topic Into the Arms of Strangers in forum Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 12-18-2000, 08:38 PM:

I'm hoping that a US reader may have run a print of this by now and can answer my query.

I've just received a trailer for this film, which is Academy. The titles are designed to fit a 1:1.85 mask, but the picture isn't - it's almost entirely full-height and 1:1.33 actuality footage from the late '30s, with one interview sequence shot a lot later, that looks like a video-to-film transfer.

I find this a bit surprising, as 1:1.33 films reissued by mainstream distributors tend to be optically shrunk into a 1:1.85 matte (e.g. Blair Witch Project and the Mickey Mouse sequence in Fantasia 2000), to get round the problem of many cinemas not having the correct lens and plate for 1:1.33.

Has anyone shown a print of this feature, and if so is it genuine Academy? I have a genuine reason for asking, as one of our 3 screens makes Academy look a lot better than the other two, so if this is the case I'll agitate for the feature to be programmed in there.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 02-15-2001, 07:22 PM:

We've just shown the feature, and it IS 1-33 printed down into a 1-85 matte.

The film is 6 reels/106 mins/9,548 feet. Soundtrack is SR + SR-D.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 02-15-2001, 07:57 PM:

They probably stayed with the 1.37:1 Academy ratio because of all the documentary footage from WWII. Sounds like a really good film.
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0248912

Too bad distributors can't count on theatres having the correct lenses, aperture plates and masking to properly show true 1.37:1 Academy ratio (0.825 x 0.602 inches). It's a shame to have all the prints printed with the compromised image area forced by the more commonly available 1.85:1 ratio.
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John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
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Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
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Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 02-23-2001, 07:48 PM:

They found some interesting footage - in particular some colour shots (16mm Kodachrome home movies I'd guess) of domestic life in the London suburbs in the late 1930s. The colour is amazing (hence my guess that these shots are post-1935 Kodachrome), but the 'spider-web' emulsion cracking looks like a shrunken diacetate base having damaged the emulsion.

It's such a pity that 'high-acetyl' CTA safety film wasn't used for 16mm until the war...