Changing aspect ratio for TCM broadcast of the Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm

[r***@sbcglobal.net]

WWOTBG will be on TCM tomorrow 5/3/12 at 5:30pm EST. I have an old
copy on VHS tape that I recorded many years ago from a TCM broadcast.
Does anyone know why the aspect ratio changes after the opening
titles? It looks like the version that TCM had when I made a copy was
a 35mm print that was transferred from a 70mm Ultra Panavision print.
For the prologue and opening titles it looks like the full 70mm Ultra
Panavision image was transfered to the 35mm print. After that, it was
cropped cutting off information on all four sides.

See an example here of the prologue (post number 273):

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/290862/smileboxed-the-wonderful-world-of-the-brothers-grimm-will-it-ever-make-it-to-bluray/270#post_3921795

It looks like nothing is missing.

But, if you look at scene from latter on in the movie on this page on
my web site compared to Marty's, it's cropped:

http://cineramahistory.com/wwotbgld.htm

I know most people think this movie is terrible but, I'm just
wondering from a technical aspect why they would change what part of
the image was transferred from the 70mm print to the 35mm.

[g***@hotmail.com]

Contrary to many people's belief , TWWOTBG was NEVER in 70mm. Only 3 strip cinerama and 35mm. I have a dvd made from the video and also one made from the laser disc. Both are in the wide screen format -one with the prologue picture missing ( the music is still there however ) and the one that is the complete film. The prologue disappeared from the TV print that I saw and wasn't in wide screen.

It is a most enjoyable film and the special effects for the time were amazing and received much acclaim from the critics. The music is unforgettable and was finally released on cd after nearly 50 years. The soundtrack was never released on LP. .Marita Hunt was superb as were the rest of the cast. Only Lawrence Harvey and Karl Boehm disapointed especially Boehm who was so miscast and bland. It was always my favourite out of the ten films (including documentaries) that I saw in 3 strip cinerama.

[Jim Nason]

"***@HOTMAIL.COM" wrote in message news:5229350.2444.1336025001853.JavaMail.geo-discussion-***@pbcvn7...

Contrary to many people's belief , TWWOTBG was NEVER in 70mm. Only 3 strip
cinerama and 35mm. I have a dvd made from the video and also one made
from the laser disc. Both are in the wide screen format -one with the
prologue picture missing ( the music is still there however ) and the
one that is the complete film. The prologue disappeared from the TV print
that I saw and wasn't in wide screen.

It is a most enjoyable film and the special effects for the time were
amazing and received much acclaim from the critics. The music is
unforgettable and was finally released on cd after nearly 50 years. The
soundtrack was never released on LP. .Marita Hunt was superb as were the
rest of the cast. Only Lawrence Harvey and Karl Boehm disapointed especially
Boehm who was so miscast and bland. It was always my favourite out of
the ten films (including documentaries) that I saw in 3 strip cinerama.

Actually, the soundtrack WAS released on vinyl LP, and I have a copy of it
in my collection. I purchased it just after I saw the three-strip Cinerama
presentation in Boston.

Jim Nason

[Vince Young]

Contrary to many people's belief , TWWOTBG  was NEVER in 70mm. Only  3 strip
cinerama and 35mm.  I  have a dvd made from the video and also  one made
from the laser disc. Both are   in the wide screen format -one  with the
prologue  picture missing ( the music is still there however ) and   the
one  that is the complete film. The prologue disappeared from  the TV print
that I saw and wasn't in wide screen.

TWWOTBG never had a prologue, at least not in the sense of the 35mm
prologues that accompanied 4 out of the 5 Cinerama travelogues as well
as "Windjammer." You mean, perhaps, an "overture"?

[r***@sbcglobal.net]

Post by Vince Young

Contrary to many people's belief , TWWOTBG  was NEVER in 70mm. Only  3 strip
cinerama and 35mm.  I  have a dvd made from the video and also  one made
from the laser disc. Both are   in the wide screen format -one  with the
prologue  picture missing ( the music is still there however ) and   the
one  that is the complete film. The prologue disappeared from  the TV print
that I saw and wasn't in wide screen.

TWWOTBG never had a prologue, at least not in the sense of the 35mm
prologues that accompanied 4 out of the 5 Cinerama travelogues as well
as "Windjammer." You mean, perhaps, an "overture"?

There was a 70mm negative and print made from the three-strips. It was
never shown to the public but used to generate the 35mm print from.

After the overture, there is a prologue. - a narration with cannons
firing, battlefield of soldiers, muskets firing, drums, etc. The
prologue is mentioned on numerious web sites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wonderful_World_of_the_Brothers_Grimm

http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/36446/The-Wonderful-World-of-the-Brothers-Grimm/alternate-versions.html

So, no one answered my question about the changing aspect ratio.

[g***@hotmail.com]

Jim

Are you sure that you don't mean the soundtrack from the film which contained the music AND DIALOGUE of the four fairy tales? I have that LP but I was talking about the soundtrack for the music only from the film. There were several imitations of other orchestras playing the music but not from the actual film.

[Mutley]

Post by g***@hotmail.com
Contrary to many people's belief , TWWOTBG was NEVER in 70mm. Only 3 strip
cinerama and 35mm. I have a dvd made from the video and also one made
from the laser disc. Both are in the wide screen format -one with the
prologue picture missing ( the music is still there however ) and the
one that is the complete film. The prologue disappeared from the TV print
that I saw and wasn't in wide screen.
It is a most enjoyable film and the special effects for the time were
amazing and received much acclaim from the critics. The music is
unforgettable and was finally released on cd after nearly 50 years. The
soundtrack was never released on LP. .Marita Hunt was superb as were the
rest of the cast. Only Lawrence Harvey and Karl Boehm disapointed especially
Boehm who was so miscast and bland. It was always my favourite out of
the ten films (including documentaries) that I saw in 3 strip cinerama.
Actually, the soundtrack WAS released on vinyl LP, and I have a copy of it
in my collection. I purchased it just after I saw the three-strip Cinerama
presentation in Boston.
Jim Nason

The complete score is available here and is quite amazing audio
quality.

http://www.screenarchives.com/title_detail.cfm/ID/13660/THE-WONDERFUL-WORLD-OF-THE-BROTHERS-GRIMM-THE-HONEYMOON-MACHINE/