MovieChat Forums > The Raid (1954) Discussion > Was this really shot in Cinemascope?

Was this really shot in Cinemascope?

posted 15 years ago by debijon
8 replies | jump to latest

Can anybody confirm for me that this picture was actually filmed in 2.35:1 Cinemascope? My 1.33:1 copy on VHS, recorded from TV years ago, certainly contains the Cinemascope heading at the beginning of the credits, but IMDB here lists the aspect ratio as 1.66:1. This makes sense because my full-frame version does indeed seem to show most or all of the action without lopping anything off of the sides, which is always very obvious when watching a widescreen movie in pan-and-scan format on TV. Could 20th Century-Fox have tacked that Cinemascope heading onto the beginning of the TV prints by mistake? It occurs before the credits actually begin, not part of the credits themselves, so it could have easily been spliced on there seamlessly. Let's talk about it.

[–] lukethedealer 15 years ago

It was not shot in CinemaScope and the 'Scope logo after Fox logo seems to have been inexplicably cut onto the beginning of the film for the version Fox channel shows. I have no idea why. I do know this was one of the last non-anamorphic films Fox released, along with GAMBLER FROM NATCHEZ (on a double bill originally). These were Panoramic Pictures (Leonard Goldstein's company which made their films in a deal with Fox for release by Fox) and not strictly speaking Fox productions, though they used Fox people and resources. Maybe that explains it.

I saw the movie on first release in 1954 and it was standard ratio (or probably 1.66 as IMDB says). No confusing 'Scope logo then. You have seen the film pretty accurately in full frame.

I'm sending this reply because I love THE RAID. A great, film, still underrated.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] FlaxyMartin 13 years ago

Lukethedealer is right. I just watched this movie from a DVR recording from two days ago off of FMC. It shows the Fox searchlights, then the Cinemascope screen in pan and scan and then the Panoramic Productions logo. They definitely tacked on that Fox logo. They did the same with the Debra Paget film Princess of the Nile, also from Panoramic and played during this week on FMC.

[–] Lonixcap 13 years ago

I'm watching The Raid right now, DVR'd off the Fox Movie Channel. It was not shot in 'scope, probably 1:66 or 1:85 non-anamorphic. Panoramic Productions was a second-feature unit at Fox in the early-mid 50's. They had other titles like White Feather (remake of Broken Arrow) and Gorilla at Large, which was shot in 3D.

This movie probably played on the bottom half of a double bill with an "A" Fox release like Garden of Evil or King of the Khyber Rifles.

It's a pretty decent movie, although it's hard to believe these guys are rebel soldiers, they sound a little too Hollywood, no discernable southern accents or mannerisms.
Other than that, it's a good, unpretentious western.

Why FMC tacked on the CinemaScope logo is beyond me.

[–] DavidW1947 13 years ago

I have a couple of 35mm Technicolor frames from The Raid that date from 1954 and the frame aspect ratio is 1.37:1 However, the actual image on the frame was probably composed by the cameraman so that it could be cropped in projection probably to 1.66:1 without losing anything important from the top and bottom of the frame. It definitely wasn't shot in CinemaScope.

[–] hobnob53 12 years ago

I think poster DavidW1947 is correct: this film was shot in Academy standard 1.37:1, but probably composed so it could be cropped for 1.66:1. Either way, it definitely wasn't shot in CinemaScope, which in 1954 used an aspect ratio of 2.55:1 (modified in 1955 to 2.35:1, with the switch from optical to magnetic sound).

Per some posters' comments, I've seen two different prints of this film on TV that use different opening studio logos. FMC has recently been running the one with the erroneous, tacked-on CinemaScope beginning. But I've also seen a print with no Fox logo at all, just the Panoramic Pictures logo, which is I believe how the film was originally shown.

I think someone at Fox simply screwed up out of ignorance and stuck that 'Scope logo on for later TV prints. The fact that it's a "squeezed" logo (the way we used to see it in actual CinemaScope films' credits on TV in the 60s and 70s, pre-widescreen broadcasts) is another clue that it doesn't belong there.

But the most telling way to prove that The Raid wasn't shot in 'Scope is that there is no credit reading "CinemaScope lenses by Bausch & Lomb" or "CinemaScope is the registered trademark of Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation" in the film's opening credits. If the movie had been shot in widescreen, those two credits would certainly have been there, as they were in all of Fox's CinemaScope films.

Incidentally, The Raid is among the first titles due out this month (June 2012) from the brand-new Fox Cinema Archives series of MOD releses (like Warner Archives), announced on June 1. No specific date or information is as yet available, but I'll post a new thread when there's hard news, so keep looking. About time Fox started making its library available this way.

[–] sarge-19 7 years ago

The only Panoramic Pictures/20th Century Fox picture in CinemaScope that I can think of is "White Feather" which came out the next year.

[–] hobnob53 7 years ago

I believe you're correct.