No Letterbox?! - Picnic Discussion

[–] crankymisfit 18 years ago

I have to keep griping, the picture quality is awful, does anyone know if any other region DVD's have better picture quality and are in Letterbox?

reply

[–] Robad 18 years ago

I bought my Picnic dvd from Amazon. Side A is widescreen and Side B is full screen. Hope this helps.

reply

[–] crankymisfit 18 years ago

Thanks, the copy I have only has one side. I'll order it through Amazon this time.

reply

[–] crankymisfit 18 years ago

So...I ordered it through Amazon and got the same copy I already have. I'll have to send it back with a note for the widescreen version. This is driving me nuts.

reply

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Robad 18 years ago

This is the link to the one I have:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0767827791/qid=1142521644/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-4162239-5896131?s=dvd&v=glance&n=130

On the back of the case near the bottom it says Side A is Widescreen and Side B is Full Screen. It also says it around the hole on each side of the disc.

reply

[–] crankymisfit 18 years ago

That's the one I ordered, it even says so on the Amazon header - "You ordered this on..."

I got the DVD but it was fullscreen only so I've sent it back and ordered it through no less than 3 or 4 brick and mortar stores just to make sure I get the right version.

Weirdly enough I was searching around for the widescreen version and found that it was out of print. This surely can't be true.

reply

[–] pepe58season 18 years ago

...I looked on the back to make sure it had the widescreen/letterbox version, it said so, AND I opened it up before I left just to make sure. I hope you can find the widescreen edition, that's the only way to see the movie--the last time I saw it, more than a decade ago, it was pan-and-scan--watching it in widescreen was a breathtaking revelation!

reply

[–] ThePirateBride 18 years ago

There are also many of them on ebay, for anyone else who wants to see this film in it's full glory.

Now bring me that horizon.

reply

[–] crankymisfit 18 years ago

I was recently e-mailed by Amazon and it appears they don't even have the widescreen version in stock, so if you order from them you're going to get it fullscreen.

All the brick & mortar stores I have ordered through have been getting is the fullscreen verion too. I wonder why? I guess I'm going to have to go with eBay or the Korean version.

reply

[–] CMUltra 18 years ago

TCM plays the movie in Letterbox. Keep an eye on their listings. It just played again recently.

reply

[–] mikeoak840 18 years ago

Did you ever try flipping over the DVD you had? As someone mentioned more than once, it's full-screen on one side, widescreen on the other.

reply

[–] RAS-1 18 years ago

I just watched it again on TCM. Probably the same time you did, mikeoak840, even
though I have the DVD. I ordered my DVD from Amazon February 3, 2005.
(Yes, I found the original receipt) It is the double-sided flipper and the colors
are gorgeous and sharp. Columbia Pictures did the same thing with Charles
Bronson's "Hard Times" in WideScreen and then after a few months, all I could find
was the all too familiar square version. I luckly found a region 1 pristine
condition flip-disc at Amazon Marketplace in the UK, A lucky find to say the
least. If you want to see a long list discussion on the subject of "Hard Times in
wide screen" go to the IMDb web page and the first entry is mine.
(plus many others) Cheers!

reply

[–] robert4770 16 years ago

Picnic was originally filmed and released in Technicolor but the DVD seems very muted more like Fox Deluxe color. A few years ago I saw a restored print at the Film Forum and the colors were so much more vibrant.

reply

[–] burnsste 16 years ago

It was actually filmed in single-strip Eastmancolor. Technicolor only manufactured the release prints, in the standard Eastmancolor (non-dye transfer) process.

Eastmancolor was a process essentially the same as today's 35mm color negative still and movie film stock, though much more prone to fading back then. The earlier Technicolor in-camera process used 3 strips of black and white film.

Dye-transfer Technicolor (done with very few if any of the release prints of Picnic), is a legendary process and is what most people think of when they hear the word "Technicolor."

De Luxe was simply Fox's name for their in-house processing of Eastmancolor stock, using standard (non-dye transfer) methods.

reply

[–] neighturboy 13 years ago

There's a beautiful remastered widescreen (2.35:1) version included in The Kim Novak Collection which came out last year. It's a three-disc set; Picnic is on one disc with Jeanne Eagles. Bell Book and Candle and Middle of the Night are on another disc, and Pal Joey is on the third. Just purchased the collection from deepdiscount.com for $23.81, with free shipping.

reply

[–] drmark7 9 years ago

Watching on GET-TV (which shows other films- Columbia films- in Letterbox.) But other than the LTBX titles, "Picnic" was shown in square, pan and scan. All things considered- it didn't look THAT BAD- but in the era of widescreen TV- why show a wonderful film like this in the wrong aspect ratio???
*_*_*
Questions?/Comments? * This Has Been e-mail From:
Dr. Mark Hill * The Doctor Of Pop Culture

reply

[–] thegalaxybeing 9 years ago

try http://www.amazon.com/Picnic-Blu-ray/dp/B006YW6KX4?SubscriptionId=AKIAIY4YSQJMFDJATNBA&tag=bluray-032-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B006YW6KX4&m=

Currently pretty pricy but Amazon's prices sometimes very wildly. I'd say keep checking back, Or, if it's worth it to you, go for the sure thing and grab it at the current hefty price.

reply