MovieChat Forums > Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) Discussion > The Trailer is DREADFUL

The Trailer is DREADFUL

posted 5 years ago by [email protected] (1732)
4 replies | jump to latest

There is only one word to describe the trailer for this classic film:

Uninviting.

As much as I love classic movies, and feel Hollywood was at its greatest in the '30's
through the early '60's, the trailers for most movies during these years were mostly
awful. Take a look, for example, at the original trailer for "It's a Wonderful Life." Is
it any wonder the film bombed on initial release?? There isn't even a hint of the complex,
wonderful themes explored in the film. And this seems to be the norm in this era.

As for BAT's, I just watched the original trailer for the first time after being a fan for decades.
It is simply duller than paste. Even the Oscar-winning theme, "Moon River", isn't used.
Bizarre, considering this is one of the film's hallmarks.

I recently asked a friend - who had never seen the film - to come to a one-night only
theatrical screening. Understandably, she wanted to see the trailer. One view on Youtube,
and she said, "No thanks." And she IS open to old films.

Can hardly blame her. What a pity.

Hollywood may not have improved its filmmaking by and large, but they HAVE improved
their trailers.

BAT's deserves a newly-made trailer for 21st century audiences. They did this for "Life",
"The Wizard of Oz" and others. Why not for this classic?

[–] Ace_Spade (9344) 4 years ago

Do you think they would find our trailers aggressive, confusing, and basically just a bombardment of images and noise?

I'm asking if you think it's a cultural divide, basically, between now and the past, or if the trailers we have now truly are better?

I love watching old trailers because they have such different points of emphasis. They're longer, slower, and give away far more plot details (or tend to) than we allow for in ours. I do prefer new trailers, but that might be just because I'm living now, not then.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 4 years ago

"Bombardment of images and noise?" Come on, already, you are mixing genres and you know it.

Compare, for example, the trailer for Tom Hanks' new film for the Mr. Rogers film. It is inviting. BAT's is not.

Watch the 21st century trailers for "Oz" and "Life." They are incomparably superior to their originals.

'Nuff said.

[–] Ace_Spade (9344) 4 years ago

I wasn't mixing genres. Most trailers these days are cut so fast that I was supposing, as a bit of a trick of the imagination, that to somebody from 1945 or 1962 our trailers' editing style would seem like a barrage because of the comparatively slower trailers they were used to. The information would be overload. I haven't seen the trailer for Rogers, or Oz, but even Life is cut swiftly and would, I think, seem very rapid to somebody not used to that editing style.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 4 years ago

You are so beyond not getting it. I am NOT referring to "editing styles" or slower trailers, I am talking about the
fact that trailers from 30's, 40's, 50's, and even well into the 1960's, offer very little about WHAT the film is
about. They aren't edited slowly as much as edited poorly, and seem content to merely state who the stars
are, rather than what the themes of the films are.

All one has to do is watch the original 1946 trailer for "It's a Wonderful Life" (which is AWFUL, and simply
suggests it's about James Stewart romancing Donna Reed in a small town - yawn) and the newly struck
trailer, from a few years back, which goes into detail as what the films's unique themes are, and the issues
Frank Capra addresses. Huge difference.