MovieChat Forums > That Touch of Mink (1962) Discussion > FOCUS: WTF?

FOCUS: WTF?

posted 12 years ago by nycruise-1
9 replies | jump to latest

I'm watching this movie on TCM.

The images are unbelievably blurry.

I can only surmise that original footage was shot using vaseline on the lens, so that the original images came off as "hazy."

Subsequently, if the original film negative - credited as being in "Eastman Color" rather than 3-strip Technicolor - has been lost, then copies of the film are made from COPIES of the film.

I remember seeing this movie - and others shot during the same time such as "The Thrill of It All" and "Glass-Bottom Boat" - both in theaters and on TV in the 1960s. The images were "hazy"/"grainy" - NOT "blurry."

Guess the original film negative of TTOM has since been lost - so it will now be forever "blurry."

"Don't call me 'honey', mac."
"Don't call me 'mac'... HONEY!"

[–] NJShopGal 8 years ago

I think it's the type of filters used to make both actors look younger. Both were far older than their characters.

Doris Day was 39, playing a young woman in her 20s.

[–] baran_erik 8 years ago

Starting in the mid 50s, Day was always shot in soft focus. There was a marathon of her 60/70s show on Decades, and she was reeeally out of focus. She, and Audrey Meadows, were, after all, 40 years old in this, and Grant was pushing 60.

[–] HoldTheCock 8 years ago

Good to know. I thought Netflix had ended up with a horrible copy somehow.

[–] melnar1 8 years ago

I'm watching this movie on TCM.

On TCM?

Try watching the BluRay (released since you wrote this). Nothing lost - no haziness, graininess or blurring there.

[–] howard-green-1 8 years ago

I've got the blu-ray, and like you said, the soft focus seems to be gone!

[–] MargiePax 8 years ago

I knew they often filmed Doris Day in a soft focus, but I agree with the others, the focus on Netflix is awful. I'm glad to hear it's not like that on the blue ray.

As I'm watching this, I agree the ages of the cast are way too old for the story line. Doris Day's character should have been played by someone in her late twenties, early thirties at the most. And Cary Grants character could have been played by someone in his 40s and still been believable as a rich executive. In those days, however, studios had their go-to players.

[–] TexasGreek 8 years ago

Like most replies, the soft focus was intentional, though irritable. It's still there on the Blu-ray, just not as noticeable hence the better picture that Blu-ray offers. TCM's prints tend to be pristine though and, judging on your equipment, often rivals that of Blu-ray.

[–] sionxxii 8 years ago

Wanna larff? Check out the filter they used on Doris' tv show.

[–] R_Kane (15828) 4 years ago

It was shot by a very young Bob Guccione before he created Penthouse magazine, but after he discovered the delights of vaseline on the lens.