Does anybody have a letterbox version of this film? I have a 2 hour pan and scan version that is so bad that you can only see two letters of the names of the African cities he's at through the film. I have been looking for 20 years. If you got one please email me at [email protected]
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I live in the U.S., but I would probably prefer it come out on DVD in the U.K., because I would be afraid the butchered 90 minute U.S. cut version might get released here. Yes a 1.85 version would be a huge improvement on what I got. Thanks for the information.
shareI bought a used 16mm print that alas has the same problem. I requested Turner Classic Movies to broadcast it since they are religious about widescreen but Im not holding my breath. Id love to see it again. The FULL length version, NOT the U.S. version (A Boy Ten Feet Tall).
shareI videotaped a 2 hour version off WGN about 15 years ago. It was an awful Pan and Scan print, but it's better then nothing.
sharethe version I have (Sammy Going South 113 mins) starts at 2.65:1 for the title sequence then switches to 2.05:1 for the duration of the film, imdb has it listed as 2.35:1 so I don't know how that compares to what others have. Quality is "acceptable" at best, a DVD release would definitely be appreciated, but not holding my breath.
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update: the version I have is the UK TV4 broadcast.
If you go to Britmovie.co.uk and find the Sammy Going South thread, there is a extensive discussion on this film, the person who actually owns the rights has made several posts as well as a poster who has been in touch with Fergus McClelland, who is now in all likelyhood the sole surviving member of cast or crew. You will find some fascinating details, especially regarding it's original 130 minute length and why some scenes had been cut.
The version I have was recorded off Channel 4 in 2001, which was the last time they ran it. The opening credits are shown at 2.35:1 and the rest of the film at 1.85:1. We could certainly do with it being re-released on DVD in its original 130 minutes cinema release version and in 2.35:1 all the way through. I have since transferred my old VHS video of it recorded on Channel 4 onto DVD-R. Picture and sound quality are very good indeed.
The version run on Channel 4 runs 114 minutes at PAL running speed, which is equivalent to 119 minutes in the cinema. So there is over ten minutes missing from the print, mostly, I suspect, from the earlier part of the film, where Sammy is journeying across the mountains with the Syrian peddler.
Apparently, this 114 minute version was first shown on BBC2 television at Christmas, 1970, nearly eight years after the film's cinema release. Why the BBC, who usually run films uncut, chose to run a version with over ten minutes missing from it is a mystery, but this is the version that has been shown on television ever since.
DONT KNOW IF YOU ARE AWARE ,...SAMMY GOING SOUTH ...IS BEING RELEASED ON DVD ON 15TH FEBRUARY 2010 YOU CAN ORDER IT ON A PRE ORDER I HAVE JUST DONE SO REGARDS BRIAN
shareYes, Brian, I am aware of that. No details as yet on aspect ratio or running time and Optimum Releasing are notorious for announcing release dates for DVD's that never get released. But let us hope that all goes well with this release for a change.
shareWho is the distributor, Amazon.com or another company? Is this in the UK or the USA? What is the movie's length/running time? What is its aspect ratio? Thank you.
shareAs I said in my previous post, aspect ratio and running time have not yet been announced. They probably will be nearer the time. Optimum Releasing are based in the UK and the DVD will be Region 2. Assuming it actually gets released, it will be available from amazon.co.uk; HMV and Play.com and all the other usual outlets.
shareamazon uk have announced that the release date of the DVD has been put back to June 28th, 2010. It seems that Optimum are having some difficulty locating the complete 1963 version of the film.
UPDATE: Optimum have been unsuccessfull in finding the original full length version of the film, which is now presumed lost, and are now going ahead with the shortened 119 minutes version (114 minutes at PAL running speed).
I've been waiting for years to see this again, as I last saw it in 1965 when I was an usher at a movie theatre. So I bought a new Sony all-region DVD player for about $35, so I could see the region 2 version. It is a beautiful print, letterboxed in the CinemaScope aspect ratio. Even so, part of the edges are cut off, which is noticable in the opening titles and some of the city names. It runs about 114 minutes.
shareYes, it is slightly what they used to call 'zoom-boxed', meaning that although the picture shape (aspect ratio) is correct, it is slightly cropped top and bottom and sides (or zoomed-in slightly). Perhaps this was done to eliminate the flashing white splice lines that appeared between every shot on many Eastman Color prints of that time and which can be distracting. If you are watching the DVD on an old cathode ray tube television, there is an overscan of the image around the top, bottom and sides that cuts off part of the image and this is particularly noticeable on the credit titles. But if you are watching on a modern, LCD flat screen television, you should be able to see all the image that is on the DVD. I didn't notice cropping of the credits when played on my Laptop, which does show the whole image on the DVD.
shareI have a wide-screen LCD flat screen television, and the edges were still slightly cut off. The DVD is anamorphic and 2.35:1. I have heard that the overscan on a TV can be corrected, but I don't know how to do it. Even old movies shot in 1.33:1 sometimes have this problem, even though I watch them pillarboxed so I see them in their correct aspect ratios.
shareThat's unusual, as there's plenty of space on the edges of the credits on my Optimum Releasing Region 2 DVD of the film. In cases like this, if you know someone else who has a multi-region player and an LCD flat screen television, ask if you can play it on theirs to see if it looks cropped at the sides on the opening titles. If it doesn't, then there's something amiss with the way your television picture has been configured.
As for removing overscan on an old fashioned television, there should be two small controls inside the back of the television that can be turned with a small screwdriver, one to reduce the height of the image and one to reduce the width, which will 'picture box' the image and let you see all of it. However, such adjustments, done with the back covering of the television removed, are very dangerous for anyone but a trained engineer to do. Earlier televisions had these controls on the outside of the covering.
UPDATE: I've recently acquired a brand new 32 inch LCD wide screen television and it does crop off about 5% of the image at the sides regarding CinemaScope pictures. I've just run the opening credits of "Sammy Going South" on it and the part where it says and Fergus McClelland as "Sammy" with a bit of blue space at the right hand side, clearly seen on my Laptop, comes out as and Fergus McClelland as "Sammy with the quotation mark cropped off after the letter 'y' and the blue space at the edge also. Has anyone else noticed this on other LCD wide screen televisions, I wonder?
Both amazon.com and amazon.co.uk are selling the DVD and it can be ordered online from either them, but it's also available from many other outlets, such as play.com and Movie Mail. The DVD company is Optimum Releasing / Studio Canal. Playing time on the Region 2 PAL DVD is 114 minutes (which equates to 119 minutes at cinema running speed). The film's original length when released in 1963 was 128 minutes, later cut to 119 minutes. The original 128 minutes version is believed lost. The film was cut to 88 minutes for its American release as "A Boy Ten Feet Tall", which was the equivalent of removing two whole reels or a third of the picture, ruining the narrative in the process. Aspect Ratio on the DVD is 2.35:1 CinemaScope, anamorphically enhanced for 16 x 9 screens. Extras on the disc are interviews with star Fergus McClelland and with James Mangold, a student of the film's director Alexander Mackendrick at CalArts.
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