Anybody notice that after The Ed Sullivan Show segment that the scene with J.D. Sumner and The Stamps Quartet was shown as a square in the center of the screen?
Was this an error in the DVD or was this the way it was presented in theaters in 1972?
The Ed Sullivan Show would have been recorded in 4:3 - fullscreen, as aposed to widescreen. Television shows wern't recorded in widescreen until the early 2000's. So, what you are seeing is the fullscreen recording from the show fit into the widescreen format. They would have done this instead of stretching it right out to fit the whole widescreen space because it would have lost the top and bottom of the scene.
You will probably ask next, why the Sullivan Show excerpt doesn't reach the top & bottom of your TV... well, the black bard on the rest of the movie are not actually the film, they are simply blank space filled in by your television.
hope that helps.
16 mm footage and TV footage were presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 (4x3). Basically just interviews and footage of young Elvis.
The rest of the docu was shot in 35 mm and was presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1