NipkowDisc Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 I was hoping for the smilebox instead we got a conventional letterbox presentation. Is smilebox just for special occasions? Those closing california panoramas really looked awesome smileboxed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markfp2 Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 I personally like HOW THE WEST WAS WON in the smilebox format, but most folks have never experienced the very deeply curved Cinerama screen in a theater and don't understand the reasoning behind the look of it so I can see why TCM shows both versions. It could be a lot worse. I happened to run across it on one of the other movie channels not long ago and they were showing it in pan and scan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dabb Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 .. I can see why TCM shows both versions. It could be a lot worse. I happened to run across it on one of the other movie channels not long ago and they were showing it in pan and scan... Oh man! They (not TCM.. the "other") could not have picked a more distinctive feature to pan-n-scan. That's effectively two-thirds of the whole film unseen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rewrite Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 I've seen it panned-and-scanned. Horrifying. During the buffalo stampede, the two lines marking the edges of the screens slide back and forth often enough to make you seasick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 I was hoping for the smilebox instead we got a conventional letterbox presentation. Is smilebox just for special occasions? Those closing california panoramas really looked awesome smileboxed. Not to nitpick here ND, but If you're referring to your thumbnail image here and not to the closing aerial footage of L.A.'s Harbor Freeway(and while Spencer Tracy narrates how we would ultimately tame or I suppose "win" The West by the middle of the 20th Century) in this film, that would be Utah's Monument Valley, and not California. (...and trust me here...being a man who for many years as an Angeleno had to utilize the aforementioned Harbor Freeway in his many commutes, NOBODY "wins" anymore whenever they have to use THAT sucker!!!) LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MovieMadness Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 I had a hard time getting past the desperate blonde wanting to marry Jimmy Stewart in the buckskins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 I had a hard time getting past the desperate blonde wanting to marry Jimmy Stewart in the buckskins. Well, Carroll Baker always DID pretty much play the "desperate blonde" TYPE, didn't SHE?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 Btw, and speakin' o' "blondes"...I wonder what kind of effect we would have gotten if the ultimate hourglass-shaped Mae West had ALSO appeared in this flick and in this smile-box format??? (...I guess we'll never know, huh!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markfp2 Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 I've seen it panned-and-scanned. Horrifying. During the buffalo stampede, the two lines marking the edges of the screens slide back and forth often enough to make you seasick. I agree. I don't like the whole idea of P&S, but depending on how the original film was framed and how much care was used in the reformatting process, there are some that I can at least sit through without too much complaining, but HOW THE WEST WAS WON sure isn't one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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