{"id":1542,"date":"2008-10-16T16:33:12","date_gmt":"2008-10-16T21:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/?p=1542"},"modified":"2012-03-07T09:22:09","modified_gmt":"2012-03-07T17:22:09","slug":"touch-of-evil-aspect-ratio-outcry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2008\/10\/touch-of-evil-aspect-ratio-outcry\/","title":{"rendered":"Touch of Evil Aspect Ratio Outcry"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I don’t really have anything to add to this discussion, but I have to love the fact that cinephiles are up in arms over the the new Universal edition of Touch of Evil<\/em>, which has three different cuts of the film (the 1958 studio-cut theatrical version, a pre-studio-interference preview version, and the 1998 restored version), but fails to display any of them in the originally shot 1.37:1 aspect ratio, instead using the 1.85:1 widescreen ratio. Dave Kehr has a post with video clips<\/a> showing the difference and his post has garnered some 350 comments arguing for one aspect ratio or another (I didn’t read them all, I admit). There’s also a ton of discussion, with screencaps, going on at Criterion Forum<\/a>. Glenn Kenny joins in with a bit more info on the history of the multiple ratios<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I’m so used to arguing for widescreen over pan-and-scan when going from 1.85:1 or 2.35:1 theatrical formats to 1.33:1 televisions that it seems strange to hear arguments for fullscreen over widescreen. But sure enough, looking at the clips Kehr posted, there’s definitely a more claustrophobic feel to the widescreen one. On the other hand, several of the shots did look better framed to me in widescreen. According to Kenny, it seems likely that Welles intended to shoot 1.37:1, not taking into account that the film would be matted to 1.85:1 for release. Frankly, it’s a fantastic film in any form, but now I’m curious to see the whole thing in both ratios.<\/p>\n

So apparently after two DVD releases of Touch of Evil<\/em>, there’s still room for one more. :) I’ll be on the lookout for the 4-version edition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I don’t really have anything to add to this discussion, but I have to love the fact that cinephiles are up in arms over the the new Universal edition of Touch of Evil, which has three different cuts of the film (the 1958 studio-cut theatrical version, a pre-studio-interference preview version, and the 1998 restored version), […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[695],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":32870,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2013\/07\/watch-this-the-history-of-aspect-ratio\/","url_meta":{"origin":1542,"position":0},"title":"Watch This: The History of Aspect Ratio","author":"Jandy","date":"July 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I still remember the first time I became aware of aspect ratio and the purpose of letterboxing. I was watching AMC (back when they actually played classic movies, you know), and they ran a little short piece between movies showing comparisons of The King and I, Lawrence of Arabia, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34021,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2014\/04\/2014-tcm-film-festival-touch-of-evil\/","url_meta":{"origin":1542,"position":1},"title":"2014 TCM Film Festival: Touch of Evil","author":"Jandy","date":"April 22, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I knew this TCM Film Festival was going to be a brief one for me, as having a one-year-old daughter lessens ones flexibility considerably, even with a very considerate husband. My major goal was to find one thing that he and I could go to together since he was going\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "TCM Film Festival"","block_context":{"text":"TCM Film Festival","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/tcm-film-festival\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/TCM-Fest-feat.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/TCM-Fest-feat.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/TCM-Fest-feat.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":751,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2007\/11\/touch-of-evil-opening-shot\/","url_meta":{"origin":1542,"position":2},"title":"Touch of Evil Opening Shot","author":"Jandy","date":"November 1, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Anne Thompson highlights the justly famous opening tracking shot of Orson Welles' Touch of Evil. And it's worth reposting. When Touch of Evil was made in 1958, this was the longest tracking shot ever created, a record which stood for a long time; I believe Robert Altman's The Player broke\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1801,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/new-release-review-australia\/","url_meta":{"origin":1542,"position":3},"title":"New Release Review: Australia","author":"Jandy","date":"January 11, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"directed by Baz Lurhmann starring: Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman Australia\/USA 2008; screened 29 November 2008 at AMC Theatres I admit that I haven't read many reviews of Australia in toto, but the snippets I have read and the general critical feeling indicates that most critics didn't think it was very\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"australiapic8","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/australiapic8.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":25522,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/50dmc-19-a-movie-im-surprised-i-enjoyed\/","url_meta":{"origin":1542,"position":4},"title":"50DMC #19: A Movie I’m Surprised I Enjoyed","author":"Jandy","date":"July 28, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The 50 Day Movie Challenge asks one question every day, to be answered by a few paragraphs and a clip, if possible. Click here for the full list of questions. Today's prompt: What's a movie you're surprised you enjoyed? There are quite a lot of these, actually, as I've been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Nashville.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":37049,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2024\/02\/i-did-it-started-a-substack\/","url_meta":{"origin":1542,"position":5},"title":"I did it…started a Substack","author":"Jandy","date":"February 4, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I mentioned in my year-end recap post that I was thinking of starting a Substack, and I did just that last week. I now have two posts up, and if you've appreciated what I've written here in the past, I'd love to have you follow me there! 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