ASK BK
I know that you own prints of several movies and I was looking through ebay and was surprised to see 1473 items listed. One that caught my eye was a print of South Pacific
The seller is claming the following: Extremely Rare Full 171 Minute Version in Stunning Fuji Color
This is the roadshow length.
Wouldn't it be unlikely that a 16mm print of the roadshow version would have been struck especially when the film was trimmed during the roadshow engagement. I always believed that 16mm prints shortly after the film left the theaters.
Also was there FUJI stock back then?
I am sure that if this print is as good as he claims couldn't they have used this to restore the film for the DVD release? It doesn't look like he is one of those collectors that has the last remaining print of a movie that he keeps to himself.
What are your thoughts?
I'd have to look at the listing. But, yes, it's conceivable a 16mm print could have been struck back then, for Armed Forces or the military or for one of the film's participants. Or, more likely, someone might have made a reduction print off another print, which means the quality would be not great. Not sure when Fuji came into existance (one of my Nudie prints is on Fuji stock), but it's occasionally prone to fading (although my Nudie print is not faded at all, but another Nudie print only has about seventy percent of its color and is also on Fuji).
But no, whatever this is, it could not have been used for the DVD - if you think there's a huge difference when the color goes wonky, the 16mm shift in difference from the 65mm elements would be horrendous and unwatchable. That said, Fox, had they wanted to spend the time and money, could have fixed the color in those sections.
If you provide a link, I'll check out the ad - is the print in scope?
