Topic: original aspect ratio & original length released in theaters

[bubbadersh]

What was the original aspect ratio of The Three Stooges shorts when they were released in theaters?

Are there any releases available of the full length theatrical release in the original aspect ratio?

All the DVD releases I've seen seem to be the 4:3 full screen TV aspect ratio.  Some seem like they were edited down for TV.

I even read somewhere that there was a Curly cameo in "Malice in the Palace" that was edited out of the TV releases. Did it make into the theatrical release?

[Curley91]

I even read somewhere that there was a Curly cameo in "Malice in the Palace" that was edited out of the TV releases. Did it make into the theatrical release?

The scene with Curly was shot, but it didn't make it to the final print. 

As far as I know, pretty much all the shorts are avaliable in their entirety, as they were in theatres, unless Sony-Columbia or a TV station edited them later on.  I'm not sure they are avaliable in their theatrical aspect ratio. 

[bubbadersh]

What was the original aspect ratio of The Three Stooges shorts when they were released in theaters?

[stooged and confused]

The original aspeect ratio in theatres is a bit off for TV broadcast and earlier video tape and DVD releases. One way that you can tell is when a newspaper headline was shown in a scene, some of the words are cut off.

Also, a good number of times at the opening credits, the "A Columbia Picture" wording is cropped from the early shorts. When the Columbia torch lady appeared later to the left of the screen the verbage 'A Columbia Short Subject Presentation" had some of the letters missing. Like Looney Tunes cartoons, the aspect ratio on Three Stooges shorts were more of a square box format. They inflate the image to fill up a 4x3 TV screen. The last few DVD releases were restored and remastered in high definition, which configured the image accordingly.

I hope that helps!!

[thephotoplayer]

All NEW footage shot from SPOOKS! on (1953) was shot for 1.85, which was Columbia's studio policy for all of their films.  That's not counting the footage that was re-used from older shorts.

[Darkhoarse820]

The original aspeect ratio in theatres is a bit off for TV broadcast and earlier video tape and DVD releases. One way that you can tell is when a newspaper headline was shown in a scene, some of the words are cut off.

Also, a good number of times at the opening credits, the "A Columbia Picture" wording is cropped from the early shorts. When the Columbia torch lady appeared later to the left of the screen the verbage 'A Columbia Short Subject Presentation" had some of the letters missing. Like Looney Tunes cartoons, the aspect ratio on Three Stooges shorts were more of a square box format. They inflate the image to fill up a 4x3 TV screen. The last few DVD releases were restored and remastered in high definition, which configured the image accordingly.

I hope that helps!!

Well, if you ask me, I think the remaining releases (because it can't be helped through 1939 anymore) should be done in letterbox (wide screen) form, just as they do with feature films, both new and old.  Maybe THAT WAY we can see the entire picture...or is it a filming flaw itself?

[BeAStooge]

I think the remaining releases (because it can't be helped through 1939 anymore) should be done in letterbox (wide screen) form, just as they do with feature films, both new and old.  Maybe THAT WAY we can see the entire picture...or is it a filming flaw itself?

Widescreen releases only apply when a movie was filmed in widescreen. Prior to 1953, the standard aspect ratio was 1.37:1. The DVDs show the shorts in their original framed image.

It won't be until [circa] Volume 7 that the Stooges' aspect ratio becomes an issue.

[Darkhoarse820]

Widescreen releases only apply when a movie was filmed in widescreen. Prior to 1953, the standard aspect ratio was 1.37:1. The DVDs show the shorts in their original framed image.

It won't be until [circa] Volume 7 that the Stooges' aspect ratio becomes an issue.

I knew there had to be a catch.  There always is...

[BeAStooge]

Film collector/historian/preservationist/etc., Bob Furmanek is an expert on this topic. In regard to the Stooges' films, some months ago, he provided these comments on the Home Theater Forum website...

Starting with the release of GOOF ON THE ROOF in December 1953, all newly shot material was composed for widescreen. The problem you run into is the extensive use of older footage in these shorts. Some of them have 2 or 3 minutes of newly shot 1.85 footage, and the rest of the short is pre-1953, 1.37. I've run some in 35mm (PALS AND GALS, OF CASH AND HASH, FLING IN THE RING, etc) and they are WAY too tight at 1.85.

However, titles like INCOME TAX SAPPY, BLUNDER BOYS, SHOT IN THE FRONTIER, MUSCLE UP A LITTLE CLOSER and OUTER SPACE JITTERS look great in widescreen, as they consist of all newly-shot footage.

"Composed for widescreen"... Does this mean that it was shot in 1.37, but the image was composed for 1.85 to accommodate 35mm widescreen prints?

Yes, Columbia began composing all material for widescreen exhibition in the summer of 1953. However, they still photographed an image which can be projected 1.37. This was for smaller theaters that hadn't yet converted to widescreen, 16mm prints, television, etc. However, all theatrical play dates were intended for widescreen.

Was STOP, LOOK & LAUGH handled the same way?

I used to have a 35mm print of this one. All the newly shot footage was printed full frame, which meant that when shown open matte, boom mikes and other artifacts would creep in. (The old Curly footage was printed as photographed, in 1.37.)

The film was intended for widescreen showing however, as the composition on the new footage is intended for 1.85 ratio. The older footage would simply get cropped in theaters, much like the stock footage in the post-1953 releases.

Sometimes, other studios (when issuing older 1.37 films in the widescreen era) would go to the trouble of modifying certain shots so as not to cut off important information. For instance, Universal's 1965 release THE WORLD OF ABBOTT AND COSTELLO has several gag shots optically altered so as not to cut off the gag when shown widescreen.

All the 1960s Columbia features were shot in 1.85?

At one point or another, I had 35mm prints of all of them. Like the shorts, they were printed full frame but were composed for 1.85.

[archiezappa]

Thanks for the info on the aspect ratios.  I was wondering about that.  Very interesting.

[Darkhoarse820]

Thanks for the info on the aspect ratios.  I was wondering about that.  Very interesting.

Yeah, really.  I was curious how the older stock footage would be handled in newer shorts.  It's a shame it can't be done properly, though, but I understand.  It's the same with HD type shows.  when a commerical is not HD, it fits differently on the screen than the actual HD quality picture.

[thephotoplayer]

Film collector/historian/preservationist/etc., Bob Furmanek is an expert on this topic. In regard to the Stooges' films, some months ago, he provided these comments on the Home Theater Forum website...
"Composed for widescreen"... Does this mean that it was shot in 1.37, but the image was composed for 1.85 to accommodate 35mm widescreen prints?

I know Bob and he knows what he's talking about (he's run every stooge short in 35mm a number of times).  You can take what he says to the bank.

When studios shot their flat pictures (not so much anymore), they'd compose the image in the viewfinder that had lines for the widescreen section of the image.  As with all other films, the "widescreen" portion is done in the projector with an aperture plate that masks the unwanted part of the image off-- in effect, cropping it.  But the image on the film itself is a full-frame 1.37 image, left there for various reasons (theaters not wide, overcut aperture plates, and eventually TV).

Columbia was pretty on-the-ball about the whole thing.  They started shooting all of their films this way in the Spring of 1953, and made a big deal about how SPOOKS! was one of their first shorts not only to be in 3-D, but widescreen as well.

Was STOP, LOOK & LAUGH handled the same way?

As I recall, all of the old footage in STOP, LOOK & LAUGH was optically framed down in the printer, so that when the film was being shown widescreen, nothing was cropped that shouldn't be.  You'd end up with these big black bars on the top or the bottom.  Same thing was done with THE WORLD OF ABBOTT AND COSTELLO and many of those silent-era Robert Youngston films.

All the 1960s Columbia features were shot in 1.85?

Absolutely.  In fact, if you don't run them wide, there are a number of gaffes that arise that shouldn't be seen, like IN ORBIT, where you see the exterior of the space-ship set ends about 10 feet up, or where Joe has that spring mechanism at the party at the end of the film, you can see the mechanism pulling it.  Similarly, when the giant picks up Moe in MEET HERCULES, run full-ap, you can see the harness pulling him up.