I'm waiting for my copy to arrive so I'll find out myself soon enough.

nruddock - Where did you buy a widescreen copy from? It's never been released that way in the U.S. as far as I'm aware.

-Wanderer

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Anyway, It does have some foreign subtitles beneath the black band, which actually gives it a real Godardian feel. I would never want to watch it in full screen, so I'm not going to buy the dvd.

I'm in the UK, so if anyone wants to trade for it?

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If that information is correct, and the source material VCA used for the DVD transfer originated as a 16mm print, then 1.33:1 (fullscreen) would in fact be a legitimate aspect ratio. Similarly, if your widescreen copy started life as a 35 mm print, then a letterboxed image would also be appropriate. This doesn't mean that either presentation is more accurate than the other.

I don't claim to be a film expert, but that's my understanding of how it works.

The best example I can think of from the DVDs I own would be The Evil Dead, which was definitely shot on 16mm and distributed theatrically in 35mm prints. When Elite Entertainment released the LD/DVD version they used the original 16mm elements for the transfer and it's presented in the correct aspect ratio of 1.33:1 .

Incidentally, my VHS copy of Misty Beethoven ends rather abruptly and switches to some video-generated titles. I can't comment on the DVD because I haven't seen it yet, but I was curious about why VCA would remove the end title sequence. Could've been due to print damage I suppose. I'd be grateful if you could let me know what the ending is like on your copy.

-Wanderer

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FYI, I have a similar VHS (a few generations off whatever was the "master") that came from a theatrical print -- it, too, is "widescreen." The DVD is full-screen. Wanderer is close to the truth, except for the fact that "Misty," as well as most of Henry Paris' (Radley Metzger's) other porn films were shot in Super 16. This process uses the space on the 16mm camera negative that otherwise would eventually be occupied by the soundtrack for additional picture area. This results in an aspect ratio of about 1.70 or something like that (I'm not sure of the exact number). So you get a "widescreen" image, which is then blown up to 35mm (matted) or slightly reduced to 16mm (matted) release prints.

Of course, all video transfers since the original ones (I also have an old Video-X Pix VHS copy) have been "pan and scan" full-screen. This might help explain some increased grain and noise. Since the original image was only 1.85 or less to begin with, not much is missing from the image on the VHS and DVD, even though some of the framing does look even more severe than in the original. Interestingly, on the DVD, the black-and-white "flashback" scenes (where Misty is listening to/recalling her audiotaped instructions from Terri Hall, while seducing the "impotent" man) are in the original "widescreen" format. So you can see and compare the widescreen and full-screen aspect ratios.

As far as what's cut, why the abrupt titles, etc. -- Hang in there for a few more days. As mentioned in the thread linked to above, I'm doing a shot-by-shot comparison between the DVD and my old "theatrical release" copies for both "Misty" and "Barbara Broadcast." I'll post the results in this forum as soon as I'm finished! Meanwhile, stay tuned for the nudes!

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