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Author Topic: Ken Films & Columbia Digest Narration
Douglas W. Warren
Film Handler

Posts: 38
From: Charlottesville,Virginia
Registered: Aug 2010


 - posted September 16, 2010 01:10 PM      Profile for Douglas W. Warren   Email Douglas W. Warren   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Many years ago I was chatting with Steve Osborne about Super-8 digests and the discussion came around to the narration on Ken Films & Columbia films. The one I remember best (and found the most amusing and annoying at the same time) was "The Poseidon Adventure." Not sure why they felt it was needed to state the obvious ("The great ship has capsized.") but there it was.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on why both companies felt it was necessary to add the narration?

Cheers all,
Douglas

[Smile]

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John Skujins
Expert Film Handler

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From: Greensboro, NC, USA
Registered: Mar 2009


 - posted September 16, 2010 05:53 PM      Profile for John Skujins   Email John Skujins   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I assumed it was to help you follow the plot since so much is missing in a digest. "The great ship has capsized" is just pure silliness though.

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Rob Young.
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1633
From: Cheshire, U.K.
Registered: Dec 2003


 - posted September 16, 2010 06:19 PM      Profile for Rob Young.     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Columbia releases were especially brilliant at this sort of nonsense.

Lots of examples, but one that springs to mind is the 400ft extract of "Son of Dr. Jekyll"...

A sinister scene in an otherwise nicely atmospheric super 8 movie; one of the characters announces, "I'll see you later at (so-and-so's) flat..."

Cut to "so-and-so's" flat...all very spooky...until a big booming voice over announces, "LATER...AT (SO AND SO'S FLAT!)"

...ensuing laughter from the audience everytime I screen it! [Frown] ... [Smile]

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Douglas W. Warren
Film Handler

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From: Charlottesville,Virginia
Registered: Aug 2010


 - posted September 16, 2010 06:35 PM      Profile for Douglas W. Warren   Email Douglas W. Warren   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
It would be interesting to know what other gems of narration the Columbia & Ken Films contained. Maybe a list is in order!

Cheers,
Douglas [Smile]

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Kurt Gardner
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From: San Antonio, TX
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 - posted September 16, 2010 09:24 PM      Profile for Kurt Gardner   Author's Homepage   Email Kurt Gardner   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
"Strait-Jacket" is hilarious. It's so pedantic, and the narrator reminds us that the groundskeeper is "played by George Kennedy" although he doesn't introduce any of the other characters.

The 400' "Taxi Driver" consists of all of the film's most extremely violent scenes, yet the narrator drones on, reminding us why Travis Bickle is so screwed up and why he has to save Iris. That actually makes it more fun to watch.

And speaking of Ken Films, the 200' "The Day the Earth Stood Still" has a whole lot of yacking to piece together what we already know. He's still blathering right until the end, when Michael Rennie's spaceship flies away. "St. Valentine's Day Massacre" at least has the original voiceover so it's not so ridiculous. But the print is so pink!

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David Kilderry
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From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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 - posted September 19, 2010 12:21 AM      Profile for David Kilderry   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
How about the Boston Strangler? The narrator is almost a part of the film he talks so much!

A powerful performance by Tony Curtis is talked over the top of. If I was one of these actors I would have had something to say about it........but the contracts probably had no chance for the actor to do so.

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Gary Crawford
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From: Manassas, VA. USA
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 - posted September 20, 2010 01:37 PM      Profile for Gary Crawford     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
On the other hand....Columbia's The Devil Commands...sports beautifully done narration...a clever and almost seamless mix of the original narration by Karloff's daughter in the film..and some new sound alike narration needed to tie the sequences together...otherwise, you'd have real trouble following things. Just a very nice job. ONE OF THE FEW, I might add.

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James N. Savage 3
Phenomenal Film Handler

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From: Washington, DC
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 - posted September 22, 2010 06:10 PM      Profile for James N. Savage 3     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
As Gary mentions, sometimes the narration works, sometimes it doesn't, and sometimes comes off with hilarious results.

One digest where I thought that the Columbia narration worked well was "Requelm for a Heavyweight". It wasn't overdone or campy, so the mood of the film wasn't lost.

Then, on the other side......

A FUNNY example of narration is the 200 foot digest of "Coffy" (the narration is not in the 400 foot digest).

For those familiar with the blaxploitation flick, its the scene near the end of the movie where the thugs drug Coffy (Pam Grier), and drive under a bridge to kill her. As the lead thug Omar (Sid Haig) carries her out of the back seat, the Ken Films narrator voices "Omar's orders are to kill Coffy......But he wants his T-H-R-I-L-L-S first", putting a strong emphesis on "thrills", knowing what being implied.

I don't know, its sick, funny, and campy at the same time. My teenage friends just couldn't stop laghing after that.

James.

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Bill Phelps
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 - posted April 18, 2011 03:56 PM      Profile for Bill Phelps     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I just received a beautiful digest of TAXI DRIVER (400' Columbia) and when it started I wondered if there would be any of that silly narration and of course there was. Totally pointless too. I mean the scene where Travis goes up to meet with the girl pretty much explains itself as the scene plays out...but no, the stupid narrator tells us whats going to happen as there walking up the stairs into the room! Drained the tension right out of it. I'm still happy with the print and the color is still great. Nice clamshell box too!

Bill [Smile]

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Brad Kimball
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From: Highland Mills, NY USA
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 - posted April 18, 2011 04:14 PM      Profile for Brad Kimball   Email Brad Kimball   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Don't get me started. I've written a manifesto's worth of posts on this topic. Thankfully, Universal and Niles didn't insult anyone's intelligence by targeting their products to the grammar school set by inserting mundane, unimaginative, poorly written and intrusive narration to accompany the action. This is why I only buy the digests from Ken and Columbia that are absolute must haves and not just nice-to-haves. I wonder if it was part of a copyright clause with the studios that predicated the narrations. This way Columbia and Fox could rest assured that the digests would be instantly identifiable should someone attempt to violate the exhibition restrictions. Remember Ken and Columbia's 8mm division were still outside enterprises merely contracting certain studios' titles to market in the home movie guages. A huge percentage of the Ken and Columbia digest catalogs consisted of more contemporary titles as opposed to Universal's (which had already been in the market for many years prior) so perhaps it was felt more safeguards, like narration, were necessary.

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Bill Phelps
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 - posted April 18, 2011 04:21 PM      Profile for Bill Phelps     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Right after screening it I thought...'I wonder if I could re-record this...?'

Bill [Smile]

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Colin Robert Hunt
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From: Milton Keynes Buckinghamshire
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 - posted April 19, 2011 01:54 PM      Profile for Colin Robert Hunt   Author's Homepage   Email Colin Robert Hunt   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
On the Waterfront is a excellent cutdown with just the right ammount of narration. Had this print from it's release in the seventies. Won award for the best cutdown of 74. Excelent B&W print and soundtrack. The Boston Strangler apart from the narrator, also suffered from being not in Panavision. Those multiscene shots so used at the time did not look good in that 4X3 format.

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Tony Stucchio
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 - posted April 19, 2011 07:31 PM      Profile for Tony Stucchio     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I have THE BOSTON STRANGLER (400 ft) and there is no narration.

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Brad Kimball
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From: Highland Mills, NY USA
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 - posted April 19, 2011 07:44 PM      Profile for Brad Kimball   Email Brad Kimball   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
That's great, Tony! Nice to hear you lucked out on getting a title that during it's sound mastering someone fell asleep at the wheel. Now imagine it with "....Albert DeSalvo, the strangler, played by Tony Curtis, approaches his victim. The girl expires during their struggle."

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Pasquale DAlessio
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From: Bristol,RI, USA
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 - posted April 19, 2011 08:19 PM      Profile for Pasquale DAlessio     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I don't have bad narration on mine neither [Big Grin] . Maybe because it's the 200' S8 silent version [Eek!]

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Brad Kimball
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From: Highland Mills, NY USA
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 - posted April 19, 2011 09:09 PM      Profile for Brad Kimball   Email Brad Kimball   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
O'h, now that's funny!

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David Kilderry
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From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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 - posted April 22, 2011 05:00 AM      Profile for David Kilderry   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Tony, it is the Boston Strangler 200ft I was referring to, sorry. Often only the 200ft version had the narration. This one almost sounds like it is an audio book; no pictures required!

I did watch The Deep Six 400ft the other night for the first time and found the narration a good thing, I had never seen the film before and it actually helped without being over the top.

David

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Brad Kimball
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From: Highland Mills, NY USA
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 - posted April 22, 2011 07:07 PM      Profile for Brad Kimball   Email Brad Kimball   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Trying to be open minded, here. Perhaps the narration would help (back before video) for those who had never seen the entire film. However, why would anyone buy a digest of a movie they were completely unfamiliar with? Furthermore, who doesn't know the story of "A Christmas Carol"? I can't tell you how upset I was when I was 17 and finally saved up enough to send away for it. I got home from school - immediately ripped open the package - threaded it on the projector - doused the lights - and not 20 seconds into the thing I get..."Ebenezer Scrooge blah, blah, blah, blah, blah". I was absolutely outraged. I still have it. It's in pristine condition (including the box). I keep it for sentimental reasons because it has always been my favorite story and I was once on a quest to own a print of all the versions ever made so I could rotate them year after year.

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John Hourigan
Master Film Handler

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From: Colorado U.S.A.
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 - posted April 23, 2011 11:52 AM      Profile for John Hourigan   Email John Hourigan       Edit/Delete Post 
I think we have to remember the time frame during which these digests were released -- "sound" digests were a new concept in the early to mid-1970s, hence the companies probably thought that audiences/customers needed a "bridging" component for what were essentially "souvenirs" of a feature film (of course, this being before the advent of home video in which feature films were abundantly available). True, Castle Films never used a narrator during this time, but as the 1970s wore on, the narrator began to fade away with newer releases as the companies realized that creative editing eliminated the need for narrators infected with "diarrhea of the mouth." Just my two cents.

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Bill Phelps
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 - posted April 23, 2011 04:24 PM      Profile for Bill Phelps     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Yeah...I can understand the narration filling in story gaps but descibing a scene right before you see it?

C'mon! Columbia must have thought people were dumb!

I suppose you do have to put things in their proper context.

Bill [Smile]

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Brad Kimball
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1171
From: Highland Mills, NY USA
Registered: Jun 2003


 - posted April 23, 2011 06:12 PM      Profile for Brad Kimball   Email Brad Kimball   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
You have a valid point, John. I do agree with your "bridging" point. I would have preferred that Columbia and Ken went the direction Blackhawk did with having title cards with all the info on them prefacing the subject you were about to see. If they felt narration was still absolutely necessary then have it go over extended fades in and out between scenes when the screen would be dark and it wouldn't intrude on the action and dialogue in each scene. Then, perhaps, I could have simply 'wiped' it from the audio track altogether with the help of the RECORD button on the projector and some lessons in film editing.

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John Hourigan
Master Film Handler

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From: Colorado U.S.A.
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 - posted April 23, 2011 06:42 PM      Profile for John Hourigan   Email John Hourigan       Edit/Delete Post 
Agree with you, Brad. Makes sense. But I do steer clear of Columbia digests as a result of the narrator. I do have 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH which isn't too bad on the narrator front, but the narrator on SON OF JEKYLL sets up entirely too much story exposition for a digest that only runs 18 minutes!

At least the Ken Films narrator kept his yapper shut until the closing seconds of the digest (or at least the ones that I have).

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Tony Stucchio
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From: New Jersey
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 - posted April 24, 2011 07:43 PM      Profile for Tony Stucchio     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I have THE PROFESSIONALS -- no narrator. 200 foot THE SILENCERS -- no narrator. 400 foot THE SILENCERS -- I need to check that one again -- I got it years ago in a package of films, watched it about once, then put it away since I enjoyed the 200 footer much more. THE DEEP -- no narrator. Most of my digests are from U8 or Castle and of course there is no narrator.
CHRISTMAS CAROL has a narrator -- but it doesn't bother me. Same with THE AWFUL TRUTH.

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Brad Kimball
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1171
From: Highland Mills, NY USA
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 - posted April 25, 2011 10:35 PM      Profile for Brad Kimball   Email Brad Kimball   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I've always thought Columbia and Ken digests had the same narrator. Does anyone know for certain? I've also wondered who actually wrote the narration.

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David Kilderry
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From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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 - posted April 26, 2011 05:10 AM      Profile for David Kilderry   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The question Brad asks proves how much of an untold story there is regarding the history of Ken, Columbia, Fox etc digests. I'd love an in-depth history of these companies. The Castle one is good but there is so much more to tell.

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