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Author
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Topic: Goodwill To Men - 200ft Cineavision 'Scope cartoon
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Stuart Reid
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 720
From: Worthing, West Sussex, UK
Registered: Feb 2009
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posted July 30, 2016 07:07 AM
Ah, Christmas in July! Yes, I’ve just sat down on a boiling hot day, closed the curtains, laced up the Elmo and watched one of the most disturbing Christmas films you’ll ever see. Let me explain:
As a child my formative years were the 1980’s. And if there’s anything that a kid of the 80’s understood, it was that we were all going to be blown to kingdom come by an enormous nuclear attack at any moment. Nuclear proliferation seeped into all areas of entertainment. We had Threads and The Day After on television, When The Wind Blows in the cinema and even Frankie Goes To Hollywood managed to spread the feeling of nuclear gloom at the top of the music charts with Two Tribes which featured a remarkable video starring Reagan and Brezhnev lookalikes battering seven shades out of each other in a no-holds-barred wrestling contest.
So ingrained in our consciousness was this threat that I can clearly remember picking up my monthly copy of Movie Maker magazine as a precocious 14 year old and, in the reviews section seeing an article about an MGM cartoon that had just been released called “Goodwill To Men”. It was a remake of an earlier MGM ‘toon titled “Peace On Earth”, and like its predecessor took place on planet Earth years after mankind had wiped itself out by warring until there was nobody left.
Peace On Earth was released in 1939, as Europe plunged into a lengthy, horrific war. Baby squirrels ask their grandpa why they say “Peace On Earth and Goodwill To Men”; specifically asking what exactly were men? Grandpa tells them the story of the fighting and the bloodshed and how, when man died out, the animals found a bible and read the ten commandments, deciding that it was a “pretty good set of rules”.
As a remake, “Goodwill To Men” follows the pattern very closely, except this time we’re presented with a little mouse choir singing the titular song, who then ask their choir master about man. The same tricks that bring the story to life in the original film are also used here: as choirmaster mouse begins to tell the story we see his shadow morphing into a marching soldier, gun at the ready. What follows in both films is some stunning animation, some of the most heartbreaking and terrifying images I’ve seen in a film ostensibly aimed at the younger generation. Both versions employ a rotoscoping technique with some scenes, making the soldiers at war all too real. There are stunningly bright flashes, loud explosions and death, and this is where the two versions differ: In the original piece, there are just two men left on earth, each aiming his snipers’ rifle at the other. There is a gunshot, and another, and both men die, sinking into the muddy morass of the battlefield.
However, “Goodwill To Men” looks at the even deadlier arsenal available to warring nations just 16 years later, and in 1955 that of course meant the atomic bomb and the ability to wipe out entire cities with just a single explosion. In this version we see two menacing warplanes silhouetted against a grimy sky, depositing their deadly payload on those below, and now here is where the real technical difference in the films comes into play. By 1955, MGM were eager to show off their widescreen CinemaScope process and so made “Goodwill To Men” in that wide image. As one watches the two atomic explosions filling the ‘scope screen you truly feel unsettled, the hairs on the back of your neck standing up as if you’ve witnessed some horrific atrocity.
And then… peace. Both versions of the film end with the small animals again singing the hymn of the film’s title.
After reading the Movie Maker review I knew that I had to get hold of a copy, but as time passed and other things (Mainly girls) took over my life I gradually forgot about it. Then, when I took up serious film collecting I owned a print of the original film for many years, but still I always hankered after the ‘scope remake. Luckily enough I recently scored a print on eBay for an astonishingly low amount. I naturally feared the worst, expected the print to be horribly faded, and probably scratched and splicey, but still, at least I would get to see it!
And here’s the good news. I ran it today for the first time and I was delighted with it. The image is bright, full of contrast and has perhaps 5% fade, if that. The palette is predominantly a fierce brooding red, but blue is blue, green is green, and grey is grey. The print quality is beautiful, it’s clean, not grainy and even the beautifully animated falling flakes of snow are very clear, even in a tiny 8mm frame with my less-than-perfect scope lens. The audio is superb too, with real dynamic range; when the atomic bombs explode there is a real shuddering quality to them, while the voice of the choir is sweet and clear. Being an Animex Cineavision print it is in the correct aspect ratio, with masking not just at the sides but also top and bottom.
It's hard to say that I recommend this film, because nowadays I’m not sure to whom it would appeal. I wouldn’t feel comfortable subjecting very young children to it, but if you’re a fan of Fred Quimby produced animation and you’d like to watch something a bit different this festive season then I suggest you try and hunt down a print. If you’re like me it will remain a prized item in your collection.
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Osi Osgood
Film God
Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted July 30, 2016 11:18 AM
Nice to see the review, Stuart. I have the Derann re-issue and it is stunning. the only drawback (for me) is that it is not in the Cineavision process, so I'm loosing some information on the top and bottom of the frame.
The Cineavsion prints can be hit or miss when it comes to color. Nearly all of my Cineavision prints have either top notch a plus color (unfaded), but there are a few, such as my "Force 10 from Navarone" Cineavsion digest which has that "pinky
quality, but from what i have heard and read, this one was specifically on a stock that has not held up well period. All prints seem to be that way, on that title.
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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "
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Brian Fretwell
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1785
From: London, UK
Registered: Jun 2014
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posted August 01, 2016 05:06 PM
I've just run my Derann print of this. It is from a new Derann negative, their name is printed on the leader, and on the end it has CRI LO#26377, one reel cartoon on adjacent frames.
My print is on Agfa 1S and is missing quite a bit at the bottom as most of the word Technicolor on the MGM title slide is hard to read, more than half is not there. It is, as you would expect, showing first class colour and sharpness though a little dark in some scenes, but they are the night war ones so not a fault the church scenes are bright. The sound is a tad low but I think it well worth the £22.95 I paid for it, direct from Derann.
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Osi Osgood
Film God
Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted August 02, 2016 12:06 PM
Yes, I have noted that as well on the Derann scope cartoons. The MGM logo tends to be cut off a good deal as well on the top and bottom, not just on this cartoon, but on most of the other Derann scope cartoons as well.
Don't get me wrong, still nice to have them, but I certainly prefer the Cineavision scope cartoons, potential color fade and all.
I'll have to check and see if my print is the Red Fox print. Derann did get ahold of red Fox's films and negatives as well and did re=print many of Red Foxes titles, but, due to Derann's good form, would also put the red Fox logo on those Derann boxes, so kudo's to Derann for doing that.
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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "
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