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Author Topic: Narration on Digests
David Ollerearnshaw
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1373
From: Penistone Sheffield UK
Registered: Oct 2012

- posted May 05, 2014 03:48 PM      Profile for David Ollerearnshaw   Author's Homepage   Email David Ollerearnshaw   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Been watching a few of my cut-downs/digests, from both UK & US distributors. The only ones I have that have narration on are the American releases. Columbia's have them. Cat Ballou for some reason had to have one when Stubby Kaye & Nat King Cole were telling the story, if fact the narrator talks over them telling you the same thing. Also Ken Films the Fox releases not sure about their other ones like AIP.

MGM, Universal and Paramount never had them to my knowledge.

It proberly would have been OK to fill in plot holes that were missing, but a lot of the narrations was pointless. In fact sometimes they were even describing what you could see on the screen.

Did any UK releases have any narration?

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I love the smell of film in the morning.

http://www.thereelimage.co.uk/

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Brad Kimball
Phenomenal Film Handler

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From: Highland Mills, NY USA
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- posted May 05, 2014 08:28 PM      Profile for Brad Kimball   Email Brad Kimball   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The only KEN digests that didn't have narration, that I own, are "Poseidon Adventure", "3 Musketeers", and the "Apes" digests. All the others I have all have narration. I wonder if COLUMBIA amd KEN did this for copyright reasons. This way, if their digests were used in any kind of non-home use environment - these two entities could immediately identify that their products were being used in violation of their copyright policies. Funny how UNIVERSAL, MGM nor WARNER BROS. never felt the need for added narration.

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Tom Photiou
Film God

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From: Plymouth U.K
Registered: Dec 2003

- posted May 06, 2014 06:15 AM      Profile for Tom Photiou     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
One of the worst ones, and it ruined the film, was The Guns of Navarone, there seemed to be as much narration as there was film track, I think the term "when suddenly" was used at least twice, the first time I saw it I laughed it was so bad.

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Lee Bombard
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 139
From: Santa Clarita, CA, USA
Registered: May 2013

- posted May 06, 2014 09:34 AM      Profile for Lee Bombard   Email Lee Bombard   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I've had several prints of "The Poseidon Adventure." One had narration and another one didn't...

Other than the narration they were identical.

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Jim Schrader
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From: Savage, MN, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

- posted May 06, 2014 10:18 AM      Profile for Jim Schrader   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
My Columbia film I recently sold "creature with atom brain" which had edited out the narration whoever did it did a good job maybe cut out 8 minutes total and the story was still intact.

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jim schrader
"Let's see “do I have that title already?"

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Osi Osgood
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From: Mountian Home, ID.
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- posted May 06, 2014 11:50 AM      Profile for Osi Osgood   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Never liked the nararation. It seems to me that if you are going to shell out the big cash to buy a 200ft or 400ft digest, your already associated enough with the film to know what's going to happen or not happen next.

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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David Ollerearnshaw
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From: Penistone Sheffield UK
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- posted May 06, 2014 02:41 PM      Profile for David Ollerearnshaw   Author's Homepage   Email David Ollerearnshaw   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
It does seem that only titles from US companies had narration. Mountain Films here in the UK were only the agents for Ken & Columbia releases, although they did print them here.

I believe Capital Films were also involved in Columbia releases before Mountain took over.

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I love the smell of film in the morning.

http://www.thereelimage.co.uk/

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Patrick Walsh
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From: Christchurch, New Zealand
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- posted May 07, 2014 05:26 AM      Profile for Patrick Walsh   Email Patrick Walsh   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
My Poseidon Adventure digests 400ft and 200ft have a voice-over.
I know Ken's Titanic digests do not have it.

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"Raise The Titanic!", It would of been cheaper to lower the Atlantic!

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James N. Savage 3
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From: Washington, DC
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- posted May 07, 2014 10:20 AM      Profile for James N. Savage 3     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
On many Ken releases, they would put narration on the 200 foot, but not the 400 foot counterpart. One example is "Coffy". On the 200 foot version, towards the end of the film, the bad guys drive Coffy (Pam Grier) to a parking lot at night to finish her off. The narrator states- "Omar's orders are to KILL Coffy....but he wants his THRILLS first!" It's obvious what he's talking about, and it always got big laughs from the audience. (Of course, Coffy took matters into her own hands, and Omar didn't stand a chance). [Wink]

James

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Dominique De Bast
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- posted May 07, 2014 12:09 PM      Profile for Dominique De Bast   Email Dominique De Bast   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
David gave me the explaination of this topic. I have no digest with narration (nor in French nor in English), so I was not sure I was not missing something. No,I know it is only on prints made for the American market.

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Dominique

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David Ollerearnshaw
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From: Penistone Sheffield UK
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- posted May 07, 2014 03:26 PM      Profile for David Ollerearnshaw   Author's Homepage   Email David Ollerearnshaw   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Dominique. Looking at the replies it seems that only US release had narration.

The only ones I have with narration although printed in the UK are the Columbia titles from Mountain, and the Ken Films also Mountain in the UK.

Although some UK releases could have had narration none that I have any.

It does seem that only titles in English had narration. I have the German version of The Bridge On The River Kwai (400ft scope) this does not have any narration.

It seems that the European countries had their own deals with Columbia & Fox.

Your not missing anything if your films don't have any narration, most of the time it added nothing to them. Possibly spoiled them.

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I love the smell of film in the morning.

http://www.thereelimage.co.uk/

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Dominique De Bast
Film God

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From: Brussels, Belgium
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- posted May 07, 2014 03:57 PM      Profile for Dominique De Bast   Email Dominique De Bast   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I plently agree with you, David, about the fact that narration would have been regarded in Europe as an alteration of the film. Without this thread I would had never been aware that they added that in the US.

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Dominique

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Marshall Crist
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From: San Pedro, CA USA
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- posted July 23, 2015 06:35 PM      Profile for Marshall Crist   Email Marshall Crist   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Just got the 4x200' version of GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD. The narration is RELENTLESS. I hope Columbia got a lot of returned product on this title. (The scene selection is pretty crappy, too.)

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Larry Arpin
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- posted July 24, 2015 12:14 AM      Profile for Larry Arpin   Author's Homepage   Email Larry Arpin   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Marshall-There are 2 different versions of GOLDEN VOYAGE and different quality. I believe, from memory, the contrasty one starts in the middle of the film. The other, a little colorless one, started from the beginning.

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Steve Carter
Master Film Handler

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From: Bristol, UK
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- posted July 24, 2015 04:49 AM      Profile for Steve Carter     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Reel two of 'Confessions of a Driving Instructor' has endless narration, which is not needed, and if I remember a faux British accent is used, and it's very annoying...

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Marshall Crist
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From: San Pedro, CA USA
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- posted July 24, 2015 07:17 AM      Profile for Marshall Crist   Email Marshall Crist   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Larry, would you happen to know which version of GOLDEN VOYAGE was issued first?

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Douglas Warren
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From: West Chester, OH, USA
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- posted July 24, 2015 07:49 AM      Profile for Douglas Warren     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The dreaded Columbia narrator!Not sure why they felt the need for such endless (and unneeded) narration on their prints.It's a shame really since they offered many interesting titles at the time.

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Tom Photiou
Film God

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From: Plymouth U.K
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- posted July 24, 2015 01:39 PM      Profile for Tom Photiou     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
One of the worst was The guns of Navarone, it was embarrassing to show any audience other than myself.
Now i have acquired the 400 footer of Butch Cassidy and the sundance kid & found this one to have annoying narration, so i will probably be selling it on. I think it completely ruins it, especially right at the end when they come out shooting, why did those tossers ruin the end of of such a classic ending. [Mad]

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Dominique De Bast
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- posted July 24, 2015 01:47 PM      Profile for Dominique De Bast   Email Dominique De Bast   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I have never heard of any digest in French with narration (and I was Lucky I never encounter one in English neither). I would be surprised there had been narration on German, Spanish or Italian prints.

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Dominique

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Brian Fretwell
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- posted July 24, 2015 04:36 PM      Profile for Brian Fretwell   Email Brian Fretwell   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The only one I have that I remember having narration is "Lawrence of Arabia" annoying but I suppose it does have to cram more than most into 17 minutes as the film ran from 216 - 228 minutes depending on the cut.

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Timothy Ramzyk
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From: Milwaukee,WI,USA
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- posted July 25, 2015 01:32 AM      Profile for Timothy Ramzyk   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I hate the narration thing, I didn't know it was so prevalent.

The only film I had it on was the 200ft. Ken Films digest of THE RAVEN, and it adds nothing.
In fact it falsely reinterprets the final shot on the reel. I think I actually owned this digest, prior to having ever seen the feature, SPOILER so I was surprised when Karloff and Hazel Court emerge from the rubble and aren't dead as the cut-down's narrator suggests.

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Tom Photiou
Film God

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From: Plymouth U.K
Registered: Dec 2003

- posted July 25, 2015 02:35 AM      Profile for Tom Photiou     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I recently bought the 400 footer of the detective with Frank Sinatra. This one also has it and is also quite annoying. If it's needed you wouldn't mind but sometimes it's so pointless and often states the obvious. On this particular title I can put up with it but sundance kid is completely spoilt right at the end which as I said before is probably one of the most well known movie endings. Just as they run out and the film freezes to the sound of the gunfire the narrator comments “they ran into the history books“ geeeess. It really is annoying.

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Douglas Warren
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From: West Chester, OH, USA
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- posted July 25, 2015 08:11 AM      Profile for Douglas Warren     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I've been tempted on a few to just erase the soundtrack and add music from the feature itself.That may sound radical,but I think with some of the extreme examples with narration it would probably make the digests more enjoyable.

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Turn out the lights,the movie is starting!

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Marshall Crist
Master Film Handler

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From: San Pedro, CA USA
Registered: Oct 2008

- posted July 25, 2015 10:16 AM      Profile for Marshall Crist   Email Marshall Crist   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The SINBAD abridgement I have would be improved 1000% by re-recording the original audio over the narration.

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Larry Arpin
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From: Sunland, CA, USA
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- posted July 25, 2015 02:11 PM      Profile for Larry Arpin   Author's Homepage   Email Larry Arpin   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I believe the contrasty one came first that started in the middle. However, it's been many years. I believe it started with 'Idol with many arms'.

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