8mm Forum: Straigh Jacket 400ft

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Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on December 04, 2016, 10:56 AM:

Well,this was a 400 footer i tried to get for a number of years. One did come up but unfortunately it had a low soundtrack with a weird amount of hiss & crackle, plus the end credit was missing, i suspect looking at Doug's image for the end Columbia logo with the head missing, (it's at the base),the previous owner decided to cut it off and keep it for what ever reason, replacing it it with a logo from another movie, he didn't even attempt to remove the music, it blasted out of the speakers. here,
http://8mmforum.film-tech.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000325
Well, here is my point, i read the review with interest & decided i must find one. The fault was fortunate as i had a reason to send it back but jeeeezzzz, this has got to be the very worst use of that narrator ever. The reviewer isn't kidding, to me, all joking aside this narration totally distracts a normal audience and ruins the film. If i was just going into super 8 and this was my first film i would jump straight out again and go digital. Up until i saw this the guns of navarone was the worst i had seen for pointless narration but this abridged version takes the biscuit. I couldn't even see a funny side to it.
I read the review with interest because i assume there are some collectors who enjoy the narration, we do have a number of Columbia digests where there is a small amount of it & this helps the movie, they are short and to the point. Another one that sticks out for pointless interruption is the part 2 reel of confessions of a driving instructor. Part one doesn't have any, yet part two he seems to go all out to be annoying and pointless, as for the attempt at being funny, Forget it.
I know this subject has cropped up now and again but i had to put my point across on this 400 footer as it Wins my Oscar for being the most annoying 400 ft film released on Super 8. Also the most ruined. If it was done properly it wouldn't have needed him at all. [Wink]

Posted by Carter Bradley (Member # 984) on December 04, 2016, 04:54 PM:

Hi Tom. My print of "Straight Jacket" also has a very low soundtrack with muffled bass and the hiss you described. Fortunately my copy does have the creative end Columbia logo with the decapitated head. Talk about inappropriate, if my memory serves me correctly, the farm hand character is introduced by the narrator as being played by (actor) George Kennedy. Not that the film was totally believable up until that point, by it certainly intrudes on the storyline. I think that ranks with the huge narration mistake of referring to Boris Karloff's character in Ken Films' digest of "The Crimson Cult" as "Mr. Boris!"

Posted by Paul Suchy (Member # 80) on December 04, 2016, 05:08 PM:

Hey Tom, the 200 footer has no narration and a great quality image. The sound is good, but the sound editing is very choppy (get it?).

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on December 06, 2016, 12:46 PM:

That sounds better Paul. The 400 footer is a waste of space in every way. An insult to the cine collector.

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on December 06, 2016, 01:17 PM:

I struck lucky with my 400' in terms of print and sound (and even a good condition original box) and I have to be honest and say it's one of my favourite 400' versions! I'm fairly neutral about the use of narrators as they can be entertaining at times, and in this instance I find the film so enjoyably over the top - in the tradition of director William Castle, the great showman of horror - that the narrator just adds to the craziness! So if that sounds like your cup of tea, I'd still suggest seeking out a copy.

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