8mm Forum: High Society

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Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on March 31, 2007, 03:37 PM:

High Society MGM 1956
120 mins, 2400ft, color
Derann films

High Society was the big MGM moneymaker for 1956. The film is a musical remake of an earlier MGM film, the 1943 ‘The Philadelphia Story’ starring Kathryn Hepburn and Cary Grant.
The musical remake has a glittering cast, including Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Grace Kelly and Celeste Holm. Providing much of the musical back up is the inimitable Louis ‘Satchmo’ Armstrong.
Set in Newport Rhode Island at the occasion of the famed Newport Jazz Festival, the story is typically light fare for musical pictures, concerning the efforts of Dexter Haven (Bing) to recapture his former socialite wife Samantha(Kelly) on the eve of her second wedding. Sinatra and Celeste Holm are reporters sent by ‘Spy Magazine’ to cover this important social event. There are some amusing scenes throughout the film, Bing is his usual cool, laid back self, Sinatra has his eyes focussed on the icily beautiful Kelly, and the musical numbers fit very well into the story, with many Cole Porter numbers which have now become standards, such as 'Samantha', 'True Love', 'You're Sensational'. . But there are two absolute knockout numbers for which this film is always remembered, the brilliant 'That's Jazz' with Crosby and Armstrong, and the wonderful ‘ 'Well Did You Evah' sung by Bing and a slightly intoxicated Sinatra, set in the lavish bar and library of Kelly's mansion home.

The Derann S8 print of this film is generally excellent. Definition and focus is pin sharp throughout. My only complaint was a tendency towards the blue end of the color spectrum in some scenes, and some slightly washed out interior scenes mainly in the second half of the first reel of the film. But most of the film looks stunning with great contrast and rich colors, and the film always looks great through all the important musical numbers. The original film format was Vistavision, so there must be some left and right cropping of the picture frame going on, but you are never aware of this at all, there are no ‘half people’ in any of the scenes, and I don’t think there is any panning and scanning. Interesting note, you can just see the horizontal perfs of the original Vistavision print if you run up the frame line during the opening MGM logo, and the shadow of a boom microphone is clearly visible in one of the interior scenes.
The mono sound track was disappointing. Do what I did, and re-record in stereo from the DVD to get superb stereo renditions of those great Porter numbers.

Print A
Sound B (mono)
Very highly recommended

2 x 400ft Digest MGM
This film was also released by MGM in a 2 x 400ft double album version. This is a really superb digest with all the musical numbers played out in their entirety. Print quality is needle sharp and the mono sound is very good. The original color was excellent, but unfortunately my digest print has faded badly, so don’t buy a digest print unless you are sure the color is still good. But very highly recommended if you can still find a good one.

[ April 01, 2007, 08:53 AM: Message edited by: Paul Adsett ]

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on April 02, 2007, 04:04 AM:

Paul
Excellent review, I have the 2/400ft version unfortunately much of it has faded, one part which wasen't to bad I did manage to salvage, was the number True Love with Bing and Grace, and use it as a musical short added into a film programme so not all was lost.

Graham.

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on April 02, 2007, 09:18 AM:

Hi Graham,
You might wan't to try dubbing that digest section in stereo. I did that as a test before re-recording the feature length film, and the results were excellent, adding a whole new depth to those great musical numbers.

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on April 03, 2007, 02:28 PM:

Thanks Paul
I will give it a go later this week.

Regards Graham.

Posted by Burton Sundquist (Member # 5813) on April 28, 2019, 08:59 AM:

Great review Paul. I waited over two years before I was fortunate to acquire a print. The musical numbers are enjoyable,
and the stars are magnificent, Grace Kelly a standout. The print is very good in sharpness and color and the mono track delivers better than expected. I agree this is a top-notch MGM Musical, With a great cast of stars, wonderful songs and the Derann Super 8 release is spectacular. Thanks Paul for the review and Thanks Ian for the lovely print!

[ April 28, 2019, 04:33 PM: Message edited by: Burton Sundquist ]

Posted by Leon Norris (Member # 3151) on April 30, 2019, 03:31 PM:

Looks good Burt! What a print its looks so sharp and the color is just plain excellent! That makes a great combination!

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