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Topic: Castle Box Error - Surprising
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Kurt Gardner
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 193
From: San Antonio, TX
Registered: Aug 2005
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posted May 15, 2009 11:28 PM
As a collector of super 8mm in the 1970s when U8 took over from Castle, I must say in their defense that the "Andy Warhol" art was created to attract audiences that were burned out by the syndication of the old films on TV stations all across the country and the tired old Castle box art that could be found at Kmarts, camera shops and drug stores everywhere.
Keep in mind that Universal condensations represented a high watermark of their time (Columbia had cheesy narration and Ken Films were touch and go). Meanwhile, Universal did a truly magnificent job of telescoping its films; most famously, "Jaws" was distilled into seven memorable minutes and timed with its release into theatres (contributing, I think, to its status as the "first blockbuster"). And U8 offered two of its films in 3D as well as the Howard Hughes productions )"Scarface," "Hell's Angels," etc.) in full-length versions when such things were unheard of, except by Blackhawk and public domain operations likes Niles Film Products.
I agree, the subtitle "This Planet Earth" is a careless mistake, probably created by an overburdened designer, but even Castle had its problems. As pointed out in another thread in this forum, both "Bride of Frankenstein" and "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" feature the same shot of Glenn Strange gesturing placatingly into the upper right corner of the box (either Elsa Lanchester or the comedy duo, depending). It was a matter of expediency and ease of printing back in the day.
So let's not be too quick to bash U8. Even though most of their prints are pink today, remember the glory!
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James N. Savage 3
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1375
From: Washington, DC
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted May 16, 2009 07:31 AM
I appreciate all of the insights on the Castle / Universal 8 legacy.
I especially agree with Kurt's comments about Universal 8. In some ways, they were a class above the other super 8 companies at that time.
Let's talk about the 1x400 and 2x400 foot digests that were released in the late 70's. Of the several that I own, the editing is just amazing. The scene transitions are smooth, and they always include parts of the beginning and ending credits, which really does give the digests a feeling of completion. Other companies at the time would forfit the credits, thinking it would waste footage, but it would end up giving the digest an "incomplete" feel.
Another thing was the overall quality of the film itself. While films from other companies would tend to be a little "jittery" running through the projector, U-8's would ride through so smoothly. And, as for picture quality, there was never a hint of grain. Its so ironic that the U-8's seem to have the worst problem with turning red, because the prints were so beautiful back then.
As far as the box art on the older releases, I think Kurt pinned it just right. Remember, back in the 70's, the classic Universal horror movies had been on shelves and catalogs for many years, and most people were looking for newer stuff at the time. So re-packaging made sense. Its only now that we recognize the original Castle boxes for the beauty that they are. Also, as stated, Universal horror movies were on T.V. ALL THE TIME back then, so they werent as collectable as they are today.
The problem I did have with U-8, however, was some of the choices of what they released and didn't release. But, that could be said for any of the companies, and its really just a matter of taste.
Great discussion. Input, anyone?
James.
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Joe Caruso
Film God
Posts: 4105
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted May 16, 2009 02:10 PM
As I've said countless times, the Castle boxes were/are the epitome of poster art, and well-deserve their rightful space in ephemra collecting - The U-8 covers were almost distorted xeroxes, awkward to maintain because I simply hated the 'clamshell' look - The 5X5 cardboard novelties displayed superb color renderings which rival the better paper collectibles, I say. I've stuck to and remained steadfastly loyal to Castle Films for that reason, and the fact that all the Universal releases looked so darn good, cause the pre-print was all from their own vaults - Same for Blackhawk, they obtained only the finest and I swear by their quality for what they released - People tell me all the time I was right in collecting these little boxes (many laughed, waste of time and all, now it's a different tune they sing) And to them I say 'Told Ya' - They are excellent films though, aren't they? - Great time to show them on a summer evening - Shorty
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Osi Osgood
Film God
Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted May 16, 2009 07:13 PM
I reiterate everything stated thus far. Castle/Universal 8 did a very good job with nearly all of thier releases. Sometimes a release might have come out due to good box office, which would perhaps bring them to assume that there was an audience for them already. In most cases, they were right.
The editing (I think) was just about the best, but the image quality was absolutely great. I think the three highest companies for quality control, (and, as Joe stated, due to thier own negatives being used) was Castle/U8, Disney, and Blackhawk, each the number one in thier particular niche.
Disney, animation ...
U8, Monster classics and others ...
Blackhawk, for early classics.
Though MGM's titles were great, they tended to have a rather grainy quality overall. Ken films suffered the same grainy fate as well.
One of my favorite 2X400 digests to this date, is "JAWS".
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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "
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John Hourigan
Master Film Handler
Posts: 301
From: Colorado U.S.A.
Registered: Sep 2003
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posted May 19, 2009 12:32 PM
Totally agree with Kurt regarding Universal 8. With the exceptions of some of the A&C 400 footers in which they basically spliced two 200 footers together, I found their 400-foot (or should I say 370-foot?) condensations much more satisfying than their 200-foot brethren. That's not a slap against Castle's expert editing job on the 200 footers, but I found 17 minutes to be a much better length than 7 or 8 minutes. And, frankly, many of the 17-minute condensations are better than the source feature film itself (such as DRACULA, the MUMMY sequels, etc.).
While I appreciate the "boxes" argument in terms of Castle vs. Universal 8, for me it's a moot point. All things considered, the proof is in the pudding -- that is, the quality of the film digest itself -- and I've never felt that Universal 8 got its just credit. And let's be honest -- there aren't many Super 8 releases from that time frame that really stood out in terms of print quality any way.
If I have a problem with Universal 8, it's with their later releases, particularly the "2x400"-foot digests that interestingly enough could somehow fit on a 600-foot reel! I also found the editing on their later releases (e.g., BLUES BROTHERS, etc.)to be extremely "choppy" -- but that's probably because the halcyon days of Super 8 were about to draw to a close and Universal 8 probably sensed that and didn't worry as much about the quality of the editing.
But overall, I always jump at the chance to acquire a Universal 8 400 footer of any of the Universal monster classics.
[ May 19, 2009, 03:14 PM: Message edited by: John Hourigan ]
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