8mm Forum: The Poseidon Adventure

This is topic The Poseidon Adventure in forum General Yak at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on January 06, 2010, 07:14 PM:

A long long time ago in a galaxy far far away.....well it does seem like it I bought my first new 400ft film "The Poseidon Adventure" back then it was really something just to own a film that was greater than 200ft. Although I always thought the end was a bit sudden overall the digest was very good. I sold my copy years ago and I can only guess that like so many Ken films from that era that it has probably faded by now...anyone still got a print?

Last night we watched the DVD version on a Sanyo Z1 video projector and really enjoyed it.

hanging on...a young Eric Shea on the bridge with Leslie Nielsen

The model work back in 1972 when this film was made is still very good.

Missing in this amazing shot is Gene Hackman and Roddy McDowall, director Ronald Neame really did put his cast through grime, fire and water with many doing there own stunts...even after 38 years since it was made its still nice to watch movies like this again.

Final escape.
One thing about this movie [Roll Eyes]

is that I am glad they never showed it on the old " SS Australis" when I came out here in 1973, likewise for a short return visit in her in late 1974.. the old girl really did "roll around" [Eek!]

in rough weather.

Graham.

Posted by Bill Phelps (Member # 1431) on January 06, 2010, 07:24 PM:

Graham...I have the 400' Ken.

It's faded...but still fun. They had a little room to stretch out the end because it's not a full reel but I realize this was a cost factor.

Your screen shots look good. Makes me want to watch the whole film.

On a seperate note...last night before I went to bed I watched a DVD I have of an old TV show called Tales of Tomorrow. The episode I watched was called "Appointment on Mars" starring a very young Leslie Nielsen!

Bill

Posted by Patrick Walsh (Member # 637) on January 06, 2010, 08:18 PM:

Ahhh THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE!
One of my favs, I have the 200ft and 400ft of this title, and I have the honour of owning a 16mm scope print as well! [Big Grin]

The large model of the POSEIDON (Queen Mary) is still around today and is on display somewhere, it is driven by 4 golf cart motors and floats by it'self, the fox special effects dept did themselve's prowd!
[Wink]

I believe that it is on blueray?

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on January 06, 2010, 09:28 PM:

Best part of The Poseidon Adventure is Stella Stevens! [Smile]

Posted by Patrick Walsh (Member # 637) on January 06, 2010, 10:19 PM:

Your right there Paul! [Wink]

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on January 07, 2010, 12:29 PM:

Hi Bill
Pity about the colour, I might keep an eye out for a Super8 print though I wouldn't mind watching it again. [Smile]

Pat
The only version I can find that is due for Blu-ray release is the 2006 one thats due out in April. The original 1972 I think, would be better so here is hoping [Smile]

One thing that really stood out was the top cast that Ronald Neame put together. I am not sure but was "The Poseidon Adventure" the first film in a line of disaster films that Irwin Allen produced?

Graham.

PS. Does anyone own or know the hit tune that was played at the time? [Roll Eyes]

cant remember the exact name of it.

Posted by Patrick Walsh (Member # 637) on January 07, 2010, 02:16 PM:

"Theres Got To Be A Morning After"
Yes I believe that this film was Irwin's first in a long line of disaster films through the 70s and into the early 80s, I think the last being BEYOND THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE with Michael Caine!
A friend of mine in the USA used to work at Fox in the 1960s and was assistant special effects director for Irwin on his TV shows LOST IN SPACE etc, and he sad that Irwin always wanted to make a TITANIC film but the studio was not to keen as they already had made one, but however he managed to get the TITANIC in some way in his first episode of THE TIME TUNNEL which used the sets from Fox's 1953 Titanic as well as all the special effects shots.
I also have THE TOWERING INFERNO and I believe that that and POSEIDON are his best work, and have a cast of stars that is excellent.

Posted by Greg Marshall (Member # 1268) on January 07, 2010, 05:59 PM:

"Air pockets?!?!?!"

Posted by Douglas Meltzer (Member # 28) on January 07, 2010, 06:24 PM:

"I'm sorry, sir, but Charley, the third engineer, he told me that by the shaft, the hull was only one-inch thick."

"Look, do you know how thick one inch of steel is?"

"It's one inch less than two inches."

"We're climbing up! All of us!"

Doug

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on January 08, 2010, 12:46 PM:

Excellent Doug [Smile]

Thats what is called positive thinking [Smile]

I think the dialogue was more colourful than what we hear these days "pity" The one big mistake in "The Poseidon Adventure" was when Leslie Nielsen orders hard left instead of hard to port. I wonder if it was a delibrate mistake or written that way for the cinema audience of the time so they undestood what was going on the bridge. The Poseidon Adventure is a film that has stood up really well over the years and thats due mainly to the excellent cast.

Graham.

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on January 08, 2010, 01:18 PM:

It's funny, when you looked at Leslie Nielsen back in those days he was just the stock actor they installed to say the gravely serious lines. For this reason he was barely noticable.

Doctor Rumack made him who he is today!

(I am serious, and stop calling me Shirley!)

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on May 17, 2012, 04:11 AM:

Well folks, I picked up the "Blu-ray" version today and watched it tonight. The picture quality as with the new 4.0 DTS-HD-MA soundtrack is excellent. The picture quality itself, is way better than the DVD and well worth replacing it with the Blu-ray. Heaps of extras as well, highly recommend this one. [Smile]

Graham.

Posted by Luis Caramelo (Member # 2430) on May 17, 2012, 04:35 AM:

hi! Ritchie,i have the poseidon adventure my print still holds good color,it,s a good digest from ken films,i get also,the seven ups,tora!tora!tora!,sky riders,butch cassidy and the sundance kid,just a few of my favorits digets well edited from ken films,i wish you lucky in find a good print with good color

regards;
luis caramelo

Posted by Jonathan Trevithick (Member # 3066) on May 17, 2012, 06:27 AM:

Hi Graham. I picked up the blu-ray last week. Great quality. My only criticism with the transfer is that, in my opinion, as the picture definition has increased from dvd to blu-ray, the ship model shots seem to look less real.

Posted by Hugh Thompson Scott (Member # 2922) on May 17, 2012, 08:04 AM:

A good story well told and played out on the screen by a well
trained cast,will stand the test of time,unlike a lot of todays
product.

Posted by Pasquale DAlessio (Member # 2052) on May 17, 2012, 03:20 PM:

I also have the 400' digest of Poseidon and the color has help up well.

Posted by Colin Robert Hunt (Member # 433) on May 17, 2012, 03:39 PM:

Hi Graham. This film was really a injoyment for me when it was first released. Ronald Neame was a brilient man and the 400ft print on 8mm was not a bad cutdown and the colour on release was very good. Watched this recently on digital television and this print was very good and had the build up that lacked in the digest. Still a great film now and better than the recent remake on all levels. The Towering Inferno another great film that had so many stars and some in there last years on screen. Still watchable after 40 years and a great film music score.

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on May 17, 2012, 06:47 PM:

Nice to here that colour wise some of the 400ft digests have held up well. Its unfortunate that the Ken films that came out here have faded.

Regarding the Blu-ray, its well worth watching the movie again, this time with the added commentary by Pamela Sue Martin, Stella Stevens and Carol Lynley. Its really interesting.

Graham.

Posted by James N. Savage 3 (Member # 83) on May 17, 2012, 08:28 PM:

"The Posiedon Adventure" was my very first 400 foot color/sound super 8 movie. I saved 6 months of allowance and small jobs to get it, and I got my monies-worth, completely!

Speaking of the full-length feature, my absolute favorite thing about the movie is the build-up before the wave hits. Once the captain is interupted at the new-years-eve dinner by the blinking red light (never a good sign) and called to the bridge, the tension slowly builds. I love the way the scenes keep going back and forth, from the loud party where everyone is celebrating, then, to the bridge, quiet, dark, grim news, everyone looking scared...Then, party, laughter. Back and forth, building up to when the captain puts the binoculars up to his face, then.....

Oh, and there's NOTHING like seeing that wave on a big cinemascope screen in a crowded theater. I think everyone ducted under the seat in front of them for a moment [Smile]

.

Sorry, ok, I'm getting carried away.

James.

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on May 18, 2012, 05:34 PM:

It was interesting to note that amazing stunt, also in the Super8 400 footer as well, were the person falls from the upside down table onto a glass lighted ceiling, was done not with a stunt man but an actor who was asked if he would do it by director Ronald Neame. His name Ernie Orsatti, when you watch that fall the actor really had guts "even though he was shown what to do and how to fall" to go ahead and do it.

Graham.

Posted by James N. Savage 3 (Member # 83) on May 18, 2012, 07:27 PM:

Wow- that really is amazing! That was quite a fall, and he landed perfectly.

Another thing about the digest- I was so glad they kept that part of the scene in the digest. The scene ends perfectly, showing the exterior of the ship, now completely upside down, and the lights then going dark, and a brief moment of silence.

See, your getting me started again.......

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on May 28, 2012, 01:07 AM:

James I think he was initially offered $100 for doing it, however director Ronald Neame did increase it a bit to the sum of... $150, sounds a bit on the low side.

Graham.

Posted by Mark L Barton (Member # 1512) on May 29, 2012, 10:06 AM:

Ernie Orsatti went on to be a stuntman, appearing in Allens next disaster film, The Towering Inferno , as a fire fighter.

I remember seeing The Poseidon Adventure on its first run in 1972 at the old Concorde Cinema in Eastville, Bristol. UK. I did have the 16mm print, long sold to a fellow collector in the USA (should'nt have done that) I do have quite a bit of memorabiliy, including the original quad poster (worth several hundred ££s nowadays) and the even rarer double feature poster, The Poseidon Adventure and Skyriders. I do have two 400 foot prints of The Poseidon Adventure , both F18 from Fox with the dire felt tip cover art. One has a green card slip case the other yellow, and I'm sure one of these 400's as a narrator's voice over!? Really must run both prints but its way to hot at the moment in England to be in a drak stuffy room (I know shame on me) What a pity TPA only turned up at its longest as a 400 footer, how cool would a 3 x400 edition have been, think the 3x400 Towering Inferno mini feature, runs about 50 mins and is very well edited. Oh and as a final bit of dullness from me, I still have the 45rpm vinyl single of Maureeen McGovern singing "The Morning After" from the motion picture, The Poseidon Adventure, bought for me in the same year of the films release.. Strange as McGovern did'nt sing the song in the film , the over dubbing of Carol Lynley was sung by Renee Amand.

Dammit Man the Poseidons' too fine a lady to be rushed to the scrap yard on her final voyage!

Posted by Chris Fries (Member # 2719) on June 02, 2012, 03:06 AM:

One of my all time favorites. "The Poseidon Adventure" celebrates it's 40th anniversary this year.

As they used to say while promoting it on local late night TV years ago, "If you've only seen it once, you haven't seen it at all."

I honestly don't know how many times I have seen it. In fact, I just watched it again on DVD a few nights ago. I also know the 400' S8 by heart. I must have borrowed it dozens of times before I bought it from our library 25 years ago.

A few years ago I picked up another copy on eBay. I was surprised to find it was not the same film. It had (useless) narration! I recently picked up the 200' which is also narrated. It makes more sense to narrate the 8 min. version. I am also watching a B&W silent 200' on on eBay right now. I hope I get it. Why not? What I would love to find is a copy of the film on 16mm. That and a 400' S8 that's not faded! I have four and they are all pretty red.

About ten years ago, there was a sci-fi convention in Cleveland. I met and talked with Stella Stevens, Carol Lynley and Pamela Sue Martin. They signed my laserdisc jacket. I framed it and placed it on the wall next to my original one sheet.

I was in California a few years ago and yes, I visited the Queen Mary. It was awesome! I even paid extra for the ghost tour. That was the only way to see the pool and the boiler room.

On a side note, I picked up the Wal-Mart exclusive blu-ray about a month ago. There was something wrong with it so I took it back and got another one. Same problem. When I watch it on my Samsung, some sound is missing. I first noticed it when Nonnie (Carol Lynley as voiced by Renee Armand) is rehearsing "The Morning After". She is moving her lips but there is no singing, just music. And there are a few other places where dialog disappears. I have not had this problem with any other bluray disc. I updated the firmware but that did not help. Anyone else have this problem?

[ June 07, 2012, 07:40 AM: Message edited by: Chris Fries ]

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on June 04, 2012, 12:10 AM:

Hi Chris

I double checked my Blu-ray, as I could not remember having any such problems. The rehearsal with Roddy McDowall looking on is fine, with the song "vocals" The Morning After being sung. Only instrumental bit was later on at the New Years party and that only comes in later after the vocals, as the actors begin to talk at the table.

Graham.

Posted by Patrick Walsh (Member # 637) on June 04, 2012, 03:43 AM:

i must dig out my 16mm print and give it a run, also got a behinds the scenes doco on it on 16mm somewhere!, A great film and the effects in it are the best!

Posted by David Kilderry (Member # 549) on June 04, 2012, 11:15 PM:

Did I tell you about the time I chatted to both Stella Stevens and Carol Lynley about The Poseidon Adventure? Did I mention they both signed my Poseidon Adventure poster?

The 400ft Super 8 is one of the best Ken put out.

Posted by Chris Fries (Member # 2719) on June 05, 2012, 06:02 PM:

That is so cool, David. They are both very nice ladies. Carol Lynley told me story about Irwin Allen's original idea for a sequel. The six survivors are sent to Vienna to take part in the official inquiry regarding the Poseidon disaster. They take a train to get there. The train crashes in a tunnel and the survivors have to find a way out. Quite a different story compared to what became "Beyond The Poseidon Adventure".

Patrick, you have a 16mm print?! Is it scope? Flat? Faded? How much do you want for it? [Smile]

Here is a video of my "Poseidon Adventure" collection.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LgHwtdaFFw

Posted by Tom A. Pennock (Member # 202) on June 19, 2012, 05:11 PM:

Hi Mark Barton:

You sold the 16mm print of "The Poseidon Adventure" to me here in the States on late Fugi. I continue to treasure it. I have the Blu Ray but like real film the best!

How are you doing? Let me know.

Best, Tom Pennock

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on June 21, 2012, 07:38 PM:

Still the best two things about The Poseidon Adventure !... [Big Grin]

[ June 22, 2012, 09:54 AM: Message edited by: Paul Adsett ]

Posted by Panayotis A. Carayannis (Member # 1220) on June 22, 2012, 01:29 AM:

I AGREE !!!

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on June 25, 2013, 02:29 AM:

Came across this neat photo of the "SS Poseidon" model that was used in the 1972 movie. Its on display at the Los Angles Maratime Museum...anyone been there?

Posted by David M. Ballew (Member # 1818) on June 25, 2013, 04:50 AM:

My buddy Mike and I both love puns, the more tragic the better.

Some years ago when the Movieland Wax Museum in Buena Park, California, closed its doors, I made several farewell visits. Mike, being a native of Southern California, had been there many times himself. In a phone conversation, he asked me what I thought of the old place.

“I love it,” I told him, “but they do have some fairly ancient displays in there. They’ve got a diorama of The Poseidon Adventure that looks like it’s been there since 1972.”

“Yeah,” he deadpanned, “I guess you could say they don’t have a lot of turnover.”

The game was on! “Don’t get me wrong, Mike. I loved it. You might even say it turned my world upside down.”

“You sound like you really flipped over it.”

We were both laughing like fools at this point. Then I told him,

“Yeah, but they really should have depicted that scene right after Stella Stevens dies, when Ernest Borgnine starts weeping and bawling his eyes out. Ask me why.”

I sensed a certain hesitance on his end. “Why?”

“Mike... there’s got to be a mourning actor.”

True story.

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on June 25, 2013, 08:37 PM:

Fabulous story David! I fell off my chair laughing! [Big Grin]

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on June 25, 2013, 11:47 PM:

The penny just dropped.....very good David [Big Grin]

Graham.

Posted by Janice Glesser (Member # 2758) on June 26, 2013, 12:31 AM:

David....all I can say, as I raise my glass... "Bottoms up!".

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on January 22, 2019, 01:10 AM:

I picked up a LP from 1974 this week and to my surprise, there it was "The Morning After" ,anyway I thought why not up-load it to you-tube....so here it is....ah! memories. [Wink]

https://youtu.be/v0kuhAvu4dY

Posted by Martin Dew (Member # 5748) on January 22, 2019, 06:41 AM:

What a movie. The Blu-ray is a nice transfer, plus I finally found a 400ft last year with very good colour and OB. I wonder if good scope 16mm prints still exist?

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