Todd AO

The movie Oklahoma had been re-released on DVD with both the Cinemascope version and the Todd-AO version. Todd-AO is a wide screen format that was wider than Cinemascope, was projected on a curved screen, and shot at 30 frame per second rather than films traditional 24 fps. Kind of the IMAX of the fifties I guess.

They shot the movie twice; each scene was shot first with Cinemascope and then Todd-AO (or maybe vice a versa.)

The DVD has the Todd-AO version on the second DVD, along with a short documentary about Todd-AO. It was interesting. I watched a bit of the Todd-AO version, but was dissapointed to find that it was not as 'wide' as the Cinemascope version. Not sure why.

The sound was different - not sure if better. I watched the song Oklahoma and the mix of some of the voices was different. There also seemed to be a noticeable difference in the 'feel' of motion when things moved. But the real problem was color: the color was washed out or muted, and not half as good as that on the Cinemscope version. It looked very much like a television show from the late sixties, rather than a movie.

I don't think I'll watch the rest.