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I just saw HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE at the Arclight in Hollywood, an AFI screening. (Wed., August 29, 2007)

Seeing this presentation really gave you vivid impression of thescale of CinemaScope, a wide-screen process from the 1950s. It's BIG! Only disappointment was the print was not in stereo, and it was distracting (at least to me) to watch two people at opposite sides of the screen with their voices coming from the middle.

It seemed like the opening Street Scene musical sequence (with Alfred newman and the 20th Century-Fox symphony orchestra) was in stereo, but then the actual film track reverted to mono. (or so it seemed, I was quite dazzled by the huge 'Scope image at first).

At any rate, in this case (dialogue) the use of stereo actually had a functional side as well.

The biggest disappointment was not hearing the vivacious Newman/Newman/Mockridge/Darby score in STEREO, however. (Well, as a good friend said afterwards, we can go home and do that with the FSM release).

I enjoyed the screening immensely but did notice fluctuation in the visual quality.

Outdoor (location) shots were particularly grainy, and the color was sometimes slightly "off".

Was this due to the quality/type of film they were using then? Any comments or observations?

Also, in early 'Scope pictures the image seems to darken a bit (or go grainy) just before fading out on a scene change. Anyone know why?

This was the second CinemaScope film released. Maybe they were still testing the waters.

Before MILLIONAIRE I also saw Danny Boyle's incredible recent science fiction film, SUNSHINE again. I had seen it in a local theater in Ventura but the Arclight screening was tremendous in both image and sound.

The film is not perfect but I've really come to like it and this is the ultimate way to see it. (It's pretty much vanished at any other theaters otherwise).

The score and sound mix of course were peak. Seeing both these films in one day was an awesome experience in the true sense of the word.