Well, dear readers, this year is flying by, like a gazelle watching a Blu-ray and thinking there is a teal push. And before I go on, let me say that this incessant Internet chatter about transfers that supposedly have a “teal push” is one of the most tiresome things on Blu-ray boards. Here’s the basic problem: Two years ago you never heard the expression “teal” about anything. This has all happened since then and I’m not sure why, but it’s become the mantra of those who know nothing about color from eras past. I don’t say that meanly but the basic problem is that none of these people have seen most of these older films outside of home video. And many of them automatically make the assumption that previous home video incarnations, no matter how wildly they may be off or bad, are somehow the correct looks for those films.
Most recently, I’ve been trying to set the record straight on the new Fox transfer of Desk Set, a simply gorgeous transfer with perfect color. The previous transfer was brown and from a fading internegative. Fox went back and got it just right, but that doesn’t stop some folks from posting ad nauseum how there seems to be a blue push or a teal emphasis. Well, of course there is if you’re comparing it to the last transfer, which was completely incorrect in terms of its color palette. But they say it as if it were some insidious plot – why even bring it up when the color is perfect – well, they don’t know about color, so why not? Color film in the 1950s had lots and lots of blue. Anyone who grew up back then knows this, and those of us who actually collected film prints over the years really knows this. I had a 16mm scope dye transfer print of Desk Set and guess what – it looked just like the new transfer. The film is shot by Leon Shamroy, who lights boldly. One fellow said there was a blue wash over the entire image, while someone else said there were no blacks in the transfer. So, explain this: The opening titles are on a piece of typing paper – the paper isn’t blue, it’s bright white, pure white, no blue in sight. So, where is this blue wash exactly? Then in the next couple of scenes we see Miss Hepburn and she’s wearing a white blouse – no blue, just white. But parts of the set are lit with blue gels, and boldly so, because that’s what Leon Shamroy did. But the green parts of the set are green, not blue, and the yellow blouses and the red blouses and the gray desks all have perfectly replicated color with no blue. So, where is this blue or teal push? It’s the way the film looks and has always looked, but these people, while admitting they don’t really know what the film looked like, would prefer the ugly brown transfer because that somehow feels more correct? All one wants to do is keep the record straight, but all that happens is that people get annoyed with the messenger and think they know more, which they most assuredly do not. It’s not that I know everything, but I do know about color of that era and other eras, and that does give me a leg up, as it were. And the worry is that the studios will get this feedback and think they can’t win and they’ll just take the easy way out and not grade the color correctly. Color has, for me, always been the bugaboo of transfers and it’s so heartening when a studio gets it perfectly as in the case of Desk Set. They should receive nothing but the highest kudos, which is why I’m relentless about this stuff and on a crusade to always be very vocal about a transfer that gets the color right. Blue is our friend in terms of color in the 1950s. There were no brown, faded films back then. However, I do feel that this entire section of the notes does have a teal push.
Yesterday, the first day of 2014, was such a nice little day. My mind was bursting with thoughts and I didn’t really fall asleep until about one-thirty or two, but I slept really well and didn’t arise until noon. That was just perfect. After I got my bearings and woke up, I began writing my new book. As I knew it would be, getting the first two pages to my liking took a really long time. I just kept futzing and fixing until I was happy enough with it to move on. After I finished the third page, I had a visit from the helper, and then I went to have my first meal of 2014 at Jerry’s Deli. I got there around two-thirty and it was jammed, but someone left within a couple of minutes and I got a booth I liked. Since it was Wednesday, I had a cup of their yummilicious chicken corn chowder and then a grilled cheese with bacon sandwich and no fries or onion rings. Then I came home.
I went back to writing and wrote another couple of pages, again going back constantly to revise and fix. This is such new territory for me, and I’m just feeling my way as I go, but I’m getting into it and discovering what’s working and what’s not, how to keep my voice but to be true to the milieu. Mostly, I’m introducing the world and the leading characters in the first chapter, so some exposition to deal with, but mostly talking about the characters and the setting. Slow going this first day, but rewarding, I think. Then I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Desk Set. I’d already checked out the transfer, but I thought it would be a fun movie to watch on the first day of the New Year and indeed it was. It’s a trifle to be sure, but a thoroughly enjoyable one, with such wonderful performances by Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn – their chemistry is just magical, and the scene of them having dinner in her apartment is hilarious and wonderful. It’s mostly their show, but along for the ride are Joan Blondell and Gig Young, both excellent. The film moves right along and it’s fun seeing what an IBM computer looked like back in the 1950s. The color, as mentioned above, is beautiful and accurate, and the transfer is just top-notch all the way, and if anyone from Fox is reading these here notes, please know you did a perfect job and please keep on doing it.
After that, I found out that Mickey Dolenz has joined our benefit cast, and I also added John Sloman – John’s brother died of ALS and it will be very moving to have him in our show. Then I decided to write some more pages, which I did, over eight pages in all, which is an incredible first day for me under any circumstances, but especially incredible considering I’m writing a story that’s radically different than any I’ve done. Hopefully, when I read it this morning I’ll like it. After that, I just relaxed and played on the Internet.
Today, there will be no sleeping in – I’ll be up by nine, and I’ll shave and shower, after which I’ll try to go through what I wrote yesterday and at least futz and fix that and maybe even write a page or two before our ten-thirty rehearsal begins. Once that happens I won’t be able to do any writing until the evening. It will be another long day, and then at four Richard Sherman is coming over so we can put the finishing touches on our song. After that, I hope to have some dinner with friends, and then I’ll buckle down, Winsocki and write at least three or four pages.
Tomorrow, it’s rehearsals for the benefit, but other than that, I’m writing pages. Saturday is our stumble-through, and Sunday is our sound check and show. Next week is all benefit stuff, writing, a few meals, a brush-up rehearsal for our revue and then that begins performances again, and I’ll probably only attend two of them that weekend, maybe only even one.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, write, I must rehearse, I must work with Richard Sherman, I must eat, and I must write. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite films of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, together and apart? Let’s have loads of lovely posting, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland where I shall have dreams with a blue or teal push.