Been meaning to say:
With 16:9 now the de facto televsion standard, and HD on the rise, it's nice to see how some older films have been spruced up and 'restored' for their televisual debut in this new age of widescreen telly. I was reminded of it over the weekend whilst watching A STUDY IN TERROR for the umpteenth time on BBC 2 which, until now, has only ever been screened in a 4:3 version cropped at both sides, but which has now been restored to its full 1.85:1 splendour. The colours and detail are so vivid, the film might just have been shot last year, never mind in 1965!
The same thing happened with the 1969 epic THE HAUNTED HOUSE OF HORROR (one of my favourite films - how could any self-respecting horror fan resist a screamingly unsubtle title like that?!!). Once upon a time, this was only available in a 4:3 print which was so dark that you literally could not see what was happening on-screen for long periods of time. No exaggeration - the image was simply blotted out completely while the soundtrack burbled away underneath! In fact, it was SO bad, it was really unbroadcastable - no wonder the Beeb kept shoving it away into the wee small hours of the night.
But a year or so ago, the Beeb ran a new print, enhanced for 16:9, in which all the colour and vitality had been restored, and the veil of darkness lifted completely. The same version has now been screened three times - someone at the BBC obviously loves this one as much as I do, gawd bless 'em! A similar face-lift had occurred for the DVD version, released by Anchor Bay as part of their Tigon box-set, but that print was 4:3 letterboxed. Whatever the case, it's as though a layer of muck has been scrubbed from the image, rendering this fabulous potboiler 'whole' again.
Nice to see it isn't only the 'major' titles that are being rejigged for the brave new world of widescreen TV...