I first saw "Camelot" in 35mm Technicolor and Panavision in 1967 and thought it was very entertaining. This was the cut 2 1/2 hour version that played general release.
Then I attended a festival at the Cinerama theater in Manhattan in 1978 called "Brodway Comes to Broadway" and saw the original uncut 3 hour Roadshow version in 70mm and six channel stereo on it's deeply curved screen. I thought it was a sensational 'show' and it was fascinating to see all the scenes that had been cut or trimmed for the 35mm prints. I especially liked the sequence in the forest at the end when Arthur recalls Merlin's school house that was completely missing from the 35mm print.
However, I began to notice the flaws more this time around, mostly because Cinerema tended to magnify them. I noted that there were numerous scenes where the actors went out of focus including a long monologue by Arthur before the intermission. All of the zoom shots have problems. In fact I recall one guy in theater shouting 'focus' to the projectionist even though it wasn't his fault. There were also a lot of continuity goofs like the dog that comes and goes during the song "Simple Joys of Maidenhood". Pelinore shows up in a montage before he appears in the actual story. The endless close ups where Vanessa Redgrave's nose runs was a bit grotesque on the enormous curved screen. Richard Harris's mustache and beard looks like it's coming off sometimes and Redgrave has a different hairstyle in every scene. In some wide shots, the actors are in the wrong position for the close ups. For a big budget musical designed for Roadshow presentations, this level of technical sloppiness was disturbing.
Now 28 years later I screened the film on my DLP on a 10 foot screen on DVD and found it rather disappointing. While the remixed 5.1 stereo sound is still impressive (although not as awesome as the six channel magnetic mix in 70mm), aside from the above problems the other thing I noticed this time around was Logan's inconsistent breaking of the fourth wall. I had no problem with Harris looking at the camera during his songs since the narrative is from his perspective. However, when Redgrave and Nero sing they look off screen at times and then look at the camera at other moments during the same song. Redgrave almost seems embarrassed when she glances at the camera during her numbers. Very poor screen direction.
So, in hindsight a mixed bag. Great songs, stereo and orchestrations. Some nice Technicolor photography and sets for the wide shots but a lot of out of focus close ups. Some good, even touching performances and scenes marred by outrageous overacting in other sequences. Worth seeing but it could've been a lot better.
Richard W. Haines
Then I attended a festival at the Cinerama theater in Manhattan in 1978 called "Brodway Comes to Broadway" and saw the original uncut 3 hour Roadshow version in 70mm and six channel stereo on it's deeply curved screen. I thought it was a sensational 'show' and it was fascinating to see all the scenes that had been cut or trimmed for the 35mm prints. I especially liked the sequence in the forest at the end when Arthur recalls Merlin's school house that was completely missing from the 35mm print.
However, I began to notice the flaws more this time around, mostly because Cinerema tended to magnify them. I noted that there were numerous scenes where the actors went out of focus including a long monologue by Arthur before the intermission. All of the zoom shots have problems. In fact I recall one guy in theater shouting 'focus' to the projectionist even though it wasn't his fault. There were also a lot of continuity goofs like the dog that comes and goes during the song "Simple Joys of Maidenhood". Pelinore shows up in a montage before he appears in the actual story. The endless close ups where Vanessa Redgrave's nose runs was a bit grotesque on the enormous curved screen. Richard Harris's mustache and beard looks like it's coming off sometimes and Redgrave has a different hairstyle in every scene. In some wide shots, the actors are in the wrong position for the close ups. For a big budget musical designed for Roadshow presentations, this level of technical sloppiness was disturbing.
Now 28 years later I screened the film on my DLP on a 10 foot screen on DVD and found it rather disappointing. While the remixed 5.1 stereo sound is still impressive (although not as awesome as the six channel magnetic mix in 70mm), aside from the above problems the other thing I noticed this time around was Logan's inconsistent breaking of the fourth wall. I had no problem with Harris looking at the camera during his songs since the narrative is from his perspective. However, when Redgrave and Nero sing they look off screen at times and then look at the camera at other moments during the same song. Redgrave almost seems embarrassed when she glances at the camera during her numbers. Very poor screen direction.
So, in hindsight a mixed bag. Great songs, stereo and orchestrations. Some nice Technicolor photography and sets for the wide shots but a lot of out of focus close ups. Some good, even touching performances and scenes marred by outrageous overacting in other sequences. Worth seeing but it could've been a lot better.
Richard W. Haines