![\"Somewhere](\"http:\/\/i917.photobucket.com\/albums\/ad14\/wegeewegee\/TrailOnesomePine_locationstill_m.gif\" "\\"Somewhere")
Location still taken during the filming of Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936)<\/p><\/div>\n
Back in July, Universal released Trail of the Lonesome Pine<\/strong> (1936). The film is an important stepping stone in the history of colour cinema because it marked the first time a feature-length movie was shot on location with Technicolor\u2019s new (and very big) 3-strip cameras.<\/p>\n Apparently the company wasn\u2019t crazy about the idea, but much like Fox\u2019 pioneering widescreen process (Grandeur), if placed in the hands of gifted technicians trained to make a product on a studio budget (in other words, with bean counters watching every penny), the new technology would prove itself quite well in the field.<\/p>\n Grandeur, impressive as it was in The Big Trail <\/a><\/strong>(1930), didn\u2019t last for a number of reasons, but like Trail<\/strong>, the new gear was more than functional outdoors, so it\u2019s no surprise more films ended up being shot outdoors in full Technicolor.<\/p>\n In his autobiography, Magic Hour<\/strong>, British cinematographer Jack Cardiff recalled Technicolor being quite pissed in the way their cameras were being used in shooting a wartime sea sequence, as well as Cardiff\u2019s own experimentation beyond the rigidly enforced Technicolor colour template. The company, quite frankly, owes its success not just to the brilliance of its eggheads and engineers, but to the creative rebels who wanted to see exactly how far one could push the new cameras in lighting and locations.<\/p>\n I had seen bits of Trail<\/strong> years ago on Elwy Yost\u2019s Saturday Night at the Movies<\/strong>. The show\u2019s producers were able to secure an actual colour print of the film. Now, this sounds like mere trivia, but back in the late eighties and early nineties, a lot of classic films on TV were still derived from 16mm and 35mm prints, and it was exciting when a vintage colour film was actually in colour.<\/em><\/p>\n Mystery of the Wax Museum<\/a><\/strong> (1933), for example, was an early 2-strip Technicolor feature, and prior to that film\u2019s restoration and appearance on laserdisc, Mystery<\/strong> was mostly shown on TV in black & white, although the print I saw on PBS had color.<\/p>\n Sort of.<\/p>\n That experience was surreal, because it was a faded color print, which meant vestiges of colour would waver, saturate and wash out throughout scenes, but for some reason, that viewing felt exciting, even though there was barely any colour pigment left. It was glimpse into film history on a completely lo-fi format, which is why Yost\u2019s airing of Trail<\/strong> in full colour was notable.<\/p>\n Universal\u2019s DVD is taken from a surprisingly clean print, but the disc lacks any extras, which is unfortunate, given the film\u2019s importance. Moreover, the DVD is an import in Canada, mostly likely because Trail<\/strong> was part of the Paramount film library that was sold to MCA in the fifties for TV airings, and perhaps Universal\u2019s home video rights don\u2019t extend to Canada. Who knows \u2013 but the disc is worth snapping up, and here\u2019s why<\/a>.<\/p>\n