The only regular board member I know of who lives in the Western Time Zone is Cusser, who lives in Arizona. He's such a GBU nut, it wouldn't shock me if he went to LA for this
But I won't be going to California until late August, so I'll miss this showing. What's an IB Tech Print anyway? I saw this back in first run, remember, and this is the original US-length version of 161 minutes.
Technicolor shut down its imbibition (IB) dye transfer Cahuenga facility in 1975. Its new lab next to Universal Studios became an Eastman-only processor. Technicians who worked at the Hollywood lab claim that the last new American film released before Technicolor ceased printing dye transfer was Disney’s uninspired adaptation of Jules Verne’s "Island At the Top of the World" (1973). Other sources say it was "The Godfather, Part II" (1974). (I have an I.B. Technicolor 35mm reissue print of Disney’s "Swiss Family Robinson" with edge code symbols of 1974 visible on some reels.) So, who knows for certain the last film released in IB in America? In 1977, Dario Argento used the last dye-transfer printer in Rome for "Suspiria" (1978). Put simply, gone were the days when one could purchase a nice No-Fade 35mm I.B. Tech print of a movie from the seventies, like "Jaws" (1975) or "Star Wars" (1977), unless you were lucky enough to obtain it from England where the IB process was still employed.Technicolor was the second major color film process for motion pictures (following England’s Natural Colour Kinematograph Company), and the most mass-produced color motion picture process in Hollywood from 1922-1952. Not only did it afford a richer, almost 3-dimensional look to film, but, from an archivist’s point of view, it possessed one very cool quality: It was virtually fade proof! Since 1982, Eastman color film stocks like LPP have also been “low fade,” but Technicolor dye-transfer prints have been “no fade” since the 1920s. Since a Tech print employed stable Azo dyes (dyes which are also used in current DVD technology), it could retain its original colors for decades. Even when stored under improper conditions, the colors in a Technicolor print survived longer than early Eastman color prints that might maintain only the magenta record after a mere ten years.
I'm thinking of dropping down from Seattle--where I'll be at the time--to see it. I'd probably want to see it twice. I checked and the Beverly Inn, a few blocks away, has vacancies. It looks like I could do a round-trip for about $400. Hmmmmmmmm . . . .
(I'm guessing the IB tech being screened is Quentin Tarantino's personal copy.)
My plan is to use my air miles and fly down in the AM of the 26th. I believe it takes about 1.5 hours to travel from LAX to The New Bev. Catching an early non-stop flight gives me some cushion against potential delays, which is more unlikely for the first few flights of the day. After the show I'd head back to LAX (before public transit shuts down) and catch the earliest flight back to Vancouver (6AM). So no need for a hotel/motel. I'm still undecided but I went ahead and purchased a ticket for the July 26 screening. Worst case scenario, I'll just pass it off to someone willing to report back on their experience.It would serve as further motivation if I knew someone else from this forum was going to make the trek.
