A 3-D screening of Hondo has been scheduled for the TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood April 25-28. (Exact date of screening not yet announced.)
They're also going to show Shane... with Ben Johnson in a supporting role... and I had decided not to go to TCM this year, and now I want to punch myself as badly as Ben and Alan Ladd punch each other in that movie.
Heh, I was just coming here to post about the 3-D screening of Hondo but I am not surprised that Bob beat me to it. 
I did see Hugo in 3-D but having seen it also in 2-D on my TV, I think I would have liked it just as much in 2-D in the theater. (It really is a movie meant to be seen on a big screen rather than TV, much as I did enjoy the Blu-ray.) Even movies filmed in 3-D (not post-converted) don't hold that much interest for me -- they're just too dark because of the glasses and after a while, one gets so used to the 3-D that it doesn't have that "wow!" factor anymore. Also, live action films -- even the ones really filmed in 3-D -- look more like theater flats or figures pasted up against a background than genuine three dimensions. For some reason animated films don't have that "theater flats" problem. The last few 3-D movies released, I saw them in 2-D and I don't feel like I missed anything.
Hondo I'd like to see in 3-D just because it's JOHN WAYNE IN 3-D.
Wow, so great that Bob Furmanek is here!
Now if only they'd re-release the 3-D version of Hondo into theaters. I've sworn off 3-D for live action movies (sorry, Bob) but I'd break my vow for Hondo.
Dooley, I work in a job that has nothing to do with film and in fact -- I've never even taken a film course! I am just a hardcore film buff who is interested in the technical aspects of films and have educated myself -- a little bit. Which means, I know a bit more than the average person on the street but very, very little compared to the professional film historians and filmmakers. Thanks to the internet, I can find the experts' posts and read up on whatever question I may have so if I post something myself, I am pretty sure I'm being accurate. If I'm not sure, I will say so or just not post. There are also many books available that the layperson can read to learn about the technical side of filmmaking. I am very grateful that folks like Bob Furmanek contribute online and have web pages which are a great help to the amateur film lovers like myself, and also for all the authors out there whose books have been so helpful. 
Aspect ratios are always something of interest to me.
Now if Hondo had been shot in an anamorphic process, like Cinemascope or Panavision, then a fullscreen version would not result from opening the mattes, but from cutting off about a third of the picture from each side, resulting in the viewer seeing only the center third. While I'm not a fan of open mattes, as I think they can wreak havoc with composition, pan and scan is far far worse. However, Hondo in full screen is not pan and scan, it's open matte, so you're basically getting more rather than less. Though with open matte, more is not necessarily a good thing.
MGM has been releasing a lot of 50s films which were shot flat in open matte, because they can't be bothered to spend the money to do a new widescreen transfer from whatever original elements they have. Because of this policy, I haven't bought quite a few titles I would have otherwise been interested in. But they do release anamorphic shot films in widescreen, thank goodness.
QuoteNow for the not so good news. The movie is in widescreen format.
Hondo was filmed and composed for widescreen and shown that way in theaters, though it was protected for 1:37 Academy ratio for smaller theaters that hadn't yet made the changeover to wider screen. When it showed up on TV and on standard DVD, it was shown in 1:37, which is how people are used to seeing it, unless they saw it in 1:85 back in the early 50s.
There is a bit more information now ADDED to the sides of the film in its Blu-ray widescreen version. Opening the matte for a fullscreen version cuts a little off on the sides -- that little bit is now restored -- or almost all restored, as apparently this Blu-ray is 1:78 rather than 1:85. But still... there is more information on the sides than in the fullscreen version.
Although it is 1:78 rather than 1:85, the new Blu-ray is much closer to the way we're supposed to see it than the fullscreen version -- though without the 3D.
This is from an article about Hondo by Bob Furmanek, a film historian who has conducted extensive research into the changeover of 1:37 Academy ratio to the various widescreen formats in the early 1950s, and also 3D:
"On May 19, Jack Warner announced the new All-Media Camera, a camera designed to shoot in any format-- black and white or color, 3-D and/or widescreen, or flat. The rig was designed and built by the studios camera department, and would be utilized for the first time on HONDO. Cinematographers Robert Burks and Archie Stout would be shooting on location, in 3-D and widescreen. Films shot with the All-Media rig were composed for the aspect ratio of 1.85:1."
Here is a link to the entire article:
http://www.3dfilmarchive.com/home/hondo-3-d-release
Here are comparison shots of the DVD and the Blu-ray. Note that there is more information on the sides and see how much closer the widescreen version puts you to the actor on screen? It's a much more interesting shot this way -- there is too much sky in the fullscreen version and in the widescreen version you're closer to Page, she's positioned more correctly in the frame, and she seems much more part of the landscape. It's a far more dramatic composition in the widescreen version. And you do see more of the landscape since there is a bit more info on the sides.
Here's an interview with Gretchen Wayne (Michael's widow) about the new Blu-ray of Hondo. She also discusses True Grit (old and new) and other titles she'd like to see on Blu-ray.
If you're not following the Hondo Blu-ray thread at Home Theater Forum, you should be.
http://www.hometheaterforum.co…n-blu-ray/60#post_3929296
But in case you're not, here's a link to a fascinating 2007 article about the movie's 3-D release written by Bob Furmanek and Jack Theakston.
Reviews of the Hondo Blu-ray, with lots of pics.
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/…ws18/hondo_dvd_review.htm
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Hondo-Blu-ray/37009/#Review (make sure to click on the "screenshots" button at this review -- 30 frame grabs from the Blu-ray will display)
Excellent write-up about Hondo by Toby at the 50 Westerns from the '50s blog.
http://fiftieswesterns.wordpre…lu-ray-review-hondo-1953/
Make sure to read the comments.
Very interesting thread about the new Blu-ray of Hondo at Home Theater Forum.
Some information about the upcoming Hondo Blu-ray, from Toby at the great blog 50 Westerns from the '50s:
Just received some press information on the upcoming Hondo (1953) Blu-ray. It’ll be presented in anamorphic widescreen, a significant upgrade over the old DVD (there’s also those extra lines and pixels and stuff).
3-D pictures back then typically gave projectionists the option of a standard (1.33) or cropped (1.85) presentation. If you’ve ever studied the Hondo DVD, or played around with the zoom on your 16×9 TV, you know what a difference the cropping will make.
Amazon is listing a Blu-ray release for Hondo, but without a release date. Paramount has not yet made an official announcement either.
No mention of whether this Blu-ray will include the 3-D version. They really should, since 3-D players and televisions are now available. Actually I'd love to see this re-released into theaters since so many are now 3-D enabled, too.
A photo of John Wayne in Hondo, from the July 1997 issue of Arizona Highways magazine, which had a cover story (Tom Mix on the cover) about westerns shot in Arizona.
