Why does the picture quality of this movie always look faded... I have an old VHS of this that looks like garbage, but then I recently watched it on television and still it looked atrocious and when I looked at the stills from the film on the internet they looked just as bad.
Was this film just neglected, was it shot on a home movie camera or did someone leave the all the prints on the beach for forty something years?
Am I the only person that notices this?
Charade went into public domain after its release, resulting in videos and DVD copies made from inferior sources. A high-quality DVD version of the film didn't exist until a few years ago, when it was released as part of the Criterion Collection (I have this DVD and can vouch for its excellent quality). I've also heard that a version included as part of The Truth About Charlie DVD package is comparatively good.
But you're right about the picture quality of some of the telecasts. PBS showed the film not long ago, and the image clarity and color were pretty feeble.
The Criterion Collection version of Charade is a little more expensive than most DVD releases, but it's the best one to have (it also contains an excellent commentary track by the director and screenwriter).
The Blu-Ray is also due to be out sometime soon (dont remember the date) but for the time being, yeah the Criterion is great as a DVD.
shareI just received the Criterion Blu-ray and watched it right away. It doesn't look faded at all and is of marvelous quality.
I had seen the film years ago on television and the picture did seem faded and dull at that time.
I am glad there is a Superior quality out there. When you stream it on NETFLIX (which usually streams all of their films in HD), it looks like Garbage. Compare it to Technicolor films of that era, and it looks bleh.
So i am glad there is a "restored" quality of the film out there.
~"No Man is a Failure who has Friends"~