Away All Boats (1956)

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General		Extras
Category	War	Main Menu Audio-Frank Skinner's main title theme.
Rating
Year Of Production	1956
Running Time	109:17 (Case: 96)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	?
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Joseph Pevney
Studio Distributor	Universalia Beyond Home Entertainment	Starring	Jeff Chandler George Nader Lex Barker Julie Adams Keith Andes Richard Boone William Reynolds Charles McGraw Jock Mahoney John McIntire
Case	Alpha
RPI	$14.95	Music	Frank Skinner Heinz Roemheld

     In today's teen, or sub-teen, orientated market any release of a "classic" movie is to be applauded. I have been eagerly anticipating Bounty's release of Universal's 1956 war action/drama Away All Boats. This was the only film made by Universal in the VistaVision process which had been introduced by Paramount with 1954's White Christmas, a film newly released in a brilliant widescreen Blu-ray transfer. The slick for Bounty's release of Away All Boats states "Picture 16x9" but, sad to say, what we get is a 4x3 transfer of an approximately 1.33:1 ratio image. VistaVision was shot at 1.66:1 and had cue marks which guided the projectionist in setting for magnified projection at ratios from 1.66:1 up to 2.0:1. After the opening credits, presented at 1.66:1, the Bounty print switches to 1.31:1, removing a slice of information from each side of the image. My enjoyment and review of the film are greatly influenced by my disappointment in the transfer. I do believe that in this age of widescreen television sets these cropped prints of films originally shot widescreen are quite unacceptable.

     In 1955 Universal had had a big success with Audie Murphy's true-life army drama To Hell and Back and the following year turned their attention to the naval forces. Based on the novel by Kenneth M. Dodson, Ted Sherdeman's screenplay follows the action aboard the WW2 attack transport, Belinda, under the command of Captain Jeb Hawks (Jeff Chandler) as his inexperienced crew is licked into shape. I would assume that the episodic nature of the film, some episodes comic, some dramatic, derives from the structure of the novel. As such the film suffers, some episodes seeming like a sitcom instalment. There is little room for any character development or involvement from the audience. George Nader's flashback to his on-shore life with wife Julie Adams, the only woman in the film, seems more like a 1950's commercial break. Nevertheless the male cast is attractive and diverse, and provide enough interest to sustain the film for it’s nearly two hours running time.

     Famed as the stable that bred physically strapping young actors, Universal assigned plenty of contracted testosterone to this big budget, for Universal, effort. Chandler had made a big hit at Fox where he mightily impressed audiences in director Delmer Daves' Broken Arrow (1950) , as "Cochise", and Bird of Paradise (1951). By 1956 Chandler was one of Universal's major male guns. Second-billed is rugged and soft-spoken George Nader, who had majored from bare chested independent cheapies like Miss Robim Crusoe opposite Amanda Blake. He contributed his chiselled torso to a string of Universal actioners and dramas before he was sold out to Confidential magazine as a trade-off to protect the more valuable career of Rock Hudson, Universal's number one box-office star. Nader here has the swimming sequence while ex-Tarzan Lex Barker stays clothed and dry. Also on board are Keith Andes (Clash by Night), Richard Boone (Have Gun, Will Travel), William Reynolds (All That Heaven Allows), Charles McGraw (The Narrow Margin), John McIntire (Wagon Train) and future Tarzan, Jock Mahoney.. Keep your eyes and ears peeled and you will also find one-line appearances by David Janssen ("Phew! That was close") and Clint Eastwood ( "Doctor Bell's waiting for him in surgery, sir").

     The episodes, obviously chapters of the novel, are sandwiched between sit down talks generally between Chandler and Barker which are flatly directed by Joseph Pevney (Tammy) and prosaically captured by director of photography William Daniels. Happily the action sequences, directed by veteran second unit man James C. Havens, are dynamic, imaginative and interesting. There is some fine location work and active involvement from cast members in these sequences. The stirring score from Frank Skinner really lifts the emotions in these scenes, which are superior to most war films from the fifties. Sadly all of this good work is marred by the cropping down from the original VistaVision image, with ugly reframing that at times removes crucial action.

     This is not a major film, but it is a passable naval action flick with a bevy of attractive male stars. Be warned that this transfer is less than Bounty-full, and we don't even get a trailer.

Video

     As I have already stated, the transfer reduces the original VistaVision image. VistaVision was shot at 1.66:1, with the film running vertically through the camera and a greater area of film exposed for each frame. The image was blown up and projected at either 1.66, 1.85 or 2.0:1. For true VistaVision the projection also had to be horizontal - the original logo at the beginning of a VV film stated "Horizontal High Fidelity". It is my belief that no cinema in Australia was ever equipped for physical horizontal projection. Instead a standard 35mm print was utilised, having greater clarity due to the original larger area of exposure. According to the IMDB, Away All Boats was intended to be projected at 2.0:1. The transfer of this Bounty release is 4x3. The image for the credits is 1.43:1, while the remainder of the film is 1.31:1.

     While a small portion of the film is stock, or newsreel, footage, the bulk of the running time presents a crisp, sharp image. The colour does seem a little muted, although the interiors are fairly monotone with the blues of the uniforms presenting little opportunity for splashes of colour. Skin tones are a little pallid. Some night scenes are extremely dark, with negligible shadow detail. The action sequences look very clean and sharp. and sunsets and sky and sea scapes are quite attractive - with the full image they would have been outstanding.

     I was not troubled by any MPEG artefacts at all. Film artefacts were limited to white speckling and some vertical white scratches which occurred at 1:43 and a short time after. If this had been a wide screen 16x9 transfer of comparable quality I would have been very satisfied.

     The disc is a single layer disc.

     There are no subtitles.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     There is one audio stream, English Dolby digital mono encoded at 192 Kbps. The audio is clean and efficient. Dialogue was clear and totally easy to understand, without any sync problems. There were no clicks, pops or dropouts. The musical score from Frank Skinner - all those Deanna Durbin movies and hundreds more - is really impressive, reminding me at times of that other wonderful maritime score for The Caine Mutiny.

     Although never offering anything really dynamic with its mono reproduction, the sound was more than adequate for this visually inadequate release.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    There is absolutely nothing other than the Main Menu. The menu is presented over a dynamic graphic 16x9 enhanced, presented at 1.78:1, similar to the excellent slick art work. Twelve bars of Frank Skinner's main theme are heard.

    There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.

     Here is an admired wartime action movie from the 50s which I believe has never been available on tape or disc in Australia. What a shame that we are given a square screen transfer which slices off the sides of the original VistaVision image. The attractive male cast performs well and some of the action scenes are excellent. The screenplay and the dialogue scenes are a mite plodding. There are no extras, not even a trailer. This release is a major disappointment for fans of fifties widescreen cinema. Buyers beware of Bounty releases of vintage Universal product!

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall