MovieChat Forums > La Belle et la Bête (1947) Discussion > Sonic quality of the score

Sonic quality of the score

posted 14 years ago by Enrique-8
2 replies | jump to latest

One of the things that I noticed the first time I tried to watch this film was the awful sonic quality of SOME of the musical passages. This is NOT prevalent throughout the film but it certain climactic musical moments, it borders on cacophonous distortion. Is this a fault of my hearing, the poor quality of the prints or I'm just too intolerant and spoiled? (I'd like to note that music before and after this period did not have this kind of distortion sonically.

Anyone like to comment?

Enrique Sanchez

[–] pt100 11 years ago

I think it's partly that the film was made in France near the end of the Nazi occupation on a very limited budget; and also partly due to the age of the film and its deterioration. Even with restored films, there's only so much they can do to restore a soundtrack.

It is better to be kind than to be clever or good looking. -- Derek

[–] Enrique-8 11 years ago

PT100:

Thank you for writing. Everything you posit makes sense to me. I would have thought that the age was a major factor, but those other reasons, really make a sadly strong case.

Cheers!

Enrique Sanchez