In 2001, the film underwent a refurbishment at Cinesite, the now-defunct Kodak film restoration organization. The soundtrack was returned to TODD-AO to be remixed. Interestingly, the TOOD-AO folks had to do a little research to recall the details of their own, long dead sound format.
What is this film and where are these theaters? The film is
The Patriot, an introductory drama directed by George Seaton (
Miracle on 34th Street) and starring a very young Jack Lord (
Hawaii 5-0) shown continually throughout the day at Colonial Williamsburg, VA's two original theaters. The cast is a virtual "whos-who" of character actors from the period, which is amazing because the whole lot of them had to be picked up and transported to the Williamsburg Colonial District, where the film was shot. The restoration of the film was an amazing feat, given that the works prints, masters prints, and separations had all decayed after forty years. As an example of the lengths to which they had to go, they were able to salvage color-correction of some of the scenes because the buildings used in the film still existed and because the costumes from the film had been conserved by Williamsburg's museum currators the same way as the actual 1700s period artifact clothing in the collection and were available for color comparison.
I have a little hisory with the film: The film premiered on March 31, 1957, a month before I was born. On my first visit to Virginia and Williamsburg in 1962, I first saw it. Right about the time the restored film was premiered, I discovered the history and restoration of the film. After I tracked down the man in charge of the restoration, I was fortunate to meet the crew responsible for the restoration and to be given a half-day tour through the complex as a professional courtesy. If you are in the area, knowing the history of the film adds a little bit to your enjoyment of a trip to Williamsburg, the colonial capital of the colonies. Here's more:
http://www.history.org/Foundation/jo...04/patriot.cfm
http://www.history.org/foundation/ge...t_restored.cfm
Bob
Addendum: The Patriot theaters and the film were converted to standard 70mm in the late 1960s. The VistaVision projectors were sold to ILM and have been used since in special effects operations. The six-track TODD-AO soundtrack is now played off DVD in English with simul-cast of up to six languages available via Acousti-wand headsets.