Chalpin DVDs in letterbox format redux

On Wed, 20 Sep 2006 13:35:20 -0400, "Neil W"
wrote:

>Let me rephrase the question. If I watch "The Chaplin Collection" on a
>conventional television, am I seeing the pictures as they were originally
>framed, or are they chopped off at all? If I am understanding RC correctly,
>due to the aspect of most silent films, I am seeing the entire picture (or
>at most a miniscule amount is chopped off). Am I understanding that
>correctly? (Countess excluded). Thanks!
>

There's generally a little bit cut off on the left in prints that were
incorrectly copied from silent full frame aperture on a printer that
had a sound aperture plate.

The reason for this is that the size of movie frames were,
understandably, altered when the addition of sound-on-film (as opposed
to on a separate disc) came in. The sound runs down the length of the
film between the edge of the frame and the sprockets. In silent film,
the frame went all the way to the sprockets, so if you do a direct
copy of full-aperture silent using a sound film aperture, you'll cut
off part of the frame where the sound track goes.

So on badly made prints you'll occasionally see the first letter or
two of a title card chopped off. Unfortunately, on the early films
Chaplin made (say, prior to 1918 or so) most of the prints out there
are these incorrectly formated ones. On the films he controlled the
rights to (i.e. the "famous ones") this generally isn't a problem.