Jeremy, You wrote: >'Course, within a few years,20thCentury-Fox, the producers of WSSRH? >would devise pan-and-scan so they could sell their movies to TV-- >resulting in compositions quite similar to the one they satirize. I hate to correct you, but the much beloved WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER? is not available in any video format that I am aware of. I just showed it again in my post-War history class--and it is one film from the period that my students *really* get--even though I have to tell them who Jayne Mansfield is and explain the idea of the "grey-flannel company man." They positively groaned when they found out it is unavailable for home consumption. I hope I am wrong about this and someone can direct me to a copy of WSSRH? on video or laser disk--but I can't imagine how it could be made that small. 'Scope prints always make me long for a "way back machine"--especially after seeing Sam Fuller's black and white "Forty Guns" with the incomparable Barbara Stanwyck screaming across the screen dressed in black leather on a white horse--heaven! A while back I was very interested in the pedagogical discussion regarding classroom teaching of favorite films. I *always* want to be able to show at least one print in 35mm CinemaScope, and I fear that if I don't make my students aware of *why* it is so important to see films in as close to the original presentation circumstances as possible, they MIGHT NEVER KNOW THE DIFFERENCE. I know my motivations are selfish when i demand they know the differences between aspect ratios, sound sytems, musical accompaniment styles, etc--because I want those experiences to remain available to me--and I *know* if I don't help to create a demand *and* an audience for those experiences THEY WILL DISAPPEAR. I count myself incredibly fortunate to attend USC, where there is a fetish for the image--for the print itself--to be as close as possible to "orginal." In David Shepard's Silent Film classes (grad and undergrad), we regularly see excellent prints (as preserved by David), and a least 3 or 4 times each semester with Live accompaniment. Norris Theater is a world class theater--with state of the art Dolby Digital Surround Sound. We rarely screen 16mm in classes, mostly 35mm. I AM SPOILED ROTTEN. I regularly travel over to UCLA to see NITRATE SCREENINGS!!!! I just saw the most beautifully preserved print of von Sternberg's DISHONORED with Marlene (Mati Hari) Dietrich. As far as I know this is the ONLY venue for nitrate screenings in Los Angeles. But teaching at UCSB this spring was a cold dose of reality. Rental budgets being what they are... What will we do if they stop making and circulating prints? I'm selfishly thinking of my own future (fingers -crossed I'll get a job, but let's not address all the BIG problems here and now). I know I have rambled on, but the more spoiled I get the more I know how frustrating it will be to teach about 'Scope if all I can show is a laser disk of REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE or YOJIMBO. Don't even get me started on ANDREI ROUBLEV, I'll cry. How are other academics in schools with lesser budgets and connections than USC (I know that's almost all of 'em--it ain't called the George Lucas Instructional Building fer nothin') deal with these problems. There! I've successfully avoided grading papers for 15 minutes! Donna Cunningham University of Southern California [log in to unmask]