Back of the Trailer

Classic Review: Blue Velvet - Strange Beauty

"So startling, so provocative, so mysterious," the trailer voice reads from white letters against a black background on the screen pronouncing the film "Blue Velvet" to be something the audience will have never seen before. That formal declaration, although true, is a stiff introduction to a trailer that is a short, but graceful succession of extraordinary images that leaves a haunting impression.

With Bobby Vinton's title song suspended above the soundtrack, the first image is Kyle Maclachlan hiding in a closet peeking between the blinds. What he sees are scenes of beauty and violence. Him kissing Laura Dern with their smiles enjoying the carnality of each other are augmented by his dark hair and her blonde flowing curls. Isabella Rossellini drowsily mouthing the words to the chorus of the song from the stage, but perking up just at the end to something or someone she sees in the crowd. The smiling fireman waving at the camera like a memory. Rossellini drawing a knife on Maclachlan after making love, the blade shimmering like a jewel in the frame. Edward Hopper's face in close-up violently hitting someone. The red lips of Rossellini and her face upside down. And finally, Hopper's breathing rises on the soundtrack as he removes the oxygen mask from his face.

All of these images come back to Maclachlan looking from the closet. The scene is shown six times in the trailer and the last image is him falling back in the darkness to hide from the face of Hopper's breathing madness. Voyeurism is central to the story and repeated use of this scene makes the audience feel the same thrill to be watching the trailer. It's a strange beauty that make this film an unforgettable classic.

Classic Review: Notorious - A Notorious Woman of Affairs!

Alfred Hitchcock's "Notorious" exhibited in 1946, is considered one of the classics of suspense. The plot about a beautiful woman (Ingrid Bergman) being asked by a handsome U.S. agent (Cary Grant) to spy on a group of Nazis, lead by Claude Raines, hiding in Rio after World War II is not only a thriller but a romance.

The Criterion DVD release includes a generous sample of trailers and teasers of the film. The best one emphasizes the romance and star power of the two leads and showcases the general style done in promoting movies of that time. The manner of throwing titles, even with exclamation marks, over the images instead of the modern trailer voice is a past faith in the power of print. "A notorious woman of affairs!" washes over the screen to the tension of vibrating strings as we watch behind the letters, the beginning scene from the film of Bergman leaving a courtroom to meet the press hungry for a story on the sentencing of her father for treason. Then a sudden shift in the soundtrack to the full bow of romantic violins as Grant appears in tuxedo for a dinner party where Grant kisses her hand like a gentleman and the titles declare, "They meet...and fall in Love!"

After a clip of their famous kiss, Claude Raines interupts their rendezvous and the trailer changes its tone for a moment to show Raines as a jealous lover, rather than the threatening conspirator he is in the film. The trailer ends with further scenes of Grant and Bergman whispering passions to each other. Their names are even splashed twice across the screen. The wipes between scenes are fun with shapes of arrows, circles, and even stars to show transition. Except for his name above the film, Hitchcock is mentioned only once in titles, giving me the impression that this trailer was clearly done by the studio. Later in the director's career, he will star and cut his own trailers that are as famous as his films.

What happened to titles over scenes? They got in the way. Now if they are done, they are against a neutral background, presented between clips. I think the modern approach is better. We go to the movies to watch not to read. They have become a stylistic symbol of a nostalgic golden age in Hollywood.

Classic Review: Forbidden Planet - Showing the Future

Science fiction and fantasy films can offer great trailers because they often showcase the costly special effects and with the brevity of trailers, those quick glances of fantastic imagery are just enough to leave an impression and also spark the imagination of what people could hope to see in the full length movie.

The film "Forbidden Planet" from 1956 is considered a classic of science fiction and the trailer, which is included in the DVD release, is a wonderful look at what Hollywood could do to transport audiences to other worlds. It's also a great barometer of what the state of science fiction was like in the mid fifties, showing its visual and storytelling influence from the current pulp magazines and incorporating the early scientific evidence made from exploring space.

Starting with the vastness of space and that eerie, strobing sound made by the first electronic score, a flying saucer zooms toward the camera. When it disappears, an animated fireball streaks past the frame and bright yellow letters scroll upward, "Today, man prepares to take his first step outward into space- tomorrow he will explore the stars." Then comes the confession by the studio of the talent it took to create the picture: "MGM's great technical staff brings you a magnificent picture of that distant tomorrow." The movie's title streaks to the center in a bowed, circular fashion like it was created between the transmission of electrical bolts.

A male narrator tells the audience to imagine yourself aboard the featured saucer traveling through space faster than light. He then guides "you" through the story and introduces you to the characters, the actors, the huge sets, and the dazzling special effects. The narrator makes it clear you are watching a film, "in striking Eastman color!" The studio wants you to marvel at the technology of the medium itself, as if it's an accomplishment comparable to other scientific achievements made in the nuclear age.

Before becoming to self-congratulatory, the trailer warns of a "strange and evil force," and we watch invisible footprints being made on the planet's surface as it ascends a metal staircase that bend from the weight. The last scene has the main characters trapped in a locked room as they watch in fear as the door melts. Cutting away to the darkness of space, the titles "Far and away" zoom at us and proclaim the coming feature to be "The most provocative and unusual adventure film you've ever seen."

So much of the design and style of the trailer has influenced the genre. The yellow titles against the background of stars were used to full glory in "Star Wars." The full orchestral score to heighten the fantastic scenes is standard in our surround sound dolby theaters. Most importantly, showing the best special effects from a film in a trailer is a must for today's blockbusters. "Forbidden Planet" is one of the first films that used them as an attraction for seeing a film. It gave the promise of seeing something from the future.

Classic Review: 8 1/2 - A Man and His Imagination

I recently rented the DVD of Federico Fellini's classic film, "8 1/2," and was happy that it included the US trailer for the 1963 film. It is one of the most unusual and original trailers I have ever seen, and it must have been intriguing to audiences who first saw it over thirty years ago.

Starting with the clicking of film through a projector, a black and white graphic floats from both sides of the screen of a man dressed in robes, a cowboy hat, and holding a whip while the curvy back of a woman with prominent hips and posterior enters from the right. It then cuts to the actual scene from the film where Marcello Mastroianni is 'taming' with the whip a group of women as a circus spotlight illuminates the scene. Clips of women's faces appear. A memorable shot is Marcello Mastroianni in close-up, dressed in suit, pulling his sunglasses from his eyes to the edge of his nose looking past the camera. An angelic shot of a smiling young woman. All the time, the only sound is the film projector. Then the frame freezes on the actor as he is bathing with a quote of a review from the New York Times stating, "A Fascinating Film!" Trumpets and drums of a circus parade takes over the soundtrack and we go back to the graphic of the man and woman, this time they are on opposite sides, then they turn upside down. The projector comes back into the circus march and we are treated to more surreal scenes from the film. A foot floating in the air tied to a string like a kite. Circus performers. Scaffolding in an open field at dusk. And always, women's faces being revealed from behind hats, clothes, or the turn of their neck to the camera.

Another great thing about the trailer is the film's title. The number is posted in white against a black background in circus style font, front and center, then we see it again multiplying on the screen, filling every corner to the hurried soundtrack.

The trailer is an equal blending of graphics, images and sound. What's inventive is the noise of the projector reminding the audience that we are not just seeing a film, but the movie is about the medium itself. The suggestion is subconscious. There never is anything in the trailer to indicate what the movie is about.

The only distraction to the trailer's narrative is the interruption of quotes from reviewers applauding not only the film, but the director. Foreign trailers are sometimes given this treatment even today, and I always find it condescending, as if there is an assumption of a provincial minded audience that needs the blessing of critics in order to see a film.

The quotes in the trailer also show us this film was critically well received when it was released. Maybe one day, they'll have a film interrupted by quotes telling us how great the trailer was.