The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

[al mcguire]

Where would this audio be recorded, would it be a disc in a truck ?

[Malcolm Davies Amps CAS]

More likely to be recorded on to 35mm fully coated stock.

[Eric Toline]

I would venture that it was 35mm single stripe mag with the obligatory balance track.

[Mirror]

My guess is also mag strip on 35mm

Edit: Just talked to a friend who's pretty smart about this and he says it was most likely recorded on optical strip.  Mag stripe didn't really begin until the early 50's.

[Philip Perkins]

Sound truck, on AC power, optical film recorder.

[Marc Wielage]

I've heard from different people that there was a point where there were optical sound recorders on roll-around carts. But I think most studio 1930s-1940s recordings were done in a dedicated building on the lot through high-quality wiring. This guy appears to be on a set, or he could be in a building somewhere on the lot... hard to say.

More accurately, there was probably a sound mixer on the set (with the boom op), and then the "recordist" was in another place, just pressing the record button and verifying levels. I'm curious as to whether anybody was recording on 35mm mag prior to Nagra in the 1960s.

[mikewest]

Yes the BBC developed a package of a 35 mm camera with a mag transport

alongside it and mechanically linked but it probably never ventured out to serious locations.

I guess that it's life was short and the BBC moved on to Perfectone recorders that were

half track audio and half track cable sync (or mains ref).

I joined the BBC in 1969 and found out that their first 3 Nagras were converted to the half track format.

BTW the old term "MOS" (the German legend) is actually Minus Optical Sound !!!

Older Americans I have worked with would kick up a fuss a the rushes screening if they experienced

a mute shot and would shout "where's the track?"

Oh well so many stories!

mike