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According to Jack Mathews, Robby Benson’s new movie, “Do It Up,” represents the first time a movie has been shot on video and transferred to film for theatrical release (“Enter the Age of Video-Made Movies,” June 1).
This may be true if you overlook “Norman, Is That You?,” “Harlow,” “The TAMI Show,” “Hamlet” and the unforgettable “Oh, Calcutta!”
Publicists are paid to have short memories--Oliver Stone wants to forget “Seizure” (1974) and so “The Hand” becomes his first film as a director; later he is proud of “Platoon” and so that becomes his first film.
But it always surprises me when knowledgeable writers on film pick up these publicity motivated “firsts” and report them as fact.
MARVIN JONES
Los Angeles
Although it wasn’t as clear as it should have been, Mathews was referring solely to high-resolution video.
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