Times Square Program Book, Japan, June 1981, pages 20-24 (post 4 of 5)

Posted on 26th March 2018 in "Times Square"
“Let’s get together at … Hippy Power” (?)

1981 Japanese program book for TIMES SQUARE (1980), p. 21

 

 

 

Here at the end of the Japanese program book, we get the movie’s credits, an ad for the soundtrack album, and… the Times Square Top Ten? I can only imagine what’s being said, in relation to the film, about Make-Up, Music, Fashion, Life Style, Play, Foods, Dream, Sports, Sex, and Friendship. Okay, Music and Friendship I get, but Sports?

 

Page 21, bearing a “Hippy Power” button and the unfinished caption, “Let’s get together at,” features two shots that are neither frames from the film, nor are publicity stills I’ve yet come across. The shot atop the marquee bears a strong resemblance to this color still, and is probably another still shot at that same time, and the shot of the girls entering the abandoned pier is from an entirely different angle than the scene in the film. Also, neither Nicky nor especially Pammy smiles during that sequence in the film. The point being, this is the only place these pictures appear, as far I know.

 

 

I don’t know if the street photo that is the background of page 20 has anything to do the film, other than being New York City. The inset photo of Nicky is from the shot used on one of the Italian lobby posters. Accompanying the credits on page 22, the shot of Pammy and Nicky erupting onto the street after the chase through the Adonis Theater is I believe making its first appearance here; it will later be a press photo distributed in Germany. The other two photos are frames from the film but with more image visible at the tops and bottoms, which as I mentioned last time lead me to believe that these were taken from a full-frame exposure that was matted for release, and may still exist as a TV print.

Page 23 features the soundtrack album cover, the Japanese “Same Old Scene” single picture sleeve, and, clockwise from top right: a shot of Robin and Trini between takes that had previously appeared in Movie 81 No. 2; the image from the cover of the “Same Old Scene” single, which had also appeared in the soundtrack gatefold, the songbook, and the aforementioned Movie 81 No. 2; a shot of Johnny that had been a UK lobby card and an illustration in Movie 81 No.2; and guess where the shot of Robin had appeared previously? Of course! It was in Film Review Vol. 31 No. 1.

And that perfect image on the back cover is a detail from another publicity still that will appear later as a German lobby card.

 

 

Times Square program book, pp. 20-24
Japan : souvenir program : AAT ID: 300253341 : 29.4 x 20.5 cm. : 1981 (work);

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©1980 Butterfly Valley N. V.
 
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Times Square ©1980 StudioCanal/Canal+

 

Times Square Program Book, Japan, June 1981, pages 14-19 (post 3 of 5)

Posted on 14th March 2018 in "Times Square"

As before, I have no clue as to the text, but the image on page 14 of the Japanese souvenir program for Times Square is another frame from the movie. The photo of Pammy and Nicky on page 15 is the promotional shot which was used for the cover of the Italian “Help Me!” single, and as the illustrations on the soundtrack album’s paper sleeves. The color shot of Johnny and Pammy on page 15, accompanied for some reason by a button featuring black and white hands cradling a dove, looks like a frame from the film, but isn’t. It will turn up later as a lobby card in Germany. For some reason, it’s reversed.

Both photos on page 17 are frames from the film. The photo of the Sleez Girls on page 18, featuring coulda-been-Nicky Zoe Lund, is a frame from the film, but the shot of Nicky just below is a promotional photo that previously appeared in Joepie No. 365. And Pammy and Nicky dancing at each other in the Cleo Club on page 19 is a shot that had been used as a UK lobby card. Whether they were really “honoring America” is a question only they, and perhaps the Japanese, could answer.

Look again at the photo on page 14, and compare it to the frame capture below. There’s a bit more at the bottom, and lot more at the top, of the photo in the program book. This is the first evidence I’ve seen that Times Square was shot “full-frame;” the entire frame of the 35mm film was exposed with a normal lens, and its widescreen aspect ratio achieved by matting the top and bottom when the prints were made. If it was shot so the extra space was clean of production detritus, a film shot that way could be shown on television using that full frame instead of making a pan-and-scan version and losing the sides of the image. It’s been decades since I’ve seen a television-formatted version of Times Square. Does anyone know if the TV/video print was full frame or pan-and-scan? Because if it was full frame, that would be worthy of preservation in its own right.

Closest frame from <strong>Times Square</strong> to the photo on page 16 of the Japanese program book.

Closest frame from Times Square to the photo on page 16 of the Japanese program book.

 

 

Times Square program book, pp. 14-19
Japan : souvenir program : AAT ID: 300253341 : 29.4 x 20.5 cm. : 1981 (work);

Press Book Japan 1981_14_1080px.jpg
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96 dpi (images)

©1980 Butterfly Valley N. V.
 
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Times Square©1980 StudioCanal/Canal+

 

Times Square Program Book, Japan, June 1981, pages 8-11 (post 2 of 5)

Posted on 2nd March 2018 in "Times Square"

Here are the next four pages from the Japanese souvenir program for Time Square. These pages apparently have everything you need to know about the producer, director, and stars. Again, if anyone wants to contribute a translation, or donate to a fund for hiring a professional translator, you will have my thanks and the thanks of a grateful nation.

Three of the four pictures on page 8 are more cases of actual frames from the film being used as publicity stills: the shots of the Sleez Girls, Pammy in the phone booth, and Nicky blacking out Pammy’s eyes on the bus poster. Nicky looking directly at us is part of the shot of her in front of the mirror, which previously appeared in Australian Women’s Weekly Vol. 48 No. 5.

Page 9 is two shots that aren’t frames from the movie, and that were distributed for publication as 35mm slides, Pammy and Nicky. The “I ♥ NY” button… well… okay…

Page 10 features some old AFD publicity stills, finally! Trini is cropped from TS-61-14/10, and Robin is TS-57-26/1, the shot used for the album cover and North American poster. Tim Curry’s photo was previously published in color as a UK lobby card and in Movie 81 No 2.

Page 11 is TS-82-30[/4], also used in the AFD campaign pressbook, on the UK soundtrack sampler, and as the basis for a line drawing in a soundtrack ad published in Record Mirror, January 24 1981.

I am not a student of theology. Was Jesus a dropout?

The above-mentioned frames from the movie:

Sleez Girls; Frame from TIMES SQUARE (1980)
Pammy calls her father; frame from TIMES SQUARE (1980)
Nicky blacks out Pammy's eyes; Frame from TIMES SQUARE (1980)

Further reading:

Times Square Press Material folder (post 1 of 5)
Times Square Press Material folder (post 3 of 5)
Times Square Press Material folder (post 5 of 5)
U.K. Lobby Cards (post 1 of 3)
Movie 81 No. 2, February 1981
AFD Campaign Pressbook (pages 1-4)
TIMES SQUARE Trailer
Record Mirror, January 24, 1981

 

 

Times Square program book, pp. 8-11
Japan : souvenir program : AAT ID: 300253341 : 29.4 x 20.5 cm. : 1981 (work);

Press Book Japan 1981_8_1080px.jpg
Press Book Japan 1981_9_1080px.jpg
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Press Book Japan 1981_11_1080px.jpg
96 dpi (images)

©1980 Butterfly Valley N. V.
 
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608 x 1080px, 96dpi (contrast-sdjusted frame captures from Times Square (1980))
Times Square©1980 StudioCanal/Canal+