The Fox Film Corporation made just 4 feature films in the Grandeur process. Raoul Walsh’s “The Big Trail” was the final film, and the only one to use the Grandeur format to its full potential. Arthur Edeson’s masterful cinematography took full advantage of the 70mm film format to fill the frame with grand vistas and give scenes tremendous depth of field; keeping players in the foreground and the vast horizon all in sharp focus. The making of “The Big Trail” was a monumental undertaking, requiring the transport of hundreds of cast and crew across 7 states over more than 4,000 miles. Eight cameramen are credited with shooting the Grandeur version of the film, and Mitchell records indicate that only 8 of the 14 FC’s ordered were delivered in time to shoot “The Big Trail.” Hailed as “The Most Important Picture Ever Produced,” the film starred a young John Wayne in his first leading role. The Grandeur version premiered in October 1930 at the Grauman’s Chinese in Los Angeles and the Roxy in New York to great fanfare.
Unfortunately, the rest of the world only saw the 35mm version, and was unable to witness the impressive scope of the Grandeur format. The film was put in the vault until 1974, when 20th Century Fox donated the Grandeur negative to the New York Museum of Modern Art. Under the direction of Peter Williamson, master restorer Karl Malkames spent more than a year restoring the deteriorating original 70mm negative. A new optical printer was built by Film Technology Company of Hollywood to accommodate the legacy film stock and old style optical soundtrack. By using portions of the soundtrack from the 35mm version to fill in gaps in the damaged soundtrack, Malkames was able to reconstruct the Grandeur feature and create a restored CinemaScope master.
Ad for “The Big Trail” in “The Film Daily” from October 28, 1930 
Production still from the 1930 Fox film, “The Big Trail”
