I tracked down several vintage HBO recordings in the past decade. It was a fold down of the stereo mix.
Do you know what the source of the mono mix in Despecialized is then? I thought I recalled someone saying it was captured from OTA broadcasts, and I know I’ve read that the reason George considered the mono mix “final” is because that was the version intended to be played on TV, as well as in most theaters.
The complete film was available on Super 8 in the UK and Europe in stereo.
That’s very interesting, I did not know that. I thought all official/commercial 8mm releases were just snippets of the film, silent and black & white. Do you happen to have a source on this? Not that I don’t believe you, I’d just like to read more about it.