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While in one scene the backdrop painting is intrusive, the most inexplicable problem in execution (as opposed to conception) is one of continuity. When Borromir (spelling?) is overcome by desire for the ring and chases Frodo the latter still has the ring on a chain around his neck; Frodo then has it sans chain in his open palm, but subsequently near the river it magically (but of course) has reattached itself to the chain in one shot. The problem was probably created when the invisibility effects were added to core footage and disparate shots assembled for treatment. Yesterday my son saw the film for the second time and confirmed my memory from our joint first viewing. And last night I dined with an old friend who worked as a fabric dyer on the costume execution - she nodded as I aired this elementary lapse: a lapse that could easily have been corrected with a pair of scissors. David Howard