The Reconstruction and Restoration of John Wayne's THE ALAMO

[Indian Hills Theater]

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articl...ris032009.html

"THE ALAMO is the greatest picture I've ever seen. It will last forever, run forever, for all peoples, all families everywhere."

- Legendary filmmaker, John Ford, 1960.

THE ALAMO was produced as a large format 70mm (5 perf) motion picture, with an original running time of approximately 192 minutes plus Overture, Entr'acte and Exit music. It was a "special event" film distributed via Roadshow with advance ticket sales. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, winning for Best Sound.

Soon after its initial release in 1960, a situation arose based primarily on local transportation problems. In smaller cities, where bus service from the outlying areas was the main means of transit, the last busses were leaving before the film ended. As a result at least 30 minutes was cut from the film.

As John Wayne was shooting Hatari! in Africa, the actual cutting was performed by Michael Wayne (John's son) and the film's editor, Stuart Gilmore. Because the 6 track audio could only be either cut or slightly remixed, a detailed fine cut was not an option. Those involved in the cut were led to believe that the extant 70mm prints would be trimmed and resounded, and new printing matrices produced for the 35mm release in the shorter form – but that the original negative would not be harmed or modified.

That is not what occurred. The original negative and all protection elements, inclusive of the 65mm separation masters, were cut to conform to the new 161-minute length; the trims and deletions were destroyed.

For over thirty years, the original Roadshow version of the film was feared lost, until in 1991 a lone surviving 70mm print was found in remarkably good condition in a film exchange in Toronto.


FULL article & tech details at link above.

We never bought the DVD. It didn't have the restored clips that were on our Laser Disk.


IHT

[blukid]

So whats your point you think the movie should be on blu ray?


I love to see that movie out for blu ray it's a classic.

[Indian Hills Theater]

I think it is a sure bet.

From the article: While the General Release cut would be available for DVD and Blu-ray, the Roadshow version of the film is intended solely for the DVD and Blu-ray home video audience.

[Eye Candy]

Originally Posted by Indian Hills Theater

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articl...ris032009.html

THE ALAMO was produced as a large format 70mm (5 perf) motion picture, with an original running time of approximately 192 minutes plus Overture, Entr'acte and Exit music. It was a "special event" film distributed via Roadshow with advance ticket sales.


That is not what occurred. The original negative and all protection elements, inclusive of the 65mm separation masters, were cut to conform to the new 161-minute length; the trims and deletions were destroyed.

For over thirty years, the original Roadshow version of the film was feared lost, until in 1991 a lone surviving 70mm print was found in remarkably good condition in a film exchange in Toronto.


FULL article & tech details at link above.

We never bought the DVD. It didn't have the restored clips that were on our Laser Disk.


IHT

There seems to be many running times based on what's listed on Amazon for various releases.

The 192 minute Road Show release. I assumed that the Overture, Entr'acte and Exit music was included in that time and not plus that time.

Once source listed the entire time with music at 202 minutes. So is the time of the extra music just 10 minutes??

The VHS copies on Amazon have stated running times of 167 and 173 minutes.

[ChiefSequatchie]

thedigitalbits.com: Tell MGM it's time – NOW – to save John Wayne's The Alamo before it's lost forever


I left my 2-cents here!

www.facebook.com/mgm

twitter.com/MGM_Studios

[k_huntington]

mgm could totally do a kickstarter now if they are just too cheap to do it themselves. everyone who contributes gets name in a special closing credits at the end, anyone who contributes more than $50 gets a free blu-ray. done.

[ChiefSequatchie]

Alamo‘s Loss is MGM’s Shame

Alamo‘s Loss is MGM’s Shame

Restoration guru Robert Harris recently stated that in terms of a potential decent-quality restoration, the photo-chemical elements of John Wayne‘s The Alamo (’60) are all but half-ruined. He’s told Digital Bits editor Bill Hunt that “[even] if a last-ditch restoration were started today, the best that could be achieved would be to return the film to perhaps 60% of its former glory,” Hunt writes. “But 60%, while disappointing, is certainly better than nothing.”

Is The Alamo a great film? No, but it’s a pretty good one — watchable, sturdily performed and generally well-constructed. In my view the fact that it was shot on 70mm mandates a proper preservation. But a petty Catch-22 imposed by rights holder MGM is standing in the way. They won’t fund a restoration on their own (okay, fine) but they won’t allow a crowd-funding effort either because it’ll make them look like pikers.

“There is no restoration effort at this time,” Harris has said on Home Theatre Forum. “Which means that there may never be a restoration effort. Several people have raised the concept of going to outside sources for funding [but] MGM has no interest in the concept, even if the film is lost. It appears that MGM has chosen to allow the film to die, as no immediate action will be taken with elements just one stage above that of industrial waste.”

This is absolutely deplorable on MGM’s part. These ass-clowns are essentially saying, “It’s better to allow the elements of this film to disintegrate into dust than for us to permit a Kickstarter-funded restoration because our egos won’t permit it. We’ll look like nickel-and-dime misers in front of our friends in the executive dining room. It’s a far, far better thing that the large-format lusciousness of The Alamo is lost forever than our corporate pride is even slightly tarnished.”

The situation is further complicated by two factors.

One is that The Alamo is handsomely shot and emotionally engaging as far as it goes but it’s not a classic film or even, really, a first-rate one. (Decent staging and a sense of epic “bigness” but a lot of right-wing sentiment.) The most memorable thing about it, arguably, is Dimitri Tiomkin’s score and his “Green Leaves of Summer” melody.

The other is that MGM is on the ropes financially and isn’t much more than a low-rent licensing and catalogue business at this stage. They’re not just in deep doo-doo but deep denial about how they’re perceived. It would cost them nothing reputation-wise to allow others to fund an Alamo restoration because they’re already seen as two-bit pikers.

From the Wiki page: “The Alamo premiered at its 70mm roadshow length of 202 minutes, including overture, intermission and exit music, but was severely cut for wide release. UA re-edited it to 167 minutes. The 202-minute version was believed lost until a Canadian fan, Bob Bryden, realized he had seen the full version in the 1970s. He and Alamo collector Ashley Ward discovered the last known surviving print of the 70mm premiere version in Toronto. It was pristine. MGM (UA’s sister studio) used this print to make a digital video transfer of the roadshow version for VHS and LaserDisc release.

“The print was taken apart and deteriorated in storage. By 2007 it was unavailable in any useful form. MGM used the shorter general release version for subsequent DVD releases. The only version of the original uncut roadshow release is on digital video. It is the source for broadcasts on Turner Classic Movies. The best available actual film elements are of the 35mm negatives of the general release version.

“The overture and musical intermission in the film are usually omitted from TV broadcasts.”

[ChiefSequatchie]

Someone created a Facebook page to try and get the word out and possibly put pressure on MGM.

Facebook.com/SaveTheAlamo