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Which Classic films should be restored?

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Author	Topic: Which Classic films should be restored?

Gae Standard Userer	I was watching "The Fly" (1958 Vincent Price) the other day and I noticed that the picture quality and soundtrack were stunning as though it had been digitally restored. I know that its has been re-released as a DVD box set recently with "The Fly 2" and the newer Jeff Goldblum version. Does anyone know whether it was restored or not and is there a website with a list or something? Films I own or know of are:- North By Northwest (glorious looking and sounding DVD this) My Fair Lady Vertigo Lawrence of Arabia Bridge on the River Kwai? Spartacus? I have a copy of "Charade" which was a very poor transfer. As far as I am aware the Criterion version is the best but I still believe this film deserves a restoration if not already done. What others Classic Movies deserve a restoration in your opinions? Gae NP The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (Rozsa) [Message edited by Gae on 12-15-2002]
posted 12-15-2002 06:03 AM PT (US)

Marian Schedenig Standard Userer	Captain Blood The Adventures of Robin Hood The Sea Hawk Scaramouche None of them out on DVD so far, and only Hood and possibly Scaramouche released on LaserDisc, if the IMDb is right.
posted 12-15-2002 02:19 PM PT (US)

Lou Goldberg Standard Userer	This is a question my friend who works at the UCLA Archive should talk about since he actually does this work. In the case of Charade, it's public domain, so there are a lot of copies out there from poorer sources but that doesn't mean the film itself needs to be restored. The list of the stuff that needs to be worked on is endless. I'm glad for the ones we have but they tend to be bigger films, because restored versions can at least make some of the money back. These take priority over lesser films which will fall apart as a result of not being tended to.
posted 12-15-2002 08:33 PM PT (US)

Gae Standard Userer	Lou, How come Charade is Public Domain? Doesn't any studio have copyright over it? Is there a story about this that I dont know? Charade is one of my favourite Cary Grant movies after North By Northwest. Gae NP The Russia House
posted 12-16-2002 02:22 PM PT (US)

Pete M Standard Userer	I'd love to see a resoration of Mario Bava's Operazione Paura (aka Kill, Baby... Kill!) I love that film. The only disc available is really poor quality, & P/S only. I think I read somewhere that a restoration (along the lines of Bava's Whip & the Body) was due, but I can't seem to find any confirmation of this. Has anyone else seen this film? NP LotR (Rosenman)
posted 12-16-2002 06:32 PM PT (US)

Lou Goldberg Standard Userer	I don't know why Charade is in the Public Domain, but there are a ton of VHS and DVD copies of the thing floating around and I suspect the recent remake was possible in part because they probably didn't have to pay for the story or script. It's very possible that the company that produced it simply forgot to renew the copyright which is a way a number of films slipped into the PD. There could be other reasons as well. For years and years, the independently produced It's A Wonderful Life was in the Public Domain and you could get copies of it or it could be shown on TV for free and so it was everywhere. Then someone got the idea that they could use the fact that the music by Tiomkin which was still under copyright to bar screenings of the film and that's why the Public Domain copies have dried up, there is a new official VHS/DVD of it, and why it is only being shown on network TV this season. It's possible that someone could pursue something similar with Charade and other Public Domain films but it hasn't been done. Other films in the Public Domain include Welles' The Stranger, Beneath The 12-Mile Reef, Hawks' His Girl Friday, and The Snows of Kilimanjaro. [Message edited by Lou Goldberg on 12-16-2002]
posted 12-16-2002 08:45 PM PT (US)

Pete M Standard Userer	Yeah, I think that Murnau's Nosferatu, & the original Night of the Living Dead are two others. NP The Fly
posted 12-17-2002 03:35 AM PT (US)

Lou Goldberg Standard Userer	Which classic films should be restored? I want a Criterion frame-by-frame digitally remastered version of DEEP THROAT and DEBBIE DOES DALLAS in 5.0 surround sound. The rest of cinema is just so much worthless junk.
posted 12-17-2002 09:16 PM PT (US)

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