robert harris

I sent the following letter to Mr. Robert Harris @Robert Harris on the use of HDR in Vertigo l, Alfred Hitchcock, 1958 And if he thinks it's worrisome that films are being visually altered by her grading. See below and let me know what you think please! Dear Mr. Harris, I've been a great...

The discussion concerning the blu ray release of the Definitive Laurel and Hardy films made me wonder about the state of affairs with regard to how some films will be preserved/viewed in the future. For Mary Poppins, some scenes that were originally a daylight scene have become a scene in early...

Continue reading...

Here is a new podcast I’m producing on interviewing my colleagues in film preservation and restoration ---on our new episode I speak with Robert A. Harris. In part 1 (of 2) Robert will chat about his early years, involvement on Abel Gance’s NAPOLEON, the restoration and reconstruction of David...

I watched the Blu Ray and I have some questions for you, Mr. Harris (and everybody else who has insight). The transfer seems to consist of basically two different kinds of shots. Shots with great clarity and sharpness that seem to have 1080p detail and shots that have more or less DVD resolution...

Robert, I know you and James Katz were going to do a restoration of this when it was determined that the matrials were in such poor shape, that the restoration would be very expensive and the studio did not want to spend the money (I remember a photo of the negative in an AMC magazine, when AMC...

Dear Mr. Harris: For some time I have noticed that the powers that be at the Walt Disney organization have had little to zero interest in releasing Blu-rays of either their vintage or contemporary live action catalogue. Frankly, I cannot understand what the delay is. Don't they realize that...

It certainly now looks like Vertigo is coming from Universal later this year as part of the Hitchcock boxed set, if not as a standalone release. Amazon UK lists as extras: "Bonus Features: Obsessed with Vertigo: New Life for Hitchcock’s Masterpiece, Partners in Crime: Hitchcock’s...

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Robert Harris to our Insiders Area here at Home Theater Forum. Robert is one of the most renowned restorationists in the business. His knowledge of film and the way it should be properly presented has been a continued asset for all of us...

Mr. Harris, I know you really deal with film restoration, movies and the like but I was curious if you were ever involved in restoring concert films and how, if at all, it's any different from motion pictures. You're probably not a fan of the band Queen but they released a collection of...

You guys could be brothers.

Dear Mr Harris, I'am a belgian film historian and I'm working about some aspects of Vertigo, especially about the european sources of the film and its relationship with the arts. Having consult the Hitchcock's papers at the Margaret Herrick Library, I learned there was two versions of the...

Greeting Mr. Harris, Thank you for the wonderful work you do and inspire in others. It is a great service to a business that can, at times, be rather short sighted. I have two questions regarding screenings I saw a couple of years ago at the AMPAS Goldwyn Theater. "Giant" was supposedly a...

Hi Mr Harris. I just have a quick question for you. On the Warner Archive post you had mentioned that Warner is aware of the dvd compression issues and that work is being done. Have you heard anything further on this? Do you know if they plan on making progressive dvd-rs? I like everyone...

Is there anything in the works for a Blu-ray (it's one of those big vista films that would look spectacular in that format), or at least remastered DVD of this? I have no idea who owns the rights to the Gregory Peck-Jean Simmons-Charlton Heston starrer directed by William Wyler, though my DVD...

Robert, I have a question regarding the Godfather that according to a member on another forum has been put directly to film from 4k data files. So has there really been no additional stage between the digital files and the prints and were all new prints produced in that way ? I am...

Hi Robert, You might remember me as the one who took your order on the phone at Tower.com (back when it was still Tower) for the "Walk The Line" DVD. Anyways, I thought I'd put this out here just to see if you have any advice: I know the economy isn't great right now and this probably...

Is there any information on the status of the restoration of Orson Welles' "Chimes at Midnight"? A restoration is supposedly near completion, and I have even heard that the DVD may be released in April 2009. But no one seems to be giving out any reliable information. Should people spend $30-$40...

One of the pet peeves that I have with the studios is the replacement of the original studio logo at the start of a film with a new updated version. It's my feeling that the logo is as much a piece of history as the film itself. I noticed that the original logos were replaced on the...

Mr. Harris, Were you involved at all in making the decision on the restored VERTIGO to run the "restoration" end credits at the conclusion of the film? I have always thought this was not in keeping with the director's wishes, who, in my understanding, wanted the film to simply fade out to the...

Hi Mr Harris, Recently I watched Magnificent Obsession from a digital TV broadcast. The image was generally very good, but unfortunately some scenes featured blue blotches of colour near the centre-left of the image. Initially I thought this could be a strange lens flare artifact, but it...

Dear Mr. Harris: I've been a fan of your restoration projects ever since I saw this wonderful cinematic masterpiece at the now-defunct Northpoint Theater here in San Francisco in January of 1989. I've bought every home theater incarnation of this work since then going back to Columbia and...

Criterion's releasing _Dodeskaden_ next year, which reminds me to wonder if there's any news about a Blu-ray transfer of _Dersu Uzala_. If I recall correctly, Mosfilm has a 70mm print, but all home video transfers have come from 35mm copies. Does anyone here have any information about the...

Dear Mr Harris, I'm a french student in cinema in Paris and I'm currently doing my final work which subject is your restoration of Lawrence of Arabia. I would like to know if you could help me by any chance to find more informations about this amazing work, for example, did you kept a journal...

With the advances in technology over the past 15 to 20 years, would the films that went through the restoration process in the 90's benefit from being revisited? (Thinking of titles like South Pacific, Spartacus, Oklahoma etc.) Or, would any improvement not be justified by the cost involved...

Mr. Harris Could you give us any kind of status report on this film? I recall you mentioned in a response in another thread that we should "wait", implying that a restoration was in the works. Maybe I'm wrong, but this seems to be about the only Irving Berlin musical that hasn't had a decent...

On Turner Classic Movies, they've been showing Korda's films from the 30's like Rembrandt, Fire Over England, and Scarlet Pimpernel, and considering how poor they looked, I was wondering if anyone knows if they can be restored ?

- make that COMBINING black-and-white separation masters to create a new pre-print element (I wish you could edit topic headlines here)... I'm not sure if this is feasible, but it's something I've been wondering. I know from reading a lot about color film restoration (mostly stuff regarding...

Mr. Harris, I just read your interview with Theo Gluck about _Sleeping Beauty_, and it prompted a question I've been meaning to ask for a while. In the various documentaries about film restorations, there's usually a discussion of how the colors in the available negatives are compared with...

Hello, Mr. Harris; Granted, this is a long shot, but do you foresee another opportunity to go back and revisit your restoration of Abel Gance's Napoleon, and have it issued in a presentation eventually suited for current DVD (or Blu-Ray) standards? Could it again see light of day under...