Robert Harris on The Bits: The Alamo (1 Viewer)

[Capnvid]

Mr. Harris; Thank you for your restorations of large negative classics like "Spartacus," "Vertigo," and especially "Lawrence Of Arabia," After years of work, I actually made a decent 720P BDR DL of "The Alamo" from severl LD director's cut discs, a video processor, HDMI to firewire and Adobe Preduction Premiym CS5.5. The Blu-Ray was made for preservation purposes and of course, is not for sale. Would it be worth sending a copy to anyone who might see some of the advantages of using the early hi-def transfer for "The Alamo" director's cut Laserdisc for a real Blu-Ray? Or should I just shut up, stay out of trouble and enjoy it myself? Best, [email protected]

 

[Trenton9claude]

Enjoy the column, and please be sure to come back here to discuss the effort with Robert and others, and to learn how you might be able to help support the project.

 

[Cees Alons]

trenton, You're wasting our server space. Cees

 

[mark brown]

Who at MGM makes the decisions regarding its library?

 

[Moe Dickstein]

I''m sure they're happy to cede most of that planning to Fox these days

 

[Lromero1396]

I''m sure they're happy to cede most of that planning to Fox these days

If Fox is calling all the shots, they would probably want to release The Alamo on BD, continuing their series of John Wayne releases. John Wayne is definitely a selling point in the home video market. I mean why would a forgettable film like The Barbarian and the Geisha be released on BD through a major home video distributor like Fox? It stars John Wayne. That film wasn't even nominated for Oscars and it received a quality BD release. For these reasons, Fox and MGM/UA should see value in The Alamo. If it were to deteriorate beyond repair, it would no longer be usable as an asset. The very fact that MGM/UA is blatantly ignoring an asset (which just so happens to be a classic, Oscar-winning film that John Wayne dedicated so much of his life to making) which may become lost is absolutely inexcusable in this day and age. :f

 

[OliverK]

If Fox is calling all the shots, they would probably want to release The Alamo on BD, continuing their series of John Wayne releases. John Wayne is definitely a selling point in the home video market. I mean why would a forgettable film like The Barbarian and the Geisha be released on BD through a major home video distributor like Fox? It stars John Wayne. That film wasn't even nominated for Oscars and it received a quality BD release. For these reasons, Fox and MGM/UA should see value in The Alamo. If it were to deteriorate beyond repair, it would no longer be usable as an asset. The very fact that MGM/UA is blatantly ignoring an asset (which just so happens to be a classic, Oscar-winning film that John Wayne dedicated so much of his life to making) which may become lost is absolutely inexcusable in this day and age. :f

Critical acclaim cannot really be used to justify spending money towards saving The Alamo. I would rather go with commercial potential that is higher than for many other movies as is the willingness of certain persons and/or entities to help financially with its restoration. At the moement one could get the impression that MGM does not even seem organized enough to look into accepting this help and putting it to good use to bring the Alamo back to life.

 

[Mark-P]

I would imagine MGM will probably release the truncated version of The Alamo on Blu-ray at some point, but they just aren't interested in investing in the restoration of the roadshow cut. Why not do what they did with the South Pacific Blu-ray and include the unrestored roadshow as an bonus feature, only in HD instead of SD?

 

[Alan Tully]

I would imagine MGM will probably release the truncated version of The Alamo on Blu-ray at some point, but they just aren't interested in investing in the restoration of the roadshow cut. Why not do what they did with the South Pacific Blu-ray and include the unrestored roadshow as an bonus feature, only in HD instead of SD?

I'm not too bothered about the roadshow version, just the film I saw at the cinema all those years ago, looking great on Blu-ray.

 

[Richard V]

I'm not too bothered about the roadshow version, just the film I saw at the cinema all those years ago, looking great on Blu-ray.

IMO, I'm not sure it's worth doing a truncated BD version of The Alamo. Having seen the "short version" as a kid, the continuity seemed all wrong, questions left unanswered. The Roadshow version, filled in the "gaps" that I always wondered about. It would just seem a shame to not restore the Roadshow version, and instead release a truncated BD version, which in my opinion, is a MUCH less satisfying movie.

 

[RobHam]

To be blunt - I have the DVD of the abridged version of The Alamo, and don't need/want the BD of same. If the BD of the full roadshow version became available to an international audience, I'd buy it on day 1 of release. From what I saw years ago via the BBC - yes, there is fat on the bone, but the cut version is inexcusable, and Michael should have had his testicles removed for doing what he did all those years ago. Someone within MGM (anyone who understands $) needs to infiltrate the costs to Paramount of putting rubbish like Rio Lobo out on BD, and the profits accrued back by global sales to the John Wayne fanatics. Surely it would make sense to put out his only film as director/star (Green Berets excepted) as a money-making exercise. I don't know how much attention is payed by studios to websites like this (probably zero), but someone somewhere within MGM needs to agree a fee with Mr. Harris and get this damn thing out to a paying audience before it's too late.

 

[Alan Tully]

IMO, I'm not sure it's worth doing a truncated BD version of The Alamo. Having seen the "short version" as a kid, the continuity seemed all wrong, questions left unanswered. The Roadshow version, filled in the "gaps" that I always wondered about. It would just seem a shame to not restore the Roadshow version, and instead release a truncated BD version, which in my opinion, is a MUCH less satisfying movie.

Oh I think it's very much worth doing, I'm not saying that I wouldn't be delighted with the roadshow version, but if it's not to be...& if the missing footage comes from a print & the main film is scanned from the original negative, then you're going to see a big drop off in picture quality. The situation is very frustrating, there's a number of late 50's to mid-60's United Artists films that I'd just love great looking Blu's of, it makes me wonder how, It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World got through. Oh well, things change, maybe it'll be a different situation this time next year.

 

[Robert Harris]

Originally Posted by Billy Batson
Oh I think it's very much worth doing, I'm not saying that I wouldn't be delighted with the roadshow version, but if it's not to be...& if the missing footage comes from a print & the main film is scanned from the original negative, then you're going to see a big drop off in picture quality. The situation is very frustrating, there's a number of late 50's to mid-60's United Artists films that I'd just love great looking Blu's of, it makes me wonder how, It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World got through. Oh well, things change, maybe it'll be a different situation this time next year.

This film is so beyond easy restoration, that a scan of the extant original negative would not provide anything viewable.
RAH

 

[Alan Tully]

This film is so beyond easy restoration, that a scan of the extant original negative would not provide anything viewable. RAH

Oh dear, that beautiful cinematography of William Clothier, what a drag. This stuff is part of America's cultural heritage, not that it will cut any ice with the bean counters at MGM.

 

[Lromero1396]

This film is so beyond easy restoration, that a scan of the extant original negative would not provide anything viewable. RAH

So the surviving portion of the original negative is not usable? Or is it just not worthwhile to scan it?

 

[Lromero1396]

Critical acclaim cannot really be used to justify spending money towards saving The Alamo. I would rather go with commercial potential that is higher than for many other movies as is the willingness of certain persons and/or entities to help financially with its restoration. At the moement one could get the impression that MGM does not even seem organized enough to look into accepting this help and putting it to good use to bring the Alamo back to life.

True about MGM being disorganized, but the main point I was trying to make was that I feel that The Alamo would be a financially worthwhile investment being a John Wayne title.

 

[Ran7dol5ph]

All the best, and have a great weekend!http://www.hometheaterforum.com/content/type/61/id/173862/

 

[OliverK]

True about MGM being disorganized, but the main point I was trying to make was that I feel that The Alamo would be a financially worthwhile investment being a John Wayne title.

I know but even with an almost certain payday like the Bond movies MGM struggles to get them out by themselves. Does not bode well for a large restoration project with an uncertain financial outcome. That is why I pointed out that in addition to the potential revenue due to this being a rather special John Wayne film they could even hope to have part of the restoration financed by external backers.

 

[MCCLOUD]

Hey I am glad that Paramount put Rio Lobo and also Big Jake out on Blu-Ray! As for the Alamo. how much would it cost to restore and put the complete roadshow version out on Blu-Ray? I know nothing about the business but I have always wondered why the studios claim it costs them so much money to remaster and restore their films and old TV shows? Does a lot of the actual cost really come not from the actual remastering and restoring but from overhead such as union wage rules, executive perks, etc ? Again I am merely asking the question because when i read about the studios talking about how much it costs them to restore/remaster a film like the Alamo or a TV series such as Dragnet it seems to me the costs are excessive and a lot of it may just be overhead, etc. I know the studios are a business and that is their main objective, not to please fans! Any answers to my questions are appreciated and I am merely asking and do not want anyone to feel my questions are disrespectful to the studios or anyone because my questions are not intended to be! Thanks! Robert

 

[MCCLOUD]

Hey I am glad that Paramount put Rio Lobo and also Big Jake out on Blu-Ray! As for the Alamo. how much would it cost to restore and put the complete roadshow version out on Blu-Ray? I know nothing about the business but I have always wondered why the studios claim it costs them so much money to remaster and restore their films and old TV shows? Does a lot of the actual cost really come not from the actual remastering and restoring but from overhead such as union wage rules, executive perks, etc ? Again I am merely asking the question because when i read about the studios talking about how much it costs them to restore/remaster a film like the Alamo or a TV series such as Dragnet it seems to me the costs are excessive and a lot of it may just be overhead, etc. I know the studios are a business and that is their main objective, not to please fans! Any answers to my questions are appreciated and I am merely asking and do not want anyone to feel my questions are disrespectful to the studios or anyone because my questions are not intended to be! Thanks! Robert