Universal preparing THE MARX BROTHERS and MOVIE MONSTERS 2 COLLECTIONS and MORE for HD! (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

Has it been absolutely announced that there is no new footage found/included in Horsefeathers? And I did say absolutely.

 

[dirwuf]

I respect all opinions even those I disagree with and how you choose to spend your monies is your personal business. As to footage being restored, what footage are you talking about and what length in film time?


By the way, I'm from Fairfield County too. Miss it, but not the cost of living.

It's not a lot of footage time-wise (I would guess 3 minutes), but very important....some great gags with Harpo as a dogcatcher, including him fooling pups with a fire hydrant. But more importantly, a key scene with all the brothers in Thelma Todd's apartment is now shredded to pieces with missing lines and jumpcuts....it makes the film very frustrating to watch.

 

[dirwuf]

Has it been absolutely announced that there is no new footage found/included in Horsefeathers? And I did say absolutely.

No...and I hope the report is wrong, but it comes from Stan Taffel, one the most respected and connected film collectors around.

 

[Tony Bensley]

The following strikes me as absolute of there being no new HORSEFEATHERS footage, at least where its current restoration is concerned, but that's just my definition! Other people's definitions and opinions may vary!

Sigh...Joe Adamson just sent me this:

Here's what I found: Stan Taffel says "The splicey section is still splicey. There has been a great effort to locate a nitrate positive or negative or fine grain worldwide but it hasn't surfaced yet" -- The new restoration is simply "4K from the best surviving materials." (Don't ask me how Stan Taffel knows this, but if he didn't, he wouldn't be making it up -- )

CHEERS!

 

[brynmill]

I suppose it means re-instated footage that has been missing due to damage rather than deleted scenes. So hopefully the full Thelma Todd apartment scene is back in full from surviving prints in the archives/vaults which have not been accessed since year dot.

 

[dirwuf]

I suppose it means re-instated footage that has been missing due to damage rather than deleted scenes. So hopefully the full Thelma Todd apartment scene is back in full from surviving prints in the archives/vaults which have not been accessed since year dot.

All the scenes I mentioned were in the original 1932 release...


It is not clear how much was lost due to negative damage over the years, or by Hays Code cuts in reissues, but the film's last verified screening in its uncut form was in England during the 1950's.

 

[Tony Bensley]

All the scenes I mentioned were in the original 1932 release...


It is not clear how much was lost due to negative damage over the years, or by Hays Code cuts in reissues, but the film's last verified screening in its uncut form was in England during the 1950's.

Hi Bob!


Assuming that HORSEFEATHERS' last verified screening in its uncut form was in England during the 1950's is correct, I don't think the Hays Code can be blamed for that uncut version's disappearance, though it certainly didn't help in terms of other previously complete prints that may have still existed otherwise!


CHEERS!


Tony

 

[dirwuf]

Hi Bob!


Assuming that HORSEFEATHERS' last verified screening in its uncut form was in England during the 1950's is correct, I don't think the Hays Code can be blamed for that uncut version's disappearance, though it certainly didn't help in terms of other previously complete prints that may have still existed otherwise!


CHEERS!


Tony

Of course there was no Hays Code overseas, but what's likely is that Paramount made their latter-day foreign prints from their edited American negatives...and that the English uncut print was an old one leftover from the thirties. All foreign archives and libraries now apparently only have the cut version.

 

[Tony Bensley]

Of course there was no Hays Code overseas, but what's likely is that Paramount made their latter-day foreign prints from their edited American negatives...and that the English uncut print was an old one leftover from the thirties. All foreign archives and libraries now apparently only have the cut version.

Hi Bob!


A good question might be whether it is known approximately when during the 1950's this verified England screening of the unedited HORSEFEATHERS took place? I'm thinking that if it was in the mid to late 1950's, the unedited print could have been a fifties safety print struck from an old thirties nitrate, or am I reaching, here?


Another good question might also be does anyone know any details of this England screening, as it was supposed to have been verified? I'm thinking that there could be some clues in this!


CHEERS!


Tony

 

[brynmill]

The BBC TV screenings had all the jump cuts, but of course the BFI "may" have a different print in their archives (remember they had the gorgeous print of THE GHOUL several years ago)

 

[dirwuf]

Hi Bob!


A good question might be whether it is known approximately when during the 1950's this verified England screening of the unedited HORSEFEATHERS took place? I'm thinking that if it was in the mid to late 1950's, the unedited print could have been a fifties safety print struck from an old thirties nitrate, or am I reaching, here?


Another good question might also be does anyone know any details of this England screening, as it was supposed to have been verified? I'm thinking that there could be some clues in this!


CHEERS!


Tony

Tony,


English author Allen Eyles wrote about the missing sections in detail in his 1966 book "The Marx Brothers: Their World of Comedy"....Eyles, who is still alive, was recently contacted about this and says that he hadn't personally seen the footage, and that he worked off detailed notes a friend of his took when seeing the film in the 50's. Unfortunately Eyles had no more info on when and where...and frankly not much interest in the Marxes anymore.


The question this raises is why this person was taking notes....did he know that this was a rare print? But like I said, Eyles was of little help.


Bob

 

[JoeDoakes]

You certainly are entitled to that opinion, and perhaps I'm in the wrong forum to be preaching this...but I belong to several Marx Brothers groups that were very excited by the news of a restoration, but when they heard that no footage had been restored, almost unanimously indicated they have little interest in it now, no matter how good it looks.

I really don't understand that at all. If Universal does as much for the Paramount Marx Brothers films as they did for Dracula or Bride of Frankenstein, they should look spectacular. Obviously, everyone would like missing footage restored, but given the shape the existing prints of the Paramount Marxes have been, a restoration of picture and sound quality is still a big deal.

 

[dirwuf]

I really don't understand that at all. If Universal does as much for the Paramount Marx Brothers films as they did for Dracula or Bride of Frankenstein, they should look spectacular. Obviously, everyone would like missing footage restored, but given the shape the existing prints of the Paramount Marxes have been, a restoration of picture and sound quality is still a big deal.

Like I indicated above, me preaching this in a forum where A/V quality is the priority may be a fools errand...


To most, the only Paramount Marx film that really looks bad is "Cocoanuts"..."Horse Feathers" has always looked fine. When word of a restoration broke, everyone was excited by the prospect of the missing footage being found...and while a picture upgrade is great, it wasn't the priority for Marx fans...and many said they will be in no rush to upgrade.

 

[Randy Korstick]

I agree a restoration is still great and all I realistically expected. From what I read I wouldn't hold much hope for the missing scenes ever being found. Sources were exhausted years ago and nothing found. The only chance would be finding some collector that didn't know he had it. Since it hasn't been seen with these scenes since the early 50's and wasn't preserved chances are if the missing scenes are found they maybe so deteriorated that they are not usable.

To me Coconuts and Horse Feathers don't look that great on DVD, coconuts is worse but there is a lot of room for improvement on the picture quality for both. The other 3 look much better but could still be improved.

I really don't understand that at all. If Universal does as much for the Paramount Marx Brothers films as they did for Dracula or Bride of Frankenstein, they should look spectacular. Obviously, everyone would like missing footage restored, but given the shape the existing prints of the Paramount Marxes have been, a restoration of picture and sound quality is still a big deal.

 

[Matt Hough]

Horse Feathers is my favorite of their Paramount films. Yes, I worship Duck Soup, too, but Horse Feathers makes me laugh just a little more.

 

[Rob_Ray]

Horse Feathers is my favorite of their Paramount films. Yes, I worship Duck Soup, too, but Horse Feathers makes me laugh just a little more.

Same here, which is odd because Margaret Dumont is not in HORSE FEATHERS, and she's my favorite member of the team.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Like I indicated above, me preaching this in a forum where A/V quality is the priority may be a fools errand...


To most, the only Paramount Marx film that really looks bad is "Cocoanuts"..."Horse Feathers" has always looked fine. When word of a restoration broke, everyone was excited by the prospect of the missing footage being found...and while a picture upgrade is great, it wasn't the priority for Marx fans...and many said they will be in no rush to upgrade.

Our priorities are more than just that as you can see with our Mission Statement below. With that said, as consumers we're at the mercy of circumstances when it comes to the preservation of any film as the filmmaker intended his art to be viewed by us.

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[Brandon Conway]

Even more than the picture quality, I was greatly impressed with Universal's efforts to clean up the audio on films like All Quiet On the Western Front and Dracula. Really made a huge difference in presentation to not have the old static/hiss, especially on Dracula. All of the Paramount Marx Bros films could benefit greatly from the audio restoration angle, regardless of finding missing footage.

 

[dirwuf]

Robert...


I'm sorry if I came across as flippant in my comments...all I meant was that hardcore Marx fans have been salivating the last few months since Universal announced this worldwide search for an uncut print; the fact that nothing (apparently) has come of it is very disappointing...and even getting a pristine restoration of the rest of the film is small consolation.

 

[Paul Penna]

For me, any 1930s Marx Bros. on Blu-Ray will be a no-brainer. W.C. Fields would be nice, too.