I have read a few things about a longer cut of the movie, longer than the current dvd, that resides in the Library of Congress gathering dust.
This taken from IMDB Message Boards "See the UNDERSTANDING GREATEST STORY post for more info. There seems to be no surviving prints longer than 196 minutes except at the Library of Congress where a 224 minute version lies gathering dust. And no one seems interested in restoring the roadshow print. There was never a 260 minute + print to my knowledge."
Does anyone know truth to any of this?
I love this film, btw. I am a huge fan of biblical epics and would love to see this longer cut restored, or, crossing fingers, the original roadshow version.
This is one of three classic MGM movies that I am wishing to get released in their roadshow versions with the other ones being The Alamo and It's A Mad Mad Mad World.
I have the extended Laser Disc of The Alamo and it seems like I may just need to hook up the LD player into my final cut and make my own dvd in dvd studio pro.
I hate doing this since its not supporting the studio at all, but I want this version to be preserved somehow, just incase the LD ever goes.
I would love to contact MGM about the longer print, as there is a good chance they don't know about it. Although from what I'm hearing, its in iffy shape and would probably require a great deal of restoration.
Maybe if enough of us mention that it would interest us, MGM might then determine that it is worth their effort in restoring it.
This taken from IMDB Message Boards "See the UNDERSTANDING GREATEST STORY post for more info. There seems to be no surviving prints longer than 196 minutes except at the Library of Congress where a 224 minute version lies gathering dust. And no one seems interested in restoring the roadshow print. There was never a 260 minute + print to my knowledge."
Does anyone know truth to any of this?
I love this film, btw. I am a huge fan of biblical epics and would love to see this longer cut restored, or, crossing fingers, the original roadshow version.
This is one of three classic MGM movies that I am wishing to get released in their roadshow versions with the other ones being The Alamo and It's A Mad Mad Mad World.
I have the extended Laser Disc of The Alamo and it seems like I may just need to hook up the LD player into my final cut and make my own dvd in dvd studio pro.
I hate doing this since its not supporting the studio at all, but I want this version to be preserved somehow, just incase the LD ever goes.
I would love to contact MGM about the longer print, as there is a good chance they don't know about it. Although from what I'm hearing, its in iffy shape and would probably require a great deal of restoration.
Maybe if enough of us mention that it would interest us, MGM might then determine that it is worth their effort in restoring it.
