"A Star Is Born" Garland in 6k resolution (1 Viewer)

[Stanton Heck]

There is no complete print. There is no collector that is holding out. If MR COLLECTOR IS a film lover then he should send the footage to Warner Brothers so generations to come can enjoy the complete version! If he doesn't turn the footage over to Warner Brothers then the movie will die with him! I highly doubt a complete print is out there! It would of turned up by now. Also any 16mm print that was made for A STAR IS BORN will be the short version.

 

[felipenor]

Is it expected to be released this year?

 

[Simon Howson]

Originally Posted by felipenor

Is it expected to be released this year?

Last year's Warner Home Video Chat:

[warnerbros] Yes. We will release the remaining five unreleased Judys....most likely when we issue our now-being-super-restored A STAR IS BORN special edition. Tentative date Spring 2010.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/032409htfchat.html

HOWEVER that date is tentative. Warner also said there would be international postage for Warner Archive, and that Film Noir 5 would be released late last year, but neither of those things happened.

 

[JoHud]

Wasn't there a PR report during the fall that stated, alongside with the success of the Warner Archive program, that said that A Star is Born will be released on Blu-ray, with both the original and the remake?

 

[Simon Howson]

Originally Posted by JoHud

Wasn't there a PR report during the fall that stated, alongside with the success of the Warner Archive program, that said that A Star is Born will be released on Blu-ray, with both the original and the remake?

I think you mean Barry Maxwell's column. A bunch of release dates were released by Warner France. Who knows if that relates to the U.S. date:

On the Blu-ray front from Warner Bros., there have been leaks over the past month of classic releases coming in 2010 in France. On the docket there, apparently, are: Kelly's Heroes (1970) and Where Eagles Dare (1968) on April 7th; [COLOR= rgb(255, 0, 0)]A Star Is Born (1954) on May 12th[/COLOR];

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/barriemaxwell/maxwell112509b.html

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Originally Posted by Stanton Heck

There is no complete print. There is no collector that is holding out. If MR COLLECTOR IS a film lover then he should send the footage to Warner Brothers so generations to come can enjoy the complete version! If he doesn't turn the footage over to Warner Brothers then the movie will die with him! I highly doubt a complete print is out there! It would of turned up by now. Also any 16mm print that was made for A STAR IS BORN will be the short version.

The collector would also be an idiot. The studio not knowing what the left hand is doing would probably destroy it as an illegal print. And there's always the instructive object lesson of THE ALAMO turning up in a beautiful roadshow print only to be improperly stored by the studio and allowed to turn to vinegar. Collectors don't trust the studios to take care of their assets, with good reason.

 

[Patrick Mason]

Haven't had a chance to watch it yet, but A Star Is Born has appeared on Netflix's streaming service in HD. Could this be the new restoration?

 

[Garysb]

Originally Posted by Patrick Mason

Haven't had a chance to watch it yet, but A Star Is Born has appeared on Netflix's streaming service in HD. Could this be the new restoration?

I doubt it since Warner Bros. is saving the new restoration to premiere at the Turner Classic Film Festival. A hi def version of the film has also recently been shown on HDNET. It looked good but I assumed it was from an existing source. It started with the dedication to film preservation that is on the current DVD.

 

[Jack Theakston]

The studio not knowing what the left hand is doing would probably destroy it as an illegal print. And there's always the instructive object lesson of THE ALAMO turning up in a beautiful roadshow print only to be improperly stored by the studio and allowed to turn to vinegar.

I don't think this would be the case. WB would be happy to obtain and preserve the missing footage, and I'm sure they'd take good care of it.

THE ALAMO situation was the exception to the rule. The print went vinegar because it was treated with a scratch removal process that ended up chemically destroying the base of the film, not because of inadequate storage.

By the way, for whatever it's worth, the story goes that this certain collector salvaged the film out of a garbage dumpster at WB, making the print quite legitimately the collector's.

 

[RolandL]

Originally Posted by Simon Howson



I think you mean Barry Maxwell's column. A bunch of release dates were released by Warner France. Who knows if that relates to the U.S. date:
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/barriemaxwell/maxwell112509b.html

They list Dial M For Murder on Blu-ray in June. I guess this will be released again when the Blu-ray 3D version comes out?

 

[ahollis]

I doubt we will hear in firm news on A STAR IS BORN release until after the premiere at TCM Film Festival this spring. It will more than likely come out during the presentation and hit the reviews of the restored film in digital.

 

[Jack Theakston]

They list Dial M For Murder on Blu-ray in June. I guess this will be released again when the Blu-ray 3D version comes out?

That is for a French release, I believe. There's nothing on the boards right now for a domestic BD, I'm told.

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

I can't get excited over a new restoration of A STAR IS BORN unless the missing footage has been reinstated.

 

[Simon Howson]

Originally Posted by Jeffrey Nelson

I can't get excited over a new restoration of A STAR IS BORN unless the missing footage has been reinstated.

And the Born in a Trunk number is omitted, which was added to the film after Cukor finished it, and it wasn't even directed by Cukor.

 

[Brandon_D]

It may not have been directed by Cukor, but its an absolute masterpiece of Judy Garland's career. It must be there.

 

[Simon Howson]

Originally Posted by Brandon_D

It may not have been directed by Cukor, but its an absolute masterpiece of Judy Garland's career. It must be there.

I guess it depends on if it is going to be a director's cut or not, because if it is, it shouldn't be in the film.

 

[Rob_Ray]

Originally Posted by Simon Howson



I guess it depends on if it is going to be a director's cut or not, because if it is, it shouldn't be in the film.

It's impossible to create a "director's cut" of this film as the director has been gone for nearly 27 years. Cukor has gone on record as saying that he could have eliminated 25 minutes or more from the film with indetectable cuts that no one would have noticed. And he was right. The film as it is plays like a rough first cut, especially the opening sequence which contains a lot of redundant shots and overlong shots that belabor the points being made. But Cukor never had the chance to make the editorial decisions that a "director's cut" would require, so it is what it is, missing segments notwithstanding.

And nobody's going to delete "Born in a Trunk" which is one of Garland's finest moments on film regardless of who directed it.

 

[ahollis]

Originally Posted by Rob_Ray




It's impossible to create a "director's cut" of this film as the director has been gone for nearly 27 years. Cukor has gone on record as saying that he could have eliminated 25 minutes or more from the film with indetectable cuts that no one would have noticed. And he was right. The film as it is plays like a rough first cut, especially the opening sequence which contains a lot of redundant shots and overlong shots that belabor the points being made. But Cukor never had the chance to make the editorial decisions that a "director's cut" would require, so it is what it is, missing segments notwithstanding.

And nobody's going to delete "Born in a Trunk" which is one of Garland's finest moments on film regardless of who directed it.

While George Cukor directed it, it was a Jack Warner film from the beginning and was the one that actually cut the film in the end. I'm with you on the "Born In A Trunk" number. It was a part of the film for the start and should stay. I don't understand the controversy about the song being in the film

 

[Robin9]

Originally Posted by ahollis
I'm with you on the "Born In A Trunk" number. It was a part of the film for the start and should stay. I don't understand the controversy about the song being in the film

The "controversy" originated with George Cukor telling interviewers that he thought inserting the number was a mistake which unbalanced the movie. For example in Cukor by Carlos Clarens (Secker & Warburg, 1976, SBN 436 09942 X) Cukor says The picture was mangled after the premier. They thought it was over-long, which it probably was, except that everything was in the right place. So they cut important scenes to make room for the endless "Born In A Trunk" number, which I did not direct - it was put together by the art director and the choreographer - and they removed "Lose That Long Face" which was essential to the scene with Bickford in her dressing room.

The ideal situation would be for Warners to make peace with that collector and then to issue on a Special Edition Blu-ray two versions of the movie: George Cukor's version without "Born In A Trunk" and also Jack Warners' version with the number included.

 

[ahollis]

Thanks for the explanation. I am not sure that I agree that it should be deleted since it was in the film for most of it's release history, I can understand why some people are dedicated to an original Cukor version, but unless he made notes as Orson Wells did, then I not sure we will get his vision.