Lawrence of Arabia (Superbit) / Waiting for reviews. (1 Viewer)

[Thomas T]

I, too, prefer keeping the intermission sequence where it belongs rather than altering it to coincide with the disc break.

However (and if you're reading this Mr. Harris, please feel free to correct me), I'm old enough to have seen Spartacus in it's original roadshow version way back in 1960 and the original intermission occured after a scene with Kirk Douglas and Jean Simmons. The restored Spartacus which was done in the 1980's (and is now the permanent and definitive version) changed the intermission sequence to later in the film (Spartacus invasion of the Roman camp) which necessitated some rescoring by shifting Alex North's music around.

So, there is a precedent for altering intermission footage.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

I've added some more grab comparison shots:

http://www.robgillespie.dsl.pipex.co...nce/image1.htm
http://www.robgillespie.dsl.pipex.co...nce/image2.htm
http://www.robgillespie.dsl.pipex.co...nce/image3.htm
http://www.robgillespie.dsl.pipex.co...nce/image4.htm
http://www.robgillespie.dsl.pipex.co...nce/image5.htm
http://www.robgillespie.dsl.pipex.co...nce/image6.htm
http://www.robgillespie.dsl.pipex.co...nce/image7.htm
http://www.robgillespie.dsl.pipex.co...nce/image8.htm
http://www.robgillespie.dsl.pipex.co...nce/image9.htm
http://www.robgillespie.dsl.pipex.co...ce/image10.htm
http://www.robgillespie.dsl.pipex.co...ce/image11.htm

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Thomas:

I've recently seen an original Technicolor print of Spartacus from the original release in 1960 and the Intermission is in the same place as the restored version.

 

[Danny_N]

Regarding Lawrence's intermission - David Lean wasn't at all happy with the intermission, at least initially. After the film opened in the States in December '62 he wrote to Robert Bolt:

Sam got David and myself together and said he wanted to take out some scenes. We agreed, on the condition that he take out the interval as well. The sequences were taken out, but the interval stayed.

(All of the above is quoted out of Morris' & Raskin's "Lawrence Of Arabia").

In its first run Lawrence was only shown once without the intermission - on January 21, 1963 at the Beverly Cinema in Berverly Hills. It was finally decided to retain the interval, so that exhibitors could sell drinks and popcorn. (quoted out of Turner's "The making of David Lean's Lawrence Of Arabia).

So it seems that at least when the movie was just out, Lean wanted to get rid of the intermission for artistic reasons and that it was kept in for commercial reasons.
I don't know how he felt about the intermission when Lawrence was being restored in the eighties but time may have changed his view on the subject. It seems likely that he could have get rid of the intermission if he had wanted to, after all what we have now is his "director's cut". Maybe Mr. Harris can shed some light on David Lean's feelings about the intermission.

 

[Thomas T]

Peter, I remember the intermission at about 96 minutes into the film. I suppose it's possible the theatre I saw it in took it upon themselves to alter the intermission. However, we both might be wrong. This is from the Harris audio commentary on the Criterion Spartacus:

"Coming up on the intermission which in reality was not the original intermission at the time the film opened but was an intermission to which it was changed after just a couple of weeks because this particular location, I feel, and I think everyone feels works better for the intermission and when we found that we actually had two exeunt intermissions, and could make a choice, we left it up to Stanley who agreed with us that this was the one. Originally, it was a bit later on in the film where John Ireland says "Tell them to camp tonight by the sea" ".

But I'll tell you that bright blue intermission card with intermission in white letters was not the original intermission card which is why it looks so out of place. Intermission was either printed upon the film proper as in Lawrence O Arabia or the intermission card's look and lettering was closer to the lettering of the film's opening credits.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

While the intermission may not be artisticly based and I might choose to skip over it when I watch the film, it is never the less a part of the history of the film and should be presented in an archival presentation.

If you REALLY want to preserve the theatrical presentation, get a mult-disc player.

 

[Rob Tomlin]

I know that the Robert Harris fanboys will defend this version to the death - that's why this is my last post on this issue.

Promises, promises! :rolleyes

Scott and Rob-

Thanks for posting those captures. They make it clear that the Superbit edition will be the definitive edition of LoA in terms of clarity and color accuracy.

The difference is even larger than I expected.

I can't wait to watch the greatest movie ever made on my new 123" inch screen!



I hope they get the mispelling of Mr. Harris' name fixed as soon as possible!

 

[Simon_Lepine]

I must say I'm a little disapointed to see the EE on Rob's captures. This was a sure buy for me, but now I have some reservations.

 

[Robert Harris]

I can't comment on the new DVD as the studio has not yet supplied a copy. I'm rather in the dark as to precisely what they've done with it after we completed our work.

Re: Spartacus and the intermission...

there were three different points in three different cuts/previews of the film. The intermission point which we have used was the final as decided by Mr. Douglas, Mr. Kubrick and Mr. Lewis.

The white lettering on blue background is absolutely original to the 1960 release.

 

[greg_t]

I love this forum! Where else can you go and get expert information like you do here! Thanks Robert for your insights as always. Anyway, I can't wait to finally get the superbit tomorrow. The screen shots here have me psyched to compare the LE to the new superbit myself.

 

[Yumbo]

kapow!

this is the meaning of SuperBit!

night and day difference with previous release, at least on a 50" plasma. this has got to be the SMOOTHEST landscape picture I can remember seeing in the last year. no visible compression - contouring etc. sand is sand, not pixels.

ok, there is EE, but colours are so evidently better - black is black, not blue. etc.

all my SB discs default to DTS on my RP82. and it should!

enjoy, enjoy!

and don't forget the sound! both tracks sound better.

 

[oscar_merkx]

this is brilliant to see so many htfers respond to the many questions posed here.

Never knew there was an intermission until I read this thread

 

[Sven Lorenz]

I said I wouldn't post on this issue anymore but I've just read something very interesting on the UK DVD Forum about the R2 version of the LoA Superbit (which also has the misplaced disc-break):

http://www.thedvdforums.com/forums/s...hreadid=215665

Also considering this is a superbit disc I cannot understand why they left 1.63GB of space on disc 1 blank...

Can somebody confirm that the same thing is true for the R1?

Because if it is ...

P.S. Thanks to Danny_N for the quotes from Morris' & Raskin's "Lawrence Of Arabia" - so it seems that even without David Lean rising from the grave I have been proven right.
I hope that one day we'll get a DVD edition without the "bloody intermission" (as David Lean called it).

 

[Damin J Toell]

Can somebody confirm that the same thing is true for the R1?

As has been discussed in the other ongoing thread on this topic, Disc 1 uses 6.96GB, leaving 0.99GB in free space.

DJ

 

[Damin J Toell]

P.S. Thanks to Danny_N for the quotes from Morris' & Raskin's "Lawrence Of Arabia" - so it seems that even without David Lean rising from the grave I have been proven right.
I hope that one day we'll get a DVD edition without the "bloody intermission" (as David Lean called it).

Sir David had an opportunity to remove the intermission in 1989, and he declined it. You'll have to excuse me for wanting David Lean's cut of Lawrence of Arabia, and not Sven Lorenz's.

DJ

 

[Sven Lorenz]

In case you missed the quotes above:

David Lean:

It was finally decided to retain the interval, so that exhibitors could sell drinks and popcorn.

Argue all you want - at the time of release David Lean hated the intermission and wanted it removed.
That's both a fact and the FINAL word on this issue.
If you're happy with the Sam Spiegel cut of the movie then be happy with it - I would like an actual Director's Cut.

Too bad the books Danny_N mentioned are out-of-print - they sound really interesting.

 

[oscar_merkx]

re Sven's link to UKDVDForums, is similar to HTF and you would need to register first before you can read or post

 

[Dharmesh C]

Thanks Sven, I didn't know that Lean wasn't happy with the intermission. I can't imagine the film without though.

 

[Jesse Blacklow]

Just so we're clear, no reviewer seems to have a problem with the intermission, just the placement of the disc break. For instance, Dan Ramer at DVDFile.com believes that "the arbitrary disc break is just as heretical as moving the location of the intermission." And, as Damin pointed out, Lean did not have it taken out before Harris et al restored the film. So, regardless of the director's initial misgiving, his FINAL (as in most recent) version seems to be the one we were given.

Besides, the film looks damn good. It is of course your loss, not ours. I'm happy with my copy, and happiness is more important than nitpicking.

 

[Sven Lorenz]

And, as Damin pointed out, Lean did not have it taken out before Harris et al restored the film.

Lean was 81 in 1989 and it was 27 years after the movie was released - he had probably accepted the fact that the pee-break had become part of what the general audience and the "wanna-be know-it-alls" considered his version of the movie.

Anyway - after reading the comments by David Lean and Robert Bolt it's really funny to go to the other thread about this DVD and reread the posts about the "artistic value" of the intermission.

I guess some people are feeling pretty stupid now.