Lost scenes from METROPOLIS (1927) rediscovered ! (1 Viewer)

[Mark Zimmer]

Little hope for the frame rate, given what the FMS has said to date, but yeah the film plays SO much better at 20 fps than it does at 24.

 

[Danny Burk]

A thread on Nitrateville includes a report from a screening today in Buenos Aires (see post #17) plus photos and discussion:

NitrateVille.com :: View topic - Lost scenes from 'Metropolis' rediscover

 

[MielR]

If any stills exist of that 'monk in the cathedral' scene, perhaps they can use them to fill in (like they did with some other lost scenes in the Moroder version).

It's been a while since I watched the KINO version, I don't remember how/if they addressed it there.

EDIT: I see the KINO version contains one still photo of the Monk. I hope they incorporate it into the film on this next release, instead of relegating it to the stills gallery again.

 

[EricSchulz]

According to a late post today (07/03/08) at TheDigitalBits.com the recovered footage WILL be in both the SD and BD discs.

 

[MielR]

Here's some footage from a German TV report!

YouTube - Verschollene Szenen Metropolis (1927)

 

[CameronMcC]

if we're holding out hope, someone check for cans marked "London after midnight" The good news is that findings like this should get more cash flow going that way for restoration, etc. which means they will be looking through what they have.

 

[Tony J Case]

Yeah, but will it have a rock score done by big name eighties pop stars? That's the version on DVD I'm waiting for!

 

[Patrick McCart]

Why is there so much demand for Moroder's cut? I watched a few scenes and it pretty much sucked. Totally inappropriate music and the optical effects are ridiculous. Now that we can hear the Huppertz orchestral score in its entirety, I can't imagine anything else being joined with the images.

 

[MielR]

I like the Moroder version because it's the first version I ever saw (I saw it at a theater in 1984), and I will always associate the music with the film. I also like the color tinting and the way Moroder used still photos to fill in missing scenes.

 

[David_Blackwell]

It is great news. I love the cut that has been available and the rock music version (which isn't as good as the original score). I can't wait to see the restored version. now only if they can discover missing Doctor Who episodes in South America.

 

[Richard M S]

Add me to the wish list for that Moroder version. I doubt we will ever get it, but it was that version that introduced me to the film back in the eighties.

Maybe on that version they can add as an extra that music video Madonna made which was inspired by Metropolis. I think it was Express Yourself.

 

[MielR]

Nooooooooo! NO MADONNA! lol!

But I wouldn't mind Queen's 'radio ga ga' video (which used footage from Metropolis).

 

[Mark Edward Heuck]

I also liked Moroder's idea of using on-screen subtitles instead of intertitles. I never understood why this approach was never tried with other silent film presentations on tape and DVD - I think it would ease people who are normally put off by the conventions of silent film.

Unfortunately, I have been told that relicensing all the music would be exorbitant, and that neither Moroder nor the Murnau Foundation are terribly interested in making that cut available again. It cannot even be screened theatrically now.

 

[seanOhara]

Why not colorize it and have actors dub in the dialogue?

The intertitles are part of the flow of the film and removing them is just as bad as bad as re-editing the film itself. Not to mention it would introduce a number of jump-cuts.

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Now playing: Blonde Redhead - 23
via FoxyTunes

 

[Mark Zimmer]

You want a killer score for Metropolis? On the restoration tour, I saw it played on theater organ by Dennis James, who during the robot creation scene shifted to theremin. It was outstanding (I think he used some Huppertz material) in every respect. Have James do that again for DVD and we have a winner.

 

[PaulP]

Is there any word on this new Kino SE that's supposedly out next year?

 

[Tony J Case]

Yeah, pretty much this.

Without the Moroder version, I wouldnt have discovered this film nearly as early as I did (if at all).

 

[SilverWook]

When I saw the restored version on TCM, I was surprised some of the scenes Moroder recreated with stills were not in there. I thought they would be redone and included in a similar fashion.

It's a damn shame if they're going to keep the Moroder version out of sight. Unless you can get your hands on the old video cassette or Laserdisc, you're out of luck. Curiously, I did see a clip from it on PBS a couple years ago.

I've seen at least one other silent film with subtitles and a modern score.

 

[MielR]

I don't understand either why the KINO version didn't use stills like the Moroder version did- it seems like a no-brainer. They have a gallery on the DVD of still photos from lost scenes, and yet they used none of them in the film.

I got the Moroder LD a few years ago on eBay. As great as the quality is on the KINO DVD, the Moroder version is still the version I watch most often.

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

At least it don't matter none now. Them scenes has been found. Well, except for one. Perhaps they'll see fit to use a still or two for that. And they did use a still for one missing bit in the Kino version, the shot of HEL.