Press Release SPHE Press Release: 1776 (1972) (4k UHD) (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

Glad to hear from you Joe! So pleased your wonderful commentary with Peter will be released again.

I concur. It's good to see you here, Joe!

 

[Moe Dickstein]

I concur. It's good to see you here, Joe!

Now we just need to work to get the Director's Cut of Texasville you produced released again as well! Hopefully the digression will be allowed - I found when comparing the two versions that some alternate takes were used for your LD version - Do you recall if those shots were used to avoid the jumpcuts in the negative for the theatrical cut or more because Peter Bogdanovich preferred the alternate takes?

 

[Jack P]

No Jack, it was removed for the 2002 DVD, the original Director's Cut

Yes, that is correct. My mistake.

 

[Josh Dial]

Man I ordered this so fast.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I’ll pick this up in time for July 4th and watch the original theatrical version this year rather than the extended version.

One thing I did love in the theatrical version was the lack of an overture, and how the film opens cold on the bell tower. Adams is summoned, he makes a sarcastic joke, and then the main titles appear as he runs down the stairs and into the congressional session. That run down the stairs has always seemed excessively long to me without the credits, and I think the lack of the credits has a way of stepping on that joke by giving it too much room to breathe.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

There's so much missing from the theatrical version that I probably couldn't bear to watch it again other than as a curiosity.

 

[jim_falconer]

One other thing marvelous about the LD was the sound it projected. The film has never sounded so good, from the opening overture, to Adams running down the stairs of the bell tower, to the final gong at the end of the film. Neither the DVD or BD came close to replicating the magnificent audio of the LD, and I hope this release will restore that

 

[Josh Steinberg]

There's so much missing from the theatrical version that I probably couldn't bear to watch it again other than as a curiosity.

I doubt it’ll re-emerge as my go-to version but I’m eager to see it as I first did, only in widescreen rather than pan & scan.

If memory serves (always a question), the theatrical is still in the neighborhood of 140 minutes so it’s still quite a long film either way. I’ll miss Cool Considerate Men. If I want an “accurate to the 7th grade classroom” version to recreate my first middle school viewing, then I will need to fast forward through Molasses To Rum and any Jeffersonian romance.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

I’ll pick this up in time for July 4th and watch the original theatrical version this year rather than the extended version.

One thing I did love in the theatrical version was the lack of an overture, and how the film opens cold on the bell tower. Adams is summoned, he makes a sarcastic joke, and then the main titles appear as he runs down the stairs and into the congressional session. That run down the stairs has always seemed excessively long to me without the credits, and I think the lack of the credits has a way of stepping on that joke by giving it too much room to breathe.

Do you mean the main titles? The overture is only in the LD. Fun bit of trivia if you watch the LD cut you’ll see there are outtakes of going down the stairs that are the edited out head and tail of the shots because the only version they had of the correct shot had titles on. The sound of his footsteps therefore doesn’t match.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

I doubt it’ll re-emerge as my go-to version but I’m eager to see it as I first did, only in widescreen rather than pan & scan.

If memory serves (always a question), the theatrical is still in the neighborhood of 140 minutes so it’s still quite a long film either way. I’ll miss Cool Considerate Men. If I want an “accurate to the 7th grade classroom” version to recreate my first middle school viewing, then I will need to fast forward through Molasses To Rum and any Jeffersonian romance.

Yeah I agree Josh, I’ve seen the film hundreds of times but I’ve never seen this cut in widescreen. Also there are a few shots that are exclusive to this version, places where PHH went to closeups for his cut, like just before Martha comes down the stairs.

The real pleasure of the shorter cut to me is to appreciate just how deftly some of these massive edits were made. If you’ve become familiar enough with the longer cuts you’ll really be amazed and I also think it’s one of the virtues of the LD version in that the jumps in quality clue you in to what’s happened. I think when I get all these cuts I may make a big YouTube video going through the complete list of changes and alterations through the years. Would be fun and I can finally easily access all the materials to make the visual essay properly.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

My first exposure to the movie was a 16mm 'scope print of the theatrical version, they were common (the pan-and-scan prints even more so) in the collector's circuit as they must have made a massive run of them for the non-theatrical market in the mid-70s.

 

[jayembee]

Two minutes is the difference in two cuts?

It really is astonishing how much difference 2 minutes can make in a film, if it's the right 2 minutes. One of the (in my opinion) greatest scenes in all of cinema -- the breakfast table montage in Citizen Kane -- is almost exactly 2 minutes long.

 

[Matt Hough]

I doubt it’ll re-emerge as my go-to version but I’m eager to see it as I first did, only in widescreen rather than pan & scan.

If memory serves (always a question), the theatrical is still in the neighborhood of 140 minutes so it’s still quite a long film either way. I’ll miss Cool Considerate Men. If I want an “accurate to the 7th grade classroom” version to recreate my first middle school viewing, then I will need to fast forward through Molasses To Rum and any Jeffersonian romance.

I played Caesar Rodney the first time I did 1776 on the stage, and I have to say a good portion of that role is missing from the theatrical cut, too. Another reason I don't prefer it.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I played Caesar Rodney the first time I did 1776 on the stage, and I have to say a good portion of that role is missing from the theatrical cut, too. Another reason I don't prefer it.

He is one of the more interesting characters in the film. I remember he's brought back for the signing and you can see that his health has significantly declined.

What was the deal with his facial brace?

 

[jayembee]

My wife watches this film every July 4th. She had it on VHS, then on DVD, then we upgraded to the BD. Now UHD. She hasn't seen the theatrical version since the 1970s (on a school field trip, presumably during the Bicentennial; she's a little too young to have seen it in 1972), and hasn't ever seen the LD version. To have all four versions in one place is heaven for her.

I'm just surprised that they're releasing this at the end of May, rather than the week of July 4th (or the week before).

 

[Matt Hough]

He is one of the more interesting characters in the film. I remember he's brought back for the signing and you can see that his health has significantly declined.

What was the deal with his facial brace?

He had cancer that had manifested itself on his face, so it was to cover it.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

My wife watches this film every July 4th. She had it on VHS, then on DVD, then we upgraded to the BD. Now UHD. She hasn't seen the theatrical version since the 1970s (on a school field trip, presumably during the Bicentennial; she's a little too young to have seen it in 1972), and hasn't ever seen the LD version. To have all four versions in one place is heaven for her.

I'm just surprised that they're releasing this at the end of May, rather than the week of July 4th (or the week before).

Shhh we don’t want to wait longer! I’d bet it has to do with tight replication windows and they want to be sure it doesn’t come out post 7/4

 

[Moe Dickstein]

I played Caesar Rodney the first time I did 1776 on the stage, and I have to say a good portion of that role is missing from the theatrical cut, too. Another reason I don't prefer it.

One of Warner’s peeves was the Delaware delegation. He thought they were too comical.

 

[usrunnr]

We're talking about 2 minutes difference, right? What is in those 2 minutes?

 

[Ronald Epstein]

We're talking about 2 minutes difference, right? What is in those 2 minutes?

Already answered

Press Release - SPHE Press Release: 1776 (1972) (4k UHD)

CELEBRATE THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MUSICAL FAVORITE INCLUDES MULTIPLE VERSIONS OF THE FILM AND A LIMITED SLEEVE FEATURING THEATRICAL ARTWORK AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME ON 4K ULTRA HD™ MAY 31ST 1776 SYNOPSIS 1776 is a musical...

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