A Few Words About While we wait for A few words about...™ Lawrence of Arabia -- in 4k/UHD Blu-ray (2 Viewers)

[Jonathan Perregaux]

Wait, you mean if the Internet says it, it may not be true? Horrors!

 

[Kosty]

Ooooo.... Bring it on, sir, bring it on...

:pc:

Wow, I'm ready to hear the story as well.

...A quick, but gentle examination of the elements, revealed them to be a bit brittle, extremely worn, splices on the verge of opening, and not cut to match any of the three versions released.

 

The support team at the facility had been told that the OCN was complete, had not been touched in since the early '70s, was in superb condition.
That turned out to not be the case.
RAH

Looking further, it appeared that the 65mm trims & outs had survived, all stored away in a vault in London. Within a month or so, those elements arrived at our facility in New York for inventory. All 2800 pounds of them. Upon arrival, with the large format materials shelved, a large wooden crate was brought in. When opened, it was discovered that it contained 35mm work trims and extras, along with production track -- all for cutting -- but damaged in shipment so that most of the small cardboard boxes had opened, and the contents in a general mess in the crate.

 

[DP 70]

We got a phone call from BAFTA the other week asking if we could show 70mm as they had a problem and could not screen that night due to a projector problem.
I think they were going to screen a 70mm print of lawrence, old 1989 version or a new 70mm from the 4K?.
Also in NFT 1 they are putting in a Christie 4K for screenings in Oct and Nov.

 

[Alan Tully]

Now up for pre-order at Amazon France, 12th November. I suppose that could change, but it's something.
http://www.amazon.fr/Lawrence-dArabie-double-Blu-ray/dp/B0083SDP7G/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1342259771&sr=1-1

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Quote:

Now up for pre-order at Amazon France

[COLOR= rgb(24, 24, 24)]I am guessing we will see an official press release[/COLOR]
[COLOR= rgb(24, 24, 24)]announcement for U.S. release very shortly.[/COLOR]

 

[Robert Harris]

Very difficult to bring 26 months down to a handful of posts.

After an inventory of 65mm elements (hundreds of 1000 foot cans) in a general sense, the winding began.

Cans were broken down into two groups, and (as one would surmise) very professionally canned back in 1961 - 1970.

There were no obvious cans marked "Deletions - January 1963," which would have made things too easy. The major question was whether the trims and deletions had survived the cuts or were junked.

As we were going through these elements, word arrived from L.A. that the separation masters had been cut and conformed to the 202 minute version, and that there was no sign of the deletions as sep masters. Nada.

Also, while we were going through cans, another member of the team in NY was going through the 35mm work elements. This yielded some helpful bits, as black & white dupe sections were found, usually short trims, that may have been some of the deleted scenes. We had heard stories of people at the studio in London being able to go into the vaults, borrow, and view trims, etc., and some pieces had apparently not been lost or not returned.

What was found were bits of dupe with mono track, giving us audio, albeit mono for some of the missing material. In another box, a short 35mm clear edge mag marked FV (foreign version) with a reel number. This turned out to be 4 track mag, the first we'd found for the sequence that would cut in after "dine with me..."

Assistants Joanne Lawson and Maggie Field were conforming a new work picture. We had been supplied several very used, and splice, 202 minute eastman prints, which had to be cut together to form a complete version of that release as a starting basis. Where multiple b & w trims were located, one example was cut into the color work pix, as a test.

It was just about this time, that in a search of the known universe for editor Anne Coates, I had a chat with an old friend, Jon Davison -- you'll note a thank you in the end credits -- and asked if he might know of the whereabouts of any surviving 35mm print of the 222 cut. He didn't, and we later found that they had never been produced. More on that later.

Asking if there was anything else he might be able to do to help, I jokingly mentioned that I was searching for Anne Coates, who was apparently not in the UK. He seemed to laugh, and suggested that he'd have to get back to me on that. And I supposed that it would be the end of the story.

Half an hour later, I'm told that there's someone on the phone asking for me. An Anne Coates.

Odd.

Ms. Coates told me that she had heard from Jon Davison that I had been looking for her.

What was the connection?

Her cutting room was next door to Jon's office at the old Selznick Studio. She had been cutting Masters of the Universe, while waiting to get into the American Editor's Guild.

Her questions came to the point, and rapid-fire.

"Does David know?"

I doubted it, as I wasn't permitted to contact him by the studio.

"You've got call him and tell him!"

Don't think so, especially as I'd been warned off.

"Then I'll call him. What have you found?"

I went through a litany of the mess of elements, which had been handled a myriad of time by others over the years.

"Did you find the googles?"

What goggles?

"They cut in directly after you see the motorcycle airborne, and just before the tilt down from St. Paul's."

No. We hadn't.

"Well, you've got to find the googles if you're to succeed."

I asked if there might be a continuity -- a record of the 222 version -- on paper.

"No, but I can get your my line script."

An editors line script tracks every frame of film shot, by takes, and how they inter-relate with the script. Lines track the takes, along with take numbers. I'll try to post a page.

Any surviving print?.

"Sam may have had one, but then again, he might have re-cut it."

It was never found.

The following day, while working on the bench going through trims, Anne called back. By the way, when I mention going through trims, this is literally going through 1000 feet of 65mm negative, some bits so short that they fall to the bench -- none are spliced or attached in any way to the next -- and they need to be wound through without damaging anything. I recall I was working on trims from the sequence between Anthony Quayle (Col. Brighton) and Noel Howlett (Vicar at St. Paul's). We had previously located black and white 35 of the sequence, which began with a tracking shot of the bust of Lawrence. Everything was head and tail trims of shots used in the film. Might we have to fill in with 35mm b & w dupe?

Ann calls, with word that she had found Sir David, as I recall in Spain.

"He wants you to call him at home in London on Tuesday."

Right! Don't thing so.

"He'll be expecting your call."

In the interim, the search of 65mm original continued. The can contained bits of the motorcycle crash and the St. Paul's sequence which we hoped might yield hopeful bit and pieces as trims. Another can, alternate takes between Mr. Quayle and Mr. Howlett, that might be a possible stand-in for the actual cut original, with a bit of audio work to conform.

And then something strange occurred.

Goggles, hanging from a branch. Hundreds of feet of the shot. It fell apart at a cut, and was followed by another length of the same shot. At least we had the mysterious goggles, even if it wasn't the actual piece used in the 222.

And, after days and days of winding through trims, was one of those things that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

As I was winding, someone asked something, standing behind me... I recall continuing to wind slowly, as not to lose forward movement or stop and start, thereby potentially damaging something.

I turned for just a brief moment, and before I turned back, something caught on my cotton-gloved fingers, which were gently holding both edges of the film.

I had hit something interesting, and thousands of feet along, unique.

A splice.

Holding two pieces of original negative together. This bit of the goggles was spliced to a shot of the Lawrence bust, with the proper camera move, matching the black & white. And another splice. This time attaching it to the actual 222 trim of Quayle / Howlett -- the entire sequence, followed by several feet, which was the original beginning of the tilt down of the exterior of St. Paul's.

For the first time, we had found a missing piece of the 222 version. That same can yielded up more. The original Columbia logo, which had been specially painted for the film, and shot in 65mm. It had also been removed.

As we located actual deletions, they were taken to an underground facility in Greenwich, CT used by major corporations to safeguard their most precious files. A very special and highly secure, underground safe deposit facility.

A couple of days later, it was time to make the call to London. And I wasn't happy about it.

After some deep breathing, and fortification with an imaginary couple of glasses of nice wine...

I dialed Sir David Lean's home number.

 

[JoshZ]

Just curious why the studio didn't want you to talk to the director?
Your story has the breathless pace of a suspense novel. I need the next chapter!

 

[Alan Tully]

Really fascinating stuff. When this Blu-ray arrives I wonder how many man hours down the years have been spent on it, whatever they charge it's going to be a bargain. I'm not too bothered about the exact date that they release it as it's going on my Christmas pressy list.

 

[Robert Harris]

Originally Posted by Billy Batson /t/308191/while-we-wait-for-a-few-words-about-lawrence-of-arabia-in-blu-ray/1620#post_3948810
Really fascinating stuff. When this Blu-ray arrives I wonder how many man hours down the years have been spent on it, whatever they charge it's going to be a bargain. I'm not too bothered about the exact date that they release it as it's going on my Christmas pressy list.

Thousands of man (and woman) hours. Mr. Crisp and his team, both within and out of Sony, have been working with the FotoKem scans for probably two years, as budget would allow.

RAH

 

[Kosty]

You have our rapt attention.....

 

[lukejosephchung]

In case anybody is interested, Bill Hunt of the Digital Bits says at his website that Sony will have a definitive street date announcement by this coming Thursday, July 19th, so we should know in just 5 days when our topic of discussion will be available for purchase...

 

[Robert Harris]

Originally Posted by lukejosephchung /t/308191/while-we-wait-for-a-few-words-about-lawrence-of-arabia-in-blu-ray/1620#post_3948828
In case anybody is interested, Bill Hunt of the Digital Bits says at his website that Sony will have a definitive street date announcement by this coming Thursday, July 19th, so we should know in just 5 days when our topic of discussion will be available for purchase...

"There's no time to be wasted then..."

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Monday is usually a big day for Sony announcements

(as is for Warner)

Fox usually tends to announce on Thursday and Friday.

No real science here. Just things I tend to notice.

So, my bet would be Monday. However, it could be
later in the week.

How's that for being vague?

 

[lukejosephchung]

Happy to be of service to the membership, Robert and Ronald...

 

[Robert Harris]

Gathering my courage, I dialed his number.

The phone was answered by a woman who informed me that Sir David had indeed arrived home, spent the night, and had taken off for Los Angeles.

He would expect my call at the Bel Air.

 

[Brianruns10]

With all the buildup, if Sir David doesn't appear atop a camel from miles away in the distance, I'm gonna be let down

 

[theonemacduff]

Yes, and he should appear first as a wavering indistinct blob in the heat haze, a vague intimation, at first not even a shape, just movement, and yet clearly a man, merely from the way it moves. Maybe a shot should ring out....

 

[Brianruns10]

"I am David Lean, and that is my camera negative."
"I have handled it."
"You are welcome...the goggles shot, how if I should take it?"

 

[Stephen PI]

Very difficult to bring 26 months down to a handful of posts.
 We had heard stories of people at the studio in London being able to go into the vaults, borrow, and view trims, etc., and some pieces had apparently not been lost or not returned.

I was one of those people. I was working at Elstree Studios and I knew the guys that worked in the film library. One day I walked into the vault and there in front of me were stacks of brown 35mm 1000' cardboard boxes of film of "Lawrence". Also 70mm cans of film. I was mystified as to how the material got there, only to find out later that when Shepperton cleared their vaults in the early seventies, all the Lawrence material, was sent to two places, one, Elstree Studios, the other I was never able to find out.
As I worked in the cutting rooms, I knew how to look after film and, in my spare time, I went through all the 35mm film to familiarize myself with all the deleted footage and made notes. I replaced everything back into the boxes exactly as I had found them and returned them to the vault. This was around 1975/77.
Later in the US, I volunteered to go to the Selznick studio to visit Jon Davison and to view his first reel of his 35mm IB print of 'Lawrence', hoping that by some miracle the goggle shot might be in the print. Anne Coates, who I knew fairly well, exclaimed, "But how do you know?!", not realizing that I had a chance, years before, to go through all the footage.
Of course, as I suspected, the goggle shot was not in the reel as 35mm IB prints of 'Lawrence' were not made until sometime after the cuts were made.

 

[sharkshark]

Seriously, can this thread get ANY BETTER?!!!
Awesome, awesome stuff.
I frankly had -no idea- (or at least had completely forgotten) that the goggles were a deletion from the original run - every version I've ever seen had it included (naturally, I've only ever seen result of Mr. Harris & co.'s hard work!). Some additions, like the dubbed sections, naturally stand out, but that is such a key, integral moment in the film for me, a beautiful and poetic shot on par with the sunset/match scene, or any number of other epic moments.
Just stunning that they cut it, no doubt to make even more vague the catastrophic accident.
Bravo, sir, keep it coming. RAH, indeed.