MarcMorris

I thought you all might be interested in this. Is there any truth in it?

penfold

Not being an archivist or a restorer I don't actually know, but I find it hard to believe....as the head of the restoration team has specifically stated in that release that the restoration was taken from the original British negative, and that only the scenes censored in Britain (and thus missing from the original negative) were taken from the Dupe negs that Warners did their restoration from. Why lie??
Technically it's correct that it's a 'hybrid that was never..in distribution' but would you rather see it restored fully censored to 1958 standards, or as originally intended by its director?? I would go with the BFI on that one.
I signed up pretty early to Fim Archive Action, it started as a good lobbying group, but it does at times seem to go OTT....this may be one of them.

Bit of a Bay Window, what??

silverwhistle

Anyone know if/when the restored version is going to be issued on DVD?

"Trust me, I'm a doctor...!"

DB7

Eventually. I'm sure it was supposed to be doing a limited UK cinema run after Cannes.

silverwhistle

Thanks! I wonder if GFT will get it?

"Trust me, I'm a doctor...!"

penfold

Lobby for it??

Bit of a Bay Window, what??

Algar

As Senior Curator (Fiction) at the BFI National Archive, I'd like answer the points raised over our work on DRACULA. The work undertaken by Warner Bros in the mid-1990s was not a restoration as such but simply the preparation of digital materials for a DVD release. The BFI has prepared new preservation materials on film from the original negative. The new version, incorporating the original UK title sequence, benefits from additional technical work that has been carried out on both picture and sound. Furthermore, we have reinstated a brief sequence which was cut from the UK release version by the BBFC. None of this is a secret and we are pleased to offer the film to UK audiences in as complete a form as is currently possible. You can see the film at the Cambridge Film Festival on July 8, and a theatrical and DVD release are planned for later this year.

ChristineCB

Fantastic.

If I besmirch BFI's reputation further, can I get more and more films released?!!

Or will I need to keep my pitchfork and torches for those long, lonely foggy-night mountain path climbs?



(I'm not opposed to either method, by the way... especially if more theatrical and DVD releases can be gained!)

Sweeney Todd

If the brief sequence cut for UK release by the BBFC (as mentioned by Penfold) is simply a more complete version of Lucy's staking (apart from the titles, it was the ONLY difference between the British version known as "Dracula" and the international version known as "Horror of Dracula"), it's not a big discovery, as "Horror of Dracula" was never a lost picture. In fact it was this complete version, with this title, which was released in France in February 1959 for instance.

To the other hand, the restored copy can have much better colors than the Warner DVD in USA - and (if you plan to release this restored version on DVD) a better respect of the image ratio, the US DVD being hideously matted above and below to obtain an inaccurate wide-screen effect.

For a time, by "restored", I was hoping that the new version would include some shots never included in ANY version, but seen on stills, like the hideously tranformed Jonathan Harker in the coffin, or Christopher Lee in mid-decomposition at the end of the movie, but apparently those segments are lost for ever (if they were really filmed).

penfold

Welcome to Britmovie...it will make a nice change for someone with inside knowledge to help defend the BFI against some of the more outrageous accusations we sometimes get here....and I am glad (and saddened for them) that the Archive Action Group were off-beam on this one.

Bit of a Bay Window, what??