Site created 12/15/97.	page created: 3/24/05 Back to Part One Robert A. Harris - Main Page The Way of the Future… and Boxed Set Pricing "Madness" Speaking of Gary Cooper, Warner's is currently working with original film elements in preparation for the release in '06 of Sergeant York and The Fountainhead, for which new transfers will be created. Also in the archival pipeline are the Astaire-Rogers RKO productions. There has been discussion on HTF as well as other websites regarding the re-packaging of older Davis titles with new releases in what will be the first of many boxed sets. There are a number of savvy marketing reasons to have gone this route. There are still many cinephiles out there that are new to these titles. The boxed sets enable them to purchase them at beneficial prices. Single titles, either the restored Dark Victory (back to the original negative) or new releases may be purchased as single films. Mass marketers, such as Costco are heavily into boxed sets, marking them down to impossible levels. The point is that there really isn't a downside here for the consumer. If one wishes to buy the set, it can be had for approximately $10 per title. Don't want the entire box? No one is being forced to purchase it. Buy two new releases or add the restoration of Dark Victory, for about $14 per film. I simply don't see a controversy here. The early release Davis titles like Jezebel go back to 2000; Now, Voyager to 2001. The preparation of this set, which possibly should have been called Bette Davis: Volume One, sets the stage for those who wish to get on board at a great price. One might assume that we'll be seeing a new Davis set every year. For example, Jezebel, my personal favorite of the Warner era, is currently undergoing a complete restoration, back to the original negative, and will appear after the box set, either as a stand-alone disc or as part of the second Davis set in 2006. Along with Jezebel will be a new feature length documentary, Stardust: The Bette Davis Story. Ms. Davis' output for WB was so voluminous, that it will take time to properly restore her films before making them available, but the doors have opened. As has been announced the other forthcoming box set will cover a number of Joan Crawford vehicles. Something else should be pointed out. When a studio goes back to the original elements to prepare a new DVD properly, they're creating all new film elements, and the cost on a per title basis can easily reach six figures for a black and white film. Looking toward mid-summer at Warner, two more box sets are coming our way. The first is the second release of film noir titles for release July 5. The set will include more of the greats inclusive of Crossfire, Born to Kill, Clash by Night (Fritz Lang), Dillinger, Lady in the Lake (with its unique "first person" perspective, Narrow Margin and Point Blank. Then comes The Thin Man Collection, which will contain the five Thin Man films not yet in release, along with a bonus disc. Further into the future, word has it that Dancing Lady (1933) is being restored as part of a Clark Gable set. A Few Words About… Mr. Mayer One of the pleasures of this year's Academy Awards was the tribute to Roger Mayer. Through decades, Mr. Mayer has lent his time and effort to two major causes, one human, as a major proponent toward the care of those working within the motion picture industry, and the other cinema. There were lines of narration missing from the piece produced for his introduction, and before his speech, but even if it had been presented completely, his personal impact upon film history, the survival of more than a few films, and its ultimate meaning to the DVD aficionado cannot be overstated. Mr. Mayer joined MGM in the early 1960's and soon found himself in charge of the entire studio lot - the MGM physical plant for film production in Hollywood. Later he became the head of MGM Laboratories, to many the finest lab in the direct positive business. But it was what Mr. Mayer did during that period which earned him the respect of archivists world-wide. Sometimes routinely, sometimes in an almost (but not quite) clandestine mode, whether the owners of the studios fully understood his procedures for spending their money or not… He meticulously copied every bit of surviving nitrate original to safety film. Features, shorts, cartoons, trailers, promotional featurettes, public service spots, etc. Regardless of what the content was, all extant nitrate material was converted to safety stock. There is not another studio with holdings back to the silent era that had anyone looking after what, by many, was considered archaic product in this way. While in many circumstances an edict might come down to "save what is good," Mr. Mayer's concept was always that "we don't always know what is good." We cannot be the arbiters of what should be saved. A few numbers are in order. Of the silent MGM, Metro Pictures and pre-1923 Goldwyn productions, Mr. Mayer saved about 200 feature films, plus whatever reels or fragments survived of another hundred feature films (which did not exist in complete form) were archived as well. For the incredible Technicolor MGM nitrate library, he created (later with the aid of his right hand man Richard May) CRI printing negatives to make the films available after the end of the dye transfer era, as well as safety based black and white master fine grains for every Technicolor film in the library. This included over 75 feature films. When Ted Turner bought the MGM library in 1986, he had the foresight to keep Mr. Mayer in charge of the continuing preservation efforts. Shortly thereafter, Mayer realized that CRIs were not a stable preservation medium, and had the MGM Technicolor nitrate material transferred to new color interpositives. For the black and white library, the number is even more astounding… hundreds of features films, famous and known in their own right as Academy Award winners, or unknown distribution failures, which today are a necessary link in the careers of major filmmakers. The important point to note here is that this was not film restoration, but film preservation, which now allows the quality of restoration which can be seen on dozens of MGM black and white productions which have made their way to DVD, as well as Technicolor DVDs such as Gone with the Wind, Meet Me in St. Louis and many others. We would not have the ability to view the quality DVDs representative of the MGM library had not someone… anyone… done what needed to be done, starting more than forty years ago. No one else stepped up to the plate, or fully understood the value and the necessity of the job that needed to be done. Somehow, whether in the light of day or the cover of darkness… Mr. Mayer did it. Anyone who loves film owes him a tremendous debt of gratitude. And that is half of why he received his special honor from the Academy. A Few (More) Words with… Columbia Pictures' Grover Crisp RAH: It's now been four months since we last spoke about the work you were completing in restoring Sam Peckinpah's Major Dundee, and I know a lot of people are eager to see it. GC: I am really excited about it and anxious for people to see it. It appears in theaters beginning April 8 in New York, April 15 in other cities, and on DVD around the end of May, so the wait won't be too long. RAH: I know this is a longer version never before released. Can you tell us a little more about the additional footage? GC: There are three completely new scenes in the Extended Version, which is what we settled on calling it. In addition, there are bits and pieces of typical Peckinpah touches sprinkled throughout. Things like isolated shots of children observing the adult characters, somewhat like in The Wild Bunch. In all, there is new material strung out over ten of the sixteen reels of the picture. I think the new footage adds dimension and depth to the character of Dundee, the relationship of Dundee and Tyreen (the Richard Harris character), but definitely there are key plot points that now make sense. For example, there is the character of the Indian scout Riago, who is talked about constantly, and seen, throughout the film, with Dundee and Potts (James Coburn) at odds over Riago's "loyalty". Dundee doesn't trust him, but Potts does. In the Extended Version, we not only learn which side he is on at the end of the film, but see what happens to him, and in rather graphic detail. In the original shorter version, the character just disappears and is never mentioned or heard from again. This might also have been a censor issue, as clearly some other things that were cut probably were. In the shorter version, Ryan, the young bugler who narrates the film, seems to go off and spend the night with a young woman in the Mexican village sequence. In the Extended Version, there is no doubt. A number of things like that crop up throughout the film, in addition to the complete scenes that are now back in. RAH: Did you come across anything else? GC: As we were in the process of finishing the feature, I started to look at the trailer material that we had gathered together. Bill Karydes, on my staff, had researched trailers or any featurettes that could be put on the DVD. So, when I was watching the collection of trailers and foreign main title elements, there was a "trailer" that was mislabeled. It turned out to be a substantial fragment of what would have been an exhibitor's promo reel, something to send around to exhibitors to whet their appetite and, hopefully, book the film. So, I was watching this reel, which was just a loose collection of scenes that are in the film and, about ten minutes into it, suddenly there is a scene I had never seen before, but one that I knew had been shot. It is a knife fight between Potts (Coburn) and Sgt. Gomez that takes place during the nighttime celebration in the Mexican village sequence. The nighttime sequence is not in the original short version at all, but is in the Extended Version, though seriously truncated. This knife fight was clearly the center piece of the sequence. RAH: Were you able to integrate it into the full restored version? GC: Unfortunately, no. The problem is that the sequence as it is in the promo reel is not complete; it starts and ends abruptly. It is essentially the middle part of the sequence. So, we didn't have the scenes or shots or audio to bridge in and out of this fight scene. But, I must say, it makes for a great little "deleted" scene for the bonus material on the DVD. RAH: There will be bonus material, then, besides the trailer? GC: There will be about an hour of added value footage: outtakes, the deleted scene mentioned, the original trailer, a newly-created Extended Version trailer narrated by L.Q. Jones, an essay about the making and unmaking of the film, art stills, posters, commentaries, an extended excerpt from a documentary on Peckinpah, some additional shots deleted from scenes that are in the film, a featurette in both black and white and color, additional promo reel surviving fragments. RAH: Two different featurettes? GC: No. There was a featurette made at the time of production called Riding for a Fall, which was basically about the stuntmen and their activities. It unfortunately no longer exists in 35mm, only in 16mm black and white reduction. It is certainly interesting and has some behind-the-scenes shots of the crew and their camera set-ups. We managed to locate a color version which is, believe it or not, only in 8mm, so naturally not in as good a shape as the 16mm. But we thought it interesting to put both on the disc anyway. It adds more value. RAH: All of this sounds really great - this is the kind of product we look for from SPHE. GC: We have high hopes for the film in theaters and hope they also like the DVD when it comes out. The fans are owed top quality and we're trying to give it to them with this. RAH: One of the most important changes for this new version, which we have not discussed before, is that you have taken the rather dramatic step of completely replacing the original music score with a newly-composed one. How did that come about? GC: In a very odd way, actually. I screened an early answer print for the key Peckinpah historians and scholars, including Nick Redman, Paul Seydor, David Weddle, Garner Simmons, just to show them what we were creating and also for background for their commentary on the DVD. This would have been late November. They had not seen this longer version before, but of course needed to for their commentary. In the ensuing conversation, the subject of the music score came up and it was evidently a sore spot with Peckinpah in that he felt it was the wrong type of music for his film, and that it seriously hurt the film. He had no input into the score at that point because the film had been completely taken away from him by then. The original Daniele Amfitheatrof score is a fairly standard action Western cowboys-vs-indians-type of score, and Dundee is not that kind of film. This is not a criticism of Amfitheatrof, by the way, who basically just did what he was hired to do - which was create a score that would help the studio "sell" the film as an entertaining cowboy action movie. But the film, as you know, is anything but that. The sentiment in the discussion was that it was too bad the score couldn't be replaced with one more akin to the actual themes of the film and more along the lines of the scores for Peckinpah's other films where he did have input. Especially since this was a new version closer to Peckinpah's original. I understood the issues with the original score for the same reasons as the director and everyone else, but actually replacing it was not even a remote idea. So, we bounced the idea off of the legal department and the music department at the studio and, essentially, the answer was there was no reason why it couldn't be done. With that decision, we had serious discussions whether or not we should try this, not just from an ethical perspective, but historical and aesthetic perspectives. The original soundtrack and score had already been preserved and restored, and would still exist. But, in the end, it seemed that the film itself deserved a chance to be the best it could be, and a new score combined with the additional footage might help bring it closer to Peckinpah's original vision. RAH: This was pretty late in the process to be thinking about this, wasn't it? GC: No kidding. I was ready to go in to oversee the HD transfer in December and this was still an infant idea. But all involved wanted to try this approach and the theatrical division releasing the film endorsed it in a big way, the biggest supporter being Michael Schlesinger, who oversees distribution of our library titles, so we decided to look into it. RAH: Where did you find a composer who could do this, do it quickly, and do a good job? GC: I was aware of a young composer named Christopher Caliendo, who had scored a silent film for Columbia a few years earlier, plus a film for Turner Classic Movies and a few other things. Importantly, though, was that I was aware of his own personal compositions for guitar, flute, chamber music, jazz, calypso -- quite a varied background. I also knew of his classical orchestral endeavors. So, I contacted him to see if he was interested and sent him a tape of the film. He immediately came back to me with what he felt the film was about thematically, and he nailed in a few sentences what the film is about. So, I thought maybe we have a good fit here. It was an extremely tight schedule. He had to compose about 80 minutes of music, orchestrate it, get the musicians together, and then he even conducted the orchestra himself over a short two days of recording in January. So, we are talking about five to six weeks from just thinking about it to actually having it finished. I think the end result is great. Christopher, in my opinion, really rose to the occasion and created an excellent score. If you wanted something to compare it to, and without detracting from its own uniqueness, I would say it is in the vain of similar Jerry Goldsmith or Elmer Bernstein or Alex North scores for similar pictures. Big where it needs to be, intimate where it needs to be, but really full-bodied and complex, fitting its subject perfectly. It captures the internal discord within the character of Dundee and the relationship of the other characters. And the true test for any film score, for me at least, is if it holds up on listening to it by itself, and this one really does. Key Peckinpah enthusiasts and film score experts who have seen the film and heard this new soundtrack are quite ecstatic about the achievement. RAH: I commend you for taking the initiative to get this film re-scored, since the old one was rather notorious for its inappropriateness. But there might also be some potential criticism for having created this new soundtrack. GC: This was not a decision made lightly. This just happens to be a very unique situation, a set of circumstances where we have the documented proof that would even support an idea like this. And this is not something I think purists - of which I am one, by the way - should worry will become a commonplace thing in the future. That, I couldn't imagine, and I certainly can't think of another title within the Sony library that would fit this circumstance. One reason I have always insisted that this cannot be called a director's cut is because it isn't. On the other hand, the original short version wasn't the director's cut, either, and for the very reasons that we have attempted to correct with both picture and sound. So, in the end, which version is closer to the director's intentions with this particular film and closer to the achievements of his later career path, which are clearly traceable? I think the answer is there for people to decide on their own because we never envisioned replacing the original score and soundtrack without also making the original available at the same time. RAH: So, you mean both tracks will be on the DVD? GC: Absolutely. People can debate the ethics or aesthetics of our decision, which is good, but it would have been irresponsible and, I think, unfair to ignore the original soundtrack's existence, which is why it is on the disc. Consumers can watch the film whichever way they choose. Remember, the original soundtrack has been preserved and restored to the best quality available and will always be around. And if theaters want to run prints with the original mono track, we can provide that. Another point I should make, and this is very important, is that the new soundtrack is only for the new Extended Version of the film. The original short released version of the film from 1965 still retains, and always will, the original mono soundtrack with the original music score, unchanged. That is what that film was and is. The new music score was composed specifically for the Extended Version, a version not previously released or seen, which is why it is so unique. I think these are important aspects to keep in mind. But if people, after listening to both, don't immediately see the validation of what we were trying to achieve, I will be greatly surprised. The new soundtrack is that good. RAH: I can't remember a situation like this before. This is bound to be quite a conversation piece, a must-have DVD. GC: Well, this is not exactly precedent setting, since scores have been replaced before, just not for some time. And composing a new score for a film is not exactly a new idea in terms of the history of cinema. Films in the silent period had scores written for them at the time, but many were altered even in the period in which they were being exhibited. How many times has Metropolis had a new score composed to it over the years? In any case, I just hope people watch, and listen, to this film and approach it with the openness it deserves. It has been overlooked for decades, mostly because of the things that happened to it after it was taken away from its primary creator - Peckinpah. This was our honest attempt to bring it back to as close as we feel we can to what the director intended. RAH: This is one of the most anticipated studio catalogue title in some time. There is huge interest in it. I can't wait to see it in theaters and on the upcoming DVD. With English Sub-titles… Rounding out the most recent releases, and after the groundbreaking multi-disc set of Bergman's Fanny and Alexander, Criterion has released what must be one of the most important foreign films thus far this year - the long version of Akira Kurosawa's Kagemusha*. For those unfamiliar with Mr. Kurosawa's later work, Kagemusha* may come as a shock to the cinematic system as both the color and the use of the color are startling. Beginning with a long static held shot with a mostly monochromatic scheme, the film opens up to the outside world, revealing an artist at the height of his cinematic powers. This is a brilliant film, which should not be missed. Miscellaneous Thoughts… I don't normally get my daily minimum required viewing time for television, so when a series makes it way to DVD, like Warner's The West Wing* and the early I Love Lucy series via Paramount, one can finally catch up. I recently discovered Showtime's The L Word. I had never seen an episode in broadcast, and was amazed at the quality of the writing, acting and overall values. This is a show about the human spirit, about inter-relationships and the never-ending difficulties in modern world. The ensemble cast is superior down to those newest to the acting ranks. They are at all times believable. The humor, pain, pleasure and pathos of their characters is beautifully layered creating one of the finest shows on television. The first season's dozen or so episodes are highly recommended. Is the DVD perfect? No. I would have preferred a slimmer packaging, as opposed to five cases in a box. The product could have been set up to take up half the shelf space. The Shirt Off Their Back… I was sent a beautiful sweatshirt by the folks at DVD Beaver, which is emblazoned with the names of dozens of my favored filmmakers. If you enjoy wearing your heroes names, you can help support a fine website, but placing filmmakers (figuratively) on your back. Robert Harris --- * Designates a film worthy of purchase on DVD. RAH Designates a film worth of "blind" purchase on DVD. CLICK HERE to discuss this interview with Robert and other home theater enthusiasts online right now at The Home Theater Forum. Robert A. Harris - Main Page
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