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07/08/2002 Entry: "Duke's "Alamo" in decay"
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HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Even as one film about the Alamo is being conceived in Hollywood's warm glow of A-list celebrity, another is suffocating in a stifling-hot warehouse in Glendale, Calif., soon to disappear forever.
Much has been made of a new "Alamo" being rewritten by Oscar winner Steve Gaghan, directed by Oscar winner Ron Howard and starring Oscar winner Russell Crowe. Little, however, is known about what's happened to John Wayne's 1960 MGM epic "The Alamo," a gloriously expansive 70mm pic that's nearly been ruined by improper storage. If nothing is done, the picture will shortly join Orson Welles' cut of "The Magnificent Ambersons" and Erich von Stroheim's "Greed" as yet another "lost" film. Producer and film preservationist Robert A. Harris (who produced 1990's "The Grifters" and saved "Lawrence of Arabia" from ignominious demise after finding the uncut version in a Queens bowling alley) has been working with MGM's permission to raise money needed to restore the only remaining 70mm "roadshow" print -- essentially a director's cut shot on 70mm -- and save it from total decay. MGM senior VP of technical services Gray Ainsworth says the studio is willing to contribute roughly $500,000 to the restoration effort, but admits that more is probably required. Harris estimates an additional $650,000 is needed to save the film; Ainsworth is not sure, calling that amount "premature." The troubles started for Wayne's version of "Alamo" almost as soon as MGM was alerted to the existence of the last 70mm print, discovered by a Toronto projectionist in 1990. MGM used it to make a video master so it could sell videocassettes of the picture. "Have you ever been to Toronto?" asked Harris. "There are penguins and polar bears walking down the street most of the time: That's why the color was still in the (70 mm) print." Unfortunately, after the video master was made, the guts of the Toronto print of "The Alamo" were tossed into cartons and stored unrefrigerated in Glendale, where temperatures regularly soar into the 90s and 100s in summer. Because of the heat damage and the steadily deteriorating condition of the 70mm Toronto "Alamo" print, from which sequences would be digitized and restored, the film elements necessary to save it will not last beyond mid-2003 or 2004 at the latest, Harris says. Reuters/Variety |
Posted by: Kevin | 7/8/02
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Replies: 13 comments
I HAVE BEEN A FAN OF THIS MOVIE AND THE STORY OF THE ALAMO SINCE I WAS A CHILD AND THIS MOVIE SHOULD BE SAVED AND SHOWN IN THE ROADSHOW VERSION ON THE BIG SCREEN IN 70MM(if u can find a cinema capable of that these days)WHAT WAS IT CHARLTON HESTON SAID OF BEN-HUR "you havent seen it till you see it on the big screen" WELL THATS WHERE THE ALAMO SHOULD BE SHOWN IN ALL ITS GLORY.
Posted by john dean @ 02/02/2004 07:33 AM EDT
John Wayne lives on in the hearts of everyone that has seen his movies. Those hearts of fans are getting fewer. The Duke's Legacy to me and my children should live on. I would hope that Patrick Wayne in many films would help to see his Dads films live on in the hearts of his children and those after. Most fans are not aware of the deterioration of these films. I would donate and hundreds of thousands would as well. Batjac and Wayne Enterprises should be taking an active role to preserve their fathers legacy for years to come. The High and the Mighty is another I would like to see before I pass from this earth. To the Wayne Family...Please release this film so that I might enjoy this classic with my children and wife of 49 who has never seen it.
Posted by Charles R Newton @ 07/28/2003 04:24 PM EDT
REMEMBER THE ALAMO!
Posted by Kevin @ 05/19/2003 02:55 PM EDT
"The Alamo"is more than just a picture,is depicts an era of American history,something that a lot of people should restudy and refamiliarize themselves with just what this country had to endure to be where she is today. Do everything you can to preserve this movie and memory.
Posted by June Schwebke @ 05/09/2003 05:51 PM EDT
they should restore it to its original form absolutely. but my biggest question is when in TARNATION ARE THEY GOING TO SHOW IN ANY SHAPE OR ANY FORM "THE HIGH AND MIGHTY " a wonderful classic ive been told was shown on cable a few years ago this is an absolute shame that this movie is not available to this generation. i have been looking for it everywhere lets see this dad blamed beautiful motion picture
Posted by christopher landry @ 04/16/2003 10:31 PM EDT
Somebody asked "why don't they just burn it to a DVD."
I wonder whether that person has ever seen a film projected in 70mm. It's an entirely different experience compared to sitting at home in front of a television set watching a DVD.
Unfortunately, many studio executives think a film is preserved simply by putting it out on DVD. Not true. A film is preserved only if you have the film elements necessary to create a brand new 35mm (or, in the case of films like the Alamao, 70mm) print. The resolution of a DVD doesn't even come close to the resolution captured on 35mm or 70mm film.
Posted by David Olstein @ 02/12/2003 04:08 PM EDT
"The Alamo " has motivated my children to study their American history and understand what patriotism is.They went from grades of c's to grades of a's after seeing the Alamo. We need to save The Alamo"
Posted by pat mayer @ 01/23/2003 08:06 PM EDT
i say we all send at least a couple of dollars in each. and if each fan does this it would definetly help i say
Posted by Mocks @ 01/08/2003 08:48 AM EDT
why don't they just burn it to a dvd?
Posted by greg @ 10/22/2002 11:23 PM EDT
why don't they just burn it to a dvd?
Posted by greg @ 10/22/2002 11:22 PM EDT
Shouldn't they try to get Mr. Michael Wayne, head of Batjac Productions and certainly one of the greatest Wayne collectors himself, interested in restoring the print? After all, it's his Dad's legacy.
Roland
Posted by Roland Schaefli @ 09/26/2002 11:14 AM EDT
just a note to his family, he gave me hundreds of hours of fun over my life time from 1939 on till his last the shootist. he and his son who played in many of his pics were always good clean fun
a million thanks
Posted by ben watson @ 07/28/2002 04:51 PM EDT
What a shame!
Posted by Roger @ 07/09/2002 01:36 PM EDT
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