Carlotta Films US have released a trailer for Orson Welles' recently restored Othello (1952), starring Micheál MacLiammóir, Robert Coote, Suzanne Cloutier, and Orson Welles. The restoration will have film will also have an exclusive theatrical engagement April 25th - May 8th at Film Forum in New York.
The restored Othello is also expected to arrive on Blu-ray in France later this year.
Orson Welles directed and starred in this version of Shakespeare's famous tragedy. Filmed on a shoestring budget over two years, Welles strips the famous tale of sexual jealousy and betrayal down to its essentials, casting himself as the tragic Moor. Winner of the 1952 Best Picture Award at Cannes.
I thought that OTHELLO had been restored in the 90s - with a new soundtrack featuring the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. What has been restored now ?
I was wondering the same thing. Carlotta Films is promoting this as a "Brand New 2014 Restoration."
In 1989, Welles’s daughter, Beatrice Welles-Smith, approached Intermission Productions, Ltd. about restoring OTHELLO. Although it was believed that the original negatives and other materials had been destroyed or lost, an original nitrate negative, fine-grain duplicate negative, composite optical soundtrack, and the music and effects soundtrack were discovered in a New Jersey warehouse belonging to Twentieth Century-Fox. The film’s soundtrack was digitally re-recorded and re-mastered, the dialogue re-synched to the actors’ performances, the picture quality cleaned up, and the music score completely re-recorded by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and members of the Chicago Lyric Opera, under the direction of Michael Pendowski and Robert Bowker. The restoration, at a cost of $1 million, was distributed by Castle Hill Productions, and had its theatrical premiere in 1992, receiving sterling reviews.
Oddly, the 1992 Castle Hill poster below does not mention the re-recorded musical score, still giving credit to the original conducting of Willy Ferrero. The film's credits given at the end of the trailer above do the same. But the Dolby Stereo logo on the poster indicate that it was indeed the newly recorded score that was used for the 1992 release.
In the years since, I have read some disparaging comments about the re-recorded score (and the re-recorded sound effects)--of how they differ too much from the original aesthetics. Perhaps, in addition to what is almost sure to be a digital remastering of the picture, they have reverted to the original score for this new restoration. The trailer credits do not mention any stereo process.
OTHELLO also had an odd video history. The 1992 restoration was issued on VHS, but when Criterion issued its laserdisc, it listened to criticisms of the restoration by Jonathan Rosenbaum, Peter Bogdanovich, and others, and issued the unrestored film instead, using a old cleaned-up 35mm release print--even though the restored version was the only version authorized for release by Beatrice Welles. When DVD came into the picture, Image Entertainment released only the restored version on DVD.
I used to know Julian Schlossberg when he ran Walter Reade cinemas.
The only way to 'restore' this that makes any sense is to bring in new actors to dub some of the parts. Welles did almost all the roles himself which diminished an otherwise excellent film. brm
OTHELLO also had an odd video history. The 1992 restoration was issued on VHS, but when Criterion issued its laserdisc, it listened to criticisms of the restoration by Jonathan Rosenbaum, Peter Bogdanovich, and others, and issued the unrestored film instead, using a old cleaned-up 35mm release print--even though the restored version was the only version authorized for release by Beatrice Welles. When DVD came into the picture, Image Entertainment released only the restored version on DVD.
Welles' initial version of OTHELLO was prepared for the 1952 Cannes Film Festival and then was released in Europe. He later re-edited the film, shortening it and re-dubbing much of the dialogue, for the film's U.S. release in 1955. The European cut is notable for Welles' spoken opening credits, but more significantly, the European cut has better editing, better shot selection, a better sound mix, and better dubbing than the more familiar U.S. edit. Beatrice Welles owns the U.S. version and that is what was "restored" in 1992. Criterion's laser disc release was of the superior European version which, even unrestored, is better than the heavy-handed 1992 "restoration".
It's not clear if the notoriously litigious Beatrice Welles owns the European version of OTHELLO in addition to the U.S. version, but even if she does not she can certainly keep it from being seen, unfortunately.
