Many congratulations on getting it published John, looking forward to reading it! PS I can't believe how many Italian westerns are free to watch on YouTube!
I can't believe how many Italian westerns are free to watch on YouTube!
Most of them were not distributed in the U.S., nor distributed elsewhere by the major studios. With many of the minor distributors and individual production companies long-since dissolved, there is no one left to complain of copyright infringement. (No doubt, some were never copyrighted to begin with; others never had their copyrights renewed after the initial period expired.)
Who knows where any of these defunct companies stashed their negatives. Much of what is on YouTube or on public domain video labels probably comes from 16mm or television prints, some in pan-and-scan.
Also,often, there are several versions available , differing quality and language. So it pays to sniff around .
Right. Different lengths as well, reflecting the different censorships in the countries where they played. Since many of the westerns involved multiple companies from different countries, when you have an Italian-German-Spanish co-production, who's to say which country's version is the "official" one?
