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"Godfather" restorations

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on August 18, 2007 at 01:06 PM

Blue-chip restoration guru Robert Harris has been working on a photo-chemical restoration of all three Godfather films for the last few months, and the results may be digitally viewable as soon as December (a Danish DVD site is stating that restored DVDs of the first two Godfather pics are due for release on 12.6.07). Harris declined comment, but Francis Coppola said after an 8.6 Godfather III screening at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn theatre that Steven Spielberg is the restoration project's financial savior.

Coppola said that Paramount was initially not interested in funding the restoration (deemed necessary due to the original negative having been "purposefuly damaged by idiots...misued, cut up") but all that changed when Spielberg stepped into the breach and said, "This is going to happen."

According to an 8.18 posting by "Adam S." on a Godfather restoration discussion at Home Theatre Forum, "Coppola showed up on Monday August 6th, after a screening of Godfather III at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn theater. He didn't arrive until about an hour into a six person q & a with a variety of people in or attached to the film. He said it was a bit surreal to be there after we've been watching Godfather III because he had just come from the first viewing of the new restoration of the original Godfather, which he said 'it looks 'incredible.'

"Coppola also mentioned that the negative was basically going to dissolve, or very close to complete loss and it would have cost millions of dollars to restore. Paramount was not going to foot the bill for it, he said, but that after Paramount became Dreamamount Spielberg himself made sure they knew they had to restore The Godfather, and the restoration went forward. [But] there was absolutely no mention of a DVD release."

I called Paramount Home Video's Brenda Ciccone on Friday afternoon to learn what I could learn, but the whole lot is taking Friday afternoons off during the summer -- a Brad Grey idea.

Paramount management was probably taking the view that the film was fine as long as it existed in good digital form, but any responsible archivist will tell you that photo-chemical film elements have to be restored and preserved because they comprise the core elements in their original state -- the actual "film" in its pure and most pristine form -- and that these elements will enable home-video technicians to deliver top-grade transfers in the decades to come as well as ensure the film's general future survival.

I for one would love to one day see a mint-condition chronological Godfather Saga with all those deleted scenes that were shown on broadcast TV in the late '70s. But with the remastering of both films, this seems like a perfect opportunity to also remaster all the deleted scenes and put the big saga on DVD as a stand-alone separate release.

Comments

I hope to God Gordon Willis was involved in this.

Posted by: erniesouchak at August 18, 2007 01:24 PM

Wells to erniesouchak: It would be imprudent for Gordon Willis not to be involved, and he's alive and well and living in New York State so....

Posted by: gruver1 at August 18, 2007 01:30 PM

Paramount doesn't care about the quality of its film stock? What else is new?

Posted by: D.Z. at August 18, 2007 01:32 PM

Coppola originally wanted to release them in black and white, and at 36 frames per second to better replicate the silent movies he loved so much.... and since it was the 70's he wanted the first two released in Sensurround to give the audience a good 'jolt'.

Therefore the DVD's will be released that way..... you know, to better comply with the directors original vision.

(...and the first one will restore a narration track by Gene Rayburn)

Posted by: Walter Sobchak at August 18, 2007 01:40 PM

I believe Willis actually lives in Massachusetts.

Posted by: erniesouchak at August 18, 2007 01:41 PM

Black and white with sepia stripes was how he put it to me Walter.

I hope this explains the employee screening later this month.

Posted by: T. Holly at August 18, 2007 01:56 PM

Paramount makes enough cash off running Godfather marathons on their various cable channels.

What's the buzz on the campaign to get Willis a lifetime Oscar? Is Francis willing to hook his old DP up?

Posted by: corey3rd at August 18, 2007 02:08 PM

So again, Speilberg is a hero.

Posted by: BurmaShave at August 18, 2007 03:05 PM

Would have been more of a hero by helping fund an Orson Welles production, instead of buying up auctioned memorabilia.

Posted by: lazarus at August 18, 2007 03:10 PM

A couple of years ago, Bravo, I think, showed the Godfather Saga 70s cut with all of the outtakes. Some of cut scenes were so boring I thought I was going to faint. Just scenes straight from the book. No giant vagina scene, though.

Posted by: GeorgePrager at August 18, 2007 03:29 PM

I have seen the 70's Godfather Saga version of I and II, and I am completely opposed to the chronological showing of these films. It is essential to watch II in its original form, as the dual narratives of father and son perfectly complement each other. The deleted scenes add nothing to the films.

Posted by: drbob at August 18, 2007 04:03 PM

drbob is right. If you're going to recut the film chronologically, why not do the same thing to Citizen Kane or Pulp Fiction? They'd be so much easier to follow.

(Say hi to Bill for me, doc.)

Posted by: frankbooth at August 18, 2007 04:50 PM

I gladly spend $50 on the trilogy when it came out and I'll gladly spend money on the trilogy again if it means getting a brand new transfer. By no means, is the current DVD look bad, but if the restoration looks wonderful, I would imagine the DVD will too.

I saw the Godfather a few years ago at a local arthouse theater a few months before the DVD was release and as far as I could tell, the DVD was very similar looking to the theatrical print that I saw.

I wonder if they would be able to fix the optical glare that is present on the right side of the screen a couple of times during the funeral scene? Two straight closeups of Michael watching Tessio talking to Barzini, you can see what looks like a orange ghostly image of Michael's mother on the right side of the screen.

Posted by: ZacharyTF at August 18, 2007 05:21 PM

That Godfather was allowed to deteriorate in the first place is a crime.

Posted by: MPNeeb at August 18, 2007 06:05 PM

"drbob is right. If you're going to recut the film chronologically, why not do the same thing to Citizen Kane or Pulp Fiction? They'd be so much easier to follow."

It's actually kind of interesting to try to watch Pulp Fiction in strict chronological order. It's a movie that begins with Christopher Walken talking about a watch, but then doesn't return to that story until halfway through, getting totally sidetracked by a couple of hitmen who turn out not to really to have anything to do with the main story, whcih is about a boxer (who was the kid in the opening scene) and a gangster boss he double crosses, but later saves the life of.

Posted by: Mgmax at August 18, 2007 06:27 PM

It's probably a good thing that Pulp Fiction is the way it is then...otherwise I'm sure more than a few people would have thought, "What the hell...?"

As for The Godfather, I'd definitely double dip for some improved transfers. The discs I have aren't bad, but they could definitely be better.

So does this mean this week Wells thinks Spielberg is okay?

Posted by: Aladdin Sane at August 18, 2007 06:31 PM

"Would have been more of a hero by helping fund an Orson Welles production, instead of buying up auctioned memorabilia."

blablabla bla bla. Blah

Posted by: MAGGA at August 18, 2007 08:07 PM

Ernie's right. Willis lives in Massachusetts. Eastern Cape Cod, to narrow down your Google Maps search.

Posted by: Ju-osh at August 18, 2007 08:48 PM

"Would have been more of a hero by helping fund an Orson Welles production, instead of buying up auctioned memorabilia."

If those evil nazis with money had just given some to Orson Wells he would totally have made another Citizen Kane. Or WOULD he?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5LkDNu8bVU

Posted by: MAGGA at August 19, 2007 03:59 AM