From yesterday’s update about the recently discovered removal of a brief, first-act passage in William Friedkin‘s The French Connection (’71), or more precisely in the Criterion Channel’s streaming of same:
“It is nonetheless astonishing that the Criterion Channel is running this version of Friedkin’s Oscar-winning film (Best Picture, Hackman for Best Actor, Friedkin for Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay) without an explanation of some sort.
“This deletion seriously harms the Criterion brand, which has always been about honoring and representing the original artistic intentions of filmmakers. The deletion was apparently Disney’s doing, but Criterion can’t just sit idly by.
“Criterion’s streaming version of The French Connection needs to include a three-point statement, to wit: (a) the following film has been altered from its original state; and (b) is therefore not altogether the same film that opened in 1971 and subsequently won five Oscars, although (c) the alteration was not implemented by the Criterion Channel but by the Walt Disney Company, which owns the distribution rights to the film.”