Early Alfred Hitchcock film is discovered

[Matilda]

The National Film Preservation Foundation and the New Zealand Film Archive have announced the discovery of the first 30 minutes of a 1923 British film, The White Shadow, considered to be the earliest feature film in which Alfred Hitchcock has a credit.

Hitchcock, who was just 24 at the time, was the writer, assistant director, editor and production designer on the melodrama, starring Betty Compson as twin sisters — one good and one bad — and Clive Brook. The White Shadow will have its "re-premiere" September 22 at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

(snip)

"What we are getting is the missing link," said David Sterritt, chairman of the National Society of Film Critics and author of The Films of Alfred Hitchcock. "He was a creative young man who had already done some writing. We know the kind of creative personality he had when he was young and we know a few years later he started directing movies himself. What we don't know is how these things were coalescing in his imagination."


http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/early-alfred-hitchcock-film-is-discovered-20110803-1ib3b.html


Just a few years ago, missing footage from "Metropolis" was found in New Zealand - what other treasures are to be found in that small country? What a thrill to discover something like this!

[lavenderdiva]

1. I heard this on the news earlier this week

It's pretty amazing. I'll bet there's a great story how this footage ended up in New Zealand!

How's Australia these days Matilda??? Waving fast and furious from Houston TX :hi:

[Matilda]

2. Hi, Lavender!

Currently enjoying a week of sunshine and warm weather, although it's officially
mid-winter. It can't last, but it's lovely while it does.

[lavenderdiva]

3. sounds heavenly!

Did I ever tell you that I grew up in Australia -- Melbourne for 3 years and Sale (about 130 miles from Melbourne) for 7 years? Where do you live?

[Matilda]

4. Yes, I remember that.

I'm in Sydney, in the north, close to bush and beaches.

My father came from Melbourne, in the Dandenongs. It was a beautiful place to visit
when I was a child, but these days I know it's a playground for rich holidaymakers,
and I don't think I'd want to see it now, all built out.

[lavenderdiva]

5. We used to go to the Dandenongs every Sunday

My parents had some very dear friends who lived in the Dandenongs - this was back in the late 60's/early 70's - and we would go out to eat every Sunday at a little restaurant there in the Dandenongs that made the best homemade sasparilla, then we would go over to these friends' home, where my parents would visit these friends. It was oh-so beautiful.

I'm sorry to hear that it's all built out!

[Matilda]

6. My father came from Olinda, on the top of the mountain.

One small hotel, a boarding house, and one main street. Little houses dotted by the road. Everybody knew each other. My grandmother ran a restaurant called The Log Cabin, because that's what it was - a cabin made of logs, right on the peak of the mountain.

My cousins and I picked berries for a local man and put them in punnets for him to sell to tourists. Our payment was whatever we could eat – never as much as we thought we could. Today the smell of raspberries still brings back Olinda.

Now it's full of hotels and holiday homes I believe, and I wouldn't want to see it.

[CBHagman]

7. Recent article on film preservation...

...with discussion of the general state of affairs in that regard, and the efforts of one Eric J. Schwartz. Read on:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/eric-j-schwartzs-love-of-film-fueled-his-push-for-preservation-of-old-movies/2011/08/11/gIQAa7aoBJ_story.html

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the Library of Congress facility in Culpeper, Virginia, mentioned in the article has a theater for viewing familiar and less familiar classics of yesteryear.

[Matilda]

8. We need an Eric J. Schwartz here.

I sometimes see on resurrected American films, usually silents, thanks offered to an individual person, obviously somebody who has financed the preservation of the film. Americans have a tradition of philanthropy that's sadly lacking in this country - very few super-rich Australians ever seem to feel the need to give something back.

I was particularly reminded of this when I watched "Breaker Morant" again recently - it's fading and definitely needs attention. It should be a source of concern for our industry, because it is a superb film and should be treasured, but I don't know what it would take for somebody to take matters in hand. Governments of both persuasion generally have little interest in the arts, and there is never enough money available.

We do have the National Film and Sound Archive, and they do a wonderful job with the resources they have. I found this very interesting article on their website on film preservation, which applies to all film, all over the world. It's definitely worth reading:


http://www.nfsa.gov.au/preservation/digitisations-last-hurdle-or-bridge-too-far/

[CBHagman]

9. "Breaker Morant" needs restoring?

Wow, that makes me A) feel old and B) feel astonished that such an important film should have to go begging for help. Time to call in Martin Scorsese and Clint Eastwood and other advocates of film preservation to see what can be done.

[Matilda]

10. Yes, it was looking very faded.

Nothing like the colour and depth of this still photograph. It made me feel old, too, because I remembered it with such clarity.

The paragraph from the National Archive that dealt with fading colour stock interested me: "And a lot of our colour collection from before 1980 is on the fading colour stocks of the time. Much of it was already faded before it reached us. It’s all kept in the best possible conditions, but there are many years – even decades – of work just preserving all that, even if we didn’t have new acquisitions coming in all the time".

Breaker Morant was on the cusp of that time - released in 1980, so probably shot on the old colour stock, because it's definitely fading. Such a shame.

[CBHagman]

11. The budget was modest too.

I remember reading that it was made for less than $1 million, which was utterly astonishing. I wonder who has prints of it? Or controls the rights?

[Matilda]

12. It was made by the South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC)

and I'd imagine they would still retain the rights, and I'm sure they'd hold the master print.

While I was hunting around for information, I found a review of the Blu-Ray release in October 2010, which included this comment:


Video:

Showing significant signs of its age, the visuals of Breaker Morant are marked with tell-tale artefacts and noise. Neither are distracting and both are to be expected, with the 1080p blu-ray presentation doing its best to minimise the visible impact. Otherwise the widescreen anamorphic 1.85:1 effort performs effectively, from retaining the theatrical release aspect ratio (an improvement on the earlier pan and scan monstrosities) to investing the colour scheme with brightness amongst the heavy use of natural tones. Only an over-saturation of black shades in evening scenes dampens an otherwise satisfactory transfer.

http://www.dvdbits.com/reviews.asp?id=4006

It's not yet extreme, but it's obviously not going to get better, and as it's generally regarded as one of the finest films ever made in this country, I hope it will be restored to its original glory. I did get a shock when I saw it: "It can't be that old! I remember it so well!"