MovieChat Forums > Genuine (1921) Discussion > What's the origin of the 43 minute conde...

What's the origin of the 43 minute condensation?

posted 17 years ago by Stuart Gardner
11 replies | jump to latest

Was the 43 minute version edited down by a distributor long ago and released theatrically, or was it prepared for video?

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[–] Catfishbunter 12 years ago

I'm going to not so helpfully respond with an I don't know since you've been waiting five years for an answer. Hopefully this acts as a bump for someone that does know.

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[–] Stuart Gardner 12 years ago

I appreciate that!

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[–] Catfishbunter 12 years ago

Postscript -- can you explain the end? ***SPOILER*** where Genuine just randomly dies when the mob is chasing her? What killed her?

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[–] Stuart Gardner 12 years ago

Not from memory - and maybe not at all - but I'll watch it again tomorrow and reply.

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[–] Catfishbunter 12 years ago

Any update?

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[–] Stuart Gardner 12 years ago

Oops! I forgot to re-watch it, but I'll do that right now. I'll reply again in an hour or less, as soon as I've seen it...

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[–] Stuart Gardner 12 years ago

I just viewed it again, but to no avail. I imagine that viewing the complete film would shed some light on this; otherwise Genuine's death is the ideal example of a deus ex machina.
IMDb's woefully named "trivia" section here tells us that the full film exists in The Munich City Film Museum archive in Germany. Let's hope it's preserved, restored and given a home video release.

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[–] Catfishbunter 12 years ago

Well thanks for the effort. It seemed like she just fell down and died to me, so I guess I didn't really miss anything. Maybe Criterion or Kino will release the full version. Thanks again for the effort.

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[–] Stuart Gardner 12 years ago

You're welcome. And you're right. If any current company ever releases it, it'll be Criterion or Kino.
Your user name and your interest in macabre film lead me to wonder whether you've seen Zaat, possibly the best film of the giant mutated two-legged walking catfish monster movie subgenre (although Weimar cinema it ain't).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072666/combined
http://tinyurl.com/8e85tun

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[–] Catfishbunter 12 years ago

I hadn't but thanks for the heads up! lol.

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[–] flamingyouth76 9 years ago

I'm going to try to give you an answer that may be just as incomplete as the film itself. I am taking this straight from the website silentera.com, which is a superb website for enthusiasts of silent film. Great historical information on silent films as well as a comprehensive comparison of various DVD releases with ratings on video and audio quality as well as extras. You probably know all this by now but in case it is new information for you I thought I would include the website.

According to silentera.com, the 43-minute version is indeed a condensed version of the film, though there is no information as to why it was condensed or who did it. It is a 35 MM preservation copy from the Raymond Rohauer collection, as opposed to something from the George Eastman House or other preservation company.

As I am sure you know, the full, 88-minute version was restored in 1996 and resides in the Munich Filmmuseum. I am unsure as to why it remains unreleased--perhaps because it isn't considered a major work in Wiene's filmography, but hopefully one of these days it will see the light of day.

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