Ever seen a print in good condition?
Has anyone ever seen a good print of this? This morning's showing on TCM was another public domain copy in pretty bad shape, and it got me to wondering.
No. Most RKO releases are still in good condition; however, " Love Affair" is an exception. TCM is good about showing quality prints, if they are available. In 1957, 20th Century - Fox remade the film as "An Affair To Remember," starring Cary Grant and Debrah Kerr. Fox bought up RKO's rights and film negatives, and perhaps destroyed them? Anyhow, something happened, because this film is a classic and should be in better shape (print-wise) than it currently is.
shareOddly enough, I bought a VHS tape of this years ago from one of the lower-tier video companies, and it's of really excellent quality.
"Stone-cold sober I find myself absolutely fascinating!"---Katharine Hepburn
^You're lucky, Harold! I recently bought this on DVD and the quality is awful! But, awful quality or not, Irene Dunne makes it worth it!
Superstar in your own private movie - I wanted just a minor part...share
I hate to admit it, but I just saw this movie on TCM for the first time ever. Everybody's seen the other two versions with Deborah Kerr and Annette Benning, but somehow this got by me until now. Have to say, however, that the print is not great, but I wouldn't call it awful. A little blurry and jumpy but not unwatchable even on a 65 inch monitor. There were surprisingly few vertical lines as oftentimes happens with old, over-watched prints. Maybe it was restored. However, there were no restoration credits at the end.
Maybe in the wrong thread, but have to comment that the male lead being French made a lot more sense with the French grandmother who ended up in Madeira. In fact, if one looks closely at one of the newspaper shots in the movie, the Boyer character was going to the United States to marry the heiress, implying that he was really a European up until then.
I plan on studying film archival and preservation at UCLA in a couple of years. Hopefully, I will be able to get my hands on this picture and do my best to improve it. I just saw it for the first time, and I am moved beyond words.
shareOh, that makes me happy. I'm so glad you care about preserving and restoring these old films. We desperately need a good copy of this released.
shareThere is a print that was restored by the Museum of Modern Art in NY that is in very good condition. I've seen it a few times, the last time being today.
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