I hope that Fox will be releasing this film on DVD soon. I heard several or more years ago that they had found the missing ending in the vault and were going to reinsert the end to its pre-release form.
Anyone with any information please post on this site.
Thanks!
I could be wrong, but I doubt the story of a "found" ending. The end of AMBER
in its' first theatrical release had the same abrupt finish as the VHS. However, until Fox restores AMBER's 3-strip Technicolor on a DVD, you have NEVER seen FOREVER AMBER. The VHS color is shamelessly bad, and the lighting is
much darker on tape than the theatrical print. You will find a DVD restoration will be breathtaking, in much the same way as the new DVD of THE BLUE BIRD.
IF the story is true, I would definitely buy the DVD... the VHS ending is horrible... its far too incomplete. The music actually trails into the FBI Warning. A polished, restored addition is something I would definitely pay to see, especially with something lavish as this film. If it is released on DVD, it has the potential to be awesome. Although if it is released, they've already used Linda's E! Biography for 'A Letter to Three Wives', so I don't know what they'd do for features. Maybe they could do Colonel Wilde's if there is one...
shareActually this WAS released on DVD back in 2002. It came out quietly and (I've heard) it was in faded color and quickly disappeared. It's now out of print so (hopefully) Fox remastering it. The print I saw on AMC had pretty good color.
As for the ending...years ago I worked at a video store when "Amber" came out on video. An older man complained about the video saying the ending he saw in the movies was missing. It DOES seem rather abrupt. Maybe that footage is missing--supposedly the Catholic Legion of Decency ordered it cut back in the 1940s. Either way, I think it's a good film and hope Fox is going to rerelease it in a print with strong color.
That is not correct. The original film as it opened at the Roxy Theatre in New York on 22 October 1947 had a different ending. After Amber looks at Bruce and their young son walking away together, she returns to her room and summons her maid(Jessica Tandy)and tells her to accept her invitation from the King's equerry Sir Thomas Dudley for supper that evening.There is then a shot of Amber applying rouge to her face and then it fades out. These were some of the cuts the Catholic Legion of Decency insisted on before they would remove their "Condemned" Rating on the Film.
The cuts were made about early December 1947.
This post is an answer to Cdorothygale-1 post of 27 September 2007.
For more information check out the book: The Life and Work of Otto Preminger
by Chris Fujiwara, Publisher Faber & Faber, 2008 particularly Chapter 9, pages 78-89 and on page 85 regarding the original ending.
I hope they release it as well. Maybe as part of a Linda Darnell or Cornell Wilde set.
shareI agree!
eat more film:
http://steadydietoffilm.typepad.com/
In the credits to the Preminger doc on the new ('08) DAISY KENYON dvd, FOREVER AMBER (clips from which are shown in the doc) is listed as "Available to own on DVD" -- so perhaps this bodes well for a release?!
It's completely astounding that with all the other, lesser Fox "classics" tweaked and released on DVD in recent years, this one continues to be unavailable.
"Believe not what you only wish to believe, but what in truth you can"
Yep. Given how this movie was Fox's biggest hit at the box office in 1947, i'm beyond shocked that this is not available on DVD. I had assumed it had been restored and put out on DVD a long time ago since it's such an obvious movie to get the DVD treatment.
shareYou still can't get it on Netflix.
shareWell, it's 5 years later now. Neither has Fox reinserted the end nor did they release "Forever Amber" remastered and with a bonus disc.
Every new TV production gets a DVD release these days, but less and less old masterpieces get released. It's such a shame!
I bet there is a huge demand for a "Forever Amber" DVD!!!
There is from me, provided it's restored, both in quality and original length. I have the VHS version, which is embarrassing in its visual murkiness and in an ending that unnaturally brings you up short and makes you think the film broke.
"Believe not what you only wish to believe, but that which truth demands"
Unbelievable that there still isn't a DVD. 20th Century has it's own Cinema Archives series."FOREVER AMBER" should be given special treatment with extras and back stories.
"Forget it Jake,It's Chinatown."
Maybe you already know but this film was released on dvd in Spain a few years ago. Last time I went there I bought it and the copy is quite good. I had been after this film for so long I am glad I finally got it. Can't believe it was made in 1947, it looks as if it had been made in the 50s.
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