How about a Special Edition DVD
With the new Terry Gilliam BROTHERS GRIMM film in theatres, it would be nice to see MGM/Warner Bros. give the George Pal classic a deluxe DVD release.
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Last night went to the Cineramadome in Hollywood and watched "How the West was Won" which is celebrating its 40th Anniversary. They are using the original three-strip camera process. Go to ArcLightCinemas.com if you would like to buy tickets for this limited engagement. In the lobby they had one of their triple-lensed camera on display and after the movie they let us go up into the booth and see the three projectors. I asked about them playing the "Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" and they said the original three-strip film is water damaged. I was very disappointed because I remember it so well as a young girl and enjoyed it very much.
shareSince the original film is "water damaged", does this mean they can't somehow repair it and release it on dvd? I hope they do, I loved that movie when I was a kid and I still do.
shareHaving asked this of Dick May, the best available authority on Warner/MGM library titles, I have to tell you that, while the original 3 camera negatives from HOW THE WEST WAS WON were kept in good condition (no "restoration" needed), the elements for WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM are substantially damaged. I wasn't left with the impression that some kind of restoration was impossible, but I do understand that the cost to restore this film is currently prohibitive. In other words, this movie is not considered marketable enough to justify the expense of a full scale restoration of the elements. (nor are any of the other 3-strip titles except for HTWWW.) New prints being made, as was done with THIS IS CINERAMA and HOW THE WEST WAS WON, do not constitute a "restoration" nor does scanning and digitally enhancing them for video.
I should add that Warner takes very good care of their film elements, and the MGM titles have been well cared for for years, so I do not think the GRIMM elements were hurt by neglect.
I am generally a fan of Warner Homevid because of the way they have been handling much of their library (MGM, Classic, etc) material on DVD. There are some exceptions...
Meanwhile, it has been mentioned elsewhere that an original, presumably intact, IB Tech 3 strip print of Grimm has been discovered, and will be shown theatrically at one of the 3 equipped venues. Also a posting on a Criterion related website stated that Grimm was seen as a title intended for release through Warner Archive program.