830-831 Chimes at Midnight & The Immortal Story

[FrauBlucher]

At the bottom of the Film Forum's Chimes at Midnight page are recordings of two Qand A sessions recorded at the theater. One with Beatrice Welles and the other with Foster Hirsch and Keith Baxter.

[Roscoe]

Keith Baxter wouldn't be dropping by the Criterion offices to do some kind of commentary track or extra for the CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT Blu-Ray would he? I mean, one can only hope -- he was as charming as all get out at the screenings.

[Roger Ryan]

Keith Baxter wouldn't be dropping by the Criterion offices to do some kind of commentary track or extra for the CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT Blu-Ray would he? I mean, one can only hope -- he was as charming as all get out at the screenings.

Beatrice Welles was interviewed for a Criterion extra last week, so I suspect Baxter did the same - it was probably the main reason both of them were invited to New York for the Film Forum premiere.

[FrauBlucher]

Just saw the new restoration. It's beautiful. Drucker is right on. It looks like a different film than even the Spanish restoration (two years ago). Janus/Criterion really did an amazing job. The improved contrast has also helped the detail which is as good as you'll see. The close ups are ridiculously sharp. The Bluray should be amazing if the encode is spot on. The sound has clearly been improved as well. Welles fans should be very happy. I can't imagine Welles himself not appreciating this presentation.

[FrauBlucher]

Not sure anyone can answer this, but just being curious, anyone know or can suggest why Mr Bongo is listed on the Janus poster? When I saw the screening last week there logo appeared along with Janus and Filmpteca Espanola prior to start. Could they have part ownership?

[Reverend Drewcifer]

Myself and Mrs. Drewcifer will be at the Wexner tomorrow to enjoy the film.

[FrauBlucher]

Perhaps this may end up as a supplement. Orson Welles Falstaff Dean Martin Show

[FrauBlucher]

Keith Baxter interviewed on Chimes and Welles.

[Roscoe]

I do wish Criterion would hurry up and release this already.

[Roger Ryan]

I do wish Criterion would hurry up and release this already.

It only makes sense that Criterion would wait until the film has had a chance to be shown theatrically in multiple markets before releasing a home video version. Given how difficult it has been to view the film over the past fifty years, Chimes could be considered a "new" release for many folks.

[atcolomb]

I still have my TCM broadcast of the film from last year and the region 2 Mr. Bongo dvd release to look at until the Criterion release comes out. Hope to see Criterion release The Magnificent Ambersons or Journey Into Fear on blu-ray if Warner Bros won't do it.

[swo17]

Announced for August, as two separate releases

[FakeBonanza]

A Naremore commentary on Chimes at Midnight--awesome!

[Ribs]

The crowning achievement of Orson Welles’s extraordinary film career

???

[Drucker]

Many Welles fans and scholars consider it his masterpiece. He took his entire filmmaking identity and delivered perfection here. It's the sign of a more mature filmmaker than the man who made Kane.

[Ribs]

I know that but it's still an odd statement. Maybe "capstone" or something is more what they were going for?

[DeprongMori]

Thrilled this is finally out. Hoping it has optional English subtitles as the sound on the restoration is still a bit dodgy.

I was really hoping they could include Welles' appearance on the Dean Martin Show performing Falstaff's paean to sack. It woud have been a perfect extra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ6v7GHYDbM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[beamish13]

Surprised that The Fountain of Youth didn't end up with Immortal Story

[beamish13]

Thrilled this is finally out. Hoping it has optional English subtitles as the sound on the restoration is still a bit dodgy.

It's funny, I saw a 1967 print of it, which Pauline Kael noted was better synchronized than what was originally released in 1965, and I had very few problems with it. The first reel has the most issues, but otherwise, there was nothing very distracting.

[DeprongMori]

It was not so much a problem of sound synchronization, but rather the odd voices used for many of Falstaff's friends and followers (Shallow, Pistol, et al.) made it frequently hard to make out the dialogue. The synch was not bad at all. I'd certainly appreciate the subs.

[Luke M]

We're not lighting torches and raising pitchforks over that $39.95 msrp for The Immortal Story?

[knives]

It comes with a commentary which usually is a sign of higher MSRP so pitchforks wouldn't make sense.

[Big Ben]

Couldn't be more excited for these releases. I've been waiting to see Chimes at Midnight for a long time. The Immortal Story is just a nice surprise. I don't care about the price.

[Ashirg]

Audio commentary from 2005 featuring film scholar Adrian Martin

What edition is that from?

[criterion10]

Criterion's website refers to Chimes at Midnight as a "New digital restoration" -- was this seriously not done in 4K, or is this a typo?

Also: What are the odds that the "alternate French-language version" of The Immortal Story was actually restored? (And more importantly, which version is Welles' preferred?)