Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)

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NABOB OF NOWHERE
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Re: Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)

#126 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:07 pm

A quick check of the Italian disc just received reveals a definite step up from the Brazilian/Spanish grey area version and a giant leap from the Cornerstone misery. Sync problems still prevail and the contrast seems to have been over-boosted in places (or maybe the elements are from different sources). It is anamorphic but at the expense of being cropped to 1.85 :1 instead of 1.66.1.
there is also an isolated soundtrack bonus. Definitely the best we are going to see for a while.

Titus
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Re: Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)

#127 Post by Titus » Thu Apr 28, 2011 2:41 pm

For anyone who hasn't picked up the Italian DVD, I recommend the Vecosell seller at Amazon Marketplace. My copy arrived within two weeks and it cost less than $28. The case was pretty dinged up (shipped in a bubble mailer), but otherwise I've got no complaints. And the quality of this disc is far better than the old Spanish release. Get it while it's still available.

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perkizitore
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Re: Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)

#128 Post by perkizitore » Thu Apr 28, 2011 2:46 pm

How does it compare to the French DVD that was pulled off from the market due to rights issues?

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andyli
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Re: Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)

#129 Post by andyli » Thu Apr 28, 2011 3:20 pm

What french DVD? There is one coming out next month though.

Titus
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Re: Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)

#130 Post by Titus » Thu Apr 28, 2011 3:59 pm

Apart from some screen grabs that were posted in this thread years ago, I haven't seen the old Studio Canal disc. Given that they're both(?) 1.78:1 anamorphic, I wonder if they could be the same transfer?

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J Wilson
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Re: Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)

#131 Post by J Wilson » Thu May 05, 2011 10:56 am

The French disc had forced subs. Does the Italian have them as well?

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Finch
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Re: Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)

#132 Post by Finch » Thu May 05, 2011 12:14 pm

No, they can be switched off.

connor
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Re: Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)

#133 Post by connor » Sun May 15, 2011 2:31 pm

Has there been a side-by-side comparison between the Studio Canal edition and the new Italian release?

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Joe Buck
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Re: Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)

#134 Post by Joe Buck » Tue May 17, 2011 12:42 am

I'm confused by all these editions! Is this Amazon "burn-on-demand" worth a damn?

Calvin
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Re: Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)

#135 Post by Calvin » Mon Jul 04, 2011 4:58 pm

In the UK, Picturehouse cinemas are screening Chimes at Midnight as part of the Screen Arts Festival (all branches I've checked seem to be showing it on August 1st). The synopsis says "[...]Orson Welles’ little-seen masterpiece will screen in a newly restored version before its DVD release later in the year."

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hearthesilence
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Re: Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)

#136 Post by hearthesilence » Thu Jul 14, 2011 3:16 pm

Calvin wrote:In the UK, Picturehouse cinemas are screening Chimes at Midnight as part of the Screen Arts Festival (all branches I've checked seem to be showing it on August 1st). The synopsis says "[...]Orson Welles’ little-seen masterpiece will screen in a newly restored version before its DVD release later in the year."
Nice. Wonder if there's any relation to Michael Dawson's previous restoration? I've only read about it once, in the Chicago Tribune.

From 22 January 2004:

Welles' restored `Chimes' gets rare showing at Prop: [North Final Edition]
Michael Wilmington, Tribune movie critic. Chicago Tribune [Chicago, Ill] 22 Jan 2004: 5.7.

"Chimes at Midnight," the magnificent 1966 Orson Welles film (also known as "Falstaff"), which Prop Thtr will show in a special restored "work print" for a four-day run starting Thursday, ranks as one of the cinema's most sadly neglected major classics.

Hopefully, that will change this weekend. Prop's Thursday-Sunday showings of Welles' "Chimes" -- his own personal favorite, above "Citizen Kane," among all his works -- represents not only a rare 35 mm theatrical screening of a true film masterpiece, but also the first paid screening of a restored "work print" version from producer Michael Dawson which is a radical improvement on previous releases. (The screenings are part of a fund-raising event at the theater's new space at 3502-04 N. Elston Ave.)

"Chimes" -- Welles' last major fiction feature in his tragically truncated career -- is one of the greatest films ever made, a magnificent Shakespearean adaptation by one of the cinema's most brilliant filmmaker/actors. Excitingly filmed and beautifully acted by an all-star European cast (including John Gielgud, Jeanne Moreau and Margaret Rutherford), it's a vibrantly creative picture, with its robust Elizabethan world whirling around the great, earthy star performance Welles himself considered his finest: as boisterous, pleasure-loving, cowardly, hilarious and finally melancholy court hanger-on Sir John Falstaff.

In the four plays from which Welles drew "Chimes" -- "Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2," "Henry V" and "The Merry Wives of Windsor" -- Falstaff steals the show from his younger, more heroic or more regal castmates, including war rivals Prince Hal (Baxter) and Hotspur (Norman Rodway). As the crony of young Hal, "Fat Jack" Falstaff is the "bad influence" from whom leonine old Henry IV (Gielgud) wishes to save his son, a plump sower of wild oats and stager of grand revels later to be cast aside.

"Chimes" is lyrical and thrilling, funny and tragic. It has one of the cinema's great battle scenes and one of its most heartbreaking farewells, some of its grandest poetry and most spectacular images. But it is less the tale of a king's coming of age than of the loss of his wild, sensuous heart -- the "bad influence" whose humanity, Welles feels, far outshines the crown.
Welles adapted Shakespeare on stage and screen all his life, from boyhood on. This was his grand, culminating work. But, when "Chimes" was released in 1966, it was (predictably for that time) hailed in Europe but savaged by some powerful American critics for its technical shortcomings -- mostly caused by Welles' lean budget and uncertain schedule.
Among the most obvious of those shortcomings: the film's soundtrack, which, from its first release, was slightly out of sync. That's one of the things partly corrected by Dawson, who also restored Welles' great Shakespearean film, "Othello." The dialogue correction alone gives the film an immediacy and impact denied it before.

The screening has been described as a "work-in-progress." But when I saw an earlier version of Dawson's restoration six years ago it was a revelation. The scenery and images, shot in striking black and white by the French cinematographer Edmond Richard ("The Red Balloon"), have that same old matchless Wellesian dark visual splendor. The sound and speeches were vivid, powerful.

At that time, Dawson was restoring the film for Miramax, but the studio unwisely pulled the plug on the project, only recently rekindled by Dawson and his "Othello" executive producers Edward Stone and Donald Liebsker. Now, Dawson estimates about 8-16 weeks of work left needed to finally complete the restoration. ("Right now, compared to where we'll be, it's 2 on a scale of ten.")

That's inspiring to contemplate. "Chimes at Midnight," a bit like Falstaff himself, was an example of greatness undervalued and cast aside. As we watch it now, we can see once again how the screen could blaze with excitement and grandeur in the hands of those two geniuses and kindred spirits, William Shakespeare and Orson Welles.

Calvin
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Re: Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)

#137 Post by Calvin » Thu Jul 14, 2011 3:55 pm

The Independent have now provided more information.
When a major Welles' retrospective was held at the Locarno Festival in 2005, the organisers had to secure permission from Saltzman's widow Adriana for a one-off screening of a very ropey print. Now, it appears that the 1965 film has finally been liberated. David Buttle of British distributor Mr Bongo, working with Dolores Piedra (the Spanish producer's daughter), is the person behind the British screenings of the restored version.

"I've been in touch with her (Dolores) since 2006," he explained. "It has taken her that long to sort out the legal aspect of it."
I can't say I have complete confidence in Mr Bongo, let's hope they've done it the justice it deserves...

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MichaelB
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Re: Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)

#138 Post by MichaelB » Fri Jul 15, 2011 2:03 am

Mr Bongo's discs are fine when they have decent materials to work from.

Calvin
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Re: Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)

#139 Post by Calvin » Mon Aug 01, 2011 6:17 pm

Just back from seeing this "newly restored version" and I was very underwhelmed. The image was very soft and was riddled by compression artifacts (I have no idea how it was projected...) :(

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Peacock
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Re: Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)

#140 Post by Peacock » Mon Aug 01, 2011 6:21 pm

In Edinburgh? I was going to go to that but was feeling a bit tired. I'm glad I didn't now... that's very sad news; I was hoping Mr Bongo might even consider going HD for this one, I'm guessing this means it won't be a major upgrade over the available editions....

Calvin
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Re: Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)

#141 Post by Calvin » Mon Aug 01, 2011 6:25 pm

No, in Aberdeen, but I imagine that they would have been exactly the same.

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Roger Ryan
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Re: Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)

#142 Post by Roger Ryan » Tue Aug 02, 2011 11:02 am

From what I understand, the lawsuit regarding ownership has not yet been settled, so it's likely this was a gray-area presentation. From the description, I wouldn't be surprised if the "restoration" was a digital clean-up on some old print (not dissimilar to what was done to produce THE STRANGER Blu-ray earlier this year). This film really deserves better.

McCrutchy
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Re: Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)

#143 Post by McCrutchy » Mon Apr 30, 2012 6:34 am

Bongo's Chimes DVD has finally released (and with different cover art than I saw previously); it's now a "Definative [sic] Restored Version DVD" according to Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Falstaff-Midnig ... 007H7OQW2/

Image

atcolomb
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Re: Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)

#144 Post by atcolomb » Mon Apr 30, 2012 6:05 pm

Amazon.UK just told me they have shipped it out so when i received it i will compare it to my dvd release from Spain and write a review of it. The video clip on their website of Chimes looked very good to me...i hope it is a good print of the movie.

atcolomb
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Re: Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)

#145 Post by atcolomb » Fri May 04, 2012 6:39 pm

Have the Mr Bongo dvd release and played the first 10 minutes of it and then played the Suevia Films dvd release from Spain and have to agree with the Amazon review. The new release is much improved in both image and sound and skipping thru the new release i find no print damage at all! The image is a little soft at times but still a big improvement. The dvd is 16x9 widescreen with no extras only play or chapters. On the back of the dvd case it says: "An Emiliano Piedra Production Licensed for the estate of Emiliano Piedra, Thanks to Delores Piedra". So the print used for this dvd release is a good one and so far the best looking print of the film i have seen on video, laserdisc, or dvd. A big recommendation to buy the dvd.
Last edited by atcolomb on Fri May 04, 2012 6:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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perkizitore
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Re: Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)

#146 Post by perkizitore » Fri May 04, 2012 6:44 pm

It is no secret that this is better than the Spanish DVD, my question is how it fares compared to the Italian and French (OOP) DVDs?

atcolomb
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Re: Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)

#147 Post by atcolomb » Fri May 04, 2012 6:50 pm

perkizitore wrote:It is no secret that this is better than the Spanish DVD, my question is how it fares compared to the Italian and French (OOP) DVDs?
Good question and i hope someone who has the Italian and French dvds will let us know....glad i did buy the dvd.

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Peacock
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Re: Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)

#148 Post by Peacock » Fri May 04, 2012 8:11 pm

And I was under the impression the correct AR is 1:66:1?

atcolomb
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Re: Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)

#149 Post by atcolomb » Sat May 05, 2012 9:42 am

The more i look at the Mr. Bongo release the more i think DNR was used because of the softness of the image...talked to Gary Tooze and was told there will be a review on his website DVD BEAVER.

Calvin
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Re: Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)

#150 Post by Calvin » Wed Jul 25, 2012 4:57 pm

I don't know if it's a new restoration but the Filmoteca Española will be screening Chimes at Midnight in Venice.

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