Re: 64 The Third Man
Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2026 4:53 am
A new 35mm print was "photochemically printed from the original film elements" and opened at Film Forum several weeks ago - it's still playing there while another print made the same way is touring the country.
This is clearly one of Rialto's most popular titles because they regularly tout a new print or restoration - there have been others going back to the turn of the century, but I remember when they struck a new 35mm print around 2010 or so and since then they created a new 4K restoration that's now being used for the DCP. I saw a 35mm print about three years ago that looked solid, but I think that was created from a digital restoration. Three years is too long to make a thorough comparison by memory, but one thing that was obvious about the new print is how much dirt and damage had to be left in. It's not overwhelming, but it made you aware how much clean-up was applied to films in the digital age before new prints were struck. Stuff like a thin vertical line running down Cotten's face or a dark shot with quite a bit of white specks reminded me how I'm so used to a clean presentation of this movie.
But you did see the advantage of a photochemical process - the texture was beautiful, with a very fine but thick, creamy glaze of grain in every well-lit shot. Above all, the highlights really stuck out - the movie's famous for its night time photography, and in memory (especially if you're used to seeing this on DVD or Blu-ray), the dark parts of the screen stand out, but while I was watching this print, it was actually the highlights that made the strongest impression. You see this throughout the film - I was surprised to notice it in medium close-ups of Cotten and Valli where Valli stood out for the highlights created on her face and Cotten was like a full stop below - but probably the best example was the final shot in the dark sewer when Cotten emerges from the brilliantly lit haze. Those highlights really accentuate the darker parts of the frame, and they're reproduced incredibly well in this print - all the detail is there without being blown out. Seeing this definitely makes a case for an HDR grade on a film like this. (I still haven't seen the UHD but not surprisingly it appears to have that.)
This is clearly one of Rialto's most popular titles because they regularly tout a new print or restoration - there have been others going back to the turn of the century, but I remember when they struck a new 35mm print around 2010 or so and since then they created a new 4K restoration that's now being used for the DCP. I saw a 35mm print about three years ago that looked solid, but I think that was created from a digital restoration. Three years is too long to make a thorough comparison by memory, but one thing that was obvious about the new print is how much dirt and damage had to be left in. It's not overwhelming, but it made you aware how much clean-up was applied to films in the digital age before new prints were struck. Stuff like a thin vertical line running down Cotten's face or a dark shot with quite a bit of white specks reminded me how I'm so used to a clean presentation of this movie.
But you did see the advantage of a photochemical process - the texture was beautiful, with a very fine but thick, creamy glaze of grain in every well-lit shot. Above all, the highlights really stuck out - the movie's famous for its night time photography, and in memory (especially if you're used to seeing this on DVD or Blu-ray), the dark parts of the screen stand out, but while I was watching this print, it was actually the highlights that made the strongest impression. You see this throughout the film - I was surprised to notice it in medium close-ups of Cotten and Valli where Valli stood out for the highlights created on her face and Cotten was like a full stop below - but probably the best example was the final shot in the dark sewer when Cotten emerges from the brilliantly lit haze. Those highlights really accentuate the darker parts of the frame, and they're reproduced incredibly well in this print - all the detail is there without being blown out. Seeing this definitely makes a case for an HDR grade on a film like this. (I still haven't seen the UHD but not surprisingly it appears to have that.)