623 Lonesome

[myrnaloyisdope]

Ok so my copy has both those sequences, but they are dubbed over with music. I remember thinking the beach sequence went on way too long to have only the one continuous shot. Though the sequence with the judge was kind of fascinating, if only because I felt like I was observing something of great importance, but not knowing what was being said. It gave a sense of anticipation...I kept waiting for an intertitle but none came.

If any one can point in the direction of a better version, feel free to PM me.

Oh and this movie needs to be on DVD or TCM like yesterday.

[Mysterypez]

Just dropping a note here to give an update on the restoration of LONESOME. We had Universal come onto the project in Fall 2009 to provide significant financial support. Fall/Winter 2009 was spent remaking the intertitles to the film. It proved surprising difficult given the relatively few titles in this film. The French nitrate print that we had to work from was titled SOLITUDE. That title need to be remade. All of the titles were made in Photoshop using a more appropriate font. This meant watching a bunch of Universal titles from the period to find something that represents LONESOME and Universal films of the time. Titles were shot back to film for eventual inclusion in the dupe neg.

A brand new duplicate negative has been produced, again from the French nitrate. Using the old negative we struck in the 70's didn't make sense. Better techniques, optics, film stocks(especially on the color side). It just made more sense. In one week's time I will be going to LA to supervise the final audio mix. Obviously the purpose here is to retain the early sound qualities of the late 20's and clean up all of the 'noise' that has crept in over the last 80 years. It has been a painful slow process, but a first print of LONESOME should be expected by early April. Final color correction shortly after that, and by June the project should be complete. Once again we have no say over a DVD release.

[myrnaloyisdope]

That's outstanding mysteryprez. I would love to see the film in a good print with the restored sound. It's one of my favorites, and a watchable print will make it easier to champion. Here's hoping for a smooth restoration and speedy DVD release!

[lady wakasa]

mysterypez - is there an email list or something to keep up with the progress on the film? I'd love to see this if it comes to A Major City Near Me or to DVD, but I'm not sure I'll be able to come here consistently for the next stretch of months to check on progress.

[Mysterypez]

Sorry Lady Wakasa, there is nothing like an email list to track the progress of this restoration. I can offer to update this thread as frequently as the project warrants.

The audio mix went very well. I hear things in the audio that I had never heard before. The Coney Island/Boardwalk sections were always just a cacophony of mostly indistinct noise. It was great to hear specific sound effects/voices/etc to these sections. The main issue proved to be the handful of sound effects that would seem to require a hard sync to the image. Police whistles and some of the boardwalk games have effects that should match the action on the screen, but moving them in place only caused the rest of the audio to go out of sync. The reference print that we had showed the effect to be out of sync as well. So we left these effects out of sync because it appears this is the way it always had been. It is minor, there are only 3 or 4 of them. Everything else is as it should be. Dialogue sequences will play cleaner. It is not perfect by an stretch, but the bumps and bruises have been tended to so that audiences can hear the movie. We have always been happy to work with Alloy to score this film.... and I'll be honest some musical accompaniment was required the audio was so difficult.... but I hope that everyone will get that chance to hear this spruced up audio in some form.

A new print to us by the end of April.... but probably more like early May. Project should be done by summer. I'll update after I have seen the restored print.

[HerrSchreck]

Absolutely dynamite news mp, as usual. Given the reputation of the film, and the celebration and excavation of Fejos' work in certain uh global back channels, I don't think a DVD (Kino? given they've worked pretty well with you guys in the past on these kinds of projects) is too far fetched a hope.

Now about that pristine print of Old Dark House we talked about you guys are holding....

[Mysterypez]

New restoration screening at Museum of the Moving Image on the 13th of February.

http://www.movingimage.us/visit/calenda ... l/lonesome

[swo17]

Wonderful news that this is finished! Fingers crossed for a Kino Blu-ray in the near future.

[perkizitore]

Fingers crossed for a MoC blu-ray

[AvantGuardian]

Hello to all you Lonesome fans out there! Glad to have found this forum, and to be a part of it. For those of you who attend classic film conventions, check out this link.

They're also showing the new Lonesome restoration, Yay!!! My wife and I will be going. It's one of our favorite films of all time.

All the best,
AvantGuardian

[Jeff]

Announced for August

[L.A.]

What can I say, looks nice!

[zedz]

Fantastic package for a fantastic film. I can't wait.

[knives]

Love this movie. I wonder if the booklet will cover that strange little late silent era semi-genre it fits in with The Crowd and Sunrise? They do a lot to reveal the mental space of people during the people.

[denti alligator]

Ecstatic.

[Tribe]

From what I've read since this has been announced, it really sounds very interesting and I'm very much looking forward to it. From what I've read, and I could very well be totally off bases, it sounds something akin to People On Sunday and even Elvey's Hindle Wakes. Could those of you who have seen this give an assessment?

[knives]

It has a stronger structure than that first film you mentioned (haven't seen the second), but it is certainly a kin of it. Like I said there's a strong connection with The Crowd though I think it manages to be more successful.

[zedz]

The Crowd, Sunrise and People on Sunday are all good points of reference (as is Gustav Machaty's From Saturday to Sunday, though that's probably even more obscure than this film), and Lonesome more than lives up to the comparisons. Like Knives, I think it works even better than The Crowd.

Fejos was a really interesting director with a really interesting career, so the (auto)biographical 'visual essay' should be fascinating.

[John Edmond]

Broadway and The Last Performance? Oh thank you.

[karmajuice]

Even better than The Crowd? Holy shit count me in. Very excited about this release. Unfamiliar with Fejos, but the more silent (or semi-silent) Criterion the better.

[John Edmond]

If I recall correctly, wasn't Broadway the first film to feature a genuine* crane shot? And I didn't realise the 2 strip footage still existed.

*rather than a jury-rigged shot, fork-lifts had their uses.

[Drucker]

So can someone summarize the three films in terms of Silent or not? Is Lonesome Movietone? Squawky? Just wondering. I am learning about these films for the first time right now and my appetite is whet!

[zedz]

This is great news although I feel sorry for MoC in not also securing it for Region B (yet?)

As I recall, Nick accompanied that lovely spec cover with a sad "definitely not coming" announcement.

[domino harvey]

Good on Criterion for not charging more than standard for this set-- they could and rightfully so, y'know

[zedz]

At any rate, this film is going to struggle to get noticed even with this blindingly impressive cornucopia of extras (Good point, domino about not packaging this as a box set - they've released several with less content than this title). Market-splitting from MoC probably wouldn't have done either company any favours.

Anybody decrying Criterion's (perceived) absence of 'risky' titles needs to put their money where their mouth is and pick this up on release.