The Restoration of John Wayne's THE ALAMO- Movie

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    For all you fans of JW's The Alamo - I got the following communication from member itdo -


    The article at the link is quite interesting. The first part is a very technical discussion of what physically happens to film. Even if you don't want to read the tech stuff, fast forward to the end of the article where they tell about Harris' desire to restore this print. A worthwhile cause, if ever there was one!

    I wonder how many other films us young'uns havent seen in origional format. Sad to see something that could have been preserved so easily at one time fall into such a desperate state of condition. I suppose we all do it everyday of our lives in one form or another, whether it be the 69' Roadrunner someone sold in 1976 for a few hundred bucks (my dad) or a film that should have seen better care and probably duplicated years ago to a better format before it got this bad. Guess the moral of the story is what is worth nothing now will probably be priceless tommorrow, a good thing to remember.

    I have contacted Bill Hunt, the person who wrote the article on The Digital Bit's. I wanted him to know that we had a great community over here and I am sure we could drum up some support for the restoration project. And since not everyone was a home theater enthusiast, having a link to the film restoration contribution site on our forum would drum up even more support from the John Wayne fan base here. I will post his response to me, if any, once I hear back from him.

    I will say this, this is a very exciting undertaking and one that all of us fan's of the Duke would do well to contribute something, even as little as a couple dollars, to bring this movie back to it's full uncut glory.

    Life is hard, its even harder when your stupid!!
    -John Wayne

    I received a email back from Bill Hunt and Robert Harris. Robert Harris is the person who is heading up the project and who wrote the article over on www.thedigitaldits.com . Here is a link if you haven't had a chance to look at it yet: http://www.thedigitalbits.com/…tharris/harris032009.html .

    Robert is now a registered user here and will be posting a link here or hopefully any other info concerning the restoration project for "The Alamo" as soon as that informatoin becomes available.

    Maybe we can create a seperate forum for this project os it's easier to get to???? Just a thought. So if you see Robert Harris around here, that is who he is.

    Life is hard, its even harder when your stupid!!
    -John Wayne

    I know I have kind of taken over this thread but if anyone else has any ideas. Feel free to post them. My biggest reason for seeming so passionate is that I have always heard about the full length version and have wanted to see it forever. I really hope they can pull this off.

    Life is hard, its even harder when your stupid!!
    -John Wayne

    Todd,


    Thank you for following up so thoroughly!! Mr. Harris' registration has been approved this evening, so I look forward to hearing from him soon.


    I was hoping that making this a 'sticky' thread in General Discussions (specifically JW related) would keep it relatively easy to find. If something else is needed, I'm sure Kevin can help out and make it happen.


    Thanks again, Todd, for being so proactive!


    Chester :newyear:

    Just a quick note to acknowledge the thread. Our non-profit links will be announced next week, and the support of dukewayne.com is appreciated. Through the support of Batjac, we now have proper color reference for reel 9B, which contains the missing birthday party sequence. We will attempt to keep you in the loop as to progress.


    RAH

    Mr. Harris,


    WELCOME to the Original John Wayne Message Board, and thank you so much for taking the time to join us and keep us informed on this upcoming project. As you might imagine, the members here take a special interest in The Alamo, as it was one of John Wayne's pet projects.


    We look forward to hearing more about your efforts, and we thank you for them!


    Chester :newyear: and the Mrs. :angel1:

    Welcome, Robert. I wish you much success in your endeavor with "The Alamo." It is one of my favorite John Wayne pictures. I consider myself most fortunate to have seen the original road show engagement here in San Antonio within a week after its premiere.
    Please keep us posted.

    Cheers - Jay:beer:
    "Not hardly!!!"

    As of today, the fundraising has officially begun.


    While it will be a few days before we have links for credit cards and Paypal,
    our charitable sponsor can now accept checks toward the restoration of the film. Their website, where prime links for cc and pp will reside is: http://www.burnsfilmcenter.org/


    Contributions via check should be made out payable to:


    Jacob Burns Film Center, Inc.


    with the information: "f/b/o Alamo Restoration" in the memo field, normally lower left. It is very important that Alamo be noted on the checks.


    The mailing address is:


    Jacob Burns Film Center
    405 Manville Road
    Pleasantville, NY 10570
    Att: Dominick Balletta


    All contributions are tax deductible.


    It goes without saying that any aid is appreciated.


    RAH

    Howdy Robert, and welcome to the JWMB. I know that you will find a lot of supporters here at the board, myself among them. The restoration of The Alamo has long been a dream for many of us, and I'm sure we will all be looking forward to the day that this project is completed.


    I hope you don't mind what is probably a stupid question, but can you tell me the difference between the different versions of The Alamo that are out there now? I bought the DVD several years ago, and it is shorter than the VHS tape that I have. The VHS set is two tapes and has the Overture, the Entr'acte, Intermission, and Exit music in it, plus the birthday scene with Lisa Dickinson (Aissa Wayne). But I always thought that there was more to it. That even the VHS tapes had something missing. Maybe I'm wrong. I had always thought that the original film had been cut down to make a roadshow version and that the roadshow version was made into the VHS double tape set, and then cut down again for the DVD version. I thought that the original was completely lost. I read the article that you wrote, but sometimes I'm a little dense and need things explained a little more before I understand them.


    Thanks again for undertaking this not only monumental, but historically important task. I know that all of us here at the JWMB truely appreciate it.
    -Colorado Bob

    "I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people and I require the same from them" It may be time worn, but it's the best life-creed I know.

    This is a film that must be saved. there is a forum that I belong to which is solely dedicated to this great movie, it is a very small forum which has only been going for about 6 months and only has about 60 or so members but the info and knowledge and love pertaining to the film here is second to none.


    I feel sure that should you inform them of this ongoing fundraising campaign the response would be a positive one.


    I am not keen on the practice of coming onto forums and preaching the virtues of others, but in this instance perhaps the mods here will forgive me for doing so as hopefully the ends will justify the means.


    johnwayne-thealamo.com • Index page



    I don't think the mods would have any problems with posting that link.

    I do think to save Robert Harris from having to post on multiple site's that if you could just post a link to our thread here or post the link that Robert posted on this thread to the Jacob Burns Film Center http://www.burnsfilmcenter.org/ at your web forum. That way your member's will have way to contribute.

    Thanks.

    Life is hard, its even harder when your stupid!!
    -John Wayne

    Quote from Colorado Bob


    I hope you don't mind what is probably a stupid question, but can you tell me the difference between the different versions of The Alamo that are out there now? I bought the DVD several years ago, and it is shorter than the VHS tape that I have. The VHS set is two tapes and has the Overture, the Entr'acte, Intermission, and Exit music in it, plus the birthday scene with Lisa Dickinson (Aissa Wayne). But I always thought that there was more to it. That even the VHS tapes had something missing. Maybe I'm wrong. I had always thought that the original film had been cut down to make a roadshow version and that the roadshow version was made into the VHS double tape set, and then cut down again for the DVD version. I thought that the original was completely lost. I read the article that you wrote, but sometimes I'm a little dense and need things explained a little more before I understand them.


    Thanks again for undertaking this not only monumental, but historically important task. I know that all of us here at the JWMB truely appreciate it.
    -Colorado Bob


    Not a "stupid question" at all, with a bit of a complex answer, but here goes.


    The Alamo ran for a limited period in a version running approximately 192 minutes PLUS Overture, Entr'acte, Intermission tag and Exit music, which added about an extra 10, bringing the total to about 202 minutes.


    Shortly after the release the film was cut reducing the length to about 162 minutes. 70mm screenings still had the music intact, while most 35mm prints were without.


    When the 70mm Roadshow print was discovered in the exchange in Toronto around 1992 it was used toward the creation of the laser disc boxed set, which was released as the Roadshow. However, because of print damage during transfer, the laser and all other variants packaged as Roadshow were not. There were no major changes, but a bit of re-cutting with loss of footage did occur. Our new version will be the actual Roadshow, with frame losses, still within a second of the original.


    I'm unfamiliar with the cut on VHS. You mention the birthday party, which was reel 9B, and this is where it gets confusing. As reels were re-cut the original 65mm negative elements as well as 65mm protective masters were destroyed. Since reel 9B was removed in its entirety, it was simply set aside, and still survives today. So when you mention VHS and birthday party, it is possible that just that reel was somehow added back, which would have created other problems, as bits and pieces of connective tissue in 9A would have been missing.


    If your VHS tape runs over 200 minutes, then it is simply another release on VHS of the laserdisc boxed set. If not, then it is something entirely different and somehow between the two.


    In reality, there have been three versions: The Roadshow, The General Release and the home video version called "The Roadshow."


    The DVD is the General Release version, as the Roadshow footage was not of high enough quality to work on DVD without complaints.


    Our final versions would be available in both General Release as well as the ACTUAL Roadshow in both Blu-ray as well as standard definition DVD.


    I hope this is helpful!


    RAH

    I know someone who has a German 70mm print. I don't know whether it has a longer running time than the 'general' German 35mm version that was released at the same time.
    Are you still looking for better picture elements or is this just all about restoring the print you already have?

    Quote from Juniormike

    I know someone who has a German 70mm print. I don't know whether it has a longer running time than the 'general' German 35mm version that was released at the same time.
    Are you still looking for better picture elements or is this just all about restoring the print you already have?


    The film was released in Germany after the negative was re-cut, which means that the chances of a print being the longer version are very slim. The print that we have serves our purposes.