UPDATE (October 10, 2013): Grover Crisp, executive vice-president of film restoration at Sony, told Britain’s The Guardian that the studio is “planning to record out to a new negative for preservation purposes and a few prints. The film will also finally be released on Blu-ray shortly.”
__________
“The Lady from Shanghai,” Orson Welles’ 1947 thriller with then-wife Rita Hayworth, has been restored and will be featured at the 57th BFI London Film Festival next month.
The digital 4K restoration by Grover Crisp’s conservation team at Sony Columbia will receive its world premiere in London on October 16.
As the senior vice president for Asset Management, Film Restoration and Digital Mastering for Sony Pictures Entertainment, Grover has overseen numerous restorations, including “The Bridge Over the River Kwai” and “Taxi Driver.”
Speaking to thedigitalbits.com two year ago about 4K restoration, Crisp said, “Working in 4K data can be a challenge because it is a lot of data to manipulate, but it is something that can be controlled. The most difficult part of any of this kind of work is always to fix things that could not be fixed before and to have it be seamless. A digital repair done incorrectly will draw attention to itself and the goal is always to put things back properly so that it is virtually invisible to the viewer. Sometimes, the nature of the film problems are so severe as to make this practically impossible, but at least that is always the goal.”
The October 9-20 festival will screen a total of 234 fiction and documentary features, including 22 world premieres, 16 international premieres, 29 European premieres and 20 archive films. The British Film Institute will also be screen 134 live action and animated shorts.
There is no word yet on a likely Blu-ray release.
Thanks to David Paul Nixon for the heads up.
__________
Post your comments on the Wellesnet Message Board.