By RAY KELLY
The Criterion Collection’s recent release of Othello on Blu-ray and DVD showcases two versions of Orson Welles’ Shakespearean adaptation: His 1952 European cut and the slightly shorter edit he prepared for the United Artists release in the U.S. and Britain in 1955.
Lost to the mass market is the earliest known version, an Italian-dubbed Othello, which premiered at Barberini Cinema in Rome on November 29, 1951; and the 1992 release created by Michael Dawson with the backing of Beatrice Welles and Julian Schlossberg’s Castle Hill Productions.
Dawson’s restoration – which may not be an accurate description of the end result – rankled purists, most notably the Chicago Reader’s Jonathan Rosenbaum. The release boasted the creation of a new stereo score and some attempts to force the dubbed audio of the actor’s lines to better fit the screen image.
I was fortunate to attend a media screening in New York arranged by Castle Hill in early 1992 and was impressed by the glorious images that unspooled.
Frankly, I was not upset with the newly-created stereo score, though I agree it was unnecessary. (The critically and commercially successful restorations of Touch of Evil in 1998 and Chimes at Midnight in 2015 prove a mono score will not keep audiences away.)
Castle Hill’s 1992 release was based on the 1955 U.S. edit of the film, which runs a second shy of 91 minutes. (Welles’ earlier European edit ran 93 minutes and 31 seconds.)
Comparing a DVD of Castle Hill’s 1992 release with the new Criterion’s issue of the 1955 edit is obviously unfair since there have been technological advances in the past quarter century. (Criterion undertook a 4K scan of a 35mm original camera negative.) For example, minor spots and blemishes visible in the opening minutes of the Castle Hill DVD are not present in the richer Criterion release, though the Castle Hill presentation still holds up very well. It should be noted the audio on the Castle Hill DVD release was tweaked following the theatrical run to correct some errors.
Criterion chose to ignore the 1992 stereo version, created seven years after Welles death, when it put out its two-disc set on October 10.
Since the Castle Hill version is out-of-print domestically, it will eventually be relegated to the dustbins of cinematic history. Criterion and Janus Films have acquired the rights to Othello from Beatrice Welles, who heads up her father’s estate. It is unlikely Criterion will embrace the 1992 reworking.
But the passing of Othello – 1992 should not be ignored. It deserves a round of applause for what it accomplished 25 years ago – sparking renewed interest in Welles post-Citizen Kane work and putting one of his overlooked films back in theaters nationwide. Othello was lauded in 1992 by mainstream critics, who called the film a masterpiece.
And the Castle Hill release brought Othello back to the Cannes Film Festival in May 1992, 40 years after it won the prestigious Palme d’Or there.
Not too shabby.
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