Othello 3 DVD Set

[Honest Iago]

It's quite exciting to think of a deluxe set for Othello similar to the Arkadin and Touch of Evil sets. According to the Orson Welles in Italia book there are even some rushes and several unused takes from the film stored in Rome (the author refers to the material as "the Othello doubles", if I'm not mistaken), so hopefully an attempt could be made to include this material as well (as was done with the Arkadin outtakes). If rights are not a major hurdle, maybe even including MacLiammor's book Put Money in Thy Purse would nicely round out the whole thing.

Maybe a petition of some sort might be a good idea?

[The Night Man]

Maybe a petition of some sort might be a good idea?

Any specialty home video company (Criterion, Kino, etc.) would know already the importance of a project such as this and they'd probably also know already what the sales figures on previous Welles multi-version sets have been. What it's going to come down to is how much money the Welles Estate wants for the rights. Period.

A petition, in my opinion, would just be a waste of time.

[Dark Horse 77]

Ahh if only one day I could wake up and this and Chimes at Midnight and The Other Side of the Wind were out on Criterion. And The Deep was finally dubbed and that 131m print of Ambersons was found under a police station.
A guy can dream...

[b_writer]

Has anyone heard any updates on this potential release?

[Roger Ryan]

The "potential release" was really just wishful thinking...and I mean that in the most appreciative manner. There's nothing wrong with stating publicly that a particular release is desired; if enough people agree, that can start the ball rolling. However, in the world of Orson Welles, the legal entanglements prevent many of these dreams from reaching fruition even when major companies have agreed to put millions of dollars into the project! Looking at the situation as optimistically as possible, I'd say a multi-disc OTHELLO set might have a slightly better chance of seeing the light of day than a completed OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND and a much better chance than AMBERSONS receiving a deluxe special edition Region 1 release!

[ToddBaesen]

I also think a 3-DVD set of OTHELLO is wishful thinking, especially given the money that "The Welles Estate" would want to get. Remember, each "extra" would take away from their profit margin. The good news is, even if OTHELLO were only to be released on a new DVD or Blu Ray transfer, it would be far better than all the previous releases. I recently saw the true "restored" version of OTHELLO that has never been widely released. All the speckling on the print is gone. Unfortunately, due to "human error" the wrong transfer was used in all the current DVD versions of OTHELLO that are now on the market. In other words anyone who owns the DVD of OTHELLO actually has an "unrestored version." Could this lead to a class action lawsuit against the Welles Estate for false advertising? If so, maybe the estate would have to sell the rights to OTHELLO to pay their legal costs and a 3 DVD set would be possible!

[Hartley]

I'm actually in the process of converting the "Othello" Criterion Laserdisc to DVD format, hopefully can make some DVD menus soon as I have all the files good to go otherwise, including the commentary and other special features. A friend of mine not only happened to own the laserdisc but also has their player hooked up to their computer to make backups, so I lucked out bigtime! Haven't had a chance to watch this ORIGINAL version yet.

[A Sled in Flames]

Having recently watched the extraordinary version of Othello on the Criterion LD, I do wish for a 3 DVD set. It would be great to see all three versions of the movie assembled into one. Of course, a Blu-Ray transfer would be even more spectacular but I suppose that's just wishful thinking. The current DVD pales in comparison to the more recent releases of Welles's movies, and also one could always bring up the restored vs unrestored controversy. It would be fantastic if a great company like Criterion could be put to work on such a project; however, alas, Welles's estate must first agree...

[Jay]

I actually think that the Criterion LD looks better than the restored DVD release. The image is sharper and the contrast is better on the LD edition. Plus, of course, it has the original sound mix. I'm going to try to transfer it to DVD so I have a backup copy and because I know that my LD player will eventually die.

[A Sled in Flames]

I actually think that the Criterion LD looks better than the restored DVD release. The image is sharper and the contrast is better on the LD edition. Plus, of course, it has the original sound mix. I'm going to try to transfer it to DVD so I have a backup copy and because I know that my LD player will eventually die.

I definitely agree with you: the LD beats the DVD. Additionally, since the film is in full screen; it utilised the full resolution of LD, not needing to be letterboxed. The LD is surprisingly clean. I honestly have no idea what needed restoration save some slight generally innocuous damage towards the end. Obviously, the LD has better special features... so the whole thing is worthy of preservation. The original audio mix is just so haunting... so much compared to the new one.