Chimes at Midnight a "Great Movie"

[David N]

Roger Ebert has a real nice write up of Chimes at Midnight as part of his "Great Movies" feature. Maybe someone can provide a link to his website. He decries the fact that it has not been restored. This kind of exposure cannot hurt. This is the only film of his that I have not seen. FYI, Dave

[colwood]

Excellent catch, I usually check out his page every sunday for the latest answer man column or great movie listing but forgot about it today.

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps....6040301

[David N]

By the way, what's going on with Chimes? I thought someone was working on a restoration. Or is this all tied up in the courts? I haven't heard anything about this for a while.

[Terry]

Take the quotes off Great Movie.

[David N]

Well sure! But without the quotes it's just me saying it's a great movie not Roger Ebert! I also happen to agree with his assessment of The Trial. Repeated viewings really help.

[Roger Ryan]

By the way, what's going on with Chimes? I thought someone was working on a restoration. Or is this all tied up in the courts? I haven't heard anything about this for a while.

As usual with Welles films "Chimes" is tied up in a legal battle, this one between the heirs of the two producers who financed the film. There was talk nearly a decade ago that Miramax was doing a restoration of the film, but that project has apparently been abandoned. One could very well question whether a "restoration" even needs to be done. A print I saw of the film in '97 looked pristine; a slightly muddied soundtrack was the only flaw I would care to point out and I imagine the audio could be enhanced with relative ease these days.

[atcolomb]

Robert Harris who did the restoration of films like My Fair Lady and Lawrence of Arabia said that he looked at the print of Chimes at Midnight and found it in good condition and does not need a major restoration. Lets hope a good print of The Stranger comes to dvd soon....

[The Voice of Cornstarch]

So,

Should the proposed California conference on Don Q, also include discussion of Chimes?

[R Kadin]

atcolomb - FYI, there is a magnificent print of The Stranger available in Europe on an MGM-labeled DVD. It is mentioned in another thread somewhere on the site and on DVDBeaver. Worth acquiring, to be sure, except that, alas, it's not Region 1. (Just another fine excuse to scoop up a region-free player.)

[atcolomb]

I saw the DVD BEAVER comparison of all The Stranger versions and i do have a all region dvd player which is how i can see the Spanish dvd of Chimes at Midnight. I might get the MGM version but i might wait for a better region 1 release.
Thanks for the info R KADIN.....