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Q: If this can happen to a classic film like Lawrence, what does that say about the preservation of the average, run-of-the-mill film?
A: It’s not so much the quality of the materials, it’s the way they’re handled, putting them back together to make new negatives. One of the biggest problems in the studios is that they don’t know what their own films are supposed to look like. And if you don’t know what it’s supposed to look like, you have no idea what the timing is.
Q: Has there been a decline in the level of technical expertise in the labs?
A: No, the labs are fine. It’s a matter of budget and the studios are pushing their people too quickly. If the studios want great materials, t hey have to give their people the necessary time and the necessary budget and the access to original materials in order to see what the film looked like originally. They have to allow them to spend a few extra dollars, we’re not talking about a lot of money, to make a proper internegative and proper interpositive, rather than just a interpositive.
Q: What’s the present condition of Lean’s Bridge on the River Kwai?
A: The have the camera negative. They have black and white separations which hopefully will register but you don’t actually know until you try them out. People have supposedly made quite unquote ‘preservation’ materials but hen not tested them. You don’t have preservation materials until you’re made a dupe negative off your separations. I think Kwai could be gorgeous, it could be blown up to 70mm beautifully and the tracks could be reworked.
Q: We understand that you will be supervising the preparation of a laser disc of the restored Lawrence.
A: It’ll be a letterbox version and will have lots of extra material on it. The entire script may possibly be put on the laser disc, plus the original trailers, and samples of daily continuity and mixing/dubbing sheets. We also have access to 65,000 feet of 16mm behind the scenes footage on the making of Lawrence. We also have footage of the New York and Los Angeles premieres, footage of Peter learning how to ride a camel, Albert Finney’s screen test as Lawrence, and actual shots of Lawrence in Arabia in 1918. It’s going to be six sides, at least. Hopefully it’ll be out for Christmas and will probably retail for $125 or so. It’s the ultimate gift for the cinephile. [The final boxed version contained the following: Production photos and a booklet detailing the twenty minutes of restored footage.—ed.]
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