Chimes restoration

[colwood]

I remember reading on this board one year ago that the same production team that "restored" othello were working on a restoration of Chimes at Midnight. Has anybody heard anything regarding their progress?

[Cole]

I've been wondering the same thing myself, Colwood. According to that article - published exactly a year ago this day in the Chicago Tribune - the people working on the project only needed 8 - 16 more weeks to complete the restoration. But now, 52 weeks later, there's no news about the restoration being finished. I checked all the major newspapers in the US, and some in the UK, and can't find anything about it. Don't know if the work is finished and the newspapers just haven't reported anything about it, or if the restoration has been put on hold for some reason.

[jaime marzol]

strange. same thing happened to welles for the last 25 years of his life. might be that curse he caused by looking at the paper moon?

[Wilson]

Assuming this is the same thing, it isn't dead, but will be premiering at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland this August 3-13. The press release states that:

"Every time he says, Action!” – as François Truffaut put it – “he turns everyday reality into poetry”.
Orson Welles, the child prodigy, the staggering genius who at only 28 presented film history with one of its milestones, the diehard independent who got himself into Hollywood’s black book by the age of 30, the wandering minstrel who put together his visual mosaics using pieces shot in locations worlds apart from each other, the eloquent mouthpiece of Shakespeare. But also the fleeting conjuror, first creating a perfect illusion then slyly pretending to reveal the trick, leaving us holding our breath and uncertain whether we have seen how it was done or merely glimpsed another mirror in his endless gallery of the possible.
The mysterious Orson Welles, the most European of Americans, the most ancient and modern of Europeans, still today, more than two decades after his death, in part undiscovered, unyielding of his final secrets to critics and historians that review his oeuvre. It is to this Orson Welles, the man revealed only grudgingly, in fragments, frames and sequences, like a Renaissance artist made legendary even more by his lost work than by his actual heritage, that the Locarno Festival will pay special homage, in this 90th anniversary year of his birth. For the first time ever, possible versions and sequences will be presented for films that the great director left unfinished. These screening events will be discussed by international panels featuring both colleagues and companions of Welles and some of the major critics who have studied his work. In addition to the legendary “unfinished masterpieces”, his acting performances and spectacular appearances on television will also be featured. The completed titles directed by Welles will be screened using top quality prints, restored where necessary, while The Chimes at Midnight will be presented in a new, fully restored version.
The retrospective is curated by Stefan Drössler with assistance from Bernard Uhlmann, produced by the Locarno Film Festival in cooperation with the Munich Filmmuseum and the Swiss National Film Archive in Lausanne.

[Roger Ryan]

Orson Welles, the child prodigy, the staggering genius who at only 28 presented film history with one of its milestones

Hmmm, the "milestone" must be "Jane Eyre"... or maybe "Follow The Boys"! Seriously, I'm thrilled that "Chimes" is getting another shot; I think most of us here would agree on it's quality. Here's hoping that a proper DVD release will follow eventually.

[Eve_h]

I found some news (not exactly informative) about the Locarno retrospective ...
According to a german newspaper online source about 72 films will be shown and the retrospective will be taken on a tour to Munich, Vienna, Lausanne and Oslo.
Orson Welles: Der Don Quijote des Kinos

Some further small details (not especially optimistic about a possible showing of 'Chimes at Midnight') can be found here:
Locarno to honour Orson Welles (page 2)
(the article describes it as probably "the most exhaustive retrospective of Welles' work yet mounted")