Locarno Wrap-Up

[Kevin Loy]

The only significant downside would be suffering a financial loss on the deal, a risk that one generally minimizes by keeping costs as low as absolutely possible.

Hence why they didn't bother to do research to find the best print, and why they hired somebody to transcribe the score by ear (as a musician, and as somebody who used to have to do ear transcriptions back when I was in Theory class, I'll be the first to point out that even the best transcribers can only do so good of a job, and especially when dealing with a soundtrack that wasn't sterling on the print that they used...well, you see my gripe). Alas, they could have made more money by just releasing the damn thing without tampering with it, and falsely advertising it as being "restored".

Also, it is a shame that the Hughes "autobiography" is $100, or I'd definitely snatch up a copy.

[Vidamonte]

«I often make bad films in order to live and I’m sorry to say quite a lot of these bad films were in your country,» he tells his interviewers as he holds court in a Croatian TV studio.

"The Other Side Of Welles", a new documentary by Daniel Rafaelic and Leon Rizmaul, explores the maestro’s long love affair with Croatia. PardoNews 08/08/2005

Check out www.pardonews.ch. There was one or two articles in every newsletter in english.

[Kevin Loy]

The lowdown seems to be that Beatrice owns everything up to .. well, I'm not sure; maybe Chimes, or Immortal. And Oja owns everything past that- BUT: it seems Bea is contesting Oja's owning anything.

I was thinking about this post yesterday, as I watched One-Man Band (again), and I have to ask...does anybody know if he actually had a will? If he didn't, that would go a long way towards explaining this constant nonsense from Beatrice. However, I would think that the people who have financial interest in the unfinished films (and something tells me that he wasn't asking his daughter for completion funds for The Other Side Of The Wind) would have more of a legal claim towards the unfinished films than Beatrice (unless, of course, she were to actually buy the rights, which obviously isn't her course of action)...I also have to wonder if Orson's other children are/were ever this obnoxious.

[chrissie]

There was a will, because Oja was left some (or all?) of the unfinished works... don't remember reading any in-depth details on it, though.

How about Arkadin? Is that 100% public domain or does Beatrice have a stake in it? I would guess not, looking at all the sundry releases of it...

[Kevin Loy]

If there is an actual will that gave full rights to Oja, since it is a legal document, I can't imagine that Beatrice could actually contest that...maybe her argument is that her father's final will and testament wasn't in his best interest (or, rather, in her best interest...)

As far as I can tell, Arkadin and The Stranger seem to be public domain. I'm not sure about The Trial. As the earlier post stated, Beatrice can only (feasibly) own the rights to Othello, Chimes, and maybe Immortal Story. Of course, that isn't preventing her from suing companies that do actually own certain films, contesting the rights.

How exactly did The Stranger and Mr. Arkadin lose their copyright status?

As an off-hand query, does anybody know for certain whether The Trial is public domain or not? I only ask because I had assembled a sample of it for a recording that I did last year, but ended up not using it since I couldn't completely clarify its copyright status.

[Glenn Anders]

My machine has been in the shop, and so there is too much to comment upon here. I'll just watch!

Roger's news about JOURNEY INTO FEAR seems spectacular, and of course, I have a special interest in the restortion of MR. ARKADIN.

Wonderful work by all who went to Locarno.

Glenn

[Wilson]

The only finished feature Beatrice Welles owns is OTHELLO. End of story. She also owns, I would presume, the rights to the image of Welles, and pursues those rights vigorously, in order to make money. Her interest in preserving Welles' legacy is likely nil, or she'd have done a lot more than mere lip service. CHIMES is at the center of a legal battle between the producers, the families of Saltzman and Piedra. Whenever they can either agree on a settlement or win in court is when the movie will be freed. No doubt they will have spent more on legal costs than the film will ever return in profit, but whatever. THE STRANGER, MR ARKADIN, and THE TRIAL are all public domain; MR ARKADIN is only PD for the worst version, or so I understand. CONFIDENTIAL REPORT and the "Corinth" version of the film haven't appeared in any PD versions I am aware of.

[Tony]

I just got a note from Jonathan Rosenbaum, and he said the release of Mr. Arkadin has been delayed until 2006.

[The Night Man]

CHIMES is at the center of a legal battle between the producers, the families of Saltzman and Piedra. Whenever they can either agree on a settlement or win in court is when the movie will be freed. No doubt they will have spent more on legal costs than the film will ever return in profit, but whatever.

So this legal battle is still ongoing? At the Welles retrospective in L.A. last year, a Cinematheque programmer stated that she had been informed that a CHIMES settlement had been reached that very week. I was expecting a new print to debut at Locarno, but obviously that didn't happen.

What a sadly convoluted state of affairs is the Welles legacy.

[tadao]

Hi guys, a quick Locarno question -

were any audio or video recordings made of the lectures and presentations? I'd love to have been there, but some mp3s of the lectures would be a great "second best" for those of us who couldn't make it.

[Roger Ryan]

The Night Man - A new print of "Chimes At Midnight" was reportedly shown this past Friday (Aug. 12th) - obviously, I wasn't there to confirm. Stefan Droessler wanted to make clear that this was not a "restoration" (he doesn't believe that is necessary), simply a fresh print. All parties agreed to allow this one showing at Locarno.

Tadao - I don't believe any recordings were made of the workshop lectures. Since each workshop lasted between 2.5 and 3 hours in length and were primarily visual presentations (silent rushes, rough cuts and reconstructions, etc.), I don't think audio recordings would have been practical and video recordings would have constituted copyright infringement. Jeff gave an excellent overview of these workshops at the beginning of this thread, but if you'd like more specific info, I'd be happy to answer questions regarding the four workshops I attended and the additional material I viewed.

[Wilson]

I'm not sure if any recordings were done or not, to be honest. And yes, CHIMES is still being fought over. The Guardian article linked in one of the other threads makes mention of this, as the two sides "graciously" agreed to put their squabbling aside and let the film be screened once at Locarno.

[Roger Ryan]

I just got a note from Jonathan Rosenbaum, and he said the release of Mr. Arkadin has been delayed until 2006.

In this case, I believe the delay of the Arkadin release is a good thing, not a bad thing.

[jaime marzol]

but CHIMES is out in a damn good looking dvd. what is being held up? far as i can see nothing needs to be done to make it look any better. what is being held back in their fighting? a commetary track and missing scene dvd? from the dvds of chimes i've seem, that is all it really needs.

far as daughter beatrice goes, she didn't ask to be born welles' daughter, why should she pursue what her father did? she has her own interests, and if she's using the legacy to fund her interests, more power to her. look at the misery movie making brought to welles' life. fleeting moments of euphoria backed up by 45 years of hustling and skipping out of town before the bill collector arrived. can't blame her for funding her interests any way she can. isn't she an animal activist? if the legacy is being fleeced, at least the funds are going to a worthy cause. it isn't like she's funding wild parties, cocaine, and fast cars. so what the hell. can't bash people for not dealing well with something that was dumped in their laps. and it's not exactly a lucrative thing that was dumped in her lap, so why should she have to carry it uphill?

[Wilson]

The CHIMES legal struggle has nothing to do with DVDs, it has do with who owns the rights to the film, and consequently who can make money off of it in all its forms, which would obviously extend to DVDs and anything else in the future.

As for Beatrice, I don't think anyone begrudges her the chance to make money, but her claims of trying to do the right thing for her father's legacy wear a bit thin when all she's done to back it up is release a botch-job version of OTHELLO and use legal muscle to derail other projects. And as for her having all this dumped in her lap, forgive me if I don't shed a tear for poor Beatrice. Orson Welles may have been a poor father, but she's hardly living in a ghetto or a third world country.