thxita said:
...aaaand the odd Italian edit (available on VHS, containing the extra shots of SEN and the narrated flashback edit) ...
...
Which versions of that list have we actually "seen"? Which one haven't emerged yet?
From it's date, the Italian edit would surely be from the Warner Bros. edit, which would've been in circulation from 1971 to 1977+. The "+" indicates that broadcast markets might keep their prints and broadcast those well beyond the date of any new release (with new fees?).
From what I've read and so conjecture, Warner Bros. had no confidence in that film student's new film. For international markets, they simple gave them the English language print to do with as they pleased. And the Italian broadcasters did just that, with re-edits and changing the movie into a flashback. Actually that was pretty inventive -- to keep the story tense right out of the gate. Poor George ... he don't get no respect. :,(
But if that's right, then WB didn't trim the SEN helping the children scene. I have little clue of the differences between the two version 1's. There are "?" after those times for that reason. So I'm thinking it was Lucas who shortened that SEN scene in his version 2 (1983), probably for reasons I mentioned back on page 62 (the performances didn't work).
So, we haven't actually seen the unadulterated (official) version 1-WB-variant (the 1st theatrical release), but poita mentioned a scan of that version. I'd love to have documentation of the cut-by-cut, w/ frame-timecodes & lengths, accompanied by a representative screencap of each. And ... a choco-lotta coffee ... creamed and heavy on the dark chocolate ... super-sized.
Mmmm...
SilverWook had a Pan & Scan of the released version 1 (yes, GL's original cut fresh back from WB control, according to my theory), which would've been in circulation from 1978 to 1982+. I never did find out what the run-time was on it. There was a sample scan, on which I worked up some of my proofs-of-concept back in this thread. It had the SEN scene complete. Was it ever given the promised, complete scan? Anybody?
For version 2 and onward, we have the laserdiscs, videotapes, DVD, Blu-ray, and their certifications. By then, Lucas was thinking about his original edit and was busy tinkering. That's when those SEN shots disappeared.
.
[Initially, there was speculation that these significant changes in his movies, and his attempt to wipe the originals from the face of the Earth, was to limit alimony and/or royalties to his first wife. We're talkin' a big pocket of coins here.] :O