Originally posted by: Mielr
The censored scenes that were cut from the 1933 version of King Kong only exist today because a film collector "stole" a complete print that would otherwise would have been trashed by the studios. Film studios have a terrible history with preserving their own films. Many silent films are lost forever because the studios felt no need to house them after their theater runs had ended, and actually burned them to retrieve the silver from the silver nitrate film stock. Rebel "smugglers" being the only hope for saving something good when the powers that be decide they know what's best for the masses. Sounds a bit familiar on a couple of different levels...
Thank goodness some people saw the writing on the wall and took matters into their own hands, despite the possible legal ramifications! Although I'm sure a lot of them did it with selfish reasons in mind, in the end saving the films became more important. When it comes to saving important historic films from being destroyed, I think even Lucas himself would have to be grateful to these collectors/"thieves". I just wish he could apply that thinking to his own work.
That's really interesting- thanks! I had no idea that those documents were up on the Smoking Gun. That's kind of shitty that he ratted out on his friends, though. I mean, I have no idea what I would have done in that situation, maybe he was facing jail time- I don't know. I would have told them who sold me the films, sure, but I don't think I could have fingered other collectors.
It sounds like he just decided to be as open and honest as possible about everything, and not hold anything back or hide anything. It probably saved his bacon. Perhaps he really did believe what he was doing was legal. Certainly he never expected the FBI to come knocking on his door. The big question is, who ratted out Roddy, and why?The censored scenes that were cut from the 1933 version of King Kong only exist today because a film collector "stole" a complete print that would otherwise would have been trashed by the studios. Film studios have a terrible history with preserving their own films. Many silent films are lost forever because the studios felt no need to house them after their theater runs had ended, and actually burned them to retrieve the silver from the silver nitrate film stock. Rebel "smugglers" being the only hope for saving something good when the powers that be decide they know what's best for the masses. Sounds a bit familiar on a couple of different levels...
Thank goodness some people saw the writing on the wall and took matters into their own hands, despite the possible legal ramifications! Although I'm sure a lot of them did it with selfish reasons in mind, in the end saving the films became more important. When it comes to saving important historic films from being destroyed, I think even Lucas himself would have to be grateful to these collectors/"thieves". I just wish he could apply that thinking to his own work.
That's really interesting- thanks! I had no idea that those documents were up on the Smoking Gun. That's kind of shitty that he ratted out on his friends, though. I mean, I have no idea what I would have done in that situation, maybe he was facing jail time- I don't know. I would have told them who sold me the films, sure, but I don't think I could have fingered other collectors.
What do you suppose ended up happening to his collection after it was confiscated? I'd be incredibly angry if I found out it ended up being lost, destroyed, or damaged in the end. But chances are, that's what happened.
--SKot