There doesn't seem to be much interest in this project, but to those who might follow it silently, I'll check in with an update.
There has been a general assumption that the American TCM airing is the same as the American TCM airing. However, after comparing both to the VHS-Rip, I can report that all three have a slightly different arrangement of scenes. Without going into details that might bore, this amounts to two scenes that are not found in the American TCM airing. I plan on looking for all possible variances in a more detailed scene-by-scene viewing very soon.
Also, it was previously believed that the "unedited" cut, that was pieced together on Cinemageddon, made use of the German TCM airing for it's missing scenes. I can report that this is also untrue and, what's more, very strange as it was reported by the editor himself in the release description. One might think he simply got confused as to which version he attributed on GC, but his listing predates it's very existence on the server.
At any rate, I can understand why he chose the VHS-Rip over the German TCM airing, due to it's tracking problems and demolished right channel audio. However, the VHS rip is of a substantially lower resolution. faced with the same decision, I can either upscale the VHS-Rip much further than I would have to with the German TCM airing, or crop and matte the signal noise from the German TCM airing and use the stereo track from the VHS-Rip.
Regardless, the bulk of the movie will look pristine, as it has been mastered to DVD from the HD American TCM transport stream, cropped from it's pillerbox presentation and detelecined to the proper film frame rate. I remain hopeful that I can whip the missing scenes into shape.
Once completed, the film will be viewable with and without the missing scenes through seamless branching, as not to disrupt the quality for those who just want a pristine viewing experience. As such, the isolated scenes will also be offered for viewing separately through the DVD menu.
This has turned out to be slightly more involved than I thought it might, but then again, isn't that the case with most of life's little endeavors? I'll check back in as it progresses. Feel free to leave your thoughts.