BIG UPDATE: Payment for the print has been sent a few minutes ago.
I'm hoping we'll continue to raise funds for the next steps...
Someone over at the Sergio Leone Web Board posted scans (with red reduction) of 35mm elements. Pretty cool to see all this stuff popping up lately!
mike siegel said:
I finally found some time to scan some frames from my 35mm elements (the 'cannon' shots are from my trailer). Just as another reference regarding this endless color-debatte probably of some interest for some of you. My prints are slightly more reddish, I reduced the red during scanning. Otherwise the colors are just the way I saw them on the big screen (just 3 years ago I screened a German 35mm at our local cinema.)
Four members have offered to contribute to the project but I haven't received any donations yet. Please let me know if you're still willing and/or able to send a donation.
Thanks!
For those of you who don't visit the Sergio Leone Web Board, Clinton posted an excerpt from the original Italian script that sheds light on the mysterious cell I posted of Blondie laying near some bones:
Clinton said:
...here is more from the original Italian script so that you can see where the "skeleton shot" fits in:
Desert. The sun is glowing in the sky. Two forms unprotected from the sun are seen wandering in a scorching valley. Tuco is on horseback, and Blondie is walking ahead. [The musical cue for this scene, as described by Charles Leinberger41, “begins with a long and suspenseful introduction featuring a tonally ambiguous and disjunct piano melody accompanied by sustained string tremolos . . . [followed by] a beautiful English horn melody.”] The first part of the desert scene is similar to the film, except the script explicitly states that Tuco fires five shots in rapid succession into Blondie’s water canteen, and then he fires a sixth shot (characteristic 5:1 pattern) which sends Blondie’s hat flying. A little later the revengeful Tuco informs Blondie that the end of the desert is 140 miles away (in the film, Tuco says, “100 miles, that’s a nice walk . . .”). After his short speech, Tuco takes out a parasol from under the saddle, opens it and points it in the direction of the sun. A cut is described in the script: Tuco’s head is dangling and his eyes are heavy from tiredness. He rides past the camera . . . Blondie is now seen in the distance. His steps are heavy and sluggish. The heat has worn Blondie down. Nevertheless, he seems to have noticed that Tuco has fallen into a light sleep under his sunshade . . . Blondie looks around as if he is searching for something. About 10 meters in front of him is a white, gnawed animal skeleton. Blondie’s eyes appear to be hypnotized by this sight. He encroaches towards the skeleton. Close-up: Blondie’s hand appears in the frame and he grasps a club-like bone. The camera zooms on to Tuco, who suddenly turns, grabs his revolver and fires a shot. The bone flies out of Blondie’s hand and Tuco threatens him saying, “Don’t try that again. Now, get going!” Blondie sets off again. Tuco waits until he has gone past, and then he drinks out of his canteen. He also moistens his head and neck.
Blondie struggles as he walks on and on through the desert, and at some point he falls to his knees. Tuco rides around him as he tries to get back onto his feet. Blondie’s lips are one continuous wound, and his eyes are swollen and closed. Through the slits of his eyelids Blondie sees the slope of a dune which appears like an insurmountable wall. He struggles to his feet and tiresomely continues. Tuco rides past him and says tauntingly, “It’s just another 115 miles to the end of the desert, and eight hours until sundown. That’s nothing (he laughs).” Cut or cross dissolve (simultaneously fading out one image as another fades in): Tuco with his parasol opened is seen on horseback observing . . . From below, Blondie is seen approaching on all fours. As Blondie gets to within a few meters of Tuco, he is at the end of his strength and falls face down. Tuco gets down from his horse and cautiously approaches Blondie. Close-up: Blondie is motionless but the clanging of Tuco’s spurs indicates that he is coming closer. Blondie opens his eyes . . . Within a few centimeters of Blondie’s face, Tuco’s boot comes into the frame. In a state of desperation, Blondie plunges towards the boot and grabs it with both hands . . . but the boot is empty. Tuco, a little further away, laughs and slaps his hands on his belly . . . He lies on his back, shakes with laughter and kicks his feet in the air. Blondie is at his limit and lets his face fall again into the sand.
Clinton said:
How do you know if the 35 mm film is in good condition? Is it an inter-positive?
Could there be other surprises on the film - Socorro scene?
I would be happy to make a donation. What is the current status of funding and the acquisition etc?
Best,
Peter
We've had our resident expert, poita, visually inspect pics of various cells from all 9 reels. The film is in good condition overall; there are scratches at the beginning and end of the reels (to be expected) but the colours are vivid.
I'll let poita comment further. The fact that the "skeleton scene" is included makes me wonder what exactly we are getting.
Usually the soundtrack CD hints at cut scenes (e.g. "Il Forte" track that was deleted from the US cut; 2nd half of "Il Ponte Di Corde" that was likely intended for the grotto scene). Is "Il Deserto" longer than the desert scene as found on any home release? I haven't had a chance to compare the track to the film yet.
We've been able to raise enough funds to cover the cost of the print plus shipping. The transaction with the seller will be completed this week.
We still require $$ to the cover the cost of film cleaning/scanning/digitization (HDD storage etc) so your donation is much appreciated and needed.
My paypal is: eurospec19@gmailDOTcom
Wonderful. Thank you!
Thanks to you we're even closer (very close, actually) to our target to cover the cost of shipping.
Next we'll tackle HDD storage cost.
We're up to $360.34 now.
EDIT: I underestimated the cost before. 9 reels will have to be shipped in 3 boxes (rather than 2) due to weight restrictions imposed by the courier. Add to this the cost of tracking and insurance. Therefore the shipping will be around $400. I have revised my original post to reflect this.
Another 5 members have said they'll donate. Hoping to hear from them soon.
Thanks to all who have donated thus far! We've almost covered the shipping cost!
PM sent!
DoomBot said:
I'm already on board and ready to donate to this excellent cause. :)
Excellent! I just PM'd you with my paypal address.
The donations are trickling in now. I hope we can meet our target in the next few days.
Friends, gather around…
It’s time to take matters into our own hands and preserve the US cut of The Good The Bad & The Ugly using an extremely rare original IB_TECH from Italy!
For those of you who haven’t been following the other thread, there’s a group of us who are in the process of acquiring a 1971 IB tech 35MM of Il Buono Il Brutto Il Cattivo from a seller in Italy. Here’s a link to the other thread if you’d like to bring yourself up to speed:
http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/The-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-4k-nightmare/topic/16690/
IB tech prints are known to be fade proof and therefore reflect the actual color timing during the film’s original theatrical release. The 35MM in question is no exception; the colors are solid. Once acquired, this print will be scanned at 4K and used to regrade the colours of the highly controversial MGM 4K BD that has a (piss) yellow/teal push that’s a popular trend nowadays but undermines the artistic integrity of the original theatrical release.
If you’ve read all the bickering in the thread at bluray.com then you probably picked up on those who praise the new MGM bluray believe the colors of the 4K transfer are more faithful to SL’s intent because Sergio Salvati said so. Some also argue that variation between different IB Tech prints could explain the variation between the Mondo 2009 and MGM 2014 restorations. Undoubtedly there’s going to be some variation from print to print but nothing that would explain the huge difference between the Mondo and MGM 4K BDs. It’s inevitable that the Italians will release their own 4K BD. Based on the Leone Film Group trailer and screenshots posted last month in promotion of the Italian theatrical re-release it’s likely the same master as the 4K MGM BD (not surprising since both parties were involved in the latest restoration effort) yet the colours are much better. So what the heck is going on? I suspect there’s some tinkering of colors going on at MGM after the fact. Perhaps even after getting Sergio Salvati’s stamp of approval. Long story short…an unfaded IB Tech of BBC from the initial theatrical run is the best available evidence of how the film originally looked.
The cool thing is we’ve already identified one scene that’s unique to this print and hasn’t been seen in any home release (VHS, LD, DVD, BD) in the last 30 years!
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There’s a small yet highly passionate and devoted group of us that strongly believe this film has been done a disservice by MGM for over a decade for another reason; the original theatrical release in English is the US/International cut. Nothing to debate there. Fans demand this cut - WITH THE ORIGINAL MONO TRACK - but MGM isn’t listening and therefore we will preserve it ourselves. We’ve decided to take matters into our own hands and invest our time and money into producing a <span style=“text-decoration: underline;”>PROPER</span> home release that this film strongly deserves but we need your help!
I will cover the cost of the IB_TECH ($1600) but we don’t have the funds to cover the cost of shipping ($400) and 16-20TB of HDD space ($600?).
There’s already a handful of individuals who have contacted me and wish to donate to the cause but we could definitely use more help. We’re hoping you will contribute to this important endeavour.
Ignoring the LD, you can see in the pics above that there are scenes missing from reel to reel. For instance, the entire the scene of Blondie firing the cannon at Tuco a second time is not present between "FINE PARTE 8" and "PARTE 9".
poita said:
It would be very cool is some new footage came to light as a part of this.
Question for you, poita.
There are frames missing between reels (pics below). Those scenes contain reel change markers on the laserdisc that was sourced from a theatrical print. For example, between reels 2 and 3 you don't see the frames of the storekeeper nodding his head with the "closed" sign in his mouth and immediately afterwards the confederates troops clearing out of town.
Do you think these scenes/frames are included in this IB tech print given they're not in the pics?
It's included at the end of reel 3 and immediately precedes this scene at the beginning of reel 4:
Time for an update...
I received additional pics from the seller and, as a result, I'm feeling much better about this transaction. More about this later in a new thread.
I found something very intriguing in the pics he sent. I can't find this frame anywhere in the film. It's Blondie in the desert but I'm not having any luck in finding this particular frame. Maybe I'm just missing it.
Anyone??
I extracted the audio tracks from the NTSC CE DVD. As mentioned on IMDB the English mono track uses the front left and right channels from the 5.1 track. There is no dedicated English mono track.
I just checked the older Image LD and despite being a cut version of the film it actually has the last line!
I was under the impression that I had captured the audio from both LDs but, unfortunately, I only bothered to capture the "uncut" LD audio. I don't have the equipment anymore either. I might be able to figure something out but it will take some time.
In the meantime I'll check my DVD.
nirbateman said:
Unfortunately, Lil Brutto's LD audio didn't have the final line in it.
So, in the meantime, if anyone has an NTSC DVD that has that final line in the original mono with the original sound effect, let me know.
Do you know which NTSC DVD has the correct audio? I'll check if I have it. A pic of the cover would be helpful.
Replied.
Just checked my external HD and I can confirm that I do have a bit perfect capture of the LD PCM audio.
Happy to share.
Avatar_Emil said:
Well, if that's the case, then perhaps someone can do a lossless capture of the audio from this laserdisc: http://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/07067/ML100872/Fistful-of-Dynamite-A-(1971)
I'm pretty sure I have lossless captures of both versions released on LD. I'll have to check and get back to you.
An IB Technicolor print of the International cut of The Good The Bad and the Ugly.
This is great!
Did you have to transcode in order to make frame-specific edits (i.e. removing opening restoration credit and Harmonica rising scene)?
01 Distribution in Italy released Once Upon a Time in the West on BD back in December. I have a copy but haven't viewed it yet. Not sure if/how it differs from the Paramount BD in terms of PQ. I'll update this thread once I get a chance to check it out.
