A Little Help, Please

[ChiO]

There is, if not a moral decision, then a really tough artistic decision for me to make this Monday.

Do I sit at home and watch WINGS, which I have never seen, on TCM...or...do I drive to the South Side to see VERBOTEN!, which I have never seen, on a big screen?

I am a huge Samuel Fuller fan, but I know WINGS is a classic (even if it happened to be the 2nd best Oscar winner that year).

And don't suggest that I record WINGS -- that's giving me w-a-y too much technological credit.

Suggestions?

[Mr. Arkadin]

Check your PM's

[MissGoddess]

ChiO, it may give me pain to say this (you know why) but I wouldn't pass up a chance to see a classic on the big screen if I were you.

[Ann Harding]

I agree with Miss Goddess. A classic on a big screen is something not to be missed. You can always watch Wings later.

As for Verboten, while I've never seen it, I remember distinctly listening to part of the soundtrack in a radio programme once. There was a wonderful used of Beethoven's 5th with a machine gun delivering its bullets on cue! Just typical Fuller! It's funny to think that Samuel is more famous in France than in the USA....

[Ollie]

Hopefully, friends here will solve that problem and allow all experiences to be enjoyed.

[ChiO]

There was a wonderful used of Beethoven's 5th with a machine gun delivering its bullets on cue!

Oh, my! I was unaware of that. How can I miss that? Case closed. VERBOTEN! it is. I rented THE STEEL HELMET as soon as it came out on DVD, then saw it a couple of weeks later on the big screen (with a Jonathan Rosenbaum-led intro and discussion afterward). Having a giant Gene Evans chomping his cigar in your face does make a big difference with Fuller's films.

it may give me pain to say this (you know why)

MissG, recommending a Fuller film over a movie with that Coop fellow? I'll keep the secret, but you're really trying to guilt me into a Fordian frenzy, aren't you.

[Lzcutter]

It's a tough choice there's no denying that.

But one thing to keep in mind:

Wings is not yet available on DVD and is only now making its premiere on TCM so there are not many opportunities to see it as we often imagine.

Best of luck and let us know what you decide!

[Gagman 66]

ChiO,

Depends as well on which version of WINGS that TCM is airing? A subject where no information seems anywhere to be found? I am hoping to high heaven for a fresh digital transfer of the brand new 2003 restoration of this fabulous movie! And that is what I fully expect to see. TCM obtained the rights to air the film about a year ago. Likewise I'm praying for the score that Carl Davis composed for this film nearly 20 years ago!

The Gaylord Carter score found on the old Paramount Laser-disc release, is one of his best, but I have yet to hear the Davis composition at all. The Thames presentation aired on British Television only once as far as I have been able to determine, and may have never been seen in the United States before?

Wings has been shown on Television here in America, it aired a few times on the old American Movie Classics between 1990, and 1991, with the Gaylord Carter's Wurlitzer score. But the Thames presentation as far as I know, has not been run? It could have aired on PBS back in the late 80's to early 90's, but I know that I never saw it personally?

The restored version shown at the ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES in April of 2003, reinstated the original tint's, and contained a full Orchestra score with sound effects. But the notes on the TCM Movie-Base under"Alternate Versions", do not specifically state that this was the Carl Davis score? The Original film in 1927 also had a few sequences that were filmed in 2-Strip Technicolor. Unfortunately, I do not know if those still exist?

Maybe I am just being overly optimistic, but why would TCM air an older master of the film with a score that does not do the Epic scale of the picture justice, when the movie was restored just a few years ago? Having never seen the Thames presentation, I can't say that the Carl Davis score, which was first recorded only a few years, after the Gaylord Carter one, will synch up with the new restoration? Sure hope so? Of course it's possible Davis might have re-recorded the score again, but if so why can't I find any details???

Izcutter,

I am so sorry for missing your Birthday! I left you a humorous note about this on the TCM board, but apparently you did not see it? Still waiting to hear from you here by the way. Don't forget BEAU BRUMMEL tonight! Which I have never seen!!!

[Dewey1960]

Might as well throw my two cents in there. While VERBOTEN is far from being my favorite Sam Fuller movie, it does bear watching on the big screen. Nice black & white post-war hi-jinks with a grim and grimy look befitting the genius behind the scenes. I've never seen WINGS in any version, and I know that someday I probaby will. Soemday I'm sure we all will. So...in the meantime...get thee to the South Side!
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[Gagman 66]

Interestinly enough, it appears that several new scores to William Wellman's WINGS have been preformed live over the past few years during screenings around the world! While I am still hoping TCM airs the film with the Carl Davis score, two other scores with a "feminine touch" have been touring the Country. One is by a somewhat familiar name to Silent Movie music fans, Gillian Anderson. The other was composed by Alexandra Gordon, who I am sorry to say I am not familiar with in the least?

Don't be surprised if it turns out to be Robert Israel either? Who has scored many Silent films for TCM in the past. I will be very disappointed if TCM airs the film with the Gaylord Carter Wurlitzer score recorded for the Paramount laser-disc release in 1985. Not that the Carter Score isn't good, it's one of his better scores, but why would TCM air an over 20 year old transfer of this picture, when it was newly restored just a few years ago? Makes no sense!

I expect to see the film fully re-mastered, and hopefully with a new recording of the Carl Davis score from the rarely seen Thames presentation. Some sources say that WINGS had a Vintage recorded score in 1927, while others state that it contained only sound-effects on a separate strip of film. In any case, score or sound-effects this material is apparently lost?

Although, that's what I though about the vintage William Axt-David Mendoza score to Garbo's A WOMAN OF AFFAIRS (1928). Carl Davis composed a new score in the early 90's, so the origianal must be lost right? wrong! Incredibly, thanks to my good friend Jorge, I just ran across a version of the film the other day with the vintage Western Electric track still in-tact! So now I have two different scoring versions of one of Garbo's very best Silent films, and both prints are I am very pleased to say of excellent quality!

[ChiO]

I love WWII hi-jinks!

That rant in the trailer looked like a warm up for SHOCK CORRIDOR.

The student film society at University of Chicago (movies, 7 nights a week) have been showing Fuller films on Mondays. I missed PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET, THE STEEL HELMET, PARK ROW and FORTY GUNS. Going to try to catch VERBOTEN!, UNDERWORLD U.S.A., SHOCK CORRIDOR, THE NAKED KISS, and WHITE DOG. VERBOTEN! is the only one in the series I haven't seen, but THE STEEL HELMET is the only one I've seen on a big screen.

THE CRIMSON KIMONO is being shown on a Thursday night ("Film Noir of the 1950s"), but that will conflict with a class I'll be taking at Facets on the WWII films of Powell/Pressburger. Actually, Thursdays at UofC this session are a double feature -- the noir stuff, followed by "Lust Without Caution: Down 'n' Dirty Sexploitation Cinema". That's what our future Nobel Prize winners do in school. This Thursday (the last before my class starts) is THE BIG COMBO and SWEDISH WILDCATS (Joe Sarno, who I actually like).