Colleen Moore Movies Being Restored by WB!!!

Post Reply
User avatar
Gagman 66
Posts: 613
Joined: April 19th, 2007, 11:34 pm
Location: Nebraska

Colleen Moore Movies Being Restored by WB!!!

Post by Gagman 66 »

:D Yes, It's really and truly happening! Ron Hutchinson broke the official news on Nitrateville Sunday! I'm not sure where these leaves HER WILD OAT (1927)? The Vita-phone project wouldn't have anything to do with that.. LILAC TIME though is another story. But HER WILD OAT was already fully restored in 2006. LILAC TIME is a given. The problem is the missing audio discs for three reels, And the the missing reels in general. Only 8 of the originally 11 reels are known to still exist as far as I know. In addition the Nethelands Eye Institute of film in Amsterdam Holland has elements on both NAUGHTY BUT NICE, and OH, KAY! The problem is funding, and I'm not really sure what the extent is that this Archive has of either title?

nitrateville.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14500


"Ron Hutchinson of The Vitaphone Project here.

Our "lost" film news continues (after the discover of HELLO POP last month) with an announcement I am finally able to make! Colleen Moore's final silent, WHY BE GOOD? (FN/'29) was long believed to be lost. About 10 years ago while introducing one of my Vitaphone shows at NYC's Film Forum, I mentioned I had just acquired the Vitaphone disks (music and effects) for this feature but, sadly, the film was lost. Film historian Joe Yranski was sitting in the front row and yelled out "No it's not! I know where it is!". The crowd cheered, and so began a decades-long effort to get the film back to American and restored. I'm happy to report that in a joint effort by Ned Price and Warner Brothers, the Bologna Archive in Italy, Joe Yranski (who knew Colleen Moore) and The Vitaphone Project, this film is now being restored. This is an ultra art deco film, with a super jazzy music and sound effects track with such greats as Jimmy Dorsey, Phil Napoleon, and Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang. It even has Jean Harlow as a dress extra! Truly the ultimate silent experience with something for everyone. Ned made all the arrangements to get the lone surviving 35mm nitrate print from Italy and disk transfers have already been completed.

This has been a long and difficult process, and knowing what went into getting to this point, I sure hope we don't hear any clueless "it's about time" comments! WB is thrilled to fund BOTH of these restorations.

The print of Moore's next to last silent with Vitaphone track, SYNTHETIC SIN (also thought lost) is also being repatriated now and restored.

So on the heels pf finding HELLO POP, some more MGM Colortones I'll soon announce, and the restoration-in-progress of over 50 1926-30 Vitaphone shorts, 2013 is sure shaping up as a banner year for film discoveries and restorations!"
User avatar
JackFavell
Posts: 11926
Joined: April 20th, 2009, 9:56 am

Re: Colleen Moore Movies Being Restored by WB!!!

Post by JackFavell »

Wonderful news!
Post Reply