A movement is afoot! Write to Wayne Enterprises and tell them that we want the restored and uncut version of The Alamo released on DVD for the 50th anniversary of the film's 1960 release:
WAYNE ENTERPRISES
210 62nd ST
NEWPORT BEACH CA 92663
I'll be writing shortly. If you could find and post an e-mail address I suspect that the response would be overwhelming.
shareThat really won't do you any good. The original master of the full length version was improperly stored and has become unusable. This happened after they made the VHS copy of the uncut version. And that was done by MGM/UA not Wayne Enterprises. Its re-release is actually up to the studios not Wayne Enterprises. You're better off contacting MGM or United Artists. All the DVD's that came out in 2007 were done by Paramount and Warner Bros. Wayne Enterprises licensed the events and celebrations that took place that year.
Something else I forgot to mention... The Alamo was a Batjac production and Batjac and Wayne Enterprises are two different companies run by two different people. Batjac is run by Michael's widow Gretchen. So if you want to contact anyone I still say contact the studio but for production, Batjac is the one you need to contact.
It is sort of mind boggling that as late as 1995, when the importance of storing film negatives was clearly understood, a screwup like that was made.
I have wondered why the road show version was not out on DVD.
Looks as if Warners brs..which has the rights to the MGM UA libraby with a few exceptions...will have to do a full restoration job on the roadshow Version of The Alamo.
And that could take a while. They are busy working on the roadshow version of "Raintree County" and finding and repairing film elements is taking forever.
I'll Teach You To Laugh At Something's That's Funny
Homer Simpson
It's actually a bit more bizarre than that. The negative for the uncut version hasn't existed since the first few months of its release - the video and laser disc were taken from a copy made from a surviving 70mm print of the uncut version before Michael Wayne re-edited the film at his father's request to get in more shows per day to improve BatJac's cashflow. Although MGM/UA did have usable material, the quality was deemed too poor at the time - it came out when they were pushing the technical superiority of DVD - though the deciding factor was that the soundtrack only existed in English. At the time they were committed to multiple-language releases, and since foreign language tracks for the 160-minute version existed, that was the one they decided to release - and immediately incurred the wrath of collectors. The same thing happened with It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. At the time the studio's priority was the best picture quality and the most language options.
"Life flash before your eyes? Cup of tea, cup of tea, almost got a shag, cup of tea."
Perhaps the most bizarre excuse for editing a film can be found in this comment:
Soon after its initial release in 1960, a situation arose based primarily on local transportation problems. In smaller cities, where bus service from the outlying areas was the main means of transit, the last busses were leaving before the film ended. As a result at least 30 minutes was cut from the film.
http://www.in70mm.com/news/2009/the_alamo/index.htm
This past Saturday morning, Feb. 21, Turner Classic Movies broadcast the original uncut, full length version of The Alamo. Excluding entrance and exit music, from beginning of credits to final scene, the film ran 196 minutes. It appeared to be a very good copy and I see no reason why if TCM can broadcast it that way, why won't the studio release the DVD with the same version. The full length version obviously still exists or TCM could not have broadcast it.
That was the first time I have seen the uncut version since I was a young boy and saw it at the drive-in with my parents. I must say, I enjoyed seeing it like this once again and since I saved it to my dvr I will watch it again.
I can see a commemorative 50th anniversary edition with the full length and all the enjoyable extras they could include on a double disc set. I just don't think they realize how many copies they would actually sell as opposed to so many releases of reality shows.
Wayne poured his heart and soul and a large part of his personal fortune to make this film and he never wanted any of it cut from the beginning. In honor and respect for him, they should release it as he made it. I intend to write the studio and anyone else associated with the film and tell them just that. I suggest everyone do the same.
The full length version exists, and is avaiable on VHS tape if you shop around, but for various techinacl reasons, a fullscale and expensive restoration job will have to be done on the film to make it suitable for a DVD quality release.
I'll Teach You To Laugh At Something's That's Funny
Homer Simpson
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Check out Robert Harris' posting on The Digital Bits. He says that the existing director's cut is deteriorating beyond restoration but he's trying to raise funding before that happens.
We deal in lead, friend.
Yup. He hopes to have the project finished by March of 2010, in time for the annual anniversary commemoration of the Battle of the Alamo. May seem like a stretch, since the restoration process will take 10-12 months. But hopefully, he'll get the funding necessary to get it done, so we don't lose the last existing film copy of the full-length cut forever.
With that happening, I also hope that we'll see John Lee Hancock's 180-minute cut of his Alamo film in the near future as well. Crossing fingers on this one.
God bless!
"Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid."
-Ronald Reagan
The weirdest cut to me (SPOILER AHEAD) is the fight in the church basement with Emil Sand and his henchmen. I saw the theatrical release road-show reserved-ticket version when I was ten, and loved the movie I wanted to see it again as soon as it hit the neighborhood theaters. I was dismayed when the fight was cut. They showed Crockett, Bowie, et al, discovering the cache of arms and munitions, but cut the rest of the scene (starting with Sand's unexpected arrival) and Sand's death. What's weird is that, if you haven't seen the entire uncut scene, the additional footage adds only a half a minute or so to the scene, and after being set up as the town bad guy, Sand suddenly disappears from the movie with no explanation. Not only that, but the cut removes one of the few action scenes from the first half of the movie.
The birthday party scene was embarrassing and should have been cut, although once it is cut, there's no explanation why the Dickinson's slave kid is wearing a paper crown at the end.
I hope they get an uncut version. I saw one when I rented the Video and it had all the uncut scenes except I don't think it had the intermission but memory could be wrong here. I am not smart on these matter but it seems like there should be a video of the uncut version somewhere that could be made into a dvd.
Of course if TCM is showing the uncut video version that is great. At least the scenes are not lost.
Since TCM has showed the uncut version in good quality, and since laser discs exist, at the VERY LEAST a DVD could simply be dubbed from one or the other. There is ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE for not doing so.
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