Lost Orson Welles Film Found in Italy
HomeLost Orson Welles Film Found in Italy
Posted August 8, 2013 03:34 PM by Webmaster
A long-lost silent film directed by Orson Welles in 1938 has turned up in a warehouse in Italy. A 35mm nitrate work print for Too Much Johnson, starring Joseph Cotton and Orson Welles, was discovered earlier this year by the staff of Cinemazero in Pordenone, an arthouse cinema in north-east Italy.
At the moment, no one seems to know exactly when the 35mm nitrate work print arrived in Italy. What is known is that it appeared in a box which was given to a local film society.
Giuliana Puppin, a Cineteca del Friuli spokesperson said: "We don't know where the box came from. There were no documents with it. We don't know the road it took."
According to different publications, until the recent discovery it was assumed that the only copy of Too Much Johnson was lost in the fire that destroyed Welles' home near Madrid in 1970.
The George Eastman House museum of film and photography in Rochester, New York, has already fully restored Too Much Johnson. The restoration will be screened at the George Eastman House on October 16.
"This is by far the most important film restoration by George Eastman House in a very long time. Holding in one's hands the very same print that had been personally edited by Orson Welles 75 years ago provokes an emotion that's just impossible to describe", said Paolo Cherchi Usai, senior curator of film, who supervised the project for the George Eastman House.
At the moment, no one seems to know exactly when the 35mm nitrate work print arrived in Italy. What is known is that it appeared in a box which was given to a local film society.
Giuliana Puppin, a Cineteca del Friuli spokesperson said: "We don't know where the box came from. There were no documents with it. We don't know the road it took."
According to different publications, until the recent discovery it was assumed that the only copy of Too Much Johnson was lost in the fire that destroyed Welles' home near Madrid in 1970.
The George Eastman House museum of film and photography in Rochester, New York, has already fully restored Too Much Johnson. The restoration will be screened at the George Eastman House on October 16.
"This is by far the most important film restoration by George Eastman House in a very long time. Holding in one's hands the very same print that had been personally edited by Orson Welles 75 years ago provokes an emotion that's just impossible to describe", said Paolo Cherchi Usai, senior curator of film, who supervised the project for the George Eastman House.