marknyc

Please sign and spread the word!

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/shareasib

The Petition

It has come to our attention that film producer Michael Arick may have in his personal collection possibly the only remaining complete print of George Cukor's 1954 film A Star Is Born. Starring Judy Garland and James Mason, the film was cut by 30 minutes shortly after its premiere, and a 1983 restoration was able to uncover only about 20 minutes of the missing footage. It has not been seen in its entirety since its theatrical premiere - Mr. Cukor was so upset by the cuts that he refused to ever watch the shortened version during his lifetime.

If Mr. Arick does indeed have a complete print, we, the undersigned, call on him to donate or loan the print to an appropriate organization, such as Warner Bros. or The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, so it can be preserved and finally presented to the millions of fans around the world who have been hoping to someday see this masterpiece in its complete form.

To continue to hide it would be a crime.

For information, please contact: [email protected]

JumpCutz

Hey it's all good... we still have this version.

lamphorn

Hm. I'm of mixed opinion on this. To be fair, I believe it's only a rumor that he actually has the print, an allegation made by one article based on hearsay.

But, if he does have it, as a collector, wouldn't making it available to be duplicated and distributed (on new DVD's) make his extremely valuable collectors item virtually worthless?

I would like, for the sake of film preservation, for the complete cut to be made available, but they'll probably have to pay dearly for it.

marknyc

I don't believe Arick is holding onto it for its monetary value, which is questionable because any public sale would be illegal. The story is that he was planning to give it the Academy at one point, but plans fell through when Roddy McDowall died.

It's also possible he doesn't have it, but what's the harm in letting him know that thousands of people are dying to see it? There's always the chance he might relinquish it if he does have it, so why not try?

Groucho

I would be wary of signing such a petition, in case the federal government decides to use as a de facto Gay Registry.

Fist of Doom

Hey, there's nothing gay about my man-crush on Kris Kristofferson!

Solid Snake

off topic: I've never found Streisand's face attractive...her body..sure..but her face..just doesn't attract me.

AnonomusBob15

thanks for the input. you are not in the minority.

Sonny Corinthos

I wish Col Parker hadn't screwed with Elvis getting the role instead of Kris K. I would have loved to seen him in this role. Some even say Elvis' whole life would have been turned around if he had landed the part.

Who knows, this might have been the spark to clean his life up and get off all the drugs he was taking and live much longer than he did.

Fist of Doom

Well, they say you have to hit rock bottom before you decide to get clean. So, yeah, landing this role might have done the trick.

Mabuse

What's really missing at this point? Correct me if I'm wrong: The film was cut from 182 minutes to 154 and then restored to 176. It's my understanding that the restoration has all of the dialogue/soundtrack with stills used to substitute for missing film footage. But no musical numbers are missing and we have the complete dialogue/soundtrack. It's been a while since I've watched the restoration, but there's not much missing. Does this guy really expect millions for what amounts to 3-6 minutes of film footage that isn't a musical number and the studio already has the sound elements for?

Also, who is this guy? Is he a "collector"? Isn't it a given that if he has the print he got it through gray market channels?

Ash Ketchum

Since we're getting our film versions mixed up, I thought I'd weigh in with:






(And these aren't even the original. I'll let someone else find pix from that one.)

Numanoid

In a similar vein, I'd like to state that I have never enjoyed consuming castor oil.

NoirFan

A restored edition of the Wellman version was originally announced as an extra on the Star is Born Blu-ray, but it seems to have been dropped.

marknyc

The "guy" is film producer Micheal Arick, as I said in my first point. Look him up on IMDB.

If he actually has a print, I don't think he wants money for it - just recognition.

While there are only a few minutes of stills in the film, there are two sections that were dropped entirely due to lack of images (their audio is included on the DVD), and other sections were tightened.

Bottom line: watching the restoration is not the same as watching the complete film.