1776 - 2 Cuts Available on Blu-Ray 6/2

[AndyDursin]

Awesome write up Eric I will place an order. Glad I stumbled across it too...just one of those lucky searches that you come across. Lol

[Eric Paddon]

Thanks for steering me to it! I should make one amendment, the one piece of LD footage that is not in this cut is during the roll call for the final Independence vote. Here, he sticks with the original theatrical and DVD cut of a static shot of the roll call up to when Pennsylvania is called whereas the LD used an alternate take of a close-up of Adams through this point. But this is an insignificant matter compared to what he found room to put back in and harmonize both cuts.

The Overture/Entr'acte are presented first with brief title cards and then go to a black screen which the LD did not do, giving it an even bigger road show experience quality.

[AndyDursin]

So there is a DIRECTOR'S CUT *and* an EXTENDED CUT both on this disc (via seamless branching). Good news indeed.

I see Ron Epstein at the HTF confirms the disc will be "very close to the laserdisc" sans the overture and the one scene of Jefferson looking into the courtyard.

Here's the official press release, just out today from Sony...

The Director’s Cut Fully Restored in 4K
1776


Available June 2 for the First Time on Blu-ray™

Featuring an All-New Commentary with
Director Peter H. Hunt, William Daniels & Ken Howard,
Along with Deleted Scenes, Screen Tests & an Extended Cut of the Film

CULVER CITY, Calif. (Mar. 26, 2015) – Based on the international stage triumph that won the Tony Award® and The New York Drama Critics Circle Award as “Best Musical of the Year,” the musical classic 1776 makes its Blu-ray™ debut June 2 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The Director’s Cut was meticulously restored by Sony Pictures Entertainment in 4K at Sony Pictures’ Colorworks from the original camera negative. Prepared under the guidance of Director Peter H. Hunt and Sony Pictures Entertainment Executive Vice President of Asset Management, Film Restoration and Digital Mastering Grover Crisp, the new Director’s Cut restores the film to its original visual brilliance and features newly discovered material. The Blu-ray includes an all-new commentary with Director Peter H. Hunt, William Daniels and Ken Howard, as well as deleted scenes and original screen tests with William Daniels and Howard Da Silva. In addition to the Director’s Cut, the Blu-ray also presents an Extended Cut of the film via seamless branching, along with a newly restored and remixed 5.1 soundtrack.

“We worked tirelessly to return this film to as pristine a condition as possible and are excited to bring the newly restored version of 1776 to audiences worldwide,” Crisp said of the restoration, which will have its world premiere screening March 28 at the TCM Classic Film Festival.

This musical retelling of the American Revolution’s political struggle in the Continental Congress to declare independence was nominated for both an Academy Award® (Best Cinematography, Harry Stradling Jr., 1972) and a Golden Globe (Best Motion Picture-Musical/Comedy, 1972). Brought to the screen by legendary producer Jack L. Warner, 1776 was shot with most of the original Broadway cast, and features William Daniels (The Graduate) as John Adams, Howard Da Silva (The Blue Dahlia) as Benjamin Franklin, Ken Howard (“The White Shadow”) as Thomas Jefferson and Blythe Danner (Meet the Parents) as Martha Jefferson.

“The movie is not a ‘whodunit’—we all know who signed the Declaration of Independence—it’s a ‘howdunit,’” Hunt said. “It creates dramatic tension from a story where everyone knows the ending.”

The restored Director’s Cut is based, in part, on an earlier restoration carried out for a 2002 DVD release. That version, also prepared with Hunt’s oversight, added a number of scenes and lost elements that were missing from the original theatrical release. Among them was a musical number that had been dropped from the film by Warner at the request of President Richard Nixon (who felt the scene cast conservatives in an unfavorable light). Further detective work for the new version uncovered additional “lost” material, including dialogue that had been changed over ratings concerns.

“There were a few lines that Jack Warner wanted changed… but the changes weren’t funny,” Hunt said. “The original lines from Broadway were funny, and now, for the first time, they are in the movie.”

State-of-the-art 4K digital technology made it possible to address problems and restore color fidelity to a level not possible at the time of the earlier restoration, which was done through photochemical processes. Variations in color, due to different levels of degradation in negative elements, have been eliminated as much as possible, resulting in a seamless look.

“When a scene comes up that had been cut out or compromised in some way, it looks like it is supposed to be there because we could maintain consistency with the image and keep its natural filmic quality,” Crisp explained.

Colorworks Colorist Sheri Eisenberg said that much time was spent studying existing film prints and other reference material in order to ensure the restoration accurately represented the movie in its original form.

“We did a lot of eyeballing,” Eisenberg said. “We kept asking ourselves, ‘Does it feel right?’ ‘What can we do to make it better?’ We wanted to keep the theatrical feeling of the original.”

Hunt said that, in some ways, the results go beyond the original.

“I’m ecstatic,” he said. “1776 is back to where it should be. The work done by Grover and his team is miraculous. It looks better than when it premiered. It’s gorgeous!”


Exclusive Blu-ray Bonus Features Included:

§ All-new commentary with director Peter H. Hunt, William Daniels & Ken Howard

§ Extended Cut of the film

§ Deleted and alternate scenes with Filmmaker Commentary

§ Four never-before-seen Screen Tests

§ Original Theatrical Teaser & Trailer



Also Featured:

§ Commentary with Peter H. Hunt & Peter Stone

§ Archival Screen Tests



1776 has a run time of approximately 166 minutes and is not rated.

[Eric Paddon]

Presumably this "extended cut" would theoretically be all but the Overture/Entr'acte (I am willing to overlook the Tom Paine quote moment which I still think was nice) but I doubt alas it would have the right sound back for those other two scenes. But thankfully the "unofficial" cut takes care of that problem which means I am willing to get this release for archival purposes and also so that the "viewing copy" can be placed in a case with official packaging (though it will have to be a two disc one instead of three as I first envisioned). The old LD transfer though will remain in my possession because my transfer has the option of the old LD commentary track with Hunt and the much maligned Joe Caps and that needs to be preserved from an archival standpoint as well (insomuch as it is the most damning evidence against Hunt on a lot of other things he said in subsequent years)

While I no longer have reason to complain about the cut of the film and its presentation, I can register a complaint about the cover art:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/uploads ... 321132.jpg

This is the dreadful art they used on the DVD release with its bizarre decision to place Tom and Martha embracing front and center and with a title that is not the vintage title graphic of the poster art etc or the play. They also are using a rehearsal photo of "Cool Men" where one of the cool men is wearing an obvious pair of modern sunglasses! (I remember seeing this photo years ago in a book and it was my first visual evidence that "Cool Men" had been filmed since this was before the LD cut surfaced).

[AndyDursin]

I'll definitely be spending my money on this (presuming Sony doesn't send a review copy) -- sounds like they mostly got it right if they're bothering to put an extended cut together with whatever version Hunt "prefers". That's a sign that they actually listened to us, because most of the time, they would've just thrown the deleted scenes in a supplement and called it a day. So to that end, I'm grateful, and we'll see how it turns out.

Obviously I'll keep the laser around (and my DVD-R copy) for the commentary and whatever snippets it'll contain, because you just know Hunt's comments with JoeCaps were more honest than anything he's said since.

[AndyDursin]

Delighted I actually got a review copy of this. The transfer is outstanding and the sound quality has that nice, wide range the laserdisc had.

The Director's Cut runs 165 minutes; the "extended cut" puts back the longer Twiddle Piddle and the Lees reprise, so it runs nearly 3 minutes longer.

Those scenes are also available to view separately in the deleted scenes along with the "Privy" alternate line. Hunt also recorded commentary for those bits as well (optional).

There are 2 trailers, a battery of screen tests, the older DVD commentary, and a newer track with Hunt, Daniels and Howard, though from the little I sampled, their recollections aren't particularly...well, revealing. But I only watched a few minutes on that end of things.

A digital copy is also on-hand.

[Eric Paddon]

Andy could you give me a rundown for my benefit on what else is in the deleted scenes section? I'd like to lock down what else is material from the LD cut not put back here. Some other items come to mind:

1-The "Tom Paine" quote and Jefferson sitting in the window looking out at a little girl who smiles back at him.

2-The lamplighter moment at the conclusion of "Yours, Yours, Yours."

3-The John-Abigail Tower scene before "Compliments" with the underscore.

4-Franklin stealing an apple from a cart prior to joining Adams before Martha comes down

I still plan on getting this even though the Blu-Ray boot I picked up that restores all LD footage and the LD sound mix with the more restored footage of the earlier DVD release is my new permanent viewing copy.

[AndyDursin]

Eric I will be happy to, but do you have a time code where those scenes would fall? It's been a year or two since I've sat through it.

The deleted scenes section only has those three I mentioned before.

[Eric Paddon]

Well if they had only those three scenes then there's no point in your looking since I already knew these weren't going to be in either cut. Proof again of what a jerk Hunt is that he can't even be big enough to include stuff he purposefully leave out from the LD for others to see in a supplement. He has been so bull-headed and arrogant (in addition to being a liar) ever since this whole flap began nearly 15 years ago it's unreal (and he has of course his lapdog loyalists like Kimmel to try and smear anyone who is critical of him.

So to sum up their "deleted scenes" section *only* consists of material already included in the alternate cut and one item that in fact is the original "privy" line (I am assuming the new one is "pisser". Which means its hardly much of a deleted scenes section at all.

[AndyDursin]

The scene with Jefferson and the girl was one they mentioned on the HTF would not be included months ago. And right that's all that's in the deleted scenes section.

[AndyDursin]

I found an old comparison of the laserdisc to Hunt's DVD edit via the Internet Time Machine (website is no longer in existence):

http://web.archive.org/web/200409290126 ... l?beenHere

The only thing I noted when comparing his DVD analysis to the 165 min BD Director's Cut (as I said before, the virtually 168 min Extended Version is the same save for the uncut Piddle Twiddle and Lees reprise) is that the scoring was restored here for this scene only:

1. Chapter Five / Benjamin Franklin
11:23 - 11:56
The underscoring of this scene has been removed -

He's talking about the instrumental of "The Egg" being used while Franklin's portrait is being painted, right? If so, that's been restored.

So ultimately, what's missing in terms of footage are 1-2 minutes from the laserdisc if I'm not correct. Take out the 8-minutes of "JoeCaps"' "editorially created" Overture/Intermission music from the 177-min laserdisc version, and you're at 169 minutes. The extended Blu-Ray is just about 168 minutes, so it's just 1-2 minutes.

Those scenes would be -- and please tell me what I'm missing Eric --

-The lamplighting bit/the "next morning" where Franklin strolls through the market, stealing the apple
-The bit where Jefferson looks at the girl (which I can understand why it was removed)

The other changes involved underscoring being removed, and the underscore is still absent save that one bit.

I wish those bits had been included in the deleted scenes, I agree. Otherwise, I'm content with this cut now that the songs have been restored at the beginning. The absence of the Lees Reprise was a dealbreaker for me before and kept me watching my DVD of the laserdisc, but with that and Piddle Twiddle restored, I'm quite happy with this version, and the transfer and sound are, again, unmatched.

[Eric Paddon]

Yeah, I knew the Franklin portrait music had been restored though that I read was done reluctantly. I am still however infuriated by the removal of the music in the Tower scene because the moment when Abigail says, "There you have me John, you are pigheaded" and he turns around and sees her the music at that moment always sent a chill through me for the simple power of signaling her being there now. The reason for removing it made no sense whatsoever and why that version couldn't be in the "long" version makes even less sense since that is how it was experienced for years before there was an LD no less.

I sometimes think the only reason I'm *really* getting this is so I can put that magnificent boot you alerted me to the existence of in a case with official packaging! (since I have a three disc case for this)

[AndyDursin]

I have a lot of affection for the laserdisc cut, and I'm glad that guy did such a good job reasembling it for the bootleg. I might even buy it, though the image quality and sound are phenomenal here, and losing those couple of bits and the underscore isn't a dealbreaker for me.

But to some degree, and you're probably going to disagree with this, I can see why Hunt afterwards had second thoughts about it. Even though he signed off on it, that cut was the result of Joe Caps reaching into the archives and putting back literally everything that had been removed, including some underscore that wasn't necessary and some outtakes that weren't needed either (like Jefferson looking out the window, which breaks up the dialogue in that particular scene and draws attention to itself). The show also never needed underscore, so some of that scoring really felt unnecessary, like it was a film out of the 1950s the way the music worked.

Either way I'm perfectly happy with this release.

[Eric Paddon]

I do feel different obviously but to clarify one thing, the underscore in question removed was present in the original theatrical cut for 20 years before there was an LD cut so for the Tower sequence this is tampering the version I and others grew up with from the beginning.

To me, what the LD cut did and which the Overture/Entr'acte added overall was to make "1776" seem from a viewing experience like the last of the roadshow musicals. elevating it to a level the theatrical cut never enjoyed. It's true that in the original stage libretto an Intermission is not called for, but most professional theatrical productions, including the ones I've seen at Paper Mill Playhouse and the 1997 Broadway revival have included one so that shouldn't have been a dealbreaker to Hunt (especially when he turned around and hacked "Piddle" back to a truncated version of what it's always been on stage!)

Obviously not every LD choice was right but Hunt's refusal to let those other LD trims like the Paine quote and the other material not appear again in the supplements really proves how petty he is about this whole thing and its why I will not listen to either of the commentaries because IMO he has not been truthful regarding the film since he started his anti-LD campaign. The LD commentary is the last time I could ever take his word about anything concerning the film (save for his convenient failure of memory regarding why he didn't have Betty Buckley reprise her stage role as Martha, and instead went with Blythe Danner who IMO isn't even in the same league).

[AndyDursin]

He should have put those trims in the deleted scenes, I agree, and obviously he has some petty issues or a fading memory. I mean, listening to the "new' commentary with Daniels, Hunt and Howard, it's clear -- these guys are old. Hunt asks Daniels at the beginning if he has anything to share about Sit Down John, and Daniels takes several seconds and goes, "....no". lol

Anyway, the songs being cut at the beginning was always my hang-up with his "Director's Cut", but having them restored back to the body of the film is good enough for me. Those missing 60-90 seconds I can refer back to my laserdisc copy for. The underscoring isn't as much of a hang-up for me, but I'd have to go through the individual scenes again to refresh my memory. My feeling is that the show doesn't play with underscoring in those moments, so IMO I think you can at least make case they're unnecessary. Clearly Joe Caps was infatuated with that kind of underscoring, which is why he "constructed" the Overture and Intermission to make it seem like an old-fashioned Rodgers & Hammerstein Roadshow musical -- though clearly 1776 is a unique production, and really doesn't fit that description.