Was watching this yesterday before we lost power AGAIN for a couple of hours -- Paramount has done a marvelous job with this newly restored Blu-Ray transfer, but more over, unearthed a never-before-seen "Director's Cut" workprint (courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art which presumably held these materials) that runs nearly 3 hours. It restores numerous gaps in the narrative but it's a real, honest-to-goodness workprint, meaning the image shifts to B&W at times and it's missing some editorial transitions that would happen later (some of the scoring didn't seem to be finished either).
This is such an awesomely mounted production as well -- beautifully shot by Miroslav Ondricek and with one of Randy Newman's best scores (probably THE best IMO), I find it's a transportive type of "time and place" movie experience from Milos Forman. The plot is depressing but interesting, and the longer cut fills in some holes the theatrical 2.5 hour version wasn't able to.
The disc also includes a new interview with the screenwriter and archival extras from the DVD (Forman's commentary and interview).
RAGTIME Blu-Ray Debuts 3-Hour Workprint Cut
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AndyDursin
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Paul MacLean
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Re: RAGTIME Blu-Ray Debuts 3-Hour Workprint Cut
I found the production quality of Ragtime to be marvelous -- with a very palpable atmosphere that evoked the time and place (much as Amadeus did) but I felt the script was very uneven.AndyDursin wrote: ↑Sat Nov 13, 2021 9:39 am This is such an awesomely mounted production as well -- beautifully shot by Miroslav Ondricek and with one of Randy Newman's best scores (probably THE best IMO), I find it's a transportive type of "time and place" movie experience from Milos Forman. The plot is depressing but interesting, and the longer cut fills in some holes the theatrical 2.5 hour version wasn't able to.
I was shocked to learn that the silliest story element -- that of Elizabeth McGivern's ditzy showgirl -- was the only part of the film based a true story!
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Eric Paddon
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Re: RAGTIME Blu-Ray Debuts 3-Hour Workprint Cut
Which had also received the big screen treatment (sanitized) with Joan Collins in "The Girl In The Red Velvet Swing" in the 50s. The trial regarding Evelyn Nesbit's husband shooting her lover was literally the OJ Simpson trial of its day.
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AndyDursin
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Re: RAGTIME Blu-Ray Debuts 3-Hour Workprint Cut
Some of that uneveness is smoothed out by the additional scenes but even there it's clear they must have had deliberations over scene placement, pacing and whether they needed all the supporting characters or not. Overall I felt they did a decent job capturing the sprawling narrative of the book it was based on. Also lots of great Golden Age Hollywood actors in late (or in some cases final) appearances like Jimmy Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Donald O'Connor etc.
The visuals are superlative and this transfer really captures the movie in a clarity I've never seen previously.
It's also curious McGovern's toplessness (in a non-sexual scene) was digitally obscured in one of the deleted scenes that had previously been released. However in the workprint included here, the same nudity is untouched in that sequence.
The visuals are superlative and this transfer really captures the movie in a clarity I've never seen previously.
It's also curious McGovern's toplessness (in a non-sexual scene) was digitally obscured in one of the deleted scenes that had previously been released. However in the workprint included here, the same nudity is untouched in that sequence.
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AndyDursin
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Re: RAGTIME Blu-Ray Debuts 3-Hour Workprint Cut
7/10
Director Milos Forman's RAGTIME (154 mins., 1981, PG; Paramount) may have been a film that didn't entirely live up to its lofty aspirations, yet seen afresh in Paramount's 4K-mastered new Blu-Ray transfer, it's a beautifully mounted, sumptuously designed adaptation of E.L. Doctorow's celebrated novel, spectacularly shot by the great Miroslav Ondricek and memorably scored by Randy Newman.
Doctorow's novel captured time and place in its depiction of New York City at the turn of the century, mixing fictional characters from different backgrounds with real people and incidents. Its dramatic “collage” would prove to be a challenge for any filmmaker to adapt, and for producer Dino DeLaurentiis, it meant jumping from director Robert Altman to Forman, who then hired screenwriter Michael Weller (“Hair”) to pare down Doctorow's novel for feature length.
The ensuing film attempts to juggle several threads: showgirl Evelyn Nesbit (Elizabeth McGovern) has to take the stand after her husband (Robert Joy) shoots architect Stanford White (Norman Mailer) in Madison Square Garden; a New Rochelle family led by “Father” (James Olson) and “Mother” (Mary Steenburgen) takes in a young black woman (Debbie Allen) and her baby after she's abandoned by the child's father (Harold Rollins, Jr.), the hot-headed yet brilliant pianist “Coalhouse Walker Jr.” While Coalhouse later becomes the victim of a racial incident at the hands of bigoted Irish firefighters (presided over by Kenneth McMillan), European immigrant Tateh (Mandy Patinkin) arrives with his daughter in New York City, hoping to stake a new life in the fledgling United States of America.
“Ragtime” brings its era to vivid cinematic life thanks to brilliant art direction, photography and a supportive Randy Newman score that's one of his finest. At some 155 minutes the movie is also never dull, but Forman and Weller ultimately never find a comfortable cinematic way through Doctorow's narrative maze. Understandably, the film tries to hone in on the “Family” and Coalhouse stories, which most directly intersect, yet there's just too much story here to cram into a single feature film, at least not in the manner that the screenplay was configured. Most significantly, the transition of Coalhouse into a legitimate domestic terrorist seems to happen so quickly that the viewer has no measure of time passing – one moment his beloved Model T is ransacked, the next he has a gang of vigilantes (including a young Samuel L. Jackson) deploying bombs around the city. Brad Dourif, playing “Younger Brother” to Steenburgen's character, is also given short shrift, with not enough scenes to augment his downward spiral. Finally, Tateh's arc – meant to convey the immigrant experience – has been diminished down to just a handful of scenes, leading his ultimate fate with Steenburgen's character to come off as completely confounding.
The difficulty in translating “Ragtime” can be clearly seen here in Paramount's marvelous new Blu-Ray, which ranks as one of my favorite catalog releases of the year – not so much because the film itself is a classic (which it's not), but because the supplements provide a movie buff with a rare chance to see the filmmaking process at work. Here, that means the inclusion of a never-before-seen workprint (174 min.) cut of the movie, which shows the movie in a not-quite-finished state.
Forman's longer cut, unearthed for the first time from archival materials provided by the Museum of Modern Art and The Film Foundation, includes many deleted moments and editorial changes. The sequence of scenes is quite different early on as well, illustrating that the director and his editors (including Anne V. Coates) were trying to figure out where and when to place certain scenes (it's worth pointing out this cut is also missing one sequence involving Dourif and McGovern that's included in the theatrical release print). Yet while this version breathes a little bet better and restores some character gaps, the movie's main shortcomings – involving the Tateh character in particular – remain.
Still, the fact Paramount found this cut and included it here in their “Paramount Presents” 2-disc set is a remarkable occurrence for any movie buff (if only Disney had done the same for Jack Clayton's “Something Wicked This Way Comes”!). That comes in addition to even more deleted scenes; a new interview between Michael Weller and screenwriter Larry Karaszewski, who later worked with Forman; and archival materials (a Forman interview and commentary) from the old DVD.
Visually the theatrical version's 4K-mastered 1080p (2.35) AVC encoded transfer is just spectacular, restoring the widescreen grandeur of the film with an equally well-rounded Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack. The workprint has been transferred on its own platter in a 1080p (2.35) mono encode that's understandably constrained by the source materials, which include sudden shifts to black-and-white. A digital HD copy rounds out the limited-edition, slipcovered release.
“Ragtime” may just miss the mark yet it's still a worthwhile viewing experience for its ambitious story line, Forman's aesthetics, and its interesting passing of the Golden Age of Hollywood – through the appearances of Jimmy Cagney (making his first film in nearly two decades), Pat O'Brien and Donald O'Connor – to young, up-and-coming stars like Samuel L. Jackson and Jeff Daniels. A superb release from Paramount all around.
Director Milos Forman's RAGTIME (154 mins., 1981, PG; Paramount) may have been a film that didn't entirely live up to its lofty aspirations, yet seen afresh in Paramount's 4K-mastered new Blu-Ray transfer, it's a beautifully mounted, sumptuously designed adaptation of E.L. Doctorow's celebrated novel, spectacularly shot by the great Miroslav Ondricek and memorably scored by Randy Newman.
Doctorow's novel captured time and place in its depiction of New York City at the turn of the century, mixing fictional characters from different backgrounds with real people and incidents. Its dramatic “collage” would prove to be a challenge for any filmmaker to adapt, and for producer Dino DeLaurentiis, it meant jumping from director Robert Altman to Forman, who then hired screenwriter Michael Weller (“Hair”) to pare down Doctorow's novel for feature length.
The ensuing film attempts to juggle several threads: showgirl Evelyn Nesbit (Elizabeth McGovern) has to take the stand after her husband (Robert Joy) shoots architect Stanford White (Norman Mailer) in Madison Square Garden; a New Rochelle family led by “Father” (James Olson) and “Mother” (Mary Steenburgen) takes in a young black woman (Debbie Allen) and her baby after she's abandoned by the child's father (Harold Rollins, Jr.), the hot-headed yet brilliant pianist “Coalhouse Walker Jr.” While Coalhouse later becomes the victim of a racial incident at the hands of bigoted Irish firefighters (presided over by Kenneth McMillan), European immigrant Tateh (Mandy Patinkin) arrives with his daughter in New York City, hoping to stake a new life in the fledgling United States of America.
“Ragtime” brings its era to vivid cinematic life thanks to brilliant art direction, photography and a supportive Randy Newman score that's one of his finest. At some 155 minutes the movie is also never dull, but Forman and Weller ultimately never find a comfortable cinematic way through Doctorow's narrative maze. Understandably, the film tries to hone in on the “Family” and Coalhouse stories, which most directly intersect, yet there's just too much story here to cram into a single feature film, at least not in the manner that the screenplay was configured. Most significantly, the transition of Coalhouse into a legitimate domestic terrorist seems to happen so quickly that the viewer has no measure of time passing – one moment his beloved Model T is ransacked, the next he has a gang of vigilantes (including a young Samuel L. Jackson) deploying bombs around the city. Brad Dourif, playing “Younger Brother” to Steenburgen's character, is also given short shrift, with not enough scenes to augment his downward spiral. Finally, Tateh's arc – meant to convey the immigrant experience – has been diminished down to just a handful of scenes, leading his ultimate fate with Steenburgen's character to come off as completely confounding.
The difficulty in translating “Ragtime” can be clearly seen here in Paramount's marvelous new Blu-Ray, which ranks as one of my favorite catalog releases of the year – not so much because the film itself is a classic (which it's not), but because the supplements provide a movie buff with a rare chance to see the filmmaking process at work. Here, that means the inclusion of a never-before-seen workprint (174 min.) cut of the movie, which shows the movie in a not-quite-finished state.
Forman's longer cut, unearthed for the first time from archival materials provided by the Museum of Modern Art and The Film Foundation, includes many deleted moments and editorial changes. The sequence of scenes is quite different early on as well, illustrating that the director and his editors (including Anne V. Coates) were trying to figure out where and when to place certain scenes (it's worth pointing out this cut is also missing one sequence involving Dourif and McGovern that's included in the theatrical release print). Yet while this version breathes a little bet better and restores some character gaps, the movie's main shortcomings – involving the Tateh character in particular – remain.
Still, the fact Paramount found this cut and included it here in their “Paramount Presents” 2-disc set is a remarkable occurrence for any movie buff (if only Disney had done the same for Jack Clayton's “Something Wicked This Way Comes”!). That comes in addition to even more deleted scenes; a new interview between Michael Weller and screenwriter Larry Karaszewski, who later worked with Forman; and archival materials (a Forman interview and commentary) from the old DVD.
Visually the theatrical version's 4K-mastered 1080p (2.35) AVC encoded transfer is just spectacular, restoring the widescreen grandeur of the film with an equally well-rounded Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack. The workprint has been transferred on its own platter in a 1080p (2.35) mono encode that's understandably constrained by the source materials, which include sudden shifts to black-and-white. A digital HD copy rounds out the limited-edition, slipcovered release.
“Ragtime” may just miss the mark yet it's still a worthwhile viewing experience for its ambitious story line, Forman's aesthetics, and its interesting passing of the Golden Age of Hollywood – through the appearances of Jimmy Cagney (making his first film in nearly two decades), Pat O'Brien and Donald O'Connor – to young, up-and-coming stars like Samuel L. Jackson and Jeff Daniels. A superb release from Paramount all around.