Announcing Lost Nitrate Film by Orson Welles Found in Italy
orge Eastman House, together with the National Film Preservation Foundation (NFPF), the Cineteca del Friuli, and Cinemazero today announced the recovery of Mercury Theatre's long-lost Too Much Johnson, directed by Orson Welles in 1938. The silent film was found in a warehouse by the staff of Cinemazero, an art house in Pordenone, Italy.
| Eastman House restores lost Welles film |
Too Much Johnson was originally intended to be used in conjunction with Welles' stage adaptation of an 1894 play by William Gillette. The Mercury Theatre planned to show the three short films as prologues to each act of the play. The three-part slapstick comedy was meant to be shown with the accompaniment of music and live sound effects, but was never finished. Joseph Cotten was cast in the lead role, with supporting roles going to Mercury Theatre actors, including Eustace Wyatt, Edgar Barrier, Ruth Ford, Arlene Francis, Mary Wickes, Orson Welles, and his wife Virginia Nicholson. The play ultimately opened without the film on August 16, 1938, and flopped.
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| (Too Much Johnson, Original Nitrate Film) |
The nitrate work print of the film-left unfinished by the Mercury Theatre and never shown in public-was given by Cinemazero to one of Italy's major film archives, the Cineteca del Friuli in nearby Gemona, and transferred from there to George Eastman House in order to be preserved with a grant from NFPF. According to published sources, until now the only known print of Too Much Johnson had burnt in a fire that destroyed Welles' home in the outskirts of Madrid in 1970…[READ MORE]
Click here to find out more information on how to attend the U.S. Premiere on October 16, 2013 in Rochester, NY.
The U.S. Premiere screening of Too Much Johnson will be October 16, 2013 at 8 p.m. in the Dryden Theatre at George Eastman House in Rochester, NY.
Current members of George Eastman House will be able to purchase two tickets (at $25 each) to the event beginning September 10, 2013 at 12:01 a.m.
Members will receive a reminder email to purchase their tickets, so please be sure you are signed up for e-news. Members of the George Eastman Society and Dryden Seat Sponsors are eligible to receive two complimentary tickets by contacting Susan Yovanoff at (585) 271-3361 ext. 233 before September 3, 2013.
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