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WHY PRESERVE
FILM?
Not long ago, in my ongoing search
for better copies of Cary's movies, I contacted a fellow who was
searching for "Gambling Ship" for me. He did find
the film, only to discover a crumbling mess. Useless ...
lost.
Unless film is cared for, it
decays. Film is fragile.
"Big Brown Eyes" is one
of my favorite 'hard-to-find' Cary Grant films. I believe it to be
the first real insight into Cary's screwball comedy. His
delivery isn't as polished, but you can see the beginnings of the
Cary Grant whose physical comedy and pratfalls eventually made the
screwball comedy of "The Awful Truth" his genre.
Where is "Big Brown Eyes?" Is it lying crumbled in
a film can in a Paramount vault? Is the last viable copy
stored away in an ancient theater somewhere? (Update: "Big
Brown Eyes" is now available on DVD!!)
With these thoughts in mind, I
begin this section on film preservation. I'll post just a
couple of links right now. As my knowledge grows, so will
this section.
To learn more about
Film Preservation, visit:
National
Film Preservation Foundation
Association
of Moving Image Archivists
Image
Permanence Institute
Association of Moving Image
Archivists
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