Yes indeed! Please check out today's update to save this deteriorating Abbott and Costello performance from live television.
Have you talked to Marc(Vidiot)? IIRC he was on the last remaster Africa Screams. He worked on a lot of them.
Oh yes, Marc was the telecine engineer when I transferred the nitrate fine grain in 1987! We'll be talking soon, thanks.
That's great, thank you! The Rubdown is saved and will be restored for our AFRICA SCREAMS Blu-ray and DVD release. Thank you everyone for your support in saving this precious Abbott and Costello performance! We've just launched stretch goal #2 and 3-D fans are going to love this one! www.tinyurl.com/saveabbottandcostello We only need to sell another 30 copies of the Blu-ray in order to meet this goal. Please continue to share this campaign on social media to help us reach $18,300. Please note: this will not be an actual physical copy of the comic book. It will be included as an image supplement on the Blu-ray and DVD.
Wow, once again you've come through and have successfully backed another stretch goal! The Abbott and Costello 32 page 3-D comic book from November 1953 will be restored and included as a photo gallery on the AFRICA SCREAMS Blu-ray and DVD release. You’ll be able to view it in either discrete polarized 3-D on the Blu-ray or red/blue anaglyphic 3-D on both the DVD and Blu-ray. We’ll also include one pair of anaglyphic glasses (a replica of the original Super Sight Goggles that came with the comic book) with each disc. Thank you very much! If you'd like to know more about the 50 3-D comic books that were published in 1953/54, check out this page on our website: 3-D Comic Books - 3dfilmarchive The next stretch goal will be announced shortly but in the meantime, we're preparing some great news about this project that will be posted on Sunday for our one week anniversary. Thanks again to everyone for your interest and support, we couldn't do it without you!
At some point Marc and I were talking about Africa Screams and that his work ended up on PD issues. It was issued by Universal as part of a box set of A&C films. So how did this one end up out of copyright? Edit: Never mind. The film was purchased in 1953 by Robert Haggiag, an independent distributor in New York. Haggiag failed to renew the copyright because he lost interest in the film, and it fell into the public domain in 1977. Author and film historian Bob Furmanek contacted Haggiag in the late 1980s and obtained the original nitrate stock. Most of the original camera negative had decomposed but the nitrate fine grain was still serviceable and he had it transferred to 35mm for preservation.[7]
I am delighted to announce that ClassicFlix will be handling the Blu-ray and DVD distribution of our AFRICA SCREAMS restoration! ClassicFlix started as a rental and retail site in 2007 and launched their own home video label in 2017. Their output focuses exclusively on classic film and television with such releases as the iconic film noir Raw Deal (1948), the charming screwball comedy Merrily We Live (1938) and Bud and Lou’s first independently made feature, The Noose Hangs High (1948). Their commitment to high production values show as their restorations have received praise from film critic Leonard Maltin, among others, with every Blu-ray release also featuring optional English subtitles. In 2018, they inaugurated their budget Silver Series line to make lesser-known titles available in affordable DVD editions. The Complete Hal Roach Thelma Todd and Patsy Kelly Comedy Collection and the recently released The Complete PRC Michael Shayne Mystery Collection are just two of the popular line’s releases thus far. Check out their website at www.classicflix.com I had the great pleasure of working with David Kawas at ClassicFlix on their release of THE NOOSE HANGS HIGH. I know they will do an excellent job with distributing our new restoration. We've got three weeks to go in the campaign and there are still one or two stretch goals to be announced. I hope to post the next goal within a few days. In the meantime, please continue to share our project. This is a very unique opportunity to help restore a classic film and even with a $10 pledge, backers can get their name on the restoration credits. Thank you very much!
I'm waiting for confirmation on one aspect of the next stretch goal and hope to have that information later today. www.tinyurl.com/saveabbottandcostello In the meanwhile, here's a sneak peek at the terrific material I'm lining up for the Blu-ray/DVD photo gallery; a great ad from the "Laff Show of a Life Time" - AFRICA SCREAMS May 19, 1949 opening at the Oriental Theatre in Chicago. Those "Screwballs of Nonsense" The 3 Stooges and "Hollywood's Favorite Funnyman" Mischa Auer (HOLD THAT GHOST) appeared on stage for that amazing show. There were four shows a day on weekdays and five shows a day on weekends. Ticket prices ranged from .50 to .98 cents. Anybody have a time machine?
It was independently produced. Then later sold. From Wikipedia: The film was purchased in 1953 by Robert Haggiag, an independent distributor in New York. Haggiag failed to renew the copyright because he lost interest in the film, and it fell into the public domain in 1977. Author and film historian Bob Furmanek contacted Haggiag in the late 1980s and obtained the original nitrate stock. Most of the original camera negative had decomposed but the nitrate fine grain was still serviceable and he had it transferred to 35mm for preservation.
When we first bought a VCR in the early 80’s, Africa Screams was one of the first tapes I bought. I remember it being kind of rare before the home video market caught on. I never saw it on broadcast TV...
It was in A&C's contract then that they could do one film a year outside of Universal. Those are the ones that weren't preserved well, and some became PD.
Martin & Lewis had the same kind of deal with Paramount to produce a film for their own York Productions which resulted in ‘At War With The Army’, which also lapsed into PD.
This is probably a silly question but as I haven't purchased any of these 3D releases I'm curious. For those of us who don't have a 3D compatible television (or player), is there going to be a bog-standard 2D version on the release?
Any of our 17 3-D restorations on Blu-ray play in normal flat 2-D on a standard Blu-ray player and display. That being said, AFRICA SCREAMS is not in 3-D.
For every pledge of $20.00 and higher, backers will receive a link to download the complete set of 8 full color lobbycards from the 1949 theatrical release. Plus, the 4 lobbycards from the 1953 re-issue when AFRICA SCREAMS was paired with the final Marx Brothers film, LOVE HAPPY will be included. If all goes as planned, stretch goal #3 should be announced tomorrow!
Only two more weeks to help preserve AFRICA SCREAMS and have your name in the restoration credits! www.tinyurl.com/saveabbottandcostello
