The Sea Hawk (1940) - a new restoration

[brendangcarroll]

Last night I decided to take out my DVD of the 1940 swashbuckler classic THE SEA HAWK which I had not watched for quite a while.

The DVD dates from 2005 and back then was regarded as the best restoration that this famous film had ever received. In 2005 I was minded to agree.

No longer.

Unfortunately, seeing the disc on my new high end Blu-ray player revealed all of the many faults in this disc and how Turner had basically stitched the film together from goodness knows how many different prints and sources. The quality of the image changed so frequently, sometimes from minute to minute, that it resembled a patchwork quilt.

I know the backstory of how this film was brutally cut for the 1947 reissue and the actual camera negative was savaged in the process, with the missing portions thrown away. So I know what a problem it was to get the film in some kind of shape for DVD.

Nevertheless, I think I was spoiled by the recent spectaular restoration of the almost contemporaneous SEA WOLF and this set me wondering as to whether something similar could ever be achieved for SEA HAWK?

Is it likely, I wondered to myself, that an original, complete, 35mm Nitrate copy might exist in the archives of either the Academy of Motion Picture Sciences or the Library of Congress or someplace else, mislabelled and unseen and unchecked for decades, as was the case with SEA WOLF?

In its present condition, I doubt SEA HAWK will ever receive a Bluray release, which is a shame. It was one of the most beautifully photographed films of the era. Its black and white cinematography under the direction of Sol Polito must have been breathtaking.

So what do you all think? Maybe the good folk at TURNER are even now sceretly working hard to bring out a pristine Bluray with newly found primary source materials.......

Or am I dreaming?

[earlytalkiebuffRob]

I think I last saw THE SEA HAWK on VHS at a friend's perhaps twenty years ago. On one of my viewings (may have been on 16mm at my local Film Society) I seem to recall that the swamp sequence was in a a sort of sepia, but I have no idea if this was deliberate or just in connection with the release. As with THE SEA WOLF, I had no idea that Warners treated their back catalogue in such a cavalier fashion. Whereas I can understand their cutting the film to cram another movie in with it, cutting the negative and flinging the rest in the trash can shows a poor regard for their great craftsman as well as being rather short-sighted.

[Rick Lanham]

I think you are dreaming, but I hope for the best.

I think I expressed my disappointment on this forum with the quality of what's left.

Rick

[brendangcarroll]

The sepia tinting was indeed part of the original version in 1940, supposedly to give an impression of heat for the Panama sequences.

This was a sort of compensation as the film had originally been planned and designed in colour but the likely high costs and also Jack Warner's penny-pinching decision to re-use parts of the sea battle from the earlier CAPTAIN BLOOD and even footage from some silent features (the earlier SEA HAWK of 1924 and THE DIVINE LADY of 1929) in order to save money, nixed that idea.

If Hal Wallis had still been at WB in 1947, I am sure the camaera negative would not have been butchered in this way. His departure in 1944 marked the beginning of a slow and grim decline IMO.

[ClayKing]

With all due respect to completists and film restoration, I always felt the '47 reissue improved the film by tightening the pace and eliminating a lot of superfluous run-on dialogue that didn't really advance the plot.

[brendangcarroll]

The 1947 reissue butchered Korngold's magnificent score with many scenes removed in entirety.

[earlytalkiebuffRob]

The sepia tinting was indeed part of the original version in 1940, supposedly to give an impression of heat for the Panama sequences.

This was a sort of compensation as the film had originally been planned and designed in colour but the likely high costs and also Jack Warner's penny-pinching decision to re-use parts of the sea battle from the earlier CAPTAIN BLOOD and even footage from some silent features (the earlier SEA HAWK of 1924 and THE DIVINE LADY of 1929) in order to save money, nixed that idea.

If Hal Wallis had still been at WB in 1947, I am sure the camaera negative would not have been butchered in this way. His departure in 1944 marked the beginning of a slow and grim decline IMO.

Was Curtiz's CAPTAIN BLOOD also cut for reissue? I watched both that and OIL FOR THE LAMPS OF CHINA at London's NFT in the 1980s and seem to recall them clocking in at less than the official running times. (the reason I usually checked these out before booking was to ensure film showings didn't overlap and also in case there was a risk of missing my last train home)

Just checked IMDb which states that BLOOD was indeed cut, although I don't know if it was ever restored...

[daveboz]

CAPTAIN BLOOD was cut for a 1951 reissue. In 1987, a complete original print from Jack Warner’s personal collection was issued on VHS, and the same print is on the DVD.

[earlytalkiebuffRob]

CAPTAIN BLOOD was cut for a 1951 reissue. In 1987, a complete original print from Jack Warner’s personal collection was issued on VHS, and the same print is on the DVD.

Thank you - that would be the copy I have...