1929 RIO RITA Footage Found

[westegg]

Haven't seen this posted here, so here goes--according to talkieking.blogspot.com. two "lost" scenes from RIO RITA have been posted on YouTube, including a pirate dance from the technicolor sequence. Full details at the blogspot.

So, now where's the rest of GOLDDIGGERS OF BROADWAY? This gives us maybe further hope.

[drednm]

I'd not heard about this... THANKS

[moviepas]

Don't forget MOMA the the longer Roadshow version in their vaults and loaned it and it is supposed never to have been returned. Odd.

[westegg]

As things go this is pretty big news, I think. I guess we're all collectively stunned.

Yes, interesting MOMA reference.

[Rob]

Ummm - I'm guessing none of you guys were at the Syracuse Cinefest last March when both these sequences were run in 16mm during one of the programs. No, they have not been commonly available, but both of these numbers have been around for years.

I have a VHS video of both I got from a British source about 25 years ago. Yes they are rare, but no big discovery.........

Rob

[drednm]

but these scenes have never been included in a DVD release or showing on TCM, right?

[westegg]

At least that puts it more in perspective; up until now I thought they were not commonly known to be around.

[FrankFay]

No. The Warner Archive disc is from the cut version. if someone did the restoration they might issue it but Warner's isn't doing restorations.

Much as I love Wheeler & Woolsey and Dorothy Lee RIO RITA probably benefited from the cutting- it's long as it is. The first clip is clumsy. The second clip is a nice number but it's poorly placed in the film: we've just heard "Sweetheart We Need Each Other" (for the second time in the film) and it ends with a nice comic punch- the scene really needs to stop there, the added chorus number just dilutes the impact. What works on stage doesn't always transfer to film.

Yes, I'd like to see a proper restoration, but I can see why they cut it.

[drednm]

So who owns this footage?

[Jim Reid]

Is this the same footage that was sold on Ebay last year?

[Kelly]

Not sure I think more to the video on YOU TUBE version not sure if that one you could score off E-bay

[boblipton]

Well, waddya know! The copy of Rio Rita that TCM ran this morning has the 2-strip Technicolor sequence aboard the ship through the end! Looks pretty good and the soundtrack is fairly clean. Dorothy Lee is cuter than ever.

Bob

[Richard P. May]

This goes back a long way, but when Turner acquired the RKO library in 1988 the version of RIO RITA contained about a half hour of 2-color Technicolor. I don't know the history after about 1996, but it existed then.

[Scott Eckhardt]

I suspect that the TCM version recently shown is the same version they have shown in the past, and was issued on the Warner Archive disc. That version does contain approximately the last 30 minutes in color. I just watched my copy a while back, and it remains a highly pleasant watch. The places where the cuts occur are fairly obvious, but I'm glad to have it nonetheless. The quality is not as highly restored as that of Dixiana, but it remains quite watchable, with very nice Technicolor. Still, it would be nice to discover what became of the MOMA print.

[Richard P. May]

We had the original two-color negative of DIXIANA, so could get a much better restoration.

[Brian Paige]

The roughly 30 minutes of Technicolor at the end is no big deal. Every print I've ever seen had that. There was about 30 mins. of stuff cut out for a 1932 reissue. That's what I'd be interested in seeing.