‘Unsung Heroes’ Star in Wide-Screen Festival

The West Coast movie premiere of a newly revamped concert film, “Elvis: That’s the Way It Is (Special Edition),” headlines the sixth annual WideScreen Film Festival on Friday evening at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach.

Also screening at the festival devoted to wide-format filmmaking, which runs Wednesday through Sunday, are restored prints of “The Bridge on the River Kwai” (1957, Wednesday), “The Diary of Anne Frank” (1959, Thursday), and “Swiss Family Robinson” (1960, Saturday morning). Other restored films featured are the Elvis Presley star vehicle “Viva Las Vegas” (1964) and the Elvis-inspired “Bye Bye Birdie” (1963) on Friday; a trio of westerns on Sunday, “The Professionals” (1966), “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969), “Cheyenne Autumn” (1964); “Blazing Saddles” (1974, on Saturday); two David Lynch favorites, “Elephant Man” (1980) and “Blue Velvet” (1986) on Saturday; and the U.S. theatrical premiere of Jackie Chan’s “Quiji” (1989, Saturday).

“I call it, ‘The Unsung Heroes’ this year,” remarks founder and artistic director Gary Prebula, referring to the restorations. “In our first year, we showed ‘Kwai’ and it was such a bad print. Now I’m so thrilled to show it again in the restored version to show people that it does make a difference.

“I’m also thrilled to highlight [Mel Brooks’] Brooksfilms through ‘Elephant Man,’ one of the unsung indie companies of the post-’Easy Rider’ era.”

According to Jonathan Sanger, who produced “Elephant Man” and who will appear for a question-and-answer session, making the movie was the most pleasurable experience of his career. “David [Lynch] added dreams and textures and insisted on shooting in black and white and wide-screen to use the corners of the frame in a way to create shadows and spaces,” Sanger recounts. “And Mel was great at developing the script using the real oral tradition of comedy, reading aloud and critiquing. He added wonderful touches, dislocating events for dramatic emphasis and coming up with the whole sense of saving [the character] by circus freaks.”

Elvis Concert Film Gains Unused Footage

One of the biggest thrills undoubtedly will be the chance to see “That’s the Way It Is,” a historic reconstruction of a 1970 film shot during a Vegas tour by Presley. It was supervised by Rick Schmidlin (who previously reconstructed “Touch of Evil” and “Greed” to much acclaim) for Turner Entertainment. (The “special edition” premieres Jan. 8, 2001, on TCM in honor of Presley’s birthday.) After an extensive search by Turner executives and Schmidlin, 50,000 feet of unused original camera negative were discovered, along with the original 16-track stereo masters. (The film was released in mono.) Now the film will be heard in the Carpenter Center in 5.1 Dolby Digital stereo.

“This is the first time a film has ever been completely re-cut like this,” Schmidlin remarks. “It was not the intent going in. The intent was to throw in some extra moments. In looking at the raw material, the original camera negative, the state of mind of the state of the art at the time, we realized we could re-cut from head to toe, fine-tune it, and make it more successful and enjoyable.”

Schmidlin says the importance of the rock film is made all the more clear in this more dramatically compelling version (remixed by Bruce Botnick and edited by Michael Solomon).

“This occurred at a crucial point in his life. It followed the ’68 comeback TV special and the end of his 10-year movie career. He was 35 and fit and anxious to return to performing. And he put together a great band and an orchestra. You see him at the incredible peak of his performing abilities. Life is good. At the same time, you get a hint of the incredible collapse to come.”

Five Panavision cameras were used to capture the king of rock ‘n’ roll during rehearsal, performance and backstage. However, the film was bogged down by a lot of footage featuring gushing fans. “They were at their geekiest, and now they all look like a parody of themselves,” Schmidlin suggests.

Another surprise at this year’s festival is a rare road-show print of John Ford’s neglected “Cheyenne Autumn,” his mea culpa for all the Indian slaughters in his westerns. Long-winded and uneven, there’s a majestic grace to the film and Ford’s usual visual poetry. Plus, there’s a delightful comedic episode right before the intermission featuring Jimmy Stewart as Wyatt Earp. It’s as absurd as anything you’ll see in Ford’s work.

A new addition to the festival, meanwhile, is a host of CinemaScope Walt Disney cartoons screening on Saturday morning, including the 1953 Oscar-winner “Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom,” which playfully illustrates the origin of musical instruments in a stylized departure. It’s an eccentric and innovative piece by animator and co-director Ward Kimball (who will be in attendance) and the late background animator Eyvind Earle (best known for “Sleeping Beauty”).