A past riddled with destructive carelessness has crept back to haunt MCA/
Universal Home Video at the worst possible moment: It's a treat to find a fresh batch of titles in the label's line of Old Hollywood spookers, but a slipshod episode of film preservation has thrown in a dirty trick for bad measure.Just as the label is gathering momentum toward a comprehensive reissue project for Universal Pictures' vast output of gothic and science-fantasy thrillers, it has made the misstep of releasing an incomplete version of one title.
The print of "The Mummy's Tomb" (1942) is a beauty in terms of image quality, but it's not all there.
"Tomb" is hardly a classic by any standard, but it serves as a bridge between "The Mummy's Hand" and "The Mummy's Ghost," and it's overflowing with that distinct Universal style. There are several nifty moments, a wealth of memorable players and a pervasive air of doom.
These values are most evident in a death scene for a sweet ol' lady played by that wonderful Scottish actor, Mary Gordon, who is best remembered for her long-running portrayal of Mrs. Hudson in the "Sherlock Holmes" films.
Gordon's contribution to "Tomb" is small but crucial. Her death scene lends a chilling emphasis to the relentless menace posed by a re-animated Egyptian mummy (played by Lon Chaney Jr.). And the moment is absolutely missing from the new MCA/Universal edition.
No, it's not some weird new outbreak of anti-violence censorship. Neither is it carelessness on the part of MCA/Universal, nor even a video-transfer glitch. The scene exists in any number of TV-station prints, as well as in rental prints available to the college and museum markets.
But the "best available 35-millimeter print" - emphasis on the operative words - lacks Gordon's big scene.
The beauty of the MCA/Universal series, which runs from "Frankenstein" in the '30s to "The Mole People" in the '50s, is that it deals in best available prints.
The catch is that the Universal Pictures of generations ago routinely destroyed the camera negatives and master printing elements of many of its films as a cost-efficiency measure. In those pre-television, pre-revival days, a movie was meant to be circulated once, withdrawn and then forgotten in the rush of newer titles. And silver could be reclaimed from dissolved film stock.
That often leaves us film buffs stuck with that best-available catch.
As regards the "Tomb" scene: The damage probably dates from the original big-screen run. The likeliest scenario is that the print played in some city where a local board of censors found the episode offensive and ordered it snipped, never to be restored. Then, too, a theater manager might've trimmed the footage to tighten the (already brief) running time.
Whatever. The new edition is otherwise fine, and several collectors have remedied the fault privately by dubbing off a new copy and patching in the lost scene from a videotape off local TV.
MCA/Universal could've done likewise and forestalled objections. But adding the scene from a complete print of lesser quality would have violated that best-available rule.
For my part, I say rules were made to be broken. But MCA/Universal made a judgment call - to which it admits readily - and is willing to stand pat until a "complete" top-notch print can be found.
There is a precedent for trusting the label to follow through: After long-missing footage was restored during the 1980s to "Frankenstein" (1931), MCA/Universal dropped its earlier, not-quite-complete edition and released the rebuilt version.
NEW VIDEOS
LIFEPOD - Alfred Hitchcock's classic film "Lifeboat" has been updated and set two centuries in the future. Returning to earth, the luxury spacecraft Terrania is racked by explosions. Passengers scramble for "lifepods," smaller spacecraft that act as lifeboats. Nine survivors, from all walks of life, find themselves sharing cramped quarters. Although they are threatened by meteors and asteroids, the real danger comes from within when it is discovered that one of them is a saboteur and murderer. The all-star cast, includes Robert Loggia and Ron Silver, who also directed. If you missed it on TV, it's definitely worth renting. Cabin Fever Entertainment, 90 minutes, not rated.
- Richard T. Ryan
(Newhouse News Service)
THE LORETTA YOUNG SHOW, Vols. I-IV. It's hard to imagine that there's a market for tapes of "The Loretta Young Show." Unless you remember how popular Young was on the screen in the '30s and '40s and on TV in the '50s and '60s. Young's Sunday night NBC show changed formats frequently during its top-rated '53-'61 run. But its producers were no dummies; they showcased Young in many inspirational roles of the kind that were the cornerstone of her substantial screen career. Each tape has two half-hour programs. A typical effort finds Young playing the female lead in Pearl Buck's "The Pearl." In today's ethnically correct climate, Young would never get away with playing a Japanese. But she did in 1956, garnering one of many Emmys for her well-produced upscale series. VCI (1-800-331-4077), $14.95 each.
- Max McQueen
(Cox News Service)
TWO FOR THE ROAD - Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney play a bickering couple looking back over 12 years of marriage and trying to decide where to go from here in this charming, perceptive movie from the '60s. Directed by Stanley Donen, it's funny and poignant, altogether winning with excellent acting and a memorable Henry Mancini theme. 1966. 111 minutes. FoxVideo. $19.95.
- Jack E. Wilkinson
(United Press International)