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Page 2

1984 Criterion Release

- 2 CAV LD discs, no commentary. Extras included storyboards and a history of the films production.

The

!"#$

 Criterion Collection edition of CITIZEN KANE was

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 along with a

&'

CAV

'

disc edition of KING KONG

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 the premiere o

( 

ering from that company

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 which has since gone on to become the touchstone for the highest quality video presentation of classic

)

lms

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 As an early convert to LD

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 and having nearby access to a store that would rent them

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 I was able to see both

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 and still have the VHS tapes I made from each

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 Both sets were a revelation at the time

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 and the KANE set

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 along with subsequent Criterion LD sets on THE THIRD MAN

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 THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS

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 OTHELLO

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 CONFIDENTIAL REPORT

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 and F FOR FAKE

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 did a lot to solidify the reputation of Welles as a leading part of that pantheon of great

)

lmmakers worthy of such special treatment

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 The main drawback to the CAV sets was the fact that a CAV LD

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 because of the higher data density

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 could contain only

+,

 minutes on each side

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 which made it impossible to enjoy the whole

)

lm from beginning to end unless you transferred it to VHS tape

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which I did for quite a few

)

lms

.*

 This inevitably led to some picture loss

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 but even transferred to VHS

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 the visual quality was still quite impressive

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 Watching the disc itself was nirvana in terms of the quality of visual texture

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 which seemed almost painting

'

like compared to most commercial VHS releases of the time

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 There is no commentary for the Kane DVD

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 but there are some nice extras

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 including a video essay on the making of the

)

lm and it

/ 

s release

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 with a few photos I

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ve never seen anywhere else

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1985 Image LD

, 1 CLV disc, commentary by Paul Mandell

The

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 Image LD

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 while not nearly as good visually as the Criterion

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 does present a very nice looking print of the

)

lm

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 and has an interesting commentary by Paul Mandell

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 Interesting

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 not necessarily for what is being said

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 which is routine CK factoids for the most part

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as well as a few dubious ones at that

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 but for the fact that there is only about

$1

 minutes worth of it

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 spread out here and there over the course of the

)

lm

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 In between are long stretches of

1'!,

 minutes or more where there is nothing but dead air

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 Why? Ebert and Bogdanovich both had no trouble

)

lling two hours worth of commentary for the

&,,&

 Kane DVD

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 Did Image originally plan to

)

ll those empty spaces with other commentary? A clue comes at the beginning of Roger Ebert

/ 

s review of THE TRIAL when a new print of that

)

lm was released to art houses a few years ago

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 Ebert says:

 2

I was once involved in a project to get Orson Welles to provide commentary for a laserdisc of CITIZEN KANE

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 Seemed like a good idea at the time

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 but not to the great one

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 who rumbled that he had made a great many other pictures besides Kane

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 and was tired of talking about it

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From that statement

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 it seems likely that the long stretches of dead air were intended to be

)

lled by Orson Welles himself 

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 Which would provide a chilling extra layer of irony to the already ironic postscript at the end of Mandell

/ 

s commentary

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 in which he reveals the date it was recorded: October

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!"#1%

 the day Orson Welles died

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