THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 22, 1994 TAG: 9410210120
SECTION: TELEVISION WEEK PAGE: 01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY BONKO, TELEVISION COLUMNIST
LENGTH: Long : 113 lines
ARE MOVIES forever? Hardly.
The memories of great pictures often outlast the films themselves.
When the negatives and prints crack, crumble and otherwise disintegrate, great chunks of our culture go to pieces, too.
That's the message beamed to cable subscribers by the American Movie Classics channel and a number of archivists, including the UCLA Film and Television Archive, the Museum of Modern Art, the National Center for Film and Video Presentation at the American Film Institute, and the George Eastman House.
Film makers, led by Academy Award-winning director Robert Wise, have joined AMC in helping to raise money for The Film Foundation, which oversees the restoration of films.
Saving these films isn't cheap. Transferring a black-and-white feature from perishable nitrate-based film stock to safety film costs about $15,000. The price of bringing a color movie back to life is three times that figure.
Wise recently reminded TV writers gathered in Los Angeles that 90 percent of the silent films are gone and that 50 percent of the pre-1950 Hollywood pictures have faded away.
That's a dreadful waste, Wise said.
``I think it is vital that we continue our battle to preserve films,'' he said. ``It will give historians of the future a live, moving story of our times. Saving all films will be a gigantic task.''
The nitrate stock produced lovely images on the screen. Trouble is, the films begin eating themselves when the chemicals and air react to produce nitric acid. Nitrate stock is highly flammable film.
To call attention to the drive to raise money for restoring old films, AMC in the next few days will present the second annual Film Preservation Festival. If you tune in Saturday at 7:30, you'll see a restored version of the John Ford film ``My Darling Clementine,'' which is the pre-released version seen only by preview audiences in 1946.
It's 10 minutes longer and ends differently than the final cut - with Henry Fonda as Wyatt Earp shaking Clementine's hand. The studio changed the scene to include a kiss.
On Sunday at 5 p.m., AMC will show the preserved and restored version of the Gary Cooper-Ingrid Bergman 1944 picture, ``For Whom the Bell Tolls.'' UCLA archivists restored scenes from the picture which started at 170 minutes, then was trimmed to 156 1/2 minutes and cut again to 130 minutes.
To keep you interested in great old movies, AMC this weekend is rolling out some of the best: ``Citizen Kane,'' ``Double Indemnity,'' ``The Virginian,'' ``Stagecoach'' and ``She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.''
Gene Autry is lending his support to the cause of film preservation. AMC salutes the singing cowboy in a special (``Gene Autry: Melody of the West'') at 1:30 p.m. Sunday after reeling off two of his films at 10:30 a.m., ``The Big Sombrero'' and ``The Strawberry Roan.''
Autry told the TV reporters: ``I never made a movie that had scenes in it the were unsuitable for kids to see.''
Unlike Fonda, he kissed only his horse, Champion.
And now, for something else on the tube in the days to come:
Jaclyn Smith, who looks much too young cast as the mother of four adult children, stars in ``Danielle Steel's Family Album,'' an NBC four-hour miniseries that begins Sunday at 9 p.m.
It's the saga of the rich and beautiful Thayers of Beverly Hills beginning in 1950. She's an actress. He (Michael Ontkean) is heir to a shipping fortune. One thing leads to another, and soon Smith is in the delivery room with her unmarried hippie daughter, urging Anne Thayer (Leslie Horan) to push. The baby's born and then is put up for adoption. Heartbreaking. Part two air Monday starting at 9 p.m.
They're b-a-a-ck! I'm talking about the Newcomers who first showed up on Earth in the ``Alien Nation'' series. On Tuesday night at 8, Fox is reviving the adventures of the creatures with two hearts who think that fine dining includes bladders and ligaments in ``Alien Nation: Dark Horizon.''
Two problems for the aliens: Earth people want them dead as a purification-by-1999 campaign takes hold. And there's a hard-nosed military guy from outer space who intends to take the Newcomers back to where he thinks they belong - in bondage as slaves on some dreadful mining outpost.
A quickie rating: OK special effects, earnest performances by the series' original cast, too many slow moments over two hours.
Notes from the geriatric rock 'n' roll crowd: MTV on Wednesday at 9 shows us the Eagles (``The Eagles: Hell Freezes Over'') in a performance in Burbank, Calif., that was taped before the group hit the road for the first time in 14 years. All hail Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Don Felder, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit. At times, a 37-piece orchestra joins in the gig.
On Thursday at 10, VH-1 puts on a cool 30 minutes, ``Conversations with the Rolling Stones,'' which includes some footage of the group rehearsing in Toronto. This special reunites the Stones with Albert Maysles, who did their ``Gimme Shelter'' concert flick in 1969.
It's a hoot to hear these gray-bearded folks talk about the Stones' early days.
Remember when Carol Burnett was on CBS every week and did those skits that poked fun at the movies? She's back doing the same thing Monday at 10 p.m. in ``Men, Movies and Carol,'' but the laughs just aren't there anymore. Could it be that we have outgrown Carol Burnett?
On Thursday at 8 p.m., CBS will air ``50 Years of Soaps: An All-Star Celebration,'' which has lots of faces familiar to soap fans but not much else going for it.
It is nice to see former Ocean View resident Lara Parker again in some scenes from ``Dark Shadows.'' Watch the hair of Bill Hayes (``Days of Our Lives'') turn white as the years pass across the screen.
Halloween alert! A&E's ``Biography'' series includes Dracula and Frankenstein next week. The Count will be featured Monday at 8 p.m., followed the next night at 8 by clips from the Frankenstein flicks. Mel Brooks is on board to discuss ``Young Frankenstein,'' and you'll also meet a man who collects Frankenstein memorabilia. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Orson Welles' ``Citizen Kane'' is on AMC's lineup of films for its
second annual Film Preservation Festival airing this weekend.
``Kane'' will be shown at 6 a.m. Sunday.
by CNB