WARNING to anyone planning to see METROPOLIS in Cincinnati! (1 Viewer)

[Brian Kidd]

I was so excited to see that our local art house (The Esquire) was running the silent classic METROPOLIS. I've been waiting to see this restored version for a while now and never thought I'd see it on the big screen.

I'm still waiting, unfortunately.

When the lights went down at yesterday's showing, I was immediately aware that something was amiss. The picture filled the entire width of the screen. Yup, it had been masked for 1.85:1 and badly at that. There were entire sections of the film where all you saw was torsos because the heads had been entirely cut off. METROPOLIS is not one of those films that can be cropped and you won't notice. Fritz Lang filled the entire screen with wonderful visuals. The famous scene where young Freder watches the giant machine turn into a demon? You'd never know from this screening. The head of the demon was cut off. Pathetic.

My friend George works for the Library of Congress Motion Picture Preservation Center. He drove down from Dayton to see the film with me and was as appalled as I was. He knows one of the men who worked for almost twenty years to restore METROPOLIS. Thankfully, he wrote the theater a letter expressing his displeasure. I doubt they'll fix it though. The choice of whether to see it cropped or not at all is a tough one, but if I were going back, I'd make sure that the manager knew that the print should be unmasked.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Brian,

That is a shame. I almost went this weekend and now I'm glad I didn't make it yet.

 

[Jon Torres]

I just want to say I saw this movie last semester because it was required for my film class. From what I remember, the version I saw was pretty good. No cut off heads here. Also, at the very beginning said it even included recovered scenes/subtitles and also was still missing like 30 minutes worth. I guess I was lucky. My favorite part of the movie is when Freder messes w/ the clock looking device.

 

[Rain]

Projection mistakes happen all the time.

It has usually been my experience that the theater will fix the problem pretty quickly if you bring it to their attention.

 

[Claire Panke]

Metropolis was well presented at the Key Cinemas in Indianapolis last month. Headed there this weekend to see Rabbit Proof Fence.

I don't write letters about projection errors. I demand to see the manager.

I can't imagine the staff not correcting this if brought to their attention.