"Hat Check Girl"…anyone?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Ginger Rogers
DoctorJuliaHoffman — 9 years ago(November 07, 2016 12:26 PM)
Okay, where is it? People saw it at the TCM Film Festival over a year ago? Why no TCM TV airings? Why no TCM Vault Collection or Forbidden Hollywood DVD? Are there copyright entanglements on this rarely seen film? Geesh, "Rafter Romance" hadn't been seen for 50 years and not long after its copyright problems were solved it was shown in a revival theater in NYC and soon seen on TCM and put on DVD by TCM Vault Collection. Does anyone know what111c's delaying "Hat Check Girl"?
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jwhuey67 — 9 years ago(November 22, 2016 09:04 PM)
from memory, it seemed like the private owner of the restored copy has not decided to mass produce it as of yet not sure WHY but it has been shown a few times, at TCM festivals and at MOMA It ALSO seems like I heard that Fox has ANOTHER 'discovered' copy of HCG which they are 'hopefully' restoring as well if that's the case, it might be close FOX has a pretty active 'vault collection' which saw 3-4 GingerFilms released - Chance at Heaven, Dreamboat, Teenage Rebel Fox was Ginger's second most prolific studio after RKO, of course
but YES, I concur. WHERE IS IT???? -
DoctorJuliaHoffman — 9 years ago(November 23, 2016 05:36 AM)
Thanks for your response. I thought I'd read the "found" copy shown at TCM festivals and MOMA was actually discovered in pristine condition in MOMA's film vault. If that's the restored copy, I wonder who the private owner is. More than a little silly of the owner not to mass produce it yet. Red tape perhaps.
It's good news that FOX has discovered another copy. Hopefully, FOX will get the ball rolling and get the film properly played on TV and distributed on DVD. It's the only Ginger Rogers film I haven't seen. It would be wonderful closure for those who like Ginger's movies and would like to view/own all of them.
I was delighted to see the clip currently showing on YouTube called "Fred Astaire interview - Parkinson 1976". The British interviewer Michael Parkinson asks Fred who his favorite dancing partner was. At first, Fred didn't want to give an answer but ultimately says "Ginger was certainly the onethe most effective partner I hadeveryone knows." A very cool YouTube clip indeed! -
jwhuey67 — 9 years ago(December 14, 2016 09:10 PM)
as Lead Gingerologistas well as a 'completest'it REALLY bugs me we can't have access to HCG I know Ginger is a 'secondary' character, but from the reviews heard form other Gingerologists who were lucky enough to view it at the TCM festival and/or at MOMA, she turned in a pretty nice role
This may be a topic at the GingerFest in Independence next summer (see thread by Marge Padgitt) maybe someone with knowledge of the situation will attend.
I need to catch up on all the GingerClips on youTube among others heck, I have stuff on DVD which I haven't watched yet
Have a Gingery Holiday Season, Doctor J!!! -
DoctorJuliaHoffman — 9 years ago(December 15, 2016 09:22 AM)
Leonard Maltin liked Ginger's funny wisecracks in his review of "Hat Check Girl". Although, I don't know if he'd actually seen the film. His review was published a couple of years before the film was found in MOMA's film vault. He might have created his review from old (1932) reviews. Can't wait to see the film! All the best, jwhuey!
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GingerPeachy — 9 years ago(December 21, 2016 10:04 AM)
Hi Julia (& Hi Huey, it's been a while, huh!?)
It's been almost 2 years now, but this is where I left my HCG search - in case anyone else wants to take over:
After calling several US national archives, I found the original negatif print in a nitrate archive up north. The print still belonged to Fox back then. It had luckily survived the big Fox warehouse 'nitrate related' fire in 1937.
When I pitched the restoration idea for the HCG negatif to Fox, I did it through MOMA and their curator, Anne Morra, who manages the Fox archives. MOMA and FOX picks up more or less 10 films each year for restoration. MOMA & FOX, in association with TCM, made a brand new commercial 35mm print of HCG. (My understanding is that TCM was financially involved in the restoration but that fact needs to be checked out.)
That new 35mm commercial print CAN BE BORROWED by any festival who would like to show it as long as they meet MOMA's criterions. It's the print that was used for the TCM festival and later MOMA's festival.
A few decades ago, a 16mm print was also made from the original negatif print by one of the Gordon brothers, both famous for their 16mm movie collection. It's also my understanding that a VHS tape was made from that 16mm print for Ginger, and that this tape now belong to Ginger's former asssitant. The 16m5b4m print who use to belong to Alex Gordon and then his brother Richard Gordon, has disappeared from circulation. I located the new owner of Mr. Richard Gordon's collection, who bought it after his passing. He said that although, HCG was listed as part of the inventory of the 16mm prints he was buying from Gordon's wife, it was missing from the collection when he received the boxes. Both parties are unaware of what might have happened to the HCG 16mm print - if it was cherry picked or simply damaged and disposed of along the way.
As for a DVD release of HGC, we need to go back to the source, which I guess would be direcly with FOX, and ask and push for it.
Hope this help.
Peachy -
DoctorJuliaHoffman — 9 years ago(December 21, 2016 06:01 PM)
Thanks, Peachy. Your help in securing an extant print of this film is infib68nitely appreciated. With TCM involved, "Hat Check Girl" should see the light of day on TCM and DVD soon. And why not? It's got Ginger Rogers in it, it's a "found" pre-code delight, and was the only missing film of all Ginger's films. Too bad I couldn't make it to the festival screenings. I've high hopes it will turn up on a not too distant TCM Ginger Rogers birthday salute or a pre-code festival on TCM's channel. Whichever has the ultimate decision; FOX, TCM or MOMA (or all three,) they need to get entanglements worked out soon. Thanks again, Peachy.