LOWRY DIGITAL RESTORES 1953'S 'THE ROBE'
BURBANK, CA - Lowry Digital (www.lowrydigital.com) recently handled digital restoration of the Oscar-winning motion picture, The Robe. The studio used its proprietary Lowry Process to create pristine new picture elements that maintain the visual intentions of the original 1953 classic. The restored film will premiere at the Rome International Film Festival on October 30th, as part of the festival's ongoing partnership with The Film Foundation. The restoration marks a collaboration between the Academy Film Archive and 20th Century Fox, with funding from The Film Foundation.
20th Century Fox's VP of asset management and film preservation, Schawn Belston, says The Robe is a significant title because it was the first CinemaScope film. At the time, the CinemaScope format was a new way of presenting images in a widescreen 2.55:1 aspect ratio. The biblical epic was directed by Henry Koster and photographed by Leon Shamroy, ASC, with Richard Burton, Jean Simmons and Victor Mature serving in starring roles. The film garnered two Academy Awards for Best Art Direction and Costume Design, among its five nominations, including ones for Best Cinematography and Best Picture.
Lowry Digital's COO Mike Inchalik says the studio worked from "an amazingly disparate array of elements, including original camera negative, black-and-white YCM separations, and more than a dozen different types of duplicate negative from different eras."
Elements were scanned at 4K resolution and converted to digital files using Imagica film scanners. The images were color corrected to achieve the look of Technicolor dye-transfer prints of the era, using the Baselight color correction system. The images were then restored using The Lowry Process, a proprietary technique that employs complex temporal image processing to regain detail and resolution to restore consistency, and to reverse the effects of duplication like grain build-up, softening and excess contrast. Physical problems like tears, dirt, mis-registration and shrinkage were also repaired.
Lowry delivered new negatives, digital data archives, and a new HD master to serve home video markets. The print that will screen at the Rome Film Festival was made from these new negatives, and will be shown in its native 2.55:1 aspect ratio.
PHOTO: This before (top) and after (bottom) image shows just how badly in need of restoration The Robe was.