Rediscovery and Loss
Welles never completed the editing of Too Much Johnson and put the footage in storage. He rediscovered the footage three decades later at his home outside of Madrid, Spain. "I can't remember whether I had it all along and dug it out of the bottom of a trunk, or whether someone brought it to me, but there it was", he later recalled. "I screened it, and it was in perfect condition, with not a scratch on it, as though it had only been through a projector once or twice before. It had a fine quality. Cotten was magnificent, and I immediately made plans to edit it and send it to Joe as a birthday present."
Welles, however, never allowed the footage to be seen publicly, stating the film would not make sense outside of the full context of the Gillette play.
In 1971, a fire broke out at Welles's home and the only known complete print of Too Much Johnson was destroyed.
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Famous quotes containing the word loss:
“Unthinking people will often try to teach you how to do the things which you can do better than you can be taught to do them. If you are sure of all this, you can start to add to your value as a mother by learning the things that can be taught, for the best of our civilization and culture offers much that is of value, if you can take it without loss of what comes to you naturally.”
—D.W. Winnicott (20th century)