The Wonderful World of The Brothers Grimm - Looking Forward

Looking Forward

John Mitchell, a private collector who had assembled a Cinerama screen and projectors outside his home in Australia, compiled and carefully saved prints of Cinerama films, including an original IB Technicolor print of Grimm. As Cinerama approaches its 60th anniversary, and the films of How The West Was Won and The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm approached their 50th, it was announced that Mitchell's 3 Strip Cinerama print of Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm would be shown at a Spring 2012 film festival in Bradford England, and a Cinerama festival in the Fall of 2012 in Hollywood.

TCM held another successful film festival in Hollywood in the Spring of 2012, which included a special Cinerama screening of How The West Was Won at the Cinerama Dome. At that point TCM expressed an interest in showing Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm in Cinerama at the Dome in their festival of 2013.

Fans worldwide had been missing the film, and looked forward to seeing it on a big Cinerama screen. Manyhave traveled long distances to view it. The Bradford screening in April 2012 of Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm marked the first public theatrical presentation of the full Cinerama version in 40 years. This print has many splices, (being compiled by Mitchell from several original prints) and some problems reportedly caused by shrinkage in the C (Right side) panel reel early in part one of the movie. Despite these challenges, the film was warmly received, reportedly looking very good in some parts.

While Bradford quickly scheduled a second screening of WWOTBG for another festival in June 2012, a spokesman for Hollywood's Cinerama Dome reported that the condition of the print made it doubtful that it could be screened there. Unlike Bradford, which still uses classic vertical reel to reel film transport, the Dome runs movies off of platters, which can place extra stress on a fragile print. At that point attention turned to the 65mm composite negative (holding all 3 panels) and the possibility that it could be scanned for a digital screening at the Dome. While not ideal for exhibition, the digital scan could bolster some hope of a video release, or at least a better transfer broadcast on TCM. TCM was reportedly involved in talks to share funding for a new Digital Cinema Print (DCP) to be made from the 65mm negative, but it was decided to screen the actual print at the Dome, so discussion of making a DCP has not led to a commitment or decision... yet.

On September 29th and October 1st, 2012, the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood did screen the 3-strip print of The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm as part of their 60th Anniversary celebration of Cinerama. Cinerama inc. spokesman John Sittig reported this was the most requested title at the festival, and both screenings sold out all the most desirable seats well in advance. At the first screening, Actor Russ Tamblyn comically spoke about the difficulties of filming in Cinerama.

The screening was interrupted for a few minutes during the opening prologue after a frame alignment issue. Then after the intermission, at the end of the black leader during the entr'acte music, the projector showing the right panel rolled to a stop and burned a hole through the film, causing an approximately 45 minute delay as the projection team worked to synch the 3rd panel with the other two and the soundtrack. The second showing had no picture issues at all, but the sound failed a few minutes into act two. After an approximately 30 minute delay, the picture came back on, with all 3 panels in synch and there were no further problems. These screenings not only pleased existing fans, they won new ones among younger patrons seeing the film and/or Cinerama for the first time.

Worldwide fans also want to have this picture on home video, and a petition surfaced online to gather support for some kind of a DVD or Blu-ray release sometime in the future. http://www.change.org/petitions/wonderful-world-of-the-brothers-grimm-on-dvdbluray At the Cinerama festival, a spokesman for Image Trends, the company that has been digitally mastering the Cinerama travelogues for DCP and eventual home video release, stated that they believe they could cost effectively produce a digital version of WWOTBG from either the partially damaged 3 strip negs or the 65m composite negative, both of which they have already done with other Cinerama films.

There is still some hope Turner Classic Movies may at least help turn the tide for this film, as the warm reception from the two recent screenings would encourage TCM's desire to show the film at their Hollywood film festival in Spring of 2013. However, given its condition, it is not known whether this print would be available to travel back from England again.

There is also some hope among Netflix DVD and streaming subscribers that adding Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm to their "saved" list might possibly lead to its being added as a streaming option, which often occurs for older films that may not be considered commercial enough for a DVD release.

For a rarely seen film that has drawn viewers from around the world fifty years after its debut, the story of The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm has chapters yet to be written.