[REL] Piccole Labbra (1978)

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Night457
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Re: [REL] Piccole Labbra (1978)

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deadman wrote:The VHS version I posted a link to has some coming attractions previews at the end so even that 100m version is probably shorter than it claims. The film clearly still exists at the studio since they were able to do a DVD release (despite it not being the best quality)
Well, actually ... I finished DLing it, thank you! The German VHS video is a little over 86 minutes, including 6 minutes of coming attractions, so the movie itself is 80.5 minutes. It does indeed have additional (body double) footage.

Full disclosure:

It is also in 1.33 aspect ratio, but cropped on the sides compared to the 1.85 DVD version. This is NOT a case like "Pretty Baby," with its open-matte home video releases having more image on the top and bottom. This has the same top and bottom detail, and less on the sides. Sorry. IMDB lists the aspect ratio as 1.66, which means the film as released ought to have more top-and-bottom information than the 1.85 DVD. (That is, it was shot spherically in open-matte at 1.33, then cropped top-and-bottom for various aspect ratios.)

Question about the various DVD releases: are ANY of them official releases by the original producers? Any grubby bootlegger can telecine a scratched-up print and press DVDs, or make use of existing telecine made for television. All I can find are 76 minute (cut) DVDs in countries other than Italy. I don't doubt the possibility that the copyright owners / production company / studio (if they still exist) have at least some prints of the theatrically-released 86 minute version, and maybe even the 86-minute negative, if they have not stored it poorly and allowed it to disintegrate. I simply do not believe they are likely to have saved odds-and-ends of edited footage that could be used to construct the fabled 100 minute version. In those days that stuff got thrown out. They did not think about future DVD extras.

For that matter, it does not seem that even the full 86-minute version is here at FLM, am I right? I have to call bullshit on any claims of 100 minutes. Wishful thinking on blogs is not evidence for its existence. I would be happy to be proved wrong!
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Re: [REL] Piccole Labbra (1978)

Post by Phuzzy4242 »   1 likes

Night457 wrote:In a recent thread you said
I've been around long enough to use 110 baud teletype.
At that I said to myself, "DUDE! He is even older than I thought!" :)
Yeah, I'm old, ya young whippersnapper! Now get off my lawn!
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Night457 wrote:Couple with that the detailed Internet and eMule technical discussions of yours I have read, I knew there was all sorts of Computer Stuff you knew that I did not - and my misunderstanding on this particular point made me think you were talking some Old School Computerese that I have either forgotten or never learned in the first place.
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The 'correct' way to do something usually isn't - some dope from the sales department wrote the instruction manual.
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Re: [REL] Piccole Labbra (1978)

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:icon_biggrin2 :icon_biggrin2
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Re: [REL] Piccole Labbra (1978)

Post by deadman »   1 likes

Night457 wrote:Question about the various DVD releases: are ANY of them official releases by the original producers? Any grubby bootlegger can telecine a scratched-up print and press DVDs, or make use of existing telecine made for television. All I can find are 76 minute (cut) DVDs in countries other than Italy. I don't doubt the possibility that the copyright owners / production company / studio (if they still exist) have at least some prints of the theatrically-released 86 minute version, and maybe even the 86-minute negative, if they have not stored it poorly and allowed it to disintegrate. I simply do not believe they are likely to have saved odds-and-ends of edited footage that could be used to construct the fabled 100 minute version. In those days that stuff got thrown out. They did not think about future DVD extras.
It's impossible to say whether the DVDs are bargain basement releases by a small studio or bootlegs, either is possible given the quality level. Some studios save all their footage. Whether they store it properly is another matter. Others discard the cut portions and only keep the final prints.

In the old days even major studios and TV networks would sometimes discard the final product a few years after it showed in theaters or aired on TV. The BBC is well known for having no copies of old TV episodes - although they no longer throw material away now. With most older productions what's available for extras is pot luck. The film vaults may contain a treasure trove or nothing at all. Some DVDs without bonus features don't have them because they couldn't find anything usable.


Night457 wrote:For that matter, it does not seem that even the full 86-minute version is here at FLM, am I right? I have to call bullshit on any claims of 100 minutes. Wishful thinking on blogs is not evidence for its existence. I would be happy to be proved wrong!
Remember that VHS box pictured in heiber's old post?


[Image]


Assuming it's legit, this is probably the 86 minute version, since that 100 minute runtime must include a string of coming attractions. But being a VHS tape it won't have been in production for some time. So you'd have to get it on ebay or a similar site, and you remember how those tapes were. Any scene that's viewed repeatedly becomes scratched and eventually unwatchable, plus tapes periodically get chewed up in the machine. And all this assumes you still have a working VCR (which I don't).

Bottom line: there may not be a single intact and viewable copy left on the planet. Unless there are some tapes in their original packaging sitting on the back shelf somewhere, we aren't likely to see that version.
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Re: [REL] Piccole Labbra (1978)

Post by Night457 »   2 likes

It is precisely because this seems to be a small, independent European film production rather than a major studio (e.g. Hollywood) one with enormous resources (and film vaults) that I have to believe that extra footage was scrapped. There is simply no space and no monetary advantage in having saved it. With old monsters like Warner Brothers or Universal, it takes effort to dig the old junk out of the vaults to get rid of it, so with their films there MIGHT be stuff saved we don't know about. "Pretty Baby" was Paramount, so whoever owns the film now we can pretty much guarantee there is a negative stored away that could be used for a 4k restoration and 4k UHD release, given the will to do so. As you said, that willingness is lacking.
deadman wrote:Remember that VHS box pictured in heiber's old post?
Yeah, that was one of the things I was thinking of when I called bullshit! :D
So you'd have to get it on ebay or a similar site, and you remember how those tapes were. Any scene that's viewed repeatedly becomes scratched and eventually unwatchable, plus tapes periodically get chewed up in the machine. And all this assumes you still have a working VCR (which I don't).
I have actually purchased VHS tapes on ebay in the past 5 years, although they were "new" (store remainders) and not used. I have 2 perfectly good VCRs (some years ago I threw out my oldest one: I had 3) and if I had sufficient reason and motivation I am sure I could figure out how to do an image capture to computer. And yes, I have not-so-fond memories of taking apart a VCR to extricate a snagged tape without breaking it and leaving pieces inside.

I also still have all my old VHS tapes but for one (which snagged, and I threw across the room in a rage, smashing it to pieces) and they are in marvelously preserved condition. Almost all of them have also been upgraded to DVD or blu-ray or download. I just don't throw stuff out when it is still "perfectly good"!

One thing I do not have is a SECAM VHS player (I am in the U.S., not France or Russia), so even if I came across this particular "Piccole Labbra" videotape I would not be able to play it!

Somebody was able to share the cover of it online, so I guarantee someone somewhere has the tape. I am not the only person in the world who does not throw stuff out. That does not mean that hoarder has the interest or ability to share their rare videos online, so in such a case it may as well not exist at all. Does anyone want to volunteer to go door-to-door in France, asking everyone if they have an old videotape of "Piccole Labbra"? Probably not. But make a public offer of a €10,000 reward, and you might see results.
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Re: [REL] Piccole Labbra (1978)

Post by deadman »   1 likes

Night457 wrote:I also still have all my old VHS tapes but for one (which snagged, and I threw across the room in a rage, smashing it to pieces) and they are in marvelously preserved condition. Almost all of them have also been upgraded to DVD or blu-ray or download. I just don't throw stuff out when it is still "perfectly good"!

One thing I do not have is a SECAM VHS player (I am in the U.S., not France or Russia), so even if I came across this particular "Piccole Labbra" videotape I would not be able to play it!
The format is another issue. But that's why it's possible a studio might still have cut footage. I've got closets full of crap I should've thrown out years ago but there's enough storage space in my house that it doesn't matter, so I can afford to be lazy and not take time to go through it all and toss what I don't need. If people at the studio routinely stick film in storage "just in case" and then it stays there, they might still have it. Even a small vault can hold a surprising amount of film.

Night457 wrote:I am not the only person in the world who does not throw stuff out. That does not mean that hoarder has the interest or ability to share their rare videos online, so in such a case it may as well not exist at all. Does anyone want to volunteer to go door-to-door in France, asking everyone if they have an old videotape of "Piccole Labbra"? Probably not. But make a public offer of a €10,000 reward, and you might see results.
That might just work! I'm sure I can find at least €10,000 if I look under all my seat cushions. :D
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Re: [REL] Piccole Labbra (1978)

Post by Night457 »   4 likes

If like me you are green blooded and give a damn about subtitles, here are machine-translated English subtitles with manual corrections. They are synced to the 1h:16m:22s Italian / Spanish Arky-rip posted by idler long ago and deadman more recently.
Piccole labbra AKA Little Lips (1978).en.srt
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Re: [REL] Piccole Labbra (1978)

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ghost at work...

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Re: [REL] Piccole Labbra (1978)

Post by emuler »   0 likes

ghost wrote:ghost at work...
:icon_1dancingban :icon_1dancingban :icon_1dancingban :icon_1dancingban :icon_1dancingban
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Night457
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Re: [REL] Piccole Labbra (1978)

Post by Night457 »   1 likes

ghost i liked your post and then clicked on the picture on the right but the video would not download!!! urrrgh! what's going on????

oh wait ... DOH!

i guess i need to have patience and not get so excited.
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