Restorations vs Extrapolations

 The Library of Congress version of "Rendezvous in Space" has been digitized, and it's raised almost as many questions as it's answered. 

The print was in great shape, generally. I think that it was a silent version kept it from being screened frequently by LoC employees, so the print is relatively unscathed. There are some color fades and several vertical scrapes that can be repaired, but nothing too severe. 

Certainly, the biggest problem with the print is that it has quite a few differences from the original film, and it's missing key sections I had hoped to replace in the production print. The discussion between Danny Thomas and Sid Melton, talking about space stewardesses, isn't present in the LoC copy. 

There's even a complete replacement of the title card from one film to the other. 

Based on the fragmentary scenes in the LoC copy, I think this print was deposited to fulfill minimum copyright requirements, instead of being a posterity record. 

Unless I can find another print, I'm going to have to source from the three existing versions: the David Hammar 1998 VHS copy, the 35mm production print, and the Library of Congress fragments. I think the renovation schedule has just pushed off to the right - - the extreme right. 

I'm also going to have to make decisions about what constitutes a "restoration." I think my baseline is going to be the audio track from the VHS, and then choosing the best frames (even if that means the VHS video) for each element of the movie. 

One sad note is that I have scenes in the LoC copy that have no audio, and no place in the original film. I'm going to trust that they never appeared in the show reel, and omit them from the film. Maybe I'll air them during the credits? More things to ponder as this project progresses.