Laserdisc details for
The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice (1952) More at IMDbPro »

Disc Title: Othello
Criterion CC 1372L

Color - 92 min

Released June 1995
Available
List Price: $99.95

• Audio commentary by Peter Bogdanovich and others
• A short film, starring Orson Welles, that was made during one of the many hiatuses that _Othello (1952)_ went through
• Excerpts of documentaries pertaining to the making of the movie
• and a clip from Othello (1922). Mary G. Pratt from Voyager about the decision to release the original instead of the 1992 restored version: "I went back and forth on the issue -- to release the restored or not -- and was swung over by Peter Bogdanovich, Myron Meisel (of It's All True (1993) fame), and Jonathan Rosenbaum (in case you're not familiar, one of the country's foremost Welles scholars). Rosenbaum wrote the liner notes for the film and discusses our choice briefly. Orson Welles himself often said he would have liked to have released a more perfect _Othello (1952)_. It is clear from _Filming Othello (1978)_ that the final version of the film was not what he would have ideally liked to release. However, the "restored" version was not something he supervised (obviously) so I don't think one could safely say that the other version would be Welles' preference. In fact, the creators of the "restoration" dropped many sounds from the track that Welles included in his final mix and stretch printed shots to fit the sync. Who can say whether Welles would have preferred such decisions? Finally I guess it comes down to one's taste. I personally have come to prefer our release over the "cleaned up" version."