Jay Agan
Photo credit: Universal Studios.
One AM, an early July or August morning 1983.
I was a bit tired & had just quit DXing (station hunting) on AM & shortwave. Not wanting to do any reading either (it was my heavy Lovecraft period) I thought I'd turn on the tv in the hope something watchable was airing. Had no idea what could be on. The Mt. Vernon News had this annoying habit of putting only "movie" in the listings spaces. Sure, you knew a flick was on the way but.....what?
Saturday Night Live wound down & ch 4 (WCMH) proceeded with the All Nite Theater (Jerry Beck long since left that gig by then. Sad.) Oh. The 1931 Lugosi Dracula. Hadn't seen that one in a while (Had an old audio tape I recorded of it back in the 70s.) What the hey! I settled in to enjoy myself.
What the hey, indeed. From the moment the opening credits ended I noticed something different right off. Not only was the picture sharp & clear, but the sound (except for a slight background hiss) was as well. To say I was astounded would be an understatement. Never before had I seen such a clean, viewable example of an old film of any kind let alone this one. No scratches, burn marks, "hair", jumpcuts/splices either. I never thought beutiful prints like this ever existed. By far, worlds better than the worn examples I'd seen on other stations.
This was a time before Ted Turner et al. grabbed the bull by the horns & got the film restoration movement of today rolling. What's routinely commonplace today was certainly a treat back then, I'm here to tell ya. You younger film buffs have no idea how good you have it now. Cheers.
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