To mark the partnership, George Stevens’ newly restored 1956 epic “Giant” will premiere at the TCM Classic Film Festival April 22 at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. Steven Spielberg, legendary filmmaker and Film Foundation board member, is set to join executive director Margaret Bodde and George Stevens Jr. prior to the screening as part of a discussion about the legacy of “Giant,” moderated by TCM host Ben Mankiewicz. “Anything that presumes to call itself ‘Giant’ better have the goods to keep such a lofty promise,” Spielberg said in a press statement. “Both [author] Edna Ferber and [director] George Stevens far exceeded the title to bring such an epic American story to the big screen and I’m proud to have been a small part of the restoration team of this classic motion picture.”
The Film Foundation was created by Oscar winner Scorsese in 1990, and has pioneered the restoration of more than 900 classic films. Scorsese and fellow board member Spielberg hand-picked “Giant” as one of the group’s latest restoration projects, collaborating with the Warner Bros. archives team for a year to complete the process. “Working with The Film Foundation allows us to preserve these important films for future generations to experience across multiple platforms,” said Pola Changnon, general manager of TCM. “There is so much to learn from classic movies and we are honored to host the world premiere screening of the 4K restoration of ‘Giant.’” “Giant” stars Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean in an adaptation of Ferber’s controversial novel about a Texas family during the oil boom. The film received 10 Academy Award nominations and is noted for exposing the marginalization and segregation of Mexican Americans for one of the first times on the big screen. The new 4K restoration was completed sourcing both the original camera negatives and protection RGB separation master positives for the best possible image, and color corrected in high dynamic range for the latest picture display technology. The audio was sourced primarily from a 1995 protection copy of the original magnetic mono soundtrack. The picture and audio restoration was completed by Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services: Motion Picture Imaging and Post Production Sound. The 4K restoration of “Giant” will be available to stream on HBO Max later this year. “Giant” will screen as part of the 13th edition of the TCM Classic Film Festival, which takes place April 21–24. The 2022 theme is “All Together Now: Back to the Big Screen,” and Spielberg is also slated to introduce a special anniversary screening of “E.T.” on opening night.
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