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April 1994

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Sender:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:
From:
Shawn Levy <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 15 Apr 1994 09:04:01 -0700
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Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
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> The other question is about the Bravo channel.  At the moment it is coming
> "free" on our cable system.  I got a post card from Bravo telling me to
> soak up the freebie and subscribe.  However, they very definitely are
> putting on censored films.  They say so.
>
> I asked my cable company about this.  The customer rep said she didn't know
> anything.  She _thought_ that Bravo only censored films when they went out
> over the basic cable route, and showed uncut movies when you have to pay
> for them.
>
> Sounds possible, but dubious.  I am deeply unimpressed by the quality of
> the picture (compared to Cinemax) as well.  Will the picture improve when
> people pay for it?
>
 
Two bits on Bravo:
        1) I once spoke to an assistant to Ismail Merchant and James
           Ivory who told me he was livid with "Bravo" for cutting some
           of his company's films and would no longer sell rights to the
           network  (they had shown "A Room with a View") without the
           skinny-dipping scene in its entirety).  I know for a fact that
           the version they show of "Tampopo" is sanitized.
        2) The picture is the same whether you pay for it or not (I've had
           it free and at low cost at various times).  In essence, it's a
           smallish network.
 
One last thingie:  About six years ago, Bravo showed Orson Welles'
"Falstaff" ("Chimes at Midnight") twice.  The film cannot be shown in
this country at all for legal reasons having to do with proprietary
rights:  An attempt to screen it at the Film Forum in Manhattan about two
years ago was scuttled at the last minute.  I have no idea how Bravo
pulled it off, and I rue regularly the fact that I fumbled my VCR
recording instructions BOTH TIMES and thus don't have a copy of the
film.  I spoke to someone at the network who assured me that they cannot
show it again.  While I can't hold this against Bravo, I also can't help
associating them with my frustration.
 
       Shawn Levy        |   "I used to have such sweet, sweet dreams,
  [log in to unmask] |      But now it's more like an air raid."

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