World Premiere of Newly Restored White Zombie (1932)
Credit: Plaza Theatre
This Friday, January 18, 2013, at Atlanta’s Historic Plaza Theatre, is the world premiere restoration of White Zombie (1932), starring Bela Lugosi. After Lugosi’s successful performance in Tod Browning’s Dracula, brothers Victor and Edward Halperin cast him in the lead role as the evil voodoo master, Murder Legendre. The film was made independently and distributed by United Artists. Large portions of the movie were filmed at Universal Studios. The Halperin brothers borrowed sets from other popular Universal horror films, such as Frankenstein and Dracula.
For years the only available copies of White Zombie were of very poor quality and all original 35mm negatives were thought to be lost. Holland Releasing in Los Angeles discovered an original 35mm print and invested in a 5-year digital restoration of the film. The restoration was completed by Algosoft Technology, located outside of Atlanta, GA. Friday’s premiere at the Plaza will mark the first time White Zombie has been seen in its intended format on the big screen in 80 years. The film will be released in select theatres across the United States and Canada following the Atlanta premiere.
In addition to the film, members from the restoration team will be on-hand for a Q&A session following. There will be a rare screening of the Betty Boop cartoon “Is My Palm Read“, by famed animator Max Fleischer. Also shown, a short interview with Bela Lugosi, filmed at his home during the production of White Zombie.
On January 29th, Kino Classics is releasing this remastered version on DVD and Blu-ray! You can pre-order on Amazon.
Stay tuned for more details!
World Premiere Restoration of White Zombie (1932) starring Bela Lugosi
Friday, January 18, 2013 at 8:00 pm
Tickets: $15
Plaza Theatre
1049 Ponce De Leon Avenue
Atlanta, GA
Man,
I would loved to have been there to see White Zombie’s return.
Love the film so I’m thrilled that it’s been restored.
Thanks for reminding us that restoration is alive and well, these wonderful films are being taken care of.
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