George A. Romero, writer/director of Night of the Living Dead (1968) and Dawn of the Dead (1978) has cited this as his all-time favorite movie, saying that it was the one that originally inspired him to get into filmmaking.
A 4K digital restoration has been made by Martin Scorsese's Film Foundation. This includes some scenes that were missing from recent prints and an unseen section introducing the actors and singers. Like the other restorations they have done of Michael Powell's and Emeric Pressburger's films, this isn't just a new print. They went back to the original material, digitized and cleaned up every frame and the optical soundtrack (for a three-strip Technicolor film, that's three frames for every frame you see on screen). Then they put them all back together, checking the registration and restoring the old Technicolor look and feel. This restored version was premiered at the 2014 Venice Film Festival and has since been shown at the Lyons and London Film Festivals, followed by other festivals and cinema screenings around the world. There will also be a DVD/Blu-ray release.
Robert Rounseville (Hoffmann) and Ann Ayars (Antonia) are the only performers in the film who both appear on screen and do their own singing. Every other character is dubbed.
Antonia's island bears a strong resemblance to the island in the painting "Isle of the Dead" by Swiss symbolist artist Arnold Böcklin (1827-1901).
Michael Powell began the project after hearing Thomas Beecham playing the score on piano and singing all of the parts.
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