Restoration and Louis Black Productions
Last Night at the Alamo is maverick Texas director Eagle Pennell’s second feature after his breakaway success Whole Shootin’ Match (1978). Alamo premiered at the New York Film Festival in 1983 and continued its festival run through Telluride and Berlin. In 1984 it won a Special Jury Prize at the US Film Festival (which later became the Sundance Film Festival). The film was met with near universal praise, prompting Vincent Canby of the New York Times to compare it to the work of Mark Twain, Sam Shepard, David Mamet and Ingmar Bergman.
After a successful run on the festival circuit, Alamo had a limited theatrical release in the US, followed by a VHS distribution deal in the mid-1980s. And then -- like so many classic independent films -- Alamo managed to fade into obscurity. Now after three decades, this newly restored masterpiece is ready to be seen in all of its glory!
Louis Black (co-founder of South by Southwest and the Austin Chronicle) and Mark Rance (Watchmaker Films, London) have been restoring lost regional cinema from Texas since 2006, beginning with Eagle Pennell’s The Whole Shootin’ Match and A Hell of a Note. Shootin’ Match in particular was nearly lost forever -- the original negative disappeared well before Eagle passed away. By virtue of fortune, Mark Rance discovered a television print of the film in Europe. From there, he began the restoration process, which included rebuilding the soundtrack from the original production audio.
Shortly after, Louis and Mark teamed up with Tobe Hooper to restore Tobe’s first feature, Eggshells (1969) -- again from the only surviving print. In 2015, Louis and archivist Hallie K. Reiss formed Louis Black Productions, an Austin-based film restoration company. Prior to this, Louis Black Productions produced and restored the seminal series of short films, Jonathan Demme Presents: Made in Texas and Pennell's first feature Whole Shootin' Match with Watchmaker Films.
Since Shootin’ Match, Louis and Mark have been anxious to restore Alamo. 33 years later and with the help of Richard Linklater and Jonathan Sehring at IFC, the film is finally being restored from the original 16mm black-and-white print negative, including audio from the original mix stems. This essential, groundbreaking independent had its premiere at SXSW in March, 2016, to rave reviews.
*Interested in purchasing Jonathan Demme Presents: Made in Texas or The Whole Shootin' Match? Visit the University of Texas Press website for more information!
After a successful run on the festival circuit, Alamo had a limited theatrical release in the US, followed by a VHS distribution deal in the mid-1980s. And then -- like so many classic independent films -- Alamo managed to fade into obscurity. Now after three decades, this newly restored masterpiece is ready to be seen in all of its glory!
Louis Black (co-founder of South by Southwest and the Austin Chronicle) and Mark Rance (Watchmaker Films, London) have been restoring lost regional cinema from Texas since 2006, beginning with Eagle Pennell’s The Whole Shootin’ Match and A Hell of a Note. Shootin’ Match in particular was nearly lost forever -- the original negative disappeared well before Eagle passed away. By virtue of fortune, Mark Rance discovered a television print of the film in Europe. From there, he began the restoration process, which included rebuilding the soundtrack from the original production audio.
Shortly after, Louis and Mark teamed up with Tobe Hooper to restore Tobe’s first feature, Eggshells (1969) -- again from the only surviving print. In 2015, Louis and archivist Hallie K. Reiss formed Louis Black Productions, an Austin-based film restoration company. Prior to this, Louis Black Productions produced and restored the seminal series of short films, Jonathan Demme Presents: Made in Texas and Pennell's first feature Whole Shootin' Match with Watchmaker Films.
Since Shootin’ Match, Louis and Mark have been anxious to restore Alamo. 33 years later and with the help of Richard Linklater and Jonathan Sehring at IFC, the film is finally being restored from the original 16mm black-and-white print negative, including audio from the original mix stems. This essential, groundbreaking independent had its premiere at SXSW in March, 2016, to rave reviews.
*Interested in purchasing Jonathan Demme Presents: Made in Texas or The Whole Shootin' Match? Visit the University of Texas Press website for more information!
DVD/Bluray Booklet interviews by Graham Carter and Alexa Harrington
copyright 2015 by Louis Black Productions, LLC.
All scans and film material restored and managed by Mark Rance at Watchmaker Films, London
Archival material curated and managed by Louis Black Productions in Austin, TX
Distribution by the University of Texas Press
copyright 2015 by Louis Black Productions, LLC.
All scans and film material restored and managed by Mark Rance at Watchmaker Films, London
Archival material curated and managed by Louis Black Productions in Austin, TX
Distribution by the University of Texas Press