A new restoration of an epic 1962 historical drama brought to life in Digital Cinerama and screening with English subtitles for the first time for its UK premiere.
Shot in Super 70 Technirama, La Fayette offers a visual experience marked by its rich detail and expansive scope. The high-resolution format was utilised to enhance the film’s grand battle scenes and sweeping landscapes, making it a standout in historical cinema. These enormous scenes featured 50,000 extras, 5,000 soldiers alongside stand out performances from players including Orson Wells and Vittorio De Sica to name a few.
In the film, the Marquis de Lafayette (Michel Le Royer) is a highly educated young man with a keen political sense serving under France’s King Louis XVI. He is sought out by the American Silas Deane (Edmund Purdom) in Paris in 1776 just as the American Revolution is getting underway. After providing military and diplomatic advice to the Americans, the marquis eventually travels to the United States to join the fight alongside Benjamin Franklin (Orson Welles) and George Washington (Howard St. John).
In 1962 the film was the most expensive in the entire history of French cinema (costing around 1.3 billion Francs, or around £20million today). When released in cinemas, the film did very well, performing just behind West Side Story at the box office for that year. Originally released as a roadshow presentation, this screening offers a rare chance to see the film as it was intended—on an expansive curved Cinerama screen that enhances its visual and narrative scale.
DIRECTOR: Jean Dréville
CAST: Michel Le Royer, Howard St. John, Orson Welles, Pascale Audret, Liselotte Pulver, Jack Hawkins
YEAR: 1961
COUNTRY: France/Italy
PROJECTION FORMAT: Digital Cinerama
DURATION: 160 mins
Age Guidance
U
