Lost 'Fall of Roman Empire' footage found

“Lost” footage from “The Fall of the Roman Empire” apparently has been found in London, perhaps in time for this year’s DVD release.

(Update: Read "The Fall of the Roman Empire" DVD review.)

At Monday’s screening of “El Cid” in Hollywood, the son of producer William Bronston told the audience of seeing a prerelease version of the epic as a boy. He later wondered why some of the best lines and scenes were edited out of the movie when it premiered in 1964.

An audience member told William Bronston he thought he could find the missing footage. A few days later, Bill emailed me with this good news:

“I just got word that one of the members of the audience followed through on my direction to contact the Weinsteins about his confidence in being able to find the 30 minutes of missing footage cut from the release print of ‘The Fall.’ He did and the next day found the footage in London, which he has offered to get for the Weinsteins. Amazing!”

The Weinstein Company/Genius Products has “The Fall of the Roman Empire” scheduled for an April 29 release, as part of its Samuel Bronston epics slate. There two two-disc sets: a "limited collector's edition" and a "deluxe edition."

“Maybe there'll be a superb additional ‘special feature’ of the directors cut with the most dramatic pieces in the DVD package,” William Bronston wrote. “What is missing made the movie for me.”

The complete Bronston release slate: “El Cid,” “The Fall of the Roman Empire,” “55 Days at Peking” and “Circus World.” Disney released "Roman Empire" on DVD in 2001, to mixed reviews.

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