2016 Black Maria Film Festival Program

panel “triptych” sequences. This required a rather elaborate
and somewhat cumbersome projection set up that was far beyond
the capabilities of all but a few cinemas. These sequences
were abandoned, with Gance himself, bereft for the films
failure, burning the original negative of the first two of these
very unique sequences. The third, which is the only one that
survives, comprises the final 17 minutes of the film.
From a conversation between Christopher Reyna and Abel
Gance in 1973, we learned that in the original showings, the
three projectors that needed to be tied together for the presentations
were mechanically hooked together with bicycle
chain. And incidentally, the three cameras used to shoot these
sequences were actually stacked, one atop the other and tied
together, again by bicycle chain. In later years, Fred Waller
credited the triptych sequences from Napoleon as his inspiration
for the development of the Cinerama process in the early
1950’s, though there is no evidence that I know of that he ever
saw them on screen.
Distribution of Napoleon in the US was acquired by Paramount
pictures. The picture was released in a 95 minute version, having
been heavily chopped for time.
Having his epic masterpiece literally destroyed before his
eyes, Gance tried no less than 5 times to resurrect the picture
in various versions. None ever reached an audience of any size.
Gance died on November 10, 1981 at the age of 92. Ironically,
our Roadshow presentation Napoleon opened in Boston that
very night at the 5000 seat Music Hall Theatre (formerly the
Metropolitan, now the Citi Wang Center) to an enthusiastic
sold out house.
Fortunately, Gance knew of the success of the movie which
opened its Roadshow tour at Radio City Music Hall on Janu-
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