I think it needs a new score to accompany it. The musical/movietone score wasn't bad it was just that some parts the music didn't fit, and that cliche love song (When Love Comes Stealing in) is just so out of place for me. And the indistinct yelling gets annoying as well. I think this film deserves a new score, who agrees?
Its's alive! It's alive!
I always feel that films should be preserved exactly the way they were made. The shrill whistling sound that is meant to represent the howling wind in the scene where the Comprachicos abandon young Gwynplaine always grated on my nerves really badly but that's how the filmmakers intended the film to sound so ultimately I feel that's the way the soundtrack should remain. I think there's been way too much tampering with great movies in the history of cinema so even if there is room for improvement, films should be left as they are.
shareI think the "crowd" effects could have been cut back, and also the sound that was supposed to be the howling wind of the snowstorm (that high-pitched wailing hurts my ears), but I disagree about the music. Call me a sap, but I actually enjoyed "When Love Comes Stealing" very much and found it to be quite beautiful; its sheet music is available through Amazon and I wish someone would do a modern recording of it.
Nevermore!