robert_selth's profile

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Wednesday, March 18th, 2026

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Release date deletions - Challenging the outcome

Two release date corrections submitted by me this week have been declined, and I am writing here to challenge both. One is a deletion that I have submitted successfully in the past (with plenty of evidence); the incorrect release date has now been added back to the site, and I have tried to delete it for a second time, but been declined. The other is a new deletion.

The release date I successfully removed a few years ago is for Partie de Campagne by Jean Renoir (currently listed as 1936 [limited], but should be 1946). Here is my submission:

Partie de Campagne was not released at all in 1936, even in "limited" distribution. The footage was shot in that year, but then director Jean Renior abandoned the project without assembling the footage into a feature or releasing any part of it. Only ten years later did the producer, Pierre Braunberger, assemble the footage into a 40-minute movie for general release, which premiered at Cannes in September 1946.

See the following paragraph from this Senses of Cinema article, with citations from the documentary in the BFI DVD release: "Partie de campagne’s shoot was plagued by incessant rain delays, and at length, Renoir abandoned the project to begin shooting Les bas fonds (The Lower Depths, 1936) with Jean Gabin, and never returned to the project. The film’s producer, Pierre Braunberger, at first thought of turning the footage into a feature length film with a new script by Jacques Prevert, but this came to nothing; it was only after World War II that Braunberger, working with Marguerite Renoir, put together the 40-minute version ..." - https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2010/cteq/partie-de-campagne/

See also the basic release information on the film's Wikipedia page: https://www2.bfi.org.uk/blu-rays-dvds/partie-de-campagne

Or see the same information in the BFI's online entry, which duplicates what is said in their documentary: https://www2.bfi.org.uk/blu-rays-dvds/partie-de-campagne

In short, in 1936 the footage that would become Partie de Campagne was not yet edited into the film as we know it, or indeed into any other form for public release. This is therefore not a valid release date, and the 21 September 1946 release date for the Cannes Film Festival should be the movie's earliest listed date.

I am unclear why my attempt to delete the restored "1936 (limited)" date has been declined. My guess is that because this film is widely and frequently listed as a 1936 movie, purely because that was the year Renoir shot the footage, other editors have submitted the 1936 date and cited mentions of that year in various texts - without realising that although the film was shot in that year, it was not edited for release, and certainly did not get screened, until ten years later.

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The second release date edit I have been declined this week is for A Room with a View (currently 1985, but should be 1986). The film has a release date listed for 13 December 1985, for the Royal Command Film Performance. For any who don't know, that's an annual event in the UK where a single much-hyped film that is soon to be released gets an advance screening attended by the royal family. There is only one per year, and the 1985 screening was not for A Room with a View. Here is the submission I made:

This listing is a mistake. The Royal Command Film Performance for 1985 was A Passage to India (an easy confusion, as they are based on novels by the same author and have similar titles). There is only one film screened per year at this event. As evidence, the book "The Royal Command Film Performance: A Celebration" by Robert Sellers and Gareth Owen, a dedicated history of the tradition that discusses every single yearly Royal Command Performance, has an entry for A Passage to India for the 1985 event and never mentions A Room With a View. As additional evidence, see the Wikipedia list for all Royal Command Film Peformances: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Film_Performance (again, as shown here, A Passage to India was the screening for 1985).

Naturally, deleting this listing would also change the display year for A Room with a View from 1985 to 1986.

***

A long post, I know, but no reason has been given for either one of these edits being rejected, and I would rather hear thoughts in an open discussion here than once again attempt to submit these through the system. Can anybody shed any light on why either of these deletions has not been accepted?

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332 Points

7 hours ago

Oh, here are the contribution numbers.For Partie de Campagne: #260316-184403-057000

For A Room with a View: #260316-185829-950000