"Bitter Sweet" Touch

In 1929, British Pathe shot footage of Noel Coward's London sensation, the operetta "Bitter Sweet." Nothing ever happened to the silent celluloid; it gathered dust at the British Pathe film library.

But a few years ago, a Coward scholar contacted Brad Rosenstein, who was curating an exhibition on Coward at the Museum of Performance and Design in San Francisco. The scholar asked if he would be interested in the "Bitter Sweet" footage that totaled about 35 minutes. "It was completely out of order," says Rosenstein. He put the footage in order so it corresponded to the original recording.

Rosenstein will be introducing the restored "Bitter Sweet" Sunday evening at the Linwood Dunn Theater as part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' "Noel Coward Weekend at the Academy."

(Above: Noel Coward by Edward Sorel)