Rowing across the channel

I saw this film back in'78, when I was 16, on HBO, and it just blew my mind. One of the most surreal scenes I have ever seen is when Casanova is rowing a little boat across what I believe was supposed to be the english channel. Instead of having the boat on water, it was sitting in the middle of a huge sounstage with the floor covered with black plastic tarps. Wind machines got the plastic whipping up and down in huge waves, and the rain machines pelted the boat while Donald Sutherland pantomimed the pitching of the boat. I couldn't believe my eyes. Totally theatrical. I read somewhere that this was shot this way at the last minute in a gymnasium due to bad weather on location.

I have tried to get this film here in the U.S., but I've heard the distribution rights for the U.S. have been tied up in a legal battle since it's initial release. I'm not sure what the details are, but it reminds me of this old building in a town near hear, an old gas station from the 30's. It was full of old cars and old petrolania, surely worth quite a bit of money, but it had been boarded up since the old man who owned it died back in the 30's. Well, his two daughters fought each other in court over this place, boarded up and rotting, until they eventually died and the place burned down. It was like a memorial to their hatred sitting right on main street in the middle of town.

I hope whomever is involved in this legal dispute could just think of all of us here in the U.S. who would like to be able to see this film again, and get over it before they die.