- The director's cut copyrighted February 15, 1941, had a running time of 123 minutes. After additional shooting from mid to end March, 1941, the producer submitted a re-edited version of circa 117 minutes for certification by the PCA, and was still denied it. In May 1941, the producer submitted a version with additional cuts (115 min), and was still denied certification. The PCA claimed that of seven copies for distribution in San Francisco, California, in February 5, 1943, only copy #3 was in compliance with the cuts imposed by the PCA - which may mean that at least both versions (117 and 115 min) were theatrically shown at the limited premiere. Based on a letter by the PCA president, one may believe that the NYC September 15, 1947, re-issue with «objectionable material adequately altered» was a re-cut version running under 115 minutes. Meanwhile, the London, UK, premiere of November 29, 1946 of the «uncensored version» may have been the 117-min version. Various theatrical and VHS versions exist, accommodating different censorship and distributors' criteria, running anywhere from 95 to 105 minutes.
- A new version exists, restored from 35mm prints and not rated, in b&w DVD, colorized DVD, and video download. June 16, 2009, the distributor announced it as «complete, uncensored 117 minute version» which is true as far as one may deem that Howard Hughes came to accept his «second cut» of March 31, 1941 (117 min) - forced by PCA's censorship - as his own.
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