 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
I know that I've mentioned The 5 DVD "Douglas Fairbanks Collection" at least once recently, but I just can't recommend this boxed-set enough! KINO has done a marvelous job here with quality restorations and reissues of his best output in the 1920's. Locate my other post for a more detailed analysis. BTW, separately I would also like to heartily recommend KINO's release of Fairbank's Gaucho and The Iron Mask; both are excellent."The Buster Keaton Collection" is also a KINO release and while the quality of the source material and music scoring is decidedly inconsistent it's a highly successful release overall; it represents almost all of his existing silent film output released under his own name in the 1920's.
My Best Girl, Image release of Mary Pickford's last silent film; the picture restoration quality is very nice although it could've been better given the apparent condition of the source material. Still, the story and charm recommend it strongly.
Blind Husbands, Foolsh Wives and Queen Kelly, three of Eric Von Stroheim's directorial efforts; KINO has done a good job of restoring existing elements although with the possible exception of Blind Husbands none of Von Stroheim's works has ever been released complete, as the Director originally envisioned them. BTW, lots of extras are included on each of these releases; all are highly recommended.
The Lost World, Image release, David Shepherd restoration, at 93 minutes the most complete version of this 1925 classic ever released on home video; lots of extras, including rare Willis O'Brien out-take effects footage and two alternate orchestral scores and a minaturized version of the original souvenir program. Excellent release all around; also, highly recommended.
Animation Legend Winsor McCay (Lumivision/Slingshot) contains almost all the existing footage created by this animation pioneer, cartoonist and illustrator extraordinaire. Beautifully compiled and visually stunning footage live-action and animated that captures an era so long past that it may seem almost alien in it's quaintness, politeness and dignity; it's a curiosity for sure, but recommended.
Whew, that's enough for right now, but there's a lot more worthy of recommendation, including European silents! For those who haven't been able to get into silent films I may narrow the list of recommended features to one or two "must haves" to try before giving up. BTW, any red-blooded American movie maven, or blue-blooded European movie maven for that matter, who appreciates subtitled films in a different language should not ignore classic silent films! ;^)
Cheers,
AuPh
Follow Ups:
I have the Keaton set on laserdisc. "The General" of that set has been bettered by an Image effort. It and "Sherlock, Jr." are on my top ten of all time list. I once commented to a friend that the plot set up of Sherlock, Jr. was so simple (i.e., Buster changing the $1 candy box to a $4 version) could be easily followed by a 4 year old child. Lo and behold when about a year later his own daughter, when trying to explain the consequences of one's actions, said to him, "You know, like when Buster Keaton changed the price of the candy box". I was moved.
You know, I never really paid attention to silent films until a few years ago, when I saw a Buster Keaton film (sorry, can't remember which one) at the Castro Theater here in San Francisco. The Castro has a Wurlitzer, and the Keaton film was accompanied by a very, very old organist who had played with silent movies back when they were new. Both the film and the organist were amazing. The film was far more modern than I expected it to be. There were tons of chases, and the filmmakers made the limited technology go a very, very long way. Keaton was quite an athlete, performing many daring stunts without assistance.Since the Keaton film was such a great experience, I made sure I saw "It" when I had a chance. That was great, too. Then a few weeks ago I saw "Picadilly" (a British silent) with Anna May Wong, which was also great.
I think silent films are the purest form of cinema. The story is told in pictures. The score helps, as do the title cards, but if you took them away, the story would still be there. Actually, I think you can tell whether or not a film is good cinema by turning the sound off. It's pretty easy to tell what's going on in films by good directors such as Hitchcock and Ozu just by watching the images, edits and camerawork.
Jeffery
Try "Sunrise" and "Greed" and the two Keaton films I cite aboove.I consider most of "2001: A Space Odyssey" a silent fim. And of course there Mel Brooks' hilarious "Sielent Movie".
I meant to add Sunrise, but decided to wait until I do my next recommended listing which will include German silents. BTW, I'm hopeful that the Brownlow Greed restoration, which has been shown on TCM a couple of times, will one day find it's way to DVD.AuPh
I have "Greed" on laserdisc but it is not that version. The TCM I have not seen and I have been anxiously waiting for the DVD. I use parts of "Greed" to demonstarte to "talkie" folks how powerful silent
film can be.
... thanks to Francis Ford Coppola owning the rights in this country and his insistance on using the butchered Zoetrope version because it has Carmen Coppola's orchestral score. BTW, Brownlow's technique uses stills and script to replace lost, partially damaged or destroyed film segments that were in the original Director's version. It may sound distracting from my description, but it really isn't; it's the next best thing to a complete full-length restoration, IMHO.AuPh
Would that the original 8-9 hours COULD be found and restored!
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
