Warner Home Video (USA) has released their Warner Archive NTSC DVD-R editions of three Lon Chaney films directed by Tod Browning: The Black Bird (1926) with Renée Adorée and Owen Moore, West of Zanzibar (1928) with Mary Nolan and Warner Baxter, and Where East is East (1929) with Lupe Velez and Lloyd Hughes. Also released is Tell It to the Marines (1927) directed by George Hill, with William Haines and Carmel Myers.
Flicker Alley (USA) has released their combo Blu-ray Disc and NTSC DVD edition of the color-tinted restoration version of Georges Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon (1902). Also featured are two Méliès films with astronomical themes, and a full-length documentary on the film and the ambitious restoration of a fragile, original hand-colored print. The various presentations feature music scores by French musicians Air, Robert Israel, Frederick Hodges, Donald Sosin and Alexander Rannie. The set is packaged in a limited edition SteelBook case.
Grapevine Video (USA) has released four new NTSC DVD-Rs for March 2012, Her Sacrifice (1926) with Gaston Glass and Ligia de Golconda, White Oak (1921) starring William S. Hart, a remastered edition of The Nut (1921) starring Douglas Fairbanks, and The Shamrock and the Rose (1927) with Mack Swain. All of the discs feature theatre organ scores by David Knudtson.
Kino Lorber (USA) has released their DVD edition of Fritz Lang’s restored serial adventure The Spiders (1919-1920). The new home video edition has been mastered from a restored print for a running time of nearly three hours. The presentation is accompanied by a music score performed by Ben Model.
Paramount Home Entertainment (USA) has released their high-definition remastered edition of William A. Wellman’s Wings (1927) on Blu-ray Disc and on DVD. The high-definition remastering was undertaken from a duplicate 35mm negative held by Paramount and involved a frame-by-frame digital restoration of the picture, removing emulsion scratches and nitrate decomposition. The discs will feature a new recording of the orchestral music score by J.S. Zamecnik presented in DTS-HD 5.1 surround sound and the beloved theatre organ music score performed by Gaylord Carter in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo (or mono?) sound. Special color effects and color tints, replicating the original release prints, will be a feature of the new home video release, and period sound effects will be added to the soundtrack by Academy Award winning sound designer Ben Burtt to evoke a silent era viewing experience.
University Press of Kentucky (USA) has released their new biography of producer and production innovator Thomas H. Ince, Thomas Ince: Hollywood’s Independent Pioneer by Brian Taves. The biography focuses on Ince’s contributions to the motion picture industry and less on the circumstances of his untimely death.
Kino Lorber (USA) has released their remastered edition of Buster Keaton’sSeven Chances (1925) on Blu-ray Disc and on DVD. The edition has been remastered in high-definition from a 35mm print held by the Library of Congress. A Keaton cause for celebration!
Kino Lorber (USA) has released their Blu-ray Disc edition of Sherlock Holmes (1922) starring John Barrymore, with William Powell in his motion picture debut. The edition has been mastered from the 35mm restoration print produced by the George Eastman House.
Kino Lorber (USA) has released their remastered edition of D.W. Griffith’sThe Birth of a Nation (1915) on Blu-ray Disc. The three-disc edition features the 1080p high-definition remaster from 35mm materials, with the 1930 rerelease synchronized sound introduction by Griffith and Walter Huston, plus the rediscovered intermission sequence. Music performed by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra is presented in DTS-HD 5.1 surround sound and in 2.0 stereo sound. Two other DVD discs contain the contents of Kino’s previous two-disc DVD edition from 2002, with a complete presentation of the David Shepard produced edition with Joseph Breil’s original music score and a collections of Civil War short films directed by Griffith.
Kino Lorber (USA) has released their remastered edition of D.W. Griffith’sWay Down East (1920) on Blu-ray Disc. The edition has been remastered in high-definition from the restored 1985 print held by the Museum of Modern Art.
Kino Lorber (USA) has released their Blu-ray Disc and DVD editions of the Giorgio Moroder presentation of Fritz Lang’sMetropolis (1927). The eighties rock music score featuring Freddie Mercury, Jon Anderson, Loverboy, Pat Benatar, Adam Ant, Billy Squier and others, has been remixed for 5.1 surround sound, with the original 2.0 stereo mix included optionally.
Image Entertainment (USA) has released their Blu-ray Disc edition of The Phantom of the Opera (1925) starring Lon Chaney. The new edition has been transferred in high-definition from a 35mm print of the 1929 rerelease version. The Technicolor footage will be included. A standard-definition transfer of the rough surviving 8mm reduction print of the 1925 release version is also presented in this new edition, which has been produced by David Shepard of Film Preservation Associates.
National Film Preservation Foundation (USA) has released their fifth DVD home video collection of films, Treasures 5: The West (1898-1938), preserved through their ongoing efforts to assist film archives, libraries and historical societies restore and preserve their endangered film holdings. The three-disc collection presents forty films depicting the American West, many of them appearing on home video for the first time. Among the nearly 600 minutes of films collected for this release are Mantrap (1926) starring Clara Bow and Ernest Torrence, The Lady of the Dugout (1918) starring real-life western outlaw Al Jennings, and Salomy Jane (1914) starring Beatriz Michelena and House Peters. The boxset collection will contain a softbound book with information on the films. Sales of the boxset support the NFPF’s film preservation efforts.
Kino Lorber (USA) has released their remastered edition of Buster Keaton’sGo West (1925) with Battling Butler (1926) on Blu-ray Disc and on DVD. This new edition has been transferred in high-definition from 35mm prints held by the Library of Congress. Among the supplemental material is a presentation of Hal Roach’s short comedy Go West (1923).
Criterion Collection (USA) has released their home video edition of Victor Sjöström’s The Phantom Carriage (1920), which is available on Blu-ray Disc and DVD. The edition has been transferred in high-definition from a 35mm print materials in collaboration with the Swedish Film Institute. There are two optional musical scores, one by Matti Bye and one by avant-garde musical duo KTL.
The New Zealand Film Archive (NZ) and the National Film Preservation Foundation (USA) have announced a major project to repatriate and preserve 75 American feature and short films, which includes the previously presumed lost Upstream (1927) directed by John Ford. Among the other films are an early Clara Bow film Maytime (1923), a previously lost Keystone comedy Won in a Closet (1914) with Mabel Normand, and a Lois Weber feature Idle Wives (1916). READ THE STORY
A previously unknown Charles Chaplin performance occurs in the recently recovered Keystone comedy A Thief Catcher (1914). Collector Paul E. Gierucki purchased a 16mm reduction print of the film at a Michigan antique sale and recently identified Chaplin’s appearance as a policeman. READ THE STORY by Scott Eyman.