On 1 November 2009, the Silent Era website celebrated its 10th anniversary. Editor and publisher Carl Bennett shares
a few thoughts about the website’s history and future goals.
Kino International (USA) has announced their upcoming
NTSC DVD collection
Avant-Garde 3: Experimental Cinema 1922-1954 (1922-1954). Four silent era films will be included. The two-disc collection will be available 24 November 2009.
Kino International (USA) has announced their upcoming Blu-ray Disc release of
The General (1926). The two-disc edition has been mastered from a 35mm fine-grain positive struck from the original camera negative, and will be available 11 November 2009.
Grapevine Video (USA) has released four new silent film
NTSC DVD-Rs.
Burning Daylight (1928), from a Jack London novel, starring
Milton Sills and Doris Kenyon, aviation serial
Eagle of the Night (1928),
Mickey (1918) starring
Mabel Normand, with two versions of the film in the 2-disc set, and
Secrets of the Night (1924) starring James Kirkwood and Madge Bellamy.
Looser Than Loose (USA) has released their
NTSC DVD-R short comedies collection
Polite Society: Five Short Films of Class and Distinction (1914-1927) featuring Earle Foxe and Sydney Chaplin.
Sunrise Silents (USA) has released their remastered
NTSC and
PAL DVD-R editions of
Hula (1927) starring
Clara Bow. The discs feature an improved video transfer.
Thanhouser Company Film Preservation (USA) has released their
NTSC DVD-R edition of
The Thanhouser Collection, DVD Volumes 10, 11 and 12 (1910-1916).
Eureka Video (England) has released their Blu-ray Disc Masters of Cinema edition of
Sunrise (1927), with both the domestic Movietone soundtrack version (with optional Olympia Chamber Orchestra score) and the Czech silent version.
Grapevine Video (USA) has released their
NTSC DVD double feature edition of
Sappho (1921) starring Pola Negri and
Backstairs (1921) starring Henny Porten.
Kino International (USA) has released their
NTSC DVD boxset
Gaumont Treasures 1897-1913 (1897-1913). The three-disc set collects more than 75 films that focuses on the Gaumont productions of French directors Alice Guy, Louis Feuillade and Léonce Perret.
Sunrise Silents (USA) has released their remastered
NTSC and
PAL DVD-R editions of
Ella Cinders (1926) starring Colleen Moore. The discs feature a new video transfer from an original color-toned Kodascope print. Also available is a digital CD-R edition of the August 1920 issue of
Photoplay Magazine.
Unknown Video (USA) has released
WhizBang, Volume 1 (1921-1928), a collection of the feature film
Guardians of the Wild (1928) and three two-reeler action films.
Edition Filmmuseum (Germany) has released the first high-quality DVD edition of
Die freudlose Gasse [
The Joyless Street] (1925) starring
Greta Garbo and Asta Nielsen. The 2-disc edition can only be viewed on
PAL DVD players. A comparable
NTSC DVD edition announcement should come soon.
Sunrise Silents (USA) has released their remastered
NTSC and
PAL DVD-R editions of
Mantrap (1926) starring
Clara Bow and Ernest Torrence. The disc features a new video transfer from improved source materials. Also released is a digital CD-R edition of
the July 1918 issue of Photoplay Magazine.
All Day Entertainment (USA) has released their four-disc
NTSC DVD-R collection
Becoming Charley Chase (1915-1926). The collection covers Chase’s career from
Keystone to
Hal Roach, with accompaniment by
Ben Model, the Snark Ensemble, Redwine Jazz, and the West End Jazz Band.
Flicker Alley (USA) and
Film Preservation Associates (USA) has released their two-disc
NTSC DVD set,
Bardelys the Magnificent and Monte Cristo – Lost Films of John Gilbert (1922-1926), a joint production with Lobster Films, Paris, presenting two films that were previously presumed lost,
Monte Cristo (1922) and
Bardelys the Magnificent (1926).
Kino International (USA) has released their
NTSC DVD boxset
The John Barrymore Collection (1920-1928). The four-disc set will include their previously available 2001 edition of
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920), two new DVD editions of
The Beloved Rogue (1927) and
Tempest (1928), and the first quality home video release of the
George Eastman House reconstruction of
Sherlock Holmes (1922).
Warner Bros. Home Video (USA) has released their latest round of small-run DVD-R releases in their Warner Archive Collection. In the 16 June 2009 releases, seven more silent era titles are now available for direct-sale through Warner Home Video’s
Warner Archive Collection website, including
Beau Brummel (1924),
The Better ’ole (1926),
The Divine Lady (1929),
The First Auto (1927),
Old San Francisco (1927),
The Sea Hawk (1924), and
When a Man Loves (1927). Go to the site to vote on future silent film releases in the Warner Archive series.
Grapevine Video (USA) has released their
NTSC DVD-R editions of
D.W. Griffith, Director Volume 6 (1910) a collection of nine films, plus the feature films
Dangerous Traffic (1926),
The Family Secret (1924) and
The Heart of a Hero (1916).
McFarland & Company (USA) has published the detailed and illustrated 299-page book
Silent Film Stars on the Stages of Seattle: A History of Performances by Hollywood Notables by Eric L. Flom.
Flicker Alley (USA) and
Film Preservation Associates (USA) have released their next
NTSC DVD collection,
Under Full Sail: Silent Cinema on the High Seas (1922-1933), presenting the DeMille-produced feature
The Yankee Clipper (1927) in its high-quality DVD debut, a lengthy 1922 feature-film whale-hunting exerpt, and three nautical short films.
Warner Bros. Home Video (USA) has introduced a new line of small-run DVD-R releases in their Warner Archive Collection. Of the 150 Warner catalog titles that kick-off the series on 24 March 2009, 13 silent era titles have been announced for direct-sale through Warner Home Video’s
Warner Archive Collection website, including
Exit Smiling (1926),
The Kiss (1929),
Love (1927),
The Red Lily (1924),
The Red Mill (1927),
Scaramouche (1923),
The Single Standard (1929),
The Smart Set (1928),
Souls for Sale (1923),
Spring Fever (1927),
The Temptress (1926),
The Trail of ’98 (1928), and
Wild Orchids (1929).
John Libbey Publishing (England) has published Paul Spehr’s biography of cinema pioneer W.K.L. Dickson,
The Man Who Made Movies: W.K.L. Dickson.
Looser Than Loose Publishing (USA) has released their latest collection of Laurel and Hardy related films,
The Larger World of Laurel & Hardy, Volume 9 (1915-1930).
20th Century Fox Home Video (USA) has released a mammoth
NTSC DVD collection of films directed by
F.W. Murnau and
Frank Borzage for
Fox Film Corporation in the 1920s and 1930s,
Murnau, Borzage and Fox (1925-1932). The 12-disc collection includes the silent films
Lazybones (1925),
Sunrise (1927),
7th Heaven (1927),
Street Angel (1928),
Lucky Star (1929) and
City Girl (1929).
Flicker Alley (USA) and
Film Preservation Associates (USA) have released a new
NTSC DVD collection,
Douglas Fairbanks: A Modern Musketeer (1916-1921). The digitally-mastered five-disc set features eleven of Fairbanks’ early films, including five previously unavailable on DVD.
Note: A few DVD players have encountered problems playing some discs in this boxset. Flicker Alley has inititated a program to replace defective discs from this Fairbanks set.
Click here to report defective discs.
Sunrise Silents (USA) has released their
NTSC DVD-R edition of the final seven chapters of
A Woman in Grey (1920) starring Arlene Pretty.
Kino International (USA) has released a new
NTSC DVD boxset entitled
Griffith Masterworks 2 (1909-1931). The multidisc set features new high-definition video transfers of three D.W. Griffith silent era features, a short, and Griffith’s two sound films.
The Avenging Conscience (1914) with
Edgar Allan Poe (1909),
Way Down East (1920),
Sally of the Sawdust (1925), and
Abraham Lincoln (1930) with
The Struggle (1931), and is accompanied by the three-part documentary
D.W. Griffith: Father of Film (1993) by
Photoplay Productions, all also available separately.
Kino International (USA) has released a new
NTSC deluxe DVD edition of
Buster Keaton’s The General (1926). The two-disc set features a new high-definition video transfer, accompanied by three optional music scores — the
Carl Davis score from
Photoplay Productions, a score arranged and performed by Robert Israel, and an organ score performed by
Lee Erwin.
Sunrise Silents (USA) has released their
NTSC DVD-R edition of the first eight chapters of
A Woman in Grey (1920) starring Arlene Pretty. Also available is a digital CD-R edition of an issue of
Photoplay Magazine from 1923.
Alpha Video (USA) has released an
NTSC DVD edition of Robert Wiene’s
Crime and Punishment (1923).
MGM Home Video (USA) and
20th Century Fox Home Video (USA) has released an eight-disc
NTSC collection of
Alfred Hitchcock films that contains the first high-quality release of
The Lodger (1926) on DVD home video.
Kino International (USA) has released a new
NTSC deluxe DVD edition of
F.W. Murnau’s The Last Laugh (1924). The two-disc set features the 2003 restoration from the F.W. Murnau Stiftung with a new 5.1 orchestral performance of the 1924 Giuseppe Becce score, along with the USA version originally released on home video by Kino with music by
Timothy Brock.
Flicker Alley (USA) and
Film Preservation Associates (USA) has released their two-disc
NTSC DVD edition of Abel Gance’s
J’accuse (1919). Restored to its 1919 premiere form in a joint effort of Lobster Films, Paris, and the
Nederlands Filmmuseum, the definitive edition features an orchestral score by Robert Israel, and essay contributions from Kevin Brownlow and Leslie Hawkins.
Sunrise Silents (USA) has released their
NTSC DVD-R edition of
Skinner’s Dress Suit (1926) starring Reginald Denny and Laura LaPlante. Also released is their digital CD-R edition of the November 1925 issue of
Picture-Play Magazine.
The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra (USA) has released their
NTSC DVD edition of
The Mark of Zorro (1920) starring
Douglas Fairbanks.
Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Stiftung (Germany) has announced the recovery of a 16mm reduction negative of
Metropolis (1927) in Argentina. Staff members of Museo del Cine Pablo C. Ducros Hicken in Buenos Aires recovered the worn negative, which is said to contain missing scenes not surviving in other prints of the film.
Read the F.W. Murnau Stiftung announcement. Read the Zeit Online story.
