Flicker Alley Archive
Children of Divorce, Blu-ray (1927/2016)
Clara Bow really shines, and an early Gregory Peck is not bad in this restored silent of 1927. Children of Divorce, Blu-ray (1927/2016) Cast: Clara Bow, Gary Cooper, Esther Ralston, Einar Hanson, Norman Trevor Directors: Frank Lloyd & Josef von Sternberg Studio: Paramount/Blackhawk Films/ Flicker Alley (12/3/16) (2 discs: Blu-ray & DVD) Video: 4:3 silent, 1080p HD Audio: New scored based on original by Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra PCM 2.0 Extras: 65 min. Clara Bow: Discovering the ‘It’ Girl produced for Turner Classic Films by Hugh Hefner and narrated by Courtney Love, Souvenir booklet of rare photos, essay, notes of production, article on music of Rodney Sauer, score compiler. Length: 71 min. Rating: ***** This is the 50th publication of Flicker Alley, is based on a 4K resolution scanning of the Library of Congress 1969 fine grain master, and involved over 200 hours of lab work to create the best version possible. This was the first silent film where I must say I forgot it was silent, and the intertitles were not up too long. Gorgeous cinematography, and Clara Bow stands out as the first sex symbol in movies and as far as I’m concerned, way beyond her successors: Jean […]
Destiny (Fritz Lang), Blu-ray (1921/2016)
A fascinating Gothic silent by one of the leading German directors. Destiny (Fritz Lang), Blu-ray (1921/2016) Director: Fritz Lang Cast: Lil Dagover, Walter Janssen, Bernard Goetzke Studio: Decla-Bioscop (Weimar Republic)/Blackhawk Films/ Flicker Alley FA-MD3 036 Video: 4:3+ for 16:9 screens, B&W 1080p HD Audio: English titles by Ulrich Ruedel Music: Orig. score played by Mont Alto Motion Picture Orch. using film music arrangements of the period Length: 99 min. Rating: **** This important silent film was highly influential for its unusual presentation and special effects and helped persuade Hitchcock and Bununel to get into cinema. It is structured as a frame tale with three stories of a fantasy-historical nature within the main story. Human lives are each represented by a candle burning in a huge vault. Death is a man who gives the young woman (Lil) three chances to save her lover from death, if love can triumph over death. The first of the three stories is set in the Arabian Nights, and Douglas Fairbanks purchased the American rights so he could delay its opening and copied some of the special effects for the Persian segment of his Thief of Bagdad. The second story is a Renaissance-Venetian romance and the […]
“The Return of Lost Noir Classics” = Too Late for Tears, Blu-ray (1949/2016); Woman On the Run, Blu-ray (1950/2016)
Two classic film noir features from around 1950, beautifully restored by the UCLA Film & TV Archive and distributed by Flicker Alley. “The Return of Lost Noir Classics” = Too Late for Tears, Blu-ray (1949/2016) Woman On the Run, Blu-ray (1950/2016) Too Late Cast: Lizabeth Scott, Dan Duryea, Arthur Kennedy Director: Byron Haskin Studio: Republic Pictures/ Streamline Pictures/Flicker Alley FA0046 (5/17/2016) (2 discs) Video: 4:3 Black & White 1080p HD Audio: English, PCM mono Extras: Audio commentary track by writer, historian, and film programmer; “Chance of a Lifetime: The Making of Too Late for Tears,”Tiger Hunt: Restoring Too Late for Tears,” 24-p. printed souvenir booklet Length: 102 min. Rating: ***** Woman on the Run Cast: Ann Sheridan, Dennis O’Keefe Director: Norman Foster Studio: Fidelity Pictures/ Flicker Alley FA0047 (5/17/16) (2 discs) Video: 4:3 Black & White 1080p HD Audio: English, PCM mono Extras: Audio commentary track by author, cinema historian and noirchaeologist Eddie Muller; “Love in a Roller Coaster: Woman On the Run Revisited,” “A Wild Ride: Restoring Woman On the Run” “Woman On the Run Locations: Then & Now,” “Noir City” – SF – doc. on the only film noir film festival; 24-p. printed souvenir booklet Length: 79 min. […]
L’Inhumaine, silent, Blu-ray (1924/2016)
A path-breaking 1924 French film which brought together many leaders in modern art and design. L’Inhumaine, Blu-ray (1924/2016) Cast: Georgette Leblanc, Jaque Catelain Director: Marcel L’Herbier Titles & some sets: Ferdinand Leger Studio: Hermes/CNC/ Lobster/Blackhawk Films/ Flicker Alley FA0045 (3/1/16) Video: 4:3 black & white, silent New musical scores by: Aidje Tafial, The Alloy Orchestra Audio: PCM stereo Choice of: French or English intertitles/subtitles Extras: Behind the scenes of L’Inhumanine – 15 min. featurette, About the recording of Aidje Tafial’s Music, Ill. printed booklet with behind-the-scenes photos and information about the film Length: 122 min. Rating: **** This was a very important early French film which featured the artistic collaboration of some of the top names in Paris at the time, such as the painter Leger, architect Robert Mallet-Stevens and directors Albert Cavalcanti and Claude Autant-Lara. Among the attendees playing an unruly audience at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees (but not visible in the film) were Picasso, Man Ray, Erik Satie, James Joyce and Ezra Pound. They are supposed to be booing the opera singer because she was thought to be the reason for a young devotee’s suicide. It is a visual display of the most modern-looking design of the moment, […]
Chaplin’s 15 Essanay Comedies, Blu-ray (1915/2015)
15 newly-restored shorts by and starring Charlie Chaplin, on both DVD & Blu-ray.
Sherlock Holmes Serial, Blu-ray (1916/2015)
A surpisingly enjoyable 1916 silent serial on Sherlock Holmes, beautifully restored.
Masterworks of American Avant-Garde Experimental Film 1920-1970, Blu-ray (2015)
An amazing collection of some of the most important avant-garde films since 1920.
The House of Mystery (La Maison du Mystere), (1921-23/2015)
A long but very artistic and exciting 1923 French silent serial.
3-D Rarities – 22 rare restored 3-D Films [FilmList follows], Blu-ray (1922-2015)
A stunning collection of early 3D films for the format’s 100th anniversary.
VERTOV – The Man With the Movie Camera and Other Newly-Restored Works, Blu-ray (1924-1934/2015)
The main film is one of the most important in the development of cinema and a must see.
Seven Wonders of the World – Cinerama, Blu-ray (1956/2015)
A now-dated but interesting resurrection of one of the original Cinerama films.
Search for Paradise, Blu-ray (1956/2014)
Big and brash three-screen spectacular, but mostly dumb and offensive.
We’re in the Movies, Blu-ray (1983/2010/2014)
Two documentaries: one rather boring and one fascinating.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Blu-ray (1923/2014)
A definitive restoration of the classic 1923 Lon Chaney silent.
The Curtis Harrington Short Film Collection, Blu-ray (1942-2002/2013)
Short films from a little-known filmmaker; for those into historic and obscure art films.
French Masterworks – Russian Emigrés in Paris: 1923-28 (2013)
Five interesting silent features made by Russian emigrants to Paris.
Nanook of the North, The Wedding of Palo & 6 other Arctic films, Blu-ray [2 discs] (1922-2013)
One of the earliest ethnographic films, and other fascinating period views of life in the Arctic.
Wild and Weird (1902-1965/2011)
A good introduction to some of the forward-looking silent film shorts, with interesting improvised scores.
This Is Cinerama, Blu-ray (1952/2012) Windjammer, Blu-ray (1958/2012)
Interesting to see these early ’50s Cinerama films restored so successfully and enjoyably.