Currently the Lloyd Hamilton disc is only available on DVD. I'm working with Dave Glass on giving the Billy Bevan a general release later this year.
Thanks. I have seen the ones I'm missing/don't have on sale on Ebay so may get them there. I assume the Billy Bevan general release will have the same contents as what was released in the crowd funding thing?
Regarding the mid-twenties film The Bat, when Ben's post was made in late-September last year, I may have looked at the post and the news I forgot about. Having seen their update in this thread from this past weekend, and having checked out the film, it's something I probably would buy a copy of (am getting The Cat and the Canary vibes).
Hey, all! Hopping on here to let you know that the Billy Bevan Blu-ray is in the queue for an early October release. Pre-ordering pages on the various platforms should be up in a couple weeks.
Also, in Bat news – we have finished up all production, and Kickstarter backers' copies are being made now. We expect to have THE BAT (1926) out in mid- or late October.
A mysterious master criminal known as The Bat witnesses a midnight bank heist and trails the robber to a dark and spooky mansion. Once there, The Bat terrorizes the inhabitants of the estate to get his hands on the stolen money in this stylized horror-comedy. -THE BAT is one of the best and most enjoyable examples of the popular old dark house genre. A stylish combination of laughs and thrills, Mary Roberts Rinehart's classic had thrilled audiences on stage before it came to the screen in 1926. Director Roland West was a master visual stylist with a penchant for the macabre. In THE BAT he expertly manipulated light and shadow, and assembled a top-notch production crew that included expert art direction by William Cameron Menzies, and stunning photography by Arthur Edeson and Gregg Toland. The cast, which includes Louise Fazenda, Jack Pickford, Jewel Carmen and Arthur Housman, deftly support the ominous mood while providing plenty of amusement. A hit when it opened, the film was also influential, as the masked figure of the master criminal 'The Bat' had a profound effect on the young Bob Kane, who cited this film and it's sound remake as one of his main inspirations for the creation of Batman.
THE BAT is presented in a new 2K digital restoration by Undercrank Productions from 35mm film elements preserved by UCLA Film & Television Archive, and features a new musical score by Ben Model. Also included are the 1926 comedy two-reeler A FRATERNITY MIXUP, and a short documentary on the life and career of director Roland West.
When Knighthood Was In Flower (1922) @ $12.58 The Craving (1915) @ $12.91 Lon Chaney: Before The Thousand Faces Vol. 1 (1915-1916) @ $13.52 The Bat (1926) @ $15.99 Beverly Of Graustark (1926) @ $16.92 Raymond Griffith: The Silk Hat Comedian (1925-1926) @ $16.92 Tom Mix: Sky High/The Big Diamond Robbery (1922-1929) @ $16.92 Zander The Great (1925) @ $16.92
My review of Ben’s absolutely wonderful release of THE BAT (1926):
Astounding restoration, rocksteady, just gorgeous, and, Ben, your spooky score is divine, fits the mood just perfectly. And no repeated frames, so the onscreen action is buttery smooth with no funky motion artifacting, thank you so much for that. And what a great movie too, dynamite entertainment with lovely atmospheric cinematography and lighting. The mini-doc on Roland West is much appreciated, as is the bonus comedy short, quite funny, thematically appropriate, looks great, and again, no repeated frames, yay! Love the cover art too. This is just a fantastic package all round, and just in time for spooky season!
Yet another silent movie gem rescued and brought back to life, and the latest triumph for Undercrank Productions. One of my favourite releases of the year and an absolute must-own.
Ben Model/Undercrank, in collaboration with film historian Steve Massa (author of Rediscovering Roscoe: The Films of Fatty Arbuckle), has launched a new Kickstarter for an upcoming Undercrank release: Rediscovering Roscoe: The "Fatty" Arbuckle Film Collection. This release. if successfully funded, will be a 2 disc set including 9 rare Arbuckle starring or directed shorts (some from the sole surviving prints), and 1 rare Arbuckle Feature - Crazy To Marry (1921), which was only in theaters for 1 week before it was pulled due to the scandal surrounding Arbuckle. The full disc contents and details on the set are in the quotes below. Like The Bat (1926), all backers will get pressed discs of the set, and the general retail release of it afterwards will be burned MOD discs (other than that, the content on the discs should be the exact same). The set is expected to release, if successful, in February 2026:
From the Kickstarter as well, here's a preview still from Crazy To Marry (1921), from a new 2K restoration by the Belgian Cinematek in Brussels:
Disc Contents:
Quote:
This Kickstarter brings ten rare comedies starring or directed by Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle to Blu-ray and DVD for the first time. It will be a 2-disc set with a running time of over three and a half hours.
One of the great stars of silent comedy, Arbuckle, lovingly known as “Fatty,” was an immensely likeable clown, an innovative comedy creator, and a sophisticated director. For many years he was second only to Charlie Chaplin in audience popularity, but his career was unjustly cut off at its peak due an infamous scandal and trials. Arbuckle’s career was stymied, and his reputation buried for decades.
This new home video collection will give one of the most important participants in silent comedy his due, with a fresh look at his talent and films. I personally curated the selection of films, which is based on my research for the book Rediscovering Roscoe and decades of close collaboration with archives and film festivals. Disc One will showcase films starring Arbuckle, including his earliest surviving short, while Disc Two will highlight films directed by Arbuckle after he was blacklisted from appearing on screen.
Disc One:
The Gangsters (1913) - 10 min, Museum of Modern Art
Roscoe had been making sporadic appearances for Selig and Nestor since 1909. The Gangsters is his very first film for Keystone, where he shares the picture with Fred Mace and becomes an overnight Mack Sennett star.
A Noise From the Deep (1913) - 10 min, Museum of Modern Art
The earliest surviving film of Roscoe with his frequent co-star Mabel Normand. It is also considered to have the first use of a thrown Keystone pie.
An Incompetent Hero (1914) - 12 min, Library of Congress
Roscoe is a victim of circumstances in this rarely seen comedy, which also highlights Edgar Kennedy, Minta Durfee, Al St John, and Roscoe’s tight rope walking skills.
The Sea Nymphs (1914) - 25 min, Restored by the Danish Film Institute
Mabel, Roscoe and a seal have fun in the surf at Catalina, in a new scan made from the only known surviving print.
Crazy to Marry (1921) - 40 min, Restored by Cinematek (Brussels)
This was the sixth of Roscoe’s starring features, and was only in theatres for about a week before being yanked out of distribution and vanishing. This rare survivor illustrates how Roscoe was taking polite comedy plots and working in more and more of his signature physical gags and slapstick.
Bonus: Reconstruction of Fatty and the Broadway Stars (1916) - 7 mins, Nationalbiblioteket (Oslo) & Private collection / Restored by the USC HMH Foundation Moving Image Archive
Only a few 35mm and 9.5mm chunks are all that’s known to exist today of this short. The Triangle Film Corp. had hired famous stage stars like Weber & Fields and William Collier to give prestige to their films, and used Roscoe to introduce some of these stage personalities to movie audiences.
Disc Two:
Never Again (1924) - 12 min, Lobster/Blackhawk
Roscoe here reworks the plots of Fatty at San Diego (1913) and A Reckless Romeo (1917) for his nephew Al St John. Scanned from the only surviving print.
Stupid but Brave (1924) - 21 min, Private collection / Restored by the USC HMH Foundation Moving Image Archive
Having been banned from the screen, Roscoe focused on writing and directing, creating excellent comedies with Ned Sparks, Poodles Hanneford and Al St John.
Dynamite Doggie (1925) - 24 min, Lobster/Blackhawk
Al St John co-stars with Pete the Pup in this rarity that reworks material from Love (1919) and Sherlock Jr. (1924), as well as early films that featured Roscoe’s dog Luke.
Home Cured (1926) - 10 min, Library of Congress
Roscoe launched the series of Tuxedo Comedies for Educational Pictures which starred the fairly new screen comic Johnny Arthur. Scanned from the only known 35mm material, Johnny is a hypochondriac whose wife has had enough.
Honeymoon Trio (1931) - 12 min, Library of Congress
This early sound short is Roscoe’s “road film,” a black comic version of Detour (1946) or The Hitchhiker (1953) that details Al St John on a never-ending honeymoon from hell.
Bonus: Video essay on Roscoe Arbuckle’s life and career.
Disc details/technical specs (spoilered for length):
Quote:
[Show spoiler]New 2K scans of archival 35mm materials preserved by the Museum of Modern Art (NY), Library of Congress, Cinematek (Brussels), Blackhawk/Lobster Films (Paris), Danish Film Institute (Copenhagen), Nationalbiblioteket (Oslo),USC HMH Foundation Moving Image Archive,as well as rare 9.5mm and 16mm material from private collectors.
Digital stabilization will be done by Thad Komorowski of Cineaste Restoration and Michael Coronado of Five Seventy Films.
Color grading (shot-by-shot exposure correction and color adjustments for tinted scenes) by Chris Crouse and Graham Brown who have worked for Undercrank Productions on The Bat, Zander the Great, and the Frank Borzage, Raymond Griffith, Edward Everett Horton and Francis Ford projects.
The films will have restored English titles created by Jesse Pierce, who expertly recreated titles for the Tom Tyler, Raymond Griffith, and Francis Ford projects released by Undercrank Productions.
A video essay produced by Crystal Kui, Associate Producer of Undercrank Productions for the past 5 years. Written and narrated by Steve Massa, the video essay will draw upon Steve’s extensive research on Roscoe Arbuckle and includes more rare clips and archival stills.
The cover art will be created by professional graphic designer and silent era aficionado Marlene Weisman.
Brand new custom musical scores will be created by renowned silent film accompanist Ben Model.
The discs will be professionally authored with full menus and will be made available for purchase after this campaign.
Backers can choose to receive a Blu-ray or a DVD, depending on their preference. Kickstarter backers only will receive pressed discs. Future sales purchased from online retailers will be MOD (manufacture-on-demand) discs.
The Blu-rays will be in high definition, encoded for all regions, and will play anywhere in the world. DVDs will be NTSC standard definition region 0 (region free).
We anticipate this project will take one year and expect to deliver final copes to backers by February 2026.
Ben Model/Undercrank, in collaboration with film historian Steve Massa (author of Rediscovering Roscoe: The Films of Fatty Arbuckle), has launched a new Kickstarter for an upcoming Undercrank release: Rediscovering Roscoe: The "Fatty" Arbuckle Film Collection. This release. if successfully funded, will be a 2 disc set including 9 rare Arbuckle starring or directed shorts (some from the sole surviving prints), and 1 rare Arbuckle Feature - Crazy To Marry (1921), which was only in theaters for 1 week before it was pulled due to the scandal surrounding Arbuckle. The full disc contents and details on the set are in the quotes below. Like The Bat (1926), all backers will get pressed discs of the set, and the general retail release of it afterwards will be burned MOD discs (other than that, the content on the discs should be the exact same). The set is expected to release, if successful, in February 2026:
When Knighthood Was In Flower (1922) @ $12.58 The Craving (1915) @ $12.91 Lon Chaney: Before The Thousand Faces Vol. 1 (1915-1916) @ $13.52 The Bat (1926) @ $15.99 Beverly Of Graustark (1926) @ $16.92 Raymond Griffith: The Silk Hat Comedian (1925-1926) @ $16.92 Tom Mix: Sky High/The Big Diamond Robbery (1922-1929) @ $16.92 Zander The Great (1925) @ $16.92
Update to this post - either this DeepDiscount sale was still ongoing or Undercrank is doing another small sale right now. Several of the Blu-ray releases from last time are on sale for the same prices, and the prices have dropped on several others even further:
When Knighthood Was In Flower (1922) @ $12.58 The Craving (1915) @ $12.91 Lon Chaney: Before The Thousand Faces Vol. 1 (1915-1916) @ $13.52 Raymond Griffith: The Silk Hat Comedian (1925-1926) @ $13.52 The Bat (1926) @ $13.52 Tom Mix: Sky High/The Big Diamond Robbery (1922-1929) @ $13.52 Beverly Of Graustark (1926) @ $13.52 Zander The Great (1925) @ $13.52 Lon Chaney: Before the Thousand Faces Vol. 2 (1914-1917) @ $17.24 Frank Borzage 1922 Silents: Back Pay/The Valley Of Silent Men (1922) @ $17.24 Accidentally Preserved Vol. 5 (1925-1928) @ $17.24
Update to this post - either this DeepDiscount sale was still ongoing or Undercrank is doing another small sale right now. Several of the Blu-ray releases from last time are on sale for the same prices, and the prices have dropped on several others even further:
When Knighthood Was In Flower (1922) @ $12.58 The Craving (1915) @ $12.91 Lon Chaney: Before The Thousand Faces Vol. 1 (1915-1916) @ $13.52 Raymond Griffith: The Silk Hat Comedian (1925-1926) @ $13.52 The Bat (1926) @ $13.52 Tom Mix: Sky High/The Big Diamond Robbery (1922-1929) @ $13.52 Beverly Of Graustark (1926) @ $13.52 Zander The Great (1925) @ $13.52 Lon Chaney: Before the Thousand Faces Vol. 2 (1914-1917) @ $17.24 Frank Borzage 1922 Silents: Back Pay/The Valley Of Silent Men (1922) @ $17.24 Accidentally Preserved Vol. 5 (1925-1928) @ $17.24
The sole surviving print (a nitrate print, to boot) for Crazy To Marry (1921) has 4 of the 6 reels surviving, and the print originally was from the Soviet Union and has Russian intertitles. The print apparently made it's way there somehow after it was pulled in the U.S. following Arbuckle's scandal & trials, and was shown repeatedly in the Soviet Union from 1925 then on. During the Cold War, due to good relations with the then head of the Belgian Cinematek, Jacques Ledoux, Gosfilmofond (the Russian state film archives) repatriated the print of Crazy To Marry to Belgium alongside several other nitrate prints of non-Soviet films at that time. It has now been recently digitized and restored by the Cinematek, and Undercrank will be restoring the English intertitles and original color tinting to it from scripts for the film held by the Margaret Herrick Library in Los Angeles.
In addition, Steve Massa added in a comment to a backer below on the 2nd update that work on the set will start immediately once the goal is reached, and that if they go over the goal, some Arbuckle films may be added to the set as stretch goals.
Lastly, an additional screenshot was shared from the Belgian Cinematek's restoration of Crazy To Marry:
We did it and it's all thanks to you. We're a little surprised we met this goal in just three days. We do have some stretch goals planned and we'll share them soon.
Better back this if you want pressed discs! This will go very nicely with my Forgotten Films of Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle DVD set from Paul Gierucki’s now-defunct Laughsmith company.
Steve says on Nitrateville that the stretch goals will add more shorts to the collection.
And now the 1st stretch goal has been added - if they can reach $26,000 (they're currently at $24,180 as of this writing), two additional Roscoe Arbuckle shorts will be added - 1 starring, and 1 directed by him, both from the sole surviving prints. If funded, there will be a total of 12 films on the disc (11 shorts plus 1 feature) and 2 extras. The original update is quoted below:
Quote:
We have an exciting stretch goal to share with you. If we can reach a total of $26,000 we will add two more films, for an extra 34 minutes.
Twixt Love & Fire (1914) - 10 min, Library of Congress
Iceman Roscoe flirts with pretty Peggy Pearce, but then has to deal with the displeasure of her hubby Edgar Kennedy and his loaded pistols. This one of a kind print was unidentified for many years, and comes to us from the Library of Congress.
Cleaning Up (1925) - 24 min, EYE Filmmuseum
Johnny criticizes his wife's housekeeping skills, but when he stays home to prove that he can do better he lives to regret it. One of the four Johnny Arthur comedies directed by Roscoe, this comes courtesy of the only known surviving print at the EYE Filmmuseum in Amsterdam.
These additions will max out our running time for each disc. We'll now have a total of four hours of unseen Arbuckle!
And now the 1st stretch goal has been added - if they can reach $26,000 (they're currently at $24,180 as of this writing), two additional Roscoe Arbuckle shorts will be added - 1 starring, and 1 directed by him, both from the sole surviving prints. If funded, there will be a total of 12 films on the disc (11 shorts plus 1 feature) and 2 extras. The original update is quoted below:
Nice, looks like they are going to hit this goal pretty fast. Wonder if there will be another stretch goal will be since it doesn't seem like they'll add anymore disc content after this.
Stretch Goal #1 has reaches its funding goal! Here's the update for Stretch Goal #2:
Quote:
Wow, we are so touched by your enthusiasm for this project! Never in our wildest dreams did we expect this campaign to be so successful. In fact, we were a bit worried we would not reach our goal.
It's already time for a new stretch goal. If we can reach a total of $30,000 we will complete full digital restoration on all films in the release. We previously had funds for 4 of the films, but now we hope to include all 12.
Thad Komorowski of Cineaste Restoration and Michael Coronado of Five Seventy Films will work as a team to perform full dust and scratch removal, as well as stabilization.
Together, let's make this release the best we can.
Steve, Crystal and Ben
Last edited by Areyakiddin; 01-20-2025 at 09:45 PM.
The second stretch goal has now been funded. No new stretch goal added yet, but they've shared this update:
Quote:
We reached our second stretch goal. What an amazing feat and it's all thanks to your support!
Now that the project has been funded, things have been moving along swiftly. We have received reference files from the Danish Film Institute for The Sea Nymphs (1914), raw 2K scans of Fatty and the Broadway Stars (1915) from the Nasjonalbiblioteket (Oslo), and we'll soon have the ProRes files of Crazy to Marry (1921) from the Cinematek (Brussels). We will be sharing more in-depth profiles of these titles to come, stay tuned!
Steve, Crystal and Ben
Last edited by Areyakiddin; 01-27-2025 at 04:00 PM.
It looks like there are no more stretch goals for the campaign, but they will keep sharing updates about their progress. Here's the latest update:
Quote:
Thanks again for your support. For the remainder of this campaign we'll be sharing updates on our progress as we receive files from the archives.
Last week we received reference scans of The Sea Nymphs (1914) from the Danish Film Institute (DFI). Their print has Danish intertitles throughout and is complete except for the main and end title.
It's great to see the film and there are some gorgeous scenes on Catalina Island including hilarious antics on a diving board.
We've been unable to locate any original scripts, they do not seem to survive, so we'll be working from translations for the most part. Our goal is to restore the titles in the original style of a Keystone Comedy release.
We'll be working with our regular titles expert Jesse Pierce who will create authentic looking titles. Once this work is done we will send them back to the DFI who will complete the restoration and grading.
Special thanks to Thomas C. Christensen and his colleagues at the DFI.
As a reminder, the only way to receive pressed discs for this release is to back it on Kickstarter. I just want to spread the word in case anyone doesn't know yet, as I know there are always a few people who find out about Undercrank releases after the Kickstarter and wish they had found it out sooner.
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And what a great movie too, dynamite entertainment with lovely atmospheric cinematography and lighting. The mini-doc on Roland West is much appreciated, as is the bonus comedy short, quite funny, thematically appropriate, looks great, and again, no repeated frames, yay! Love the cover art too. This is just a fantastic package all round, and just in time for spooky season!
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