Undercrank Productions Discussion Thread

[UndercrankProd]

I don't work with existing music or cue sheets, but I'm familiar with this stuff. For performances, it's mostly all improvised, and for recordings it's a process of starting and stopping and improvising until it's right. There's a podcast interview me with me somewhere that posted this month where I talk about my process, and if I can think of which one it was I'll come back here and share a link.

If you really want to go on a deep dive re my process, I encourage everyone to check out my Silent Film Music Podcast.

Thanks!

Ben

[SanCarolina59]

From Nitrateville, Ben Model has stated that Undercrank has plans to release a disc of Francis Ford (John Ford's older brother) films this fall, alongside another Kickstarter slated for fall as well.

Thanks so much! We have a disc of restored Francis Ford films in the pipeline for release in the fall, and another Kickstarter slated for fall as well.

Ben

Also looking at DeepDiscount, it appears the Tom Mix double feature is on sale for $15.99 right now as well. Link here.

[Cecil B. DeMille]

I just ordered the two Lon Chaney Blu-rays from the Deep Discount sale. Excited to check out my first Undercrank discs!

If anyone plans on ordering from Deep Discount as well, keep in mind that there is a further 10% off all in-stock items when using the code RINGO until tomorrow noon CT.

[UndercrankProd]

There is now a Bluray.com review for the Raymond Griffith here.

[SanCarolina59]

From the latest Nitrateville Radio Podcast here starting at 32:10, Ben Model appears and talks about Undercrank and it's latest productions, with more details on the upcoming Francis Ford release, which will include The Craving (1918) directed, written by and starring Francis Ford (John Ford is listed on IMDB as having also co-directed and co-written this film as well, but an IMDB trivia entry for the film alleges that John Ford, when asked about his involvement in this film by the late Peter Bogdanovich, denied being involved with it) from the Dutch EYE film museum, with Kathy Fuller-Seeley collaborating with Model on translating the intertitles from EYE's copy.

[Oldman Gerald]

I ordered a Raymond Griffith Blu-ray last week, and got a Raymond Griffith case with a When Knighthood Was in Flower disc inside! Very interesting, I suppose I had better return it but wanted to mention it here.

[SanCarolina59]

Ben Model has just announced Undercrank Productions' next Kickstarter launching coming the following month, which will be a new 2K restoration of Roland West's The Bat (1926) from 35mm elements held by UCLA, with a release date of Halloween 2024 if successful.

Link

[UndercrankProd]

My apologies for not posting the link here when I launched the Kickstarter last Wednesday.

Undercrank Prods. will be bringing Roland West's original silent THE BAT (1926) to home video next year, in a new scan and digital restoration of UCLA Film & Television Archive's photochemical preservation-restoration done in the late 1980s.

We hit our funding goal Sunday night and Kickstarter has now listed this as a "project we love"...but the Kickstarter runs until Oct 5. If you pledge you'll get your copy of the Bluray before it goes on sale to the public next year, and you'll get insider and behind-the-scenes info on the project all along the way.

Also – since I know this is a factor for some of the folks on the forum – although the product that will go on sale via MOD to the public next year will be a duplicated-per-order product, the backer copies will be pressed Blu-rays. This is because there are enough backers on this project now where the cost of replication for this quantity is better than it is for duplication.

Thanks.

Ben

[SanCarolina59]

Just saw this on Undercrank's website, there's a new Blu-ray release coming from them in April - Accidentally Preserved Vol. 5 (1-4 were released a while back on DVD only). Details below:

During the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s, rental libraries made 16mm copies of silent movies for home movie enthusiasts to rent and watch at home. Because these movies were printed on 16mm safety stock, many of them have outlived the original 35mm nitrate prints of silent films that are now lost or extremely rare. It’s as if these movies were…

Accidentally Preserved.

This 5th volume of rare silent films draws on the archive of film collector and accompanist Jon C. Mirsalis. In Lorraine of the Lions, Patsy Ruth Miller is a female Tarzan in a tale that anticipates King Kong; the antics in Love at First Flight finds Lige Conley in trouble in a plane and on the beach; in Hoofbeats of Vengeance equine star Rex, King of Wild Horses is out for retribution over his owner’s murder; and in The Fourth Commandment Belle Bennett is caught in a power struggle with her mother-in-law when she moves in with the couple and their son. Each of these 4 films are presented in new 2K scans made by the Library of Congress from vintage 16mm prints made in the 1920s, and are accompanied by new musical scores by Mirsalis.

Unavailable to the public for decades, these obscure silent era gems are now back onscreen, entertaining fans all over again!

DISC 1:
Lorraine of the Lions (1925) – 76 mins
Love At First Flight (1928) – 18 mins
DISC 2:
Hoofbeats of Vengeance – 47 mins
The Fourth Commandment (1927) – 66 mins

Format: Blu-ray / DVD
207 mins ● B&W/tinted ● Silent with score (stereo) ● 1:33:1 aspect ratio ● Not Rated ● Region ABC (all-regions) for Blu-ray ● NTSC Region free for DVD
An Undercrank Productions/Library of Congress release. Produced for home video by Jon C. Mirsalis and Ben Model.
Associate Producer: Crystal Kui.
Release date: April, 2024

Pre-ordering coming in early March:

[Diorm]

They should rerelease the previous ones in blu ray. I heard Ben might be interested to do that with old DVD but I'm not sure about it. Maybe he changed his mind?

[WaverBoy]

My wish list for Undercrank BD-R rereleases consists of the following Marion Davies silents:

Little Old New York
Beauty’s Worth
The Bride’s Play

[Diorm]

I asked Ben if he'll eventually make blu rays out of the previous volumes and here's what he had to say:
"I wish I could, but currently don't have the time to do so. But that is a project I'd like to see happen as well. Thanks for the sugg."

[Diorm]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...ilm-collection
New Kickstarter, The Tom Tyler Silent Film Collection!

These are new 2K archival scans of “The Law of the Plains” and “The Man from Nevada”, both from 1929 and directed by J. P. McGowan. These will contain original scores by Ben Model.

The Tom Tyler Silent Film Collection will be released on Ben's label Undercrank Productions, and all contributors will receive a Blu-ray of the two above-named silent films which have not been seen for over ninety years.

[SanCarolina59]

Saw this on Nitrateville - Undercrank just announced their newest release, a set of films starring and/or directed by Francis Ford (John Ford's older brother). The set should be released around July 2024:

You may know Francis Ford for his roles as an old drunk veteran or crusty barkeep in more than twenty of director John Ford’s films, but you may not know that between 1910 and 1920 Francis Ford was a silent film star and renowned director of westerns, cliffhanger serials, mystery thrillers, and dramas.

This release presents four of his silent films in new 2K digital restorations by Undercrank Productions featuring new musical scores by Ben Model.

In 1918, Francis Ford used his movie fortune to start an independent company and produced the five-reel feature The Craving. A drama of obsession and addiction, The Craving demonstrates Ford’s abiding interest in the use of special effects like double and triple exposures to make psychologically-tormented characters face their fears and obsessions. He incorporated footage from his lost 1915 short of the Indian rebellion, The Campbells Are Coming, as well as found footage from other Universal films to craft a sharp criticism of the needless slaughter of troops in the first World War.

Also included in this collection are three short films: Ford’s one-reel western comedy produced by Gaston Melies’ Star Films company, When the Tables Turned (1911) co-starring Edith Storey; the two-reeler The Post Telegrapher made for the Bison Film Company; and the jewel thief caper Unmasked (1917), originally released in 1913 as The Black Masks, with the actress and scenarist Grace Cunard, who starred in dozens of Universal films with Ford.

The Craving (1918) – 52 mins
Unmasked (1917) – 11 mins
The Post Telegrapher (1912) – 24 mins
When the Tables Turned (1911) – 11 mins
Screen Snapshots (1920) excerpt – 2 mins

Bonus Feature: Francis Ford, Film Pioneer (2023) – 9 mins

Undercrank Site Link

[OceanBlue]

A welcome announcement The Craving as I had been wondering when a new Undercrank title was going to be announced. Have checked it out and it sounds interesting enough to convince me to eventually get a copy (like the sound of the short films Unmasked and When the Tables Turned as well).

[MaryGH]

I have a Kickstarter for two Tom Tyler silent films (The Man from Nevada, Law of the Plains, both from 1929) that will be released on Undercrank Productions later on this year - this Kickstarter ends June 2 and is 97% funded - a huge thank you to everyone who makes a pledge!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...ilm-collection

[MaryGH]

Originally Posted by Diorm

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...ilm-collection
New Kickstarter, The Tom Tyler Silent Film Collection!

These are new 2K archival scans of “The Law of the Plains” and “The Man from Nevada”, both from 1929 and directed by J. P. McGowan. These will contain original scores by Ben Model.

The Tom Tyler Silent Film Collection will be released on Ben's label Undercrank Productions, and all contributors will receive a Blu-ray of the two above-named silent films which have not been seen for over ninety years.

Sorry, I did not see this post before I made mine! lol

I'm the one running the Kickstarter.

[MifuneFan]

I finally got around to properly updating the OP. I added all the Blu-ray releaes to date (I believe). I am putting any new and upcoming release as a featured title at the top with a larger pic, and more details. I also added descriptions for every release at the bottom of the post. Feel free to let me know if anything is missing, or any other suggestions. Thanks.

[fatboyslim142]

Originally Posted by bigshot

The D&D blu-rays are fantastic. I support all of their projects now.

Is the first release, Lloyd Hamilton, DVD ONLY? I know the third, Billy Bevan, was expanded into a double disc BD.

[UndercrankProd]

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.

The Francis Ford THE CRAVING disc is now available for pre-order, on both Blu and DVD via the usual online suspects. Links to the disc's (pre)ordering pages are here.

We are currently finishing up work on our release of the restored Roland West silent THE BAT (1926), and are still on track to have this out in time for Halloween.

Ben