Official Silent Films on Blu-ray Thread

[Knaldskalle]

Originally Posted by bluenote23

I didn't see any mention of Filcker Alley's Early Women Filmmakers set. There is also a Kino set with the same theme and (I hope) different films coming maybe late this year.

I actually wrote one of the companies (I think it was FA, but I'm not 100% certain) and pointed out just what you did when I first found out. I received the reply that they were indeed in contact with each other about their respective projects and that they'd coordinated it so there'd be no or very little overlap.

[Martin_31]

I didn’t even know there was a thread for silent films. I recently bought a couple during the Kino sale and will purchase some during the Criterion/B&N sale. I have wanting to watch more silent films.

[AKNewbie]

Not sure if the OP is still being maintained, but here are a few others.

[Knaldskalle]

The OP hasn't been maintained in a while. There's a UK thread that used to be active (and included US silent releases) but that has also been dormant for a while now.

[oildude]

The first post in this thread hasn't been updated in over three years. The original thread host, despite a good start, has long checked out. Thanks to this thread getting bumped, it has been rediscovered. I had completely forgotten it existed.

I will be taking over as the new OP. This thread has a lot of promise. As a silent film fan myself, I'd like to see it brought back to life. Give me until this weekend and I will take a first pass at bringing the OP current.

Considering the time that has passed since the first post was updated, there must be quite a few new releases to add. I would appreciate any help ya'll can provide. If anyone feels energetic and already knows some that are missing (beyond the posts above), it will save me a lot of searching, especially with the non-U.S. releases. Certainly Flicker Alley and Kino have had a bunch that can be added.

Thanks everyone.

[bigshot]

Thanks for taking it on!

Birth of a Nation (Import and Domestic)
Manhandled
Holy Mountain
Stage Struck
Covered Wagon
When Knighthood Was In Flower
The Sheik
Zaza

The Informer (part talkie)

[Knaldskalle]

Originally Posted by oildude

The first post in this thread hasn't been updated in over three years. The original thread host, despite a good start, has long checked out. Thanks to this thread getting bumped, it has been rediscovered. I had completely forgotten it existed.

I will be taking over as the new OP. This thread has a lot of promise. As a silent film fan myself, I'd like to see it brought back to life. Give me until this weekend and I will take a first pass at bringing the OP current.

Considering the time that has passed since the first post was updated, there must be quite a few new releases to add. I would appreciate any help ya'll can provide. If anyone feels energetic and already knows some that are missing (beyond the posts above), it will save me a lot of searching, especially with the non-U.S. releases. Certainly Flicker Alley and Kino have had a bunch that can be added.

Thanks everyone.

Thanks for taking this on!

You can search by year of release and add the titles that way (https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/movies.php?year=1900). Occasionally the database includes titles that never materialized, but it's a simple way to get started.

[Knaldskalle]

Some UK additions since the last update to the OP:

[Show spoiler]







The Dreyer set contains "Master of the House" (1925).

[happydood]

Thanks oildude. I'll add a couple of what I think are salient points that I've made elsewhere- I didn't love the Lobster Keaton restorations that I've seen- the double feature of Steamboat Bill and College and the short films. I'll be happy to be dissuaded, but I picked these up and thought they looked soft and less like film than the previous Kino releases. I'm glad for the Arbuckle shorts being available on the new shorts release, but the previous editions are my go tos.

And... I'll ask again, because I think it might have been missed. Does anyone know what's going on with Pandora's Box since the Criterion dvd is out of print?

[Knaldskalle]

Originally Posted by happydood

And... I'll ask again, because I think it might have been missed. Does anyone know what's going on with Pandora's Box since the Criterion dvd is out of print?

There is speculation - and it is just speculation - that Eureka or BFI may put it out in the UK. It's currently on a theatrical screening tour in the UK arranged by the BFI, but they have said (when asked) that they only have theatrical rights. That led to speculation that Eureka had possibly picked up the rights for home video distribution (since they already released Diary of a Lost Girl).

But given that there's a 2K DCP making the rounds, it's not unreasonable to suspect that we may see a blu-ray release of it within the next year or two, possibly on both sides of The Pond.

[plateoshrimp]

Here are a few I didn't see mentioned that could be added to the OP:



Thanks, oildude.

edit: also thanks to AKNewbie.

[cropduster]

Here's some more titles to add to the OP:

[AKNewbie]

Originally Posted by plateoshrimp

Here are a few I didn't see mentioned that could be added to the OP:

3 Bad Men
It's the Old Army Game
Beggars of Life
Running Wild

These are all Kino releases. I don't know how to add the pictures with links but I hope this helps anyway. Thanks, oildude.

To add pics/links, use this markup:
markup.jpg.
Search on the title here at blu-ray.com.
Replace # with the actual title number in the url.
(For example, It's the Old Army Game --> blu-ray.com/movies/Its-the-Old-Army-Game-Blu-ray/176468/, so # = 176468)

So add this text:
ArmyGame.bmp




There is a "button" in the advanced editor to add the markup headers (if you don't want to type it):

adveditor.jpg

[plateoshrimp]

Originally Posted by AKNewbie

To add pics/links, use this markup:

[Show spoiler]Attachment 203939.
Search on the title here at blu-ray.com.
Replace # with the actual title number in the url.
(For example, It's the Old Army Game --> blu-ray.com/movies/Its-the-Old-Army-Game-Blu-ray/176468/, so # = 176468)

So add this text:
Attachment 203940




There is a "button" in the advanced editor to add the markup headers (if you don't want to type it):

Attachment 203942

Thank you for taking the time to show me that. You're very kind. I cleaned up my earlier post. I learn something new here everyday!

[oildude]

I have spent a few hours on the OP. The original thread-keeper did a good job of setting things up so I preserved much of what he did after making modifications / additions to the formatting and the information presented. I even added a few names to the list of major stars of the silent era at the beginning of the OP. The earlier version left out Douglas Fairbanks and a few others that should be there.

I updated the categories with a lot of missing titles. Thanks everyone for the posts above. It definitely saved me time. I also went through most of the Kino site, Flicker Alley, and my own fairly extensive Blu-ray collection of silent films as a guide for what was missing in the OP. I am sure I have left off a few titles, but I am done for tonight and will review things tomorrow. If anyone sees something that isn't there, let me know.

In the process of doing this I discovered a few that I was not aware had been released on Blu-ray, so I have now placed an order for When Knighthood was in Flower, The Garden of Eden (BD-R), and The Ancient Law.

[Knaldskalle]

Just realized that I forgot this one:



It contains the movies Zapatas Gang (1914), When I was Dead (1915) and Asphalt (1929) and 3 sound films as well.

[Martin_31]

So I watched the first film, which I bought during the recent Kino sale, staring Lon Chaney; it was The Penalty. What an amazing film. I don’t mean that it’s the best or my favorite but that’s it so believable that he plays an amputee. His acting is incredible and his facial expressions are never repeated. Truly a good film, which has tempted me to see more starring Chaney.

[AKNewbie]

@oildude
Extraordinary work with the OP. Very nice, indeed!

But my wallet is not so happy; but do like I do - just ignore it.

[oddbox83]

Originally Posted by Martin_31

So I watched the first film, which I bought during the recent Kino sale, staring Lon Chaney; it was The Penalty. What an amazing film. I don’t mean that it’s the best or my favorite but that’s it so believable that he plays an amputee. His acting is incredible and his facial expressions are never repeated. Truly a good film, which has tempted me to see more starring Chaney.

Yes he's so believable. He must have went through agony for his art.

[senseabove]

From the KLSC thread:

Originally Posted by Kino Lorber Insider

No silents, we asked for The Man Who Laughs which we had released in our old Universal deal, but didn't get it.

Hopefully that means someone else has the rights to it... I wonder who else in Region A would release it, though. Seems a little too niche for Criterion...