BD 239 Waxworks

Discuss releases by Eureka and Masters of Cinema and the films on them.
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L.A.
Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 7:33 am
Location: Helsinki, Finland

BD 239 Waxworks

#1 Post by L.A. » Tue Aug 18, 2020 4:45 am

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Waxworks [Das Wachsfigurenkabinett] was the final film Paul Leni directed in Germany before striking out for Hollywood and making such classic works of genre filmmaking as The Cat and the Canary, The Man Who Laughs, and The Last Warning. Its sophisticated melding of genres was in fact what inspired Universal's Carl Laemmle to invite Leni to come to Hollywood in the first place, as Laemmle was hoping to capitalise on the emerging comedy-horror craze of the 1920s. Yet Waxworks is, at heart, a pure example of German expressionism. Its stylised sets (designed by Leni), fantastical costumes, chiaroscuro lighting, and startlingly bold performances are paragons of the cinematic movement, and contribute heavily to the film's lasting appeal.

The three separate episodes of Waxworks are united by the character of a young poet (William Dieterle), who is hired by the owner of a wax museum to create backstories for a trio of the museum's figures: Caliph Harun al-Rashid (Emil Jannings), Ivan the Terrible (Conrad Veidt), and Jack the Ripper (Werner Krauss). The stories are depicted in succession (one per episode), the poet casting himself—as well as the daughter of the wax museum's owner—at the centre of each tale. Though the poet and the daughter play different characters in the corresponding plots, they are always lovers whose relationship is threatened by the personages of the wax figures.

As there is no surviving original negative of Waxworks, this newly restored edition—a joint effort by the Deutsche Kinemathek and Cineteca di Bologna, L'Immagine Ritrovata (with funding from the German Commission for Culture and the Media)—is composed of contemporary prints and additional film materials from archives around the world. The elements, including English intertitles, were scanned in 4K resolution and then restored in 2K. Presented by The Masters of Cinema Series and Flicker Alley in a special Blu-ray edition, there is an option of two new scores to accompany the film: one by the Ensemble Musikfabrik (commissioned by ZDF/ARTE), and the second by composer Richard Siedhoff.

Special Features and Technical Specs:

NEW 2K RESTORATION OF THE FILM
Option of two newly created scores, by Ensemble Musikfabrik; and composer Richard Siedhoff
Audio commentary with Australian film and arts critic Adrian Martin
Paul Leni's Rebus-Film Nr. 1-8 – Courtesy of Kino Lorber, these Leni-helmed cinematic crossword puzzles were originally screened in 1920s German cinemas as featurettes accompanying the main film. Each of these animated shorts was split into two parts—a clue and an answer—and presented before and after the visual presentation
In search of the original version of Paul Leni's 'Das Wachsfigurenkabinett' – An interview with Julia Wallmüller (Deutsche Kinemathek) based on her presentation after the premiere of the restored film at Il Cinema Ritrovato festival in Bologna 2020
Kim Newman on Waxworks – An in-depth, on-camera interview with journalist, film critic, and fiction writer Kim Newman about the legacy of Waxworks
PLUS: A collector's booklet featuring new essays by Philip Kemp and Richard Combs on the film's history and significance; notes on the restoration process by the Deutsche Kinemathek; and rarely seen production photographs and promotional material
Limited Edition O-Card slipcase [First Print Run of 2000 copies ONLY]

STREET DATE: NOVEMBER 9.

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What A Disgrace
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Re: MoC Forthcoming, Wishlist, and Random Speculation

#2 Post by What A Disgrace » Tue Aug 18, 2020 10:41 am

L.A. wrote:
Tue Aug 18, 2020 4:45 am
New Announcement! A collaborative effort of t​he Deutsche Kinemathek and the Cineteca di Bologna, ​WAXWORKS—Paul Leni’s 1924 cinematic funhouse starring Emil Jannings and Conrad Veidt—will soon be released in a newly restored English language version with two new scores on Blu-ray, presented by Flicker Alley and Eureka Entertainment, with the support of the Sunrise Foundation for Education and the Arts.

Release date, artwork and full details of the Eureka release to be announced soon.
The Flicker Alley release is scheduled to come out November 3, with a bounty of extras. Nice of them to let us know that Eureka! will be releasing the title before I take the plunge on he Flicker Alley title!

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Drucker
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Re: MoC Forthcoming, Wishlist, and Random Speculation

#3 Post by Drucker » Tue Aug 18, 2020 1:08 pm

Very excited for this one. I still have the Kino DVD and the tinting is way too strong iirc.

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TMDaines
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:01 pm
Location: Stretford, Manchester

Re: Forthcoming: Waxworks

#4 Post by TMDaines » Fri Aug 21, 2020 4:13 am

English language?! Not you Masters of Cinema. How did we end up with this film only be restored with English intertitles and not original language?

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eerik
Joined: Sun Mar 22, 2009 4:53 pm
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Re: Forthcoming: Waxworks

#5 Post by eerik » Fri Aug 21, 2020 5:39 am

TMDaines wrote:
Fri Aug 21, 2020 4:13 am
English language?! Not you Masters of Cinema. How did we end up with this film only be restored with English intertitles and not original language?
Nothing of the original German version has survived.
Ever since Rudolf Kurtz paid homage to it in Expressionismus und Film (1926), Das Wachsfigurenkabinett has been considered one of the most important Expressionist films of the Weimar Republic. Less than a year after the premiere of the film, the original negative was burned at the customs office in Paris. German prints did not survive, neither did any other trace of the German original version, such as the censor’s certificate. The most original film element is a nitrate print preserved in the archive of the BFI, which had been produced for the UK market in the mid-1920s. This print was the main source for a restoration in 1998, carried out by Cineteca di Bologna. For the recent digital restoration, a collaboration between Deutsche Kinemathek and Cineteca di Bologna, the same print was used as main source element for restoration. The print, however, showed severe signs of mechanical wear and photochemical decay. Luckily, the BFI also holds a duplicate negative produced from that print in 1979, when some of the material degradation was not as severe. This was used to replace many of the heavily damaged sections in the BFI print. Furthermore, a nitrate print from the Cinémathèque française was used as substitution material for the numerous missing frames in the BFI print. The French print was presumably made in Germany from the British print in the late 1920s for the Canadian market. In an extensive reconstruction process, the missing frames in the BFI elements were reconstructed by creating inserts from the French material. In the absence of the original German texts, the intertitles of the BFI print have been retained in the restoration, which corresponds to the English version of the film. Also the colours of the restoration refer to the colours of the BFI print.

Julia Wallmüller
https://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/e ... abinett-2/

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TMDaines
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Re: Forthcoming: Waxworks

#6 Post by TMDaines » Fri Aug 21, 2020 5:50 am

I guess that's a bit more understandable, despite still be disappointing. Amazing that we have no knowledge of what the original German text was.

Orlac
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:29 am

Re: Forthcoming: Waxworks

#7 Post by Orlac » Sat Aug 22, 2020 10:11 am

The weird thing about WAXWORKS is that in the stills of the tableau, seen in Dennis Gifford's Pictorial History of Horror Movies, the most prominent figure is Rinaldo Rinaldini. He looks like Poe dressed as the Wicked Witch of the West



And they never filmed his scenes!

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eerik
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Re: BD 239 Waxworks

#8 Post by eerik » Thu Sep 03, 2020 12:37 pm


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L.A.
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Re: BD 239 Waxworks

#9 Post by L.A. » Thu Sep 10, 2020 1:04 pm

Update! When we announced our release of Paul Leni’s WAXWORKS a few weeks ago, there was one important fact that we forgot to mention, that this release will be REGION FREE.

WAXWORKS will be released on Blu-ray from a new 2K restoration on home video for the first time in the UK. Available on 9 November featuring a Limited-Edition O-Card Slipcase. PRE-ORDER now https://bit.ly/2El36wW

Orlac
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:29 am

Re: Forthcoming: Waxworks

#10 Post by Orlac » Fri Nov 13, 2020 6:39 am

TMDaines wrote:
Fri Aug 21, 2020 5:50 am
I guess that's a bit more understandable, despite still be disappointing. Amazing that we have no knowledge of what the original German text was.
The German version kept the Werner Krauss character consistent as Jack The Ripper. The UK version that survives keeps that name for the credits, and the sign in front of the figure, but the main intertitles now call him Spring Heeled Jack. The disc isn't clear on this, but I believe it was a BBFC stipulation.

Robin Davies
Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2007 2:00 am

Re: Forthcoming: Waxworks

#11 Post by Robin Davies » Fri Nov 13, 2020 10:34 am

Orlac wrote:
Fri Nov 13, 2020 6:39 am
The German version kept the Werner Krauss character consistent as Jack The Ripper. The UK version that survives keeps that name for the credits, and the sign in front of the figure, but the main intertitles now call him Spring Heeled Jack. The disc isn't clear on this, but I believe it was a BBFC stipulation.
Curious. Is there any evidence for that?

Orlac
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:29 am

Re: BD 239 Waxworks

#12 Post by Orlac » Fri Nov 13, 2020 10:58 am

Just this - https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/monster ... 469#p12469
Yep, Jack the Ripper was the name in the original German version. In a text in Lichtbild-Bühne nr. 151 (1928), Heinrich Fraenkel states that in England the film, after having been held back for years, was finally allowed by the censor to be shown uncut on one condition: That the name 'Jack the Ripper' was changed. The censor came up with a suggestion himself: 'Spring Heel Jack'.

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Dr Amicus
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Re: BD 239 Waxworks

#13 Post by Dr Amicus » Fri Nov 13, 2020 11:02 am

Especially curious as they were entirely different - yes both were Victorian boogeymen called Jack but that's about it.

Robin Davies
Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2007 2:00 am

Re: BD 239 Waxworks

#14 Post by Robin Davies » Fri Nov 13, 2020 11:07 am

Interesting. Presumably the murders were considered too recent for Jack to be the entertainment icon he was to become later! Spring-heeled Jack was a (probably) mythological figure who didn't kill anyone and was therefore safe to use.

Orlac
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:29 am

Re: BD 239 Waxworks

#15 Post by Orlac » Fri Nov 13, 2020 11:56 am

Mind you, the BBFC forbade references to Burke and Hare in THE BODY SNATCHER and THE GREED OF WILLIAM HART, and they'd been dead for a century by that point!

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eerik
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Re: BD 239 Waxworks

#16 Post by eerik » Sat Dec 19, 2020 7:54 am

If your player is set to region A, you will be threatened with prisonment, followed by Flicker Alley logo and their menu; but if the player is set to region B, you will go directly to Eureka's menu. (Did not test region C.) Pretty neat, never though that instead of region locking messages you could just play different playlist/menu instead. Also worth mentioning: it has subtitles in German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portugese, Russian, Arabic, and Chinese. Something that I did not see listed on FA's nor Eureka's websites.

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