davidhare wrote:Strange Impersonation is Mann's Decoy!
Cruel but probably true.
The other one is Mann's channelling of Dmytrik's Hitler's Children. (Not a musical.) It is irredeemable (altough Jane Greer and Tommy Noonan are in it.)
The other one is Mann's channelling of Dmytrik's Hitler's Children. (Not a musical.) It is irredeemable (altough Jane Greer and Tommy Noonan are in it.)
Sounds like a must-see to me!
Are you talking about Hitler's Children or Bamboo Blonde? Cause David's right: neither is any great shakes. (Though a musical version of Hitler's Children sounds bizarrely intriguing -- like "Springtime for Hitler." Heck, musical numbers wouldn't stretch credulity any farther than that movie does as is.)
The other major director of that generation to bide his time/cut his teeth on laughably bad b-movie material was Tourneur. I watched Nick Carter, Master Detective again the other day, only to be confounded yet again by the totally unexpected surrealism of Donal Meek's "bee man." I can just imagine the pre-production memos at MGM for that one: "OK, guys, we've got to give Pidgeon some sort of comic-relief sidekick."
I finally watched "Secrets of a soul" last night, and considering that this was dismissed by many reviewers, I was quite pleasantly surprised. Sure, the psychoanalysis and the resolving of the husband's problem appears to be rather crude, but actually the way it describes and explains the symbolism of his dream reminded me a lot of actual case descriptions in Freud's writings, so perhaps psychoanalysis is to blame here and not the script. Otherwise, although slow-going at first, the film gathers some momentum soon, and that dream sequence is indeed extraordinary (and I find the whole film rather inventive visually). Perhaps it hasn't aged well, but I would assume that for 1926 audiences this was quite an extraordinary film. I also liked the text essay on the making of the film that Kino provided.
Some curious moments in the transfer though: at around 35 min. there is a huge horizontal stripe in the image, making everything that is in it look 'brighter'. I've never seen anything like this before and would assume it's in the print, but what IS it actually? Secondly, a few minutes later, there's an audio glitch, some strange crackly noise sounding a little like a malfunctioning volume poti on your amplifier or a broken audio cable. I'm pretty sure this must be Kino's fault.... it goes away after a minute or so, but I thought I'd point it out (if noone else has noticed it, I better check my amplifier, but I don't think anything's wrong with it...)
That's absolutely tremendous news! I'd love to wish for more than that, but I know that many of Sjostrom's other great films of the 1910s have not yet been restored by the Swedish Film Institute (these should be ports of the SFI and NFI restorations of the respective films).
A restored print of Phantom Carriage traveled as part of the Janus 50 years series and it's one of only two of those films that hasn't been announced for a Criterion yet (the other is The Makioka Sisters). It's definitely coming from CC.
Amazing news though. Stiller has been a revelation for me, and having recently seen Sjostrom's He Who Gets Slapped, I'm certainly excited about seeing any of his other work. Are these in that nice Swedish box that came out last year?
Is the 93 minute running time listed my IMDB only indicative of the film's original form, or do more than fragments survive? I'm ignorant of the film's surviving condition.
Is the 93 minute running time listed my IMDB only indicative of the film's original form, or do more than fragments survive? I'm ignorant of the film's surviving condition.
Ingeborg Holm
AKA [Give Us This Day], [Margaret Day]
(1913) Swedish
B&W : Five reels
Directed by Victor Sjöström Victor Sjostrom Victor Seastrom
Cast: Hilda Borgström, Erik Lindholm, Georg Grönroos, William Larsson, Aron Lindgren, Richard Lund
Svenska Biografteatern production. / Scenario by Victor Sjöström and Nils Krok, from a play by Nils Krok. Cinematography by Henrik Jaenzon and Charles Magnusson. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.37:1 format. / Borgström’s film debut.
References: Bardèche-History p. 58; Cowie-Finnish p. 15; Cowie-Swedish-2 pp. 9-10, 12, 24, 150; Forslund-Sjöström p. 274; McIlroy-Sweden pp. 5, 6-7, 8, 166; Shipman-Cinema p. 50; Sinyard-Silent pp. 124, 156.
David Shipman, author of The Story of Cinema, devotes a whole chapter to Sjostrom calling him "The Screen's First Master." Aside from Shipman's merits as a critic (and that can go either way at times...his book is in any event a decent resource, imho) he does rave over Terje Vigen and especially The Outlaw and His Wife noting that "in power and maturity it dwarfs all other film epics to that time."
Anyone familiar with these to offer more in depth comments?
ptmd wrote:A restored print of Phantom Carriage traveled as part of the Janus 50 years series and it's one of only two of those films that hasn't been announced for a Criterion yet (the other is The Makioka Sisters). It's definitely coming from CC.
Tribe wrote:David Shipman, author of The Story of Cinema, devotes a whole chapter to Sjostrom calling him "The Screen's First Master." Aside from Shipman's merits as a critic (and that can go either way at times...his book is in any event a decent resource, imho) he does rave over Terje Vigen and especially The Outlaw and His Wife noting that "in power and maturity it dwarfs all other film epics to that time."
Anyone familiar with these to offer more in depth comments?
I've only seen The Outlaw and His Wife, but I wholeheartedly agree. Sjostrom and Stiller were the cutting edge of world cinema in the late 1910s, and in many ways their films of that time had a maturity that other national cinemas were a long time catching up with. If you're a fan of outdoor-Murnau or pre-Jeanne Dreyer, don't miss it. A hundred bouquets to Kino for coming up with these companions to their indispensible Stiller discs, and a barrage of brickbats to Criterion for continuing to sit on The Phantom Carriage (not my favourite Sjostrom, but nevertheless. . .)
Yes, although that's already been released on DVD as part of the big Janus 50 years box set (so it is probably coming even sooner than Phantom Carriage).
As for Sjostrom, he is arguably the greatest director of the 1910s (along with Griffith, Stiller, Feuillade, Bauer, Christensen and Tourneur) and both the Outlaw and His Wife and Terje Vigen are masterpieces. The treatment of the Swedish landscape in The Outlaw and His Wife is one of the peaks of the period, matched only by Stiller's Sir Arne's Treasure.
"Ingeborg Holm" comes too, as an extra on the "A Man There Was" Disk.
That's astonishing news, Ingeborg Holm is even better than Terje Vigen, probably the most amazing film made anywhere in 1913.
ptmd wrote:As for Sjostrom, he is arguably the greatest director of the 1910s (along with Griffith, Stiller, Feuillade, Bauer, Christensen and Tourneur) and both the Outlaw and His Wife and Terje Vigen are masterpieces. The treatment of the Swedish landscape in The Outlaw and His Wife is one of the peaks of the period, matched only by Stiller's Sir Arne's Treasure.
Indeed. There's no way of lamenting it loudly enough that Swedish silent cinema still doesn't get the full recognition it deserves. THE OUTLAW AND ITS WIFE builds very slowly and gets more powerful with every act.
there are still a few less known Sjöströms who should find their way out on DVD out of the archives, especially MÄSTERMAN is a very appealing film for a modern public.
ptmd wrote:
"Ingeborg Holm" comes too, as an extra on the "A Man There Was" Disk.
That's astonishing news, Ingeborg Holm is even better than Terje Vigen, probably the most amazing film made anywhere in 1913.
I completely agree with you having seen almost Sjöström's complete output. Barry salt wrote in his "Film style" that it's the most impressive of the early features despite being stylistically completely out of tune with the evolving editing techniques. Bergman was also impressed by it. Since TERJE VIGEN is a bit heavy handed in its construction, I'm rather buying INGEBORG HOLM and TERJE is the extra for me.
Kee-rist. If they start releasing their silent line on BR I'll hafta seriously start considering a PS3, a whole new rig actually. If we start seeing stuff like Pick's New Years Eve (which I know has been restored to glorious shape from a Japanese element which is ipso facto fabuloso) or the Grunes or missing Langs like Four Around A Woman-- which is in surprisingly excellent shape from the print I saw-- not to mention the sublime EPsteins Couer Fidele or Finis Terrae, my wallet would be in huge trouble.
If they hadnt started getting their silent transfer act together, the whole thing would be Conceptuall Laughable.. as their talkie line may well wind up being. "See video artifacts with Much More Clarity!"
I wonder how many other arthouse labels are going to decide to force the issue now that the 2 US glimmer twins have (they so obviously co-ordinated their announcements).
I seem to remember making a post (must have pressed backspace instead of send) commenting on Kino's recent improvements making this whole bluray venture pretty eagerly anticipated on my part. (I'll be blind-buying both Fallen Angels and Chungking... Given that I absolutely love the 2046 trilogy (and this is coming from a guy who hates every romance since The Collector))
Tartan, remember, enjoyed a similar reputation (a LOT of NTSC>PAL transfers, various other problems, etc.) but managed to produce some fine Bluray (including both the first serious classic (outside of popular Hollywood) with Sjunde Inseglet, and the first 7.1 audio mix with Oldboy (I think)
Now, I have two big questions....
Nosferatu 1080p?
Metropolis 1080p? (I'd actually much prefer Nosferatu as the first silent bluray. Partly because I just like the movie more, and partly because bright red scenes especially seem to benefit from HD; perhaps tinted silents will similarly get a big benefit from the color depth)
I've seen all the movies but would really like to se them again, i'm specially interested in The Outlaw and his wife, since i havn't seen that one in the cinema as the others. i've only seen it on a VHS with to fast fps, making the intertitles hard to read.
I hope they release more Sjöström, i've seen 14 movies by him so far and they've all been great! "Vem dömmer" is a great little gemthet really should be released, an abvious inspiration for Dreyers Jeanne d'Arc movie.
KINO are not a poor company. I have gone on a lengthy record criticizing their conversion practices in quite a few reviews and truth be told they are capable of negotiating some very strong masters. Unless they truly flunk this one and come out to prove me wrong I have every reason to believe that we won't be seeing the interlacing fiasco in a different form and shape.
I may be betraying my ignorance of hi-def here, but aren't PAL and NTSC complete non-issues?
Actually, could someone enlighten me as to the precise technical differences between US and European Blu-Ray - if anything?
Correct. Only the region coding (when used) separates US/Japan and European BR releases (for HD material). The French Blu-ray of Lynch's DUNE for example, is playable in US BR players, but the extras, which I understand are in standard def PAL, are not playable.
