Kino

[Finch]

The 2-strip Technicolour images look amazing; anyone know of any other 2-strip Technicolour films worth seeing? (off-hand I can only think of the Curtiz film Wax Museum)

[matrixschmatrix]

Doesn't the silent version of The Ten Commandments have a few scenes that use it?

[swo17]

Yes, as well as Ben Hur, The Phantom of the Opera, and King of Kings, off the top of my head.

[Saturnome]

The Toll of the Sea and The Viking are the only two other 100% 2-strip technicolor silents I'm aware of, The Viking even have a soundtrack with sounds (swords, door knocks, dogs barking, a very short singing) and music. I didn't liked it very much though, I thought it was unremarkable in every way except the technicolor.

[matrixschmatrix]

Apparently Queen Kelly had some prep work done with 2 strip, although none was in the finished film, The Merry Widow had some two strip sequences, and there's another full length two-strip called Wanderer of the Wasteland that I've never heard of.

[swo17]

Also The Wedding March. Actually, here's a list from IMDb.

[Sloper]

Redskin (on the Treasures 3 set) is mostly in two-strip technicolor, and very beautiful. I've never seen it, to my shame, but isn't The Mystery of the Wax Museum another two-strip film? I guess there might be quite a few from the early thirties.

[Finch]

Thank you folks for all the suggestions!

[John Edmond]

I'd also add a section of The Phantom of the Opera to the list. The masked-ball sequence in which Chaney arrives as Poe's Red Death makes the film - the sequence given a pumped glowing red look.

[onedimension]

Anyone know the status of Kino's blu of 'The Sacrifice'?

[Peacock]

Anyone know the status of Kino's blu of 'The Sacrifice'?

Nothing more since this from 5 November on the Forthcoming Thread

"The BluRay of THE SACRIFICE was postponed because the 35mm low-contrast print we were using as our source had printed-in dust and dirt which was unsatisfactory to us. We looked at two alternate film elements and neither of these was any better.

Fortunately, new technology has been developed that can remove the dust/dirt without affecting motion within the video, and without softening the detail of the image. Right now we're deciding between a couple of different processes and will then finish the master of THE SACRIFICE.

The film has been put back on the release schedule in Spring 2011."

This is an email I recieved from Brent Wood, the man overseeing the project. Looks like Kino has another big release on Blu-Ray. Too bad its happening next year.

[jsteffe]

Also The Wedding March. Actually, here's a list from IMDb.

I wasn't aware of the list--thanks! Interestingly, IMDb also lists Way Down East (1920) as a two-color Technicolor production. But if you go by Richard Koszarski's An Evening's Entertainment (p.129) the film's color sequences were shot in Prizma, a different two-color subtractive color process. I'm more inclined to trust Koszarski's sources on this point.

[Jonathan S]

I've never seen it, to my shame, but isn't The Mystery of the Wax Museum another two-strip film?

Yes indeed - and (in case anyone isn't aware of this as Warner barely mention it on the packaging) it's included as an extra with the 1953 remake House of Wax, currently only £2.69 at Amazon UK. I've read claims that Warner digitally altered the colours but to me they look very similar to my 1980s off-air recording.

According to the late Leslie Halliwell, one-time film buyer for UK commercial TV, the surviving print was discovered in Jack Warner's garage in the 1970s and Halliwell persuaded United Artists (then owners of the Warner library) to produce "two prints for the quality of which they apologized. To me they were sensational." Indeed I recall my own excitement when, thanks to Halliwell's efforts, it was premiered on ITV one Christmas in the late 1970s.

The two-strip version of Doctor X is also available in Warner's R1 Legends of Horror set. Ironically, the b&w version (with different takes), which circulated for decades, has now become the rarity.

[onedimension]

There's a Forthcoming Thread for Kino?

[Peacock]

There's a Forthcoming Thread for Kino?

No no, sorry I was referring to the Forthcoming Criterion thread (the previous one, second last page)

[HerrSchreck]

Couple more 2-strip head's up: surprised nobody mentioned Dr X, the companion piece to Mystery of the Wax Mus.

Then there are the Cinecolor features... one of my favorite guilty pleasures is Unkown Island, in a nice transfer from Image-- I'd swear it's a nitrate print they used for telecine it's so luminous and authentic.

[onedimension]

There's a Forthcoming Thread for Kino?

No no, sorry I was referring to the Forthcoming Criterion thread (the previous one, second last page)

Ah- thanks for the info, I'd missed that one. Another one of my dollars goes in the Kino empty guitar case.

[jsteffe]

Amazon has just posted Kino's Blu-ray of Our Hospitality for pre-order. Yay!

Like his 1926 film The General, this elaborate historical comedy broadened the boundaries of slapstick and proved that Keaton was not just a comedian, he was an artist. Keaton stars as youthful dreamer Willie McKay, who travels westward on a rickety locomotive to claim his birthright, only to find that his inheritance is a shack. And he learns that the object of his affection (Keaton s real-life wife, Natalie Talmadge) is the daughter of a man with whom his family has been engaged in a long, violent feud. McKay s personal struggles are punctuated by brilliant slapstick set pieces that involve an exploding dam, raging waterfalls, and a primitive steam engine. Keaton supervised the design and construction of the train, which he revived two years later for the short The Iron Mule (in which he appears without credit as an Native American chief). This definitive edition of OUR HOSPITALITY features an exquisite orchestral score by Carl Davis, performed by the Thames Silents Orchestra; a documentary on the making of the film; and a rare alternate cut entitled Hospitality . SPECIAL FEATURES: Music composed and conducted by Carl Davis, performed by The Thames Silents Orchestra (in 5.1 Surround or 2.0 Stereo), Musical score compiled by Donald Hunsberger (2.0 Stereo), The Iron Mule (1925, 19 Min.), with music by Ben ModeL, Original documentary on the making of the film, written by film historian Patricia Eliot Tobias with David B. Pearson, Hospitality, a 49-minute alternate cut of the film, with an explanatory introduction, and an organ score by Lee Erwin, 2 Galleries: Photos & Snapshots

[manicsounds]

Volume 3 and 4 Feb 8th! Finally.

[rockysds]

Kino is putting "Dogtooth" on blu-ray March 29.

[perkizitore]

Good move, since Dogtooth is nominated for an oscar in the foreign film category.

[Murdoch]

I emailed Kino asking if they were going to release It on blu but they said they don't have any plans to. Shame, as I'll have to buy the dvd now.

Speaking of which, how does Kino's transfer to the Milestone? The Milestone's OOP now and fetching outrageous prices, but I've heard there's a disparity between the two in terms of picture quality.

[Saturnome]

I emailed Kino asking if they were going to release It on blu but they said they don't have any plans to. Shame, as I'll have to buy the dvd now.

Speaking of which, how does Kino's transfer to the Milestone? The Milestone's OOP now and fetching outrageous prices, but I've heard there's a disparity between the two in terms of picture quality.

I bought the Milestone edition a few years ago based on a few comparisons I read back then. I think Milestone's picture quality is better despite being from the same restored print, plus you get a nice Carl Davis score instead of piano only. There's no bonus documentary though.

[Michael Kerpan]

Murdoch and Saturnome -- what film are you discussing?

[Murdoch]

I bought the Milestone edition a few years ago based on a few comparisons I read back then. I think Milestone's picture quality is better despite being from the same restored print, plus you get a nice Carl Davis score instead of piano only. There's no bonus documentary though.

Thanks, as long as the transfer difference isn't significant. I'm hoping it will eventually make it to the blu schedule, maybe for 2012 [-o<