Albert Dieudonné as Napoleon which 'amazed audiences and critics alike when it premiered at the Paris Opera on 7 April, 1927' Photo: Photoplay January 1925. First turn of the crank at the Boulogne studio. Abel Gance explains the filming set-up to the young Bonaparte (Vladimir Roudenko), surrounded by the technical crew Photo: © La Cinémathèque française An epic of silent cinema Abel Gance’s Napoleon, which has been seen over the years in various restored versions presented by the likes of film historian Kevin Brownlow and director Francis Ford Coppola, with live scores by Carl Davis and Coppola’s father Carmine, has been resurrected in a new guise for a premiere in the Classics section of the Cannes Film Festival.
The first part of the “new” film will be unveiled on May 14 with Napoléon (1st period), in a version resulting from what is described as "a colossal, passionate effort by the Cinémathèque française,...
The first part of the “new” film will be unveiled on May 14 with Napoléon (1st period), in a version resulting from what is described as "a colossal, passionate effort by the Cinémathèque française,...
- 4/19/2024
- by Richard Mowe
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Andrea Bocelli performed a rendition of the song “Time to Say Goodbye” with his son Matteo Bocelli to accompany the Academy’s annual obituary section. Perhaps mindful of previous years, in which eagle-eyed viewers have jumped on omissions, this year’s “In Memoriam” — which began with footage of the recently deceased Russian opposition leader and subject of last year’s winning documentary Navalny — seemed comprehensive but at the same time not enough.
Related: ‘Oppenheimer’ Wins Best Picture Oscar & Six Others; Emma Stone & Cillian Murphy Take Lead Acting Prizes – Full List
Beloved actors Lance Reddick, Treat Williams, Apocalypse Now’s Frederic Forrest, Rocky’s Burt Young all relegated to a fine print reference at the end, along with such writers as Norman Lear and No Country for Old Men’s Cormac McCarthy. Also given afterthought treatment were Kenneth Anger, Terence Davies, Carl Davis, David McCallum, Sinead O’Connor and Paolo Taviani in...
Related: ‘Oppenheimer’ Wins Best Picture Oscar & Six Others; Emma Stone & Cillian Murphy Take Lead Acting Prizes – Full List
Beloved actors Lance Reddick, Treat Williams, Apocalypse Now’s Frederic Forrest, Rocky’s Burt Young all relegated to a fine print reference at the end, along with such writers as Norman Lear and No Country for Old Men’s Cormac McCarthy. Also given afterthought treatment were Kenneth Anger, Terence Davies, Carl Davis, David McCallum, Sinead O’Connor and Paolo Taviani in...
- 3/11/2024
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
Jean Boht, who played the iron-fisted matriarch Nellie Boswell on every episode of the 1986-91 BBC sitcom Bread, has died. She was 91.
Boht died Tuesday, her family announced, saying that she “had been battling vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease with the indefatigable spirit for which she was both beloved and renowned.”
She had been living in Denville Hall, a home in London for actors and other members of the entertainment industry.
Her husband of 52 years, Carl Davis, who composed the scores for The French Lieutenant’s Woman and Abel Gance’s epic 1927 silent film Napoléon, died six weeks ago after suffering a brain hemorrhage.
Jean Boht (1932-2023)
It is with overwhelming sadness that we must announce that Jean Boht passed away yesterday Tuesday 12 September. Jean had been battling Vascular Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease with the indefatigable spirit for which she was both beloved and renowned. pic.twitter.com/ytNC...
Boht died Tuesday, her family announced, saying that she “had been battling vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease with the indefatigable spirit for which she was both beloved and renowned.”
She had been living in Denville Hall, a home in London for actors and other members of the entertainment industry.
Her husband of 52 years, Carl Davis, who composed the scores for The French Lieutenant’s Woman and Abel Gance’s epic 1927 silent film Napoléon, died six weeks ago after suffering a brain hemorrhage.
Jean Boht (1932-2023)
It is with overwhelming sadness that we must announce that Jean Boht passed away yesterday Tuesday 12 September. Jean had been battling Vascular Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease with the indefatigable spirit for which she was both beloved and renowned. pic.twitter.com/ytNC...
- 9/14/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Jean Boht, the star of beloved BBC sitcom Bread, died Tuesday. She was 91.
“It is with overwhelming sadness that we must announce that Jean Boht passed away yesterday Tuesday 12 September,” her family said in a statement. “Jean had been battling Vascular Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease with the indefatigable spirit for which she was both beloved and renowned.”
Her husband, the composer Carl Davis, died last month.
Boht was a popular actor who was best known for her role as Nellie Boswell in Bread. Penned by Carla Lane, Bread followed a working-class family led by Boht’s Nellie, the acid-tongued matriarch. The show aired on the BBC in the late 1980s and proved hugely popular.
Boht began her career at the Liverpool Playhouse before touring the UK in stage roles, working in many West End theaters. Her other credits included Softly, Softly, Some Mothers Do ‘Ave Em and Grange Hill.
“It is with overwhelming sadness that we must announce that Jean Boht passed away yesterday Tuesday 12 September,” her family said in a statement. “Jean had been battling Vascular Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease with the indefatigable spirit for which she was both beloved and renowned.”
Her husband, the composer Carl Davis, died last month.
Boht was a popular actor who was best known for her role as Nellie Boswell in Bread. Penned by Carla Lane, Bread followed a working-class family led by Boht’s Nellie, the acid-tongued matriarch. The show aired on the BBC in the late 1980s and proved hugely popular.
Boht began her career at the Liverpool Playhouse before touring the UK in stage roles, working in many West End theaters. Her other credits included Softly, Softly, Some Mothers Do ‘Ave Em and Grange Hill.
- 9/13/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Jean Boht, the beloved star of long-running BBC sitcom “Bread” (1986-1991) died on Sept. 12. She was 91.
Boht’s family issued a statement on social media, saying: “It is with overwhelming sadness that we must announce that Jean Boht passed away yesterday Tuesday 12 September. Jean had been battling Vascular Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease with the indefatigable spirit for which she was both beloved and renowned.” She was a resident at Denville Hall, the home for members of the theatrical profession.
Boht’s husband Carl Davis, the BAFTA-winning composer of “The French Lieutenant’s Woman,” died in August.
Boht trained at the Liverpool Playhouse and embarked on a career as a theater actor. Her television credits include “Softly, Softly” (1971), “Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em” (1978), “Grange Hill” (1978), “Last of the Summer Wine” (1978), “Boys from the Blackstuff” (1982), “Scully” (1984) and “Juliet Bravo” (1981-83). In 1993, Boht was one of the stars in “Brighton Belles,” the British remake of hit U.
Boht’s family issued a statement on social media, saying: “It is with overwhelming sadness that we must announce that Jean Boht passed away yesterday Tuesday 12 September. Jean had been battling Vascular Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease with the indefatigable spirit for which she was both beloved and renowned.” She was a resident at Denville Hall, the home for members of the theatrical profession.
Boht’s husband Carl Davis, the BAFTA-winning composer of “The French Lieutenant’s Woman,” died in August.
Boht trained at the Liverpool Playhouse and embarked on a career as a theater actor. Her television credits include “Softly, Softly” (1971), “Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em” (1978), “Grange Hill” (1978), “Last of the Summer Wine” (1978), “Boys from the Blackstuff” (1982), “Scully” (1984) and “Juliet Bravo” (1981-83). In 1993, Boht was one of the stars in “Brighton Belles,” the British remake of hit U.
- 9/13/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
The classic Harold Lloyd comedy “Safety Last” is turning 100 years old this year. But with its heavy dollops of action and a superstar’s real-life derring-do, it doesn’t seem a day over 10, even if it does date back to the silent era. The film screens this Sunday as the climax of the Academy Museum’s “Silent Sundays” series, with a live score from a 24-piece orchestra helping heighten the suspense in the ultimate fear-of-heights movie.
Lloyd’s granddaughter, Suzanne Lloyd, will be on hand for the anniversary screening. As the keeper of her granddad’s flame for decades, she has perspective on how “Safety Last” resonates with contemporary audiences, especially an extended final act that has the ‘20s star climbing a skyscraper in downtown L.A. and finally hanging from a wayward clockface, in one of the most iconographic images in all of movie history.
“Maybe he was the 1920s Tom Cruise,...
Lloyd’s granddaughter, Suzanne Lloyd, will be on hand for the anniversary screening. As the keeper of her granddad’s flame for decades, she has perspective on how “Safety Last” resonates with contemporary audiences, especially an extended final act that has the ‘20s star climbing a skyscraper in downtown L.A. and finally hanging from a wayward clockface, in one of the most iconographic images in all of movie history.
“Maybe he was the 1920s Tom Cruise,...
- 8/25/2023
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
Carl Davis, who composed the scores for The French Lieutenant’s Woman, the BBC miniseries Pride and Prejudice and perhaps most famously Abel Gance’s epic 1927 silent film Napoléon, has died. He was 86.
Davis died Thursday after suffering a brain hemorrhage, his family announced.
“We are so proud that Carl’s legacy will be his astonishing impact on music,” they wrote on Twitter. “A consummate all-round musician, he was the driving force behind the reinvention of the silent movie for this generation, and he wrote scores for some of the most-loved and remembered British television dramas.”
Born in Brooklyn but living in the U.K. since 1961, Davis was hired by documentarians Kevin Brownlow and David Gill to create music for the 13-hour 1980 miniseries Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film and for Napoléon.
“My first score for a silent movie was Napoleon,” he said in 2010. “Five hours of it! It...
Davis died Thursday after suffering a brain hemorrhage, his family announced.
“We are so proud that Carl’s legacy will be his astonishing impact on music,” they wrote on Twitter. “A consummate all-round musician, he was the driving force behind the reinvention of the silent movie for this generation, and he wrote scores for some of the most-loved and remembered British television dramas.”
Born in Brooklyn but living in the U.K. since 1961, Davis was hired by documentarians Kevin Brownlow and David Gill to create music for the 13-hour 1980 miniseries Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film and for Napoléon.
“My first score for a silent movie was Napoleon,” he said in 2010. “Five hours of it! It...
- 8/3/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Carl Davis, the composer known for his BAFTA-winning score for “The French Lieutenant’s Woman” (1981), died of a brain hemorrhage on Thursday. He was 86.
Davis’ family issued a statement on social media, writing: “We are so proud that Carl’s legacy will be his astonishing impact on music. A consummate all-round musician, he was the driving force behind the reinvention of the silent movie for this generation and he wrote scores for some of the most loved and remembered British television dramas.”
Born in New York, Davis co-authored revue “Diversions” (1959), which won an off-Broadway Emmy and featured at the 1961 Edinburgh Festival. Davis moved to the U.K. in 1961 and was commissioned by the BBC to compose music for “That Was the Week That Was.” Subsequent work included BBC’s anthology play series “The Wednesday Play” (1964-70) and “Play for Today” (1970-84).
Davis then composed for several iconic British television shows, including...
Davis’ family issued a statement on social media, writing: “We are so proud that Carl’s legacy will be his astonishing impact on music. A consummate all-round musician, he was the driving force behind the reinvention of the silent movie for this generation and he wrote scores for some of the most loved and remembered British television dramas.”
Born in New York, Davis co-authored revue “Diversions” (1959), which won an off-Broadway Emmy and featured at the 1961 Edinburgh Festival. Davis moved to the U.K. in 1961 and was commissioned by the BBC to compose music for “That Was the Week That Was.” Subsequent work included BBC’s anthology play series “The Wednesday Play” (1964-70) and “Play for Today” (1970-84).
Davis then composed for several iconic British television shows, including...
- 8/3/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Carl Davis, an American-born conductor and composer who had lived in the UK since 1961, has died in Oxford. He was 86.
BAFTA-winner Davis composed music for more than 100 TV programs, created new scores for the concert performance of silent movies, and wrote many ballet and concert works.
He was best known for his work on hit BBC TV series Pride & Prejudice (1995), starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle, and movies including The French Lieutenant’s Woman (for which he won a BAFTA), starring Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons, and Florence Foster Jenkins, also starring Streep.
Davis, who was born in Brooklyn in 1936, also provided the original music for popular UK documentary history series The World at War (1973) for Thames Television and conducted the BBC’s theme song for their coverage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
In the late 1970s, Davis was commissioned to create music for a restored version of Abel Gance’s silent epic Napoleon.
BAFTA-winner Davis composed music for more than 100 TV programs, created new scores for the concert performance of silent movies, and wrote many ballet and concert works.
He was best known for his work on hit BBC TV series Pride & Prejudice (1995), starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle, and movies including The French Lieutenant’s Woman (for which he won a BAFTA), starring Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons, and Florence Foster Jenkins, also starring Streep.
Davis, who was born in Brooklyn in 1936, also provided the original music for popular UK documentary history series The World at War (1973) for Thames Television and conducted the BBC’s theme song for their coverage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
In the late 1970s, Davis was commissioned to create music for a restored version of Abel Gance’s silent epic Napoleon.
- 8/3/2023
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Paul McCartney revealed he sometimes bites off more than he can chew on certain projects. That’s not surprising because he’s always working on something.
Paul McCartney and his wife Linda | Gijsbert Hanekroot/Getty Images Paul McCartney agreed to take on a special project for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
In the early 1990s, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic invited Paul to write something for them for their 150th anniversary. He immediately agreed without giving it much thought. In his book The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, Paul wrote that he often makes decisions like that.
Paul worked on the arrangement with Carl Davis, who’d written film scores for The French Lieutanant’s Woman and Scandal. The former Beatle would drive to Davis’ home, and they’d spend three hours at the piano. They did it for “weeks and weeks and weeks” while writing.
“For a project as long as this,...
Paul McCartney and his wife Linda | Gijsbert Hanekroot/Getty Images Paul McCartney agreed to take on a special project for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
In the early 1990s, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic invited Paul to write something for them for their 150th anniversary. He immediately agreed without giving it much thought. In his book The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, Paul wrote that he often makes decisions like that.
Paul worked on the arrangement with Carl Davis, who’d written film scores for The French Lieutanant’s Woman and Scandal. The former Beatle would drive to Davis’ home, and they’d spend three hours at the piano. They did it for “weeks and weeks and weeks” while writing.
“For a project as long as this,...
- 3/26/2023
- by Hannah Wigandt
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Paul McCartney still feels the sting of failing his audition for chorister as a kid. It was his first rejection, so, of course, it stayed with him all these years. However, he returned to the same cathedral where he would’ve sung and played his own songs.
Paul McCartney | Pool/Getty Images Paul McCartney still feels the sting of failing his audition for chorister
In 1991, Paul performed the Liverpool Oratorio at Liverpool Cathedral. In The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, Paul wrote that it was a “bittersweet occasion” because the same cathedral had rejected him for chorister. Paul explained that he still feels the sting of the rejection decades later.
“It’s strange that I still felt that sting, since it had been nearly forty years, but everyone I’m sure can recall that disappointment from a setback in childhood that never quite disappears,” Paul wrote.
“The idea then was that if you became a chorister,...
Paul McCartney | Pool/Getty Images Paul McCartney still feels the sting of failing his audition for chorister
In 1991, Paul performed the Liverpool Oratorio at Liverpool Cathedral. In The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, Paul wrote that it was a “bittersweet occasion” because the same cathedral had rejected him for chorister. Paul explained that he still feels the sting of the rejection decades later.
“It’s strange that I still felt that sting, since it had been nearly forty years, but everyone I’m sure can recall that disappointment from a setback in childhood that never quite disappears,” Paul wrote.
“The idea then was that if you became a chorister,...
- 2/3/2023
- by Hannah Wigandt
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Considering everything that's been happening on the planet in the last several months, you'd have thought we're already in November or December – of 2117. But no. It's only June. 2017. And in some parts of the world, that's the month of brides, fathers, graduates, gays, and climate change denial. Beginning this evening, Thursday, June 1, Turner Classic Movies will be focusing on one of these June groups: Lgbt people, specifically those in the American film industry. Following the presentation of about 10 movies featuring Frank Morgan, who would have turned 127 years old today, TCM will set its cinematic sights on the likes of William Haines, James Whale, George Cukor, Mitchell Leisen, Dorothy Arzner, Patsy Kelly, and Ramon Novarro. In addition to, whether or not intentionally, Claudette Colbert, Colin Clive, Katharine Hepburn, Douglass Montgomery (a.k.a. Kent Douglass), Marjorie Main, and Billie Burke, among others. But this is ridiculous! Why should TCM present a...
- 6/2/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
This 90-year-old epic story of the French emperor’s rise to power is a staggering piece of film-making
A strong contender for the most exciting, daring and groundbreaking cinema release of the year is this painstaking digital restoration of a film that was made nearly 90 years ago. Abel Gance’s remarkable five-and-a-half-hour account of the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte was all but lost, the nitrate film degraded and recycled. But thanks to a 50-year project headed by film historian Kevin Brownlow, whose lifelong fascination with the picture was triggered when he saw a couple of reels of it as a schoolboy, Napoleon has been restored to its original state.
The result is, quite simply, staggering. From the opening sequence, a deftly edited extended snowball fight in which the young Napoleon displays his strategising skills, to the breathtaking triptych battle of the final act, there is barely a frame of this...
A strong contender for the most exciting, daring and groundbreaking cinema release of the year is this painstaking digital restoration of a film that was made nearly 90 years ago. Abel Gance’s remarkable five-and-a-half-hour account of the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte was all but lost, the nitrate film degraded and recycled. But thanks to a 50-year project headed by film historian Kevin Brownlow, whose lifelong fascination with the picture was triggered when he saw a couple of reels of it as a schoolboy, Napoleon has been restored to its original state.
The result is, quite simply, staggering. From the opening sequence, a deftly edited extended snowball fight in which the young Napoleon displays his strategising skills, to the breathtaking triptych battle of the final act, there is barely a frame of this...
- 11/13/2016
- by Wendy Ide
- The Guardian - Film News
Clocking in at five-and-a-half-hours, Abel Gance‘s 1927 silent epic Napoleon has undergone a restoration that has been a decades-in-the-making endeavor. It’ll be heavily credited to the BFI, yet historian Kevin Brownlow “spent over 50 years tracking down surviving prints from archives around the world since he first saw a 9.5mm version as a schoolboy in 1954.”
BFI National Archive, Brownlow’s Photoplay Productions, and Dragon Di have restored the film — funding for 35mm elements came in 2000 — while Philharmonia Orchestra recorded the entirety of Carl Davis‘ score, and now it’ll see the light of day this November in the U.K. thanks to a theatrical and Blu-ray release.
Ahead of the release, we have a new trailer, which features quotes from both Martin Scorsese and Stanley Kubrick, as well as a glimpse at the landmark triptych sequences. Amusingly, Kubrick did indeed call the film “a masterpiece of cinematic invention,” but he...
BFI National Archive, Brownlow’s Photoplay Productions, and Dragon Di have restored the film — funding for 35mm elements came in 2000 — while Philharmonia Orchestra recorded the entirety of Carl Davis‘ score, and now it’ll see the light of day this November in the U.K. thanks to a theatrical and Blu-ray release.
Ahead of the release, we have a new trailer, which features quotes from both Martin Scorsese and Stanley Kubrick, as well as a glimpse at the landmark triptych sequences. Amusingly, Kubrick did indeed call the film “a masterpiece of cinematic invention,” but he...
- 9/23/2016
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Although worthwhile restorations are unveiled on a semi-regular basis, some — such as Out 1, perhaps the greatest thing cinema offered last year — are in a league of their own. The most recent case in point is another hard-to-find, epic-length title of staggering ambition: Napoleon, Abel Gance‘s five-and-a-half-hour, 1927 silent epic whose most recent restoration has been a decades-in-the-making endeavor. It’ll be heavily credited to the BFI, yet historian Kevin Brownlow “spent over 50 years tracking down surviving prints from archives around the world since he first saw a 9.5mm version as a schoolboy in 1954.”
The fruits of that labor will be enjoyed soon: BFI National Archive, Brownlow’s Photoplay Productions, and Dragon Di have restored the film — funding for 35mm elements came in 2000 — while Philharmonia Orchestra recorded the entirety of Carl Davis‘ score, both of which are forming a U.K.-wide release that will roll out in 2016. When this will come to the U.
The fruits of that labor will be enjoyed soon: BFI National Archive, Brownlow’s Photoplay Productions, and Dragon Di have restored the film — funding for 35mm elements came in 2000 — while Philharmonia Orchestra recorded the entirety of Carl Davis‘ score, both of which are forming a U.K.-wide release that will roll out in 2016. When this will come to the U.
- 1/28/2016
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Remastered 1920s masterpiece by Abel Gance, once thought lost and now re-scored by Carl Davis, will also have a cinematic run
Napoleon, Abel Gance’s five-and-a-half-hour epic from the silent-movie era, has been digitally restored and is to be released on DVD and in cinemas.
The BFI has announced details of a new chapter in the remarkable history of the 1927 French film, which was feared lost until the film historian Kevin Brownlow set about piecing it together by tracking down surviving prints more than 60 years ago.
Continue reading...
Napoleon, Abel Gance’s five-and-a-half-hour epic from the silent-movie era, has been digitally restored and is to be released on DVD and in cinemas.
The BFI has announced details of a new chapter in the remarkable history of the 1927 French film, which was feared lost until the film historian Kevin Brownlow set about piecing it together by tracking down surviving prints more than 60 years ago.
Continue reading...
- 1/28/2016
- by Mark Brown Arts correspondent
- The Guardian - Film News
[[tmz:video id="0_w32nv4tq"]] It's a good thing Ladainian Tomlinson signed a $6 Million signing bonus in 2001 ... 'cause the guy got stuck with a $32,000 rookie dinner tab that season ... so says one of his former teammates. We spoke with Marcellus Wiley -- who was on the Chargers when Lt was taken as the #5 overall pick in 2001 -- and he tells us he remembers the actual rookie dinner bill ... right down to the penny. Rookie dinner hazing is back in the...
- 12/23/2015
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
Ramon Novarro: 'Ben-Hur' 1925 star. 'Ben-Hur' on TCM: Ramon Novarro in most satisfying version of the semi-biblical epic Christmas 2015 is just around the corner. That's surely the reason Turner Classic Movies presented Fred Niblo's Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ last night, Dec. 20, '15, featuring Carl Davis' magnificent score. Starring Ramon Novarro, the 1925 version of Ben-Hur became not only the most expensive movie production,[1] but also the biggest worldwide box office hit up to that time.[2] Equally important, that was probably the first instance when the international market came to the rescue of a Hollywood mega-production,[3] saving not only Ben-Hur from a fate worse than getting trampled by a runaway chariot, but also the newly formed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which could have been financially strangled at birth had the epic based on Gen. Lew Wallace's bestseller been a commercial bomb. The convoluted making of 'Ben-Hur,' as described...
- 12/21/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Silent comedy rules! Harold Lloyd epitomizes 'twenties optimism while serving up the fun. Even better, he filmed this on the streets of New York, so we feel as if we stepped into a time machine. The great disc extras include input from New Yorker extraordinaire Bruce Goldstein. It's a great show for holiday viewing -- unless your family hates New York. Speedy Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 788 1928 / Color / 1:33 silent aperture / 86 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date December 8, 2015 / 39.95 Starring Harold Lloyd, Ann Christy, Bert Woodruff, Babe Ruth, Byron Douglas, Brooks Benedict. Cinematography Walter Lundin Film Editor Carl Himm Original Music Carl Davis Written by John Grey, Lex Neal, Howard Rogers, Jay Howe Produced by Harold Lloyd Directed by Ted Wilde
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Criterion's Blu-ray of Harold Lloyd's 1928 comedy Speedy is a double pleasure. First, it reminds us that Harold Lloyd is a flat-out delight, as funny...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Criterion's Blu-ray of Harold Lloyd's 1928 comedy Speedy is a double pleasure. First, it reminds us that Harold Lloyd is a flat-out delight, as funny...
- 12/12/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Carl Franklin scored with this exciting adapation of Walter Mosley's first 'Easy' Rawlins detective tale, starring a terrific Denzel Washington as the South Central resident who takes up snoop work to pay the mortgage. Don Cheadle steals the show as Easy's loose-cannon pal from Texas, Mouse Alexander; this really should have been the beginning of a franchise. Devil in a Blue Dress Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition 1995 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 101 min. / Ship Date October 13, 2015 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95 Starring Denzel Washington, Tom Sizemore, Jennifer Beals, Don Cheadle, Maury Chaykin, Terry Kinney, Lisa Nicole Carson, Albert Hall, Mel Winkler. Cinematography Tak Fujimoto Production Designer Gary Frutkoff Costumes Sharen Davis Film Editor Carole Kravetz Original Music Elmer Bernstein From the book by Walter Mosley Produced by Jesse Beaton, Gary Goetzman Written and Directed by Carl Franklin
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Carl Franklin was cheated, Easy Rawlins was cheated and We...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Carl Franklin was cheated, Easy Rawlins was cheated and We...
- 11/10/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
In the decades since its premiere, The French Lieutenant’s Woman is now most commonly discussed for its placement in the extensive awards resume of its star Meryl Streep, since it was her follow-up to her Best Supporting Actress win for 1979’s Kramer vs. Kramer and would serve as netting her first nomination in a leading category (it’s also interesting to note Streep won the Golden Globe but ultimately, perhaps ironically, lost to Katharine Hepburn, the iconic performer who previously held the most nominations record). But at the time of its release, the final product was the result of a decade long ordeal, seeing many auteurs, actors, and screenwriters attempting to adapt the notoriously ‘unfilmable’ 1969 novel by John Fowles, an experiment in form termed “post-modern historical fiction.” Directed by Karel Reisz, the Czech-born British auteur a British New Wave progenitor of the realist strain of filmmaking, it remains one of his most prolific works.
- 8/11/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
I’m still recovering from the whirlwind that is the TCM Classic Film Festival. What a glorious event, attended by the most enthusiastic moviegoers in the world, run by a friendly staff, and filled to the brim with screenings, panels, interviews, and more. Because TCM stalwart Robert Osborne was recovering from a minor medical procedure and Ben Mankiewicz can’t be in two places at once, I had even more hosting duties than usual. My personal highlights were chatting with Christopher Plummer before a screening of The Man Who Would Be King, introducing a new restoration of Buster Keaton’s Steamboat Bill, Jr. with Carl Davis debuting his new orchestral score, and interviewing Shirley ...
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- 3/31/2015
- by Leonard Maltin
- Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy
Hollywood will come alive with The Sound of Music (1965) this spring as the beloved, Oscar®-winning classic returns to the big screen to celebrate its 50th anniversary with a gala opening-night screening on Thursday, March 26 at the 2015 TCM Classic Film Festival. Legendary stars Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer will join Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne at the world-famous Tcl Chinese Theater IMAX to introduce the beautifully restored film and kick off the sixth annual festival, which will run March 26-29, 2015, in Hollywood.
The film is being presented in collaboration with Twentieth Century Fox, in celebration of their Golden 50th Anniversary Blu-ray release arriving on March 10, 2015.
The Sound of Music is the story of the Von Trapp family, whose lives are forever changed by the arrival of Maria, the warmhearted young governess who brings joy and music to the Captain (Plummer) and his children. The film earned Andrews her second...
The film is being presented in collaboration with Twentieth Century Fox, in celebration of their Golden 50th Anniversary Blu-ray release arriving on March 10, 2015.
The Sound of Music is the story of the Von Trapp family, whose lives are forever changed by the arrival of Maria, the warmhearted young governess who brings joy and music to the Captain (Plummer) and his children. The film earned Andrews her second...
- 1/20/2015
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Taylor Swift just got an army of new admirers by giving some of her biggest fans holiday gifts they won’t forget any time soon.
YouTube video “Taylor Swift‘s Gift of Giving 2014,” being alternatively dubbed “Swiftmas,” has racked up over five million views since it was released on New Year’s Eve, and has caught the attention of nearly every major entertainment news outlet.
Also Read: 11 Lessons Music Artists Can Learn from Taylor Swift’s Massive ‘1989’ Sales
The 6-minute montage features Swift wrapping presents for her fans in her home, and then reveals their overjoyed reactions when they receive them.
YouTube video “Taylor Swift‘s Gift of Giving 2014,” being alternatively dubbed “Swiftmas,” has racked up over five million views since it was released on New Year’s Eve, and has caught the attention of nearly every major entertainment news outlet.
Also Read: 11 Lessons Music Artists Can Learn from Taylor Swift’s Massive ‘1989’ Sales
The 6-minute montage features Swift wrapping presents for her fans in her home, and then reveals their overjoyed reactions when they receive them.
- 1/2/2015
- by Greg Gilman
- The Wrap
The UK’s Independent Cinema Office (Ico) is kicking off a new screening event for UK exhibitors to focus on archive film.
The Archive Screening Day, to be held Dec 4 at BFI Southbank, is funded through the BFI Audience Fund.
The Unlocking Film Heritage project, backed by £5m ($7.8m) of Lottery Funding, means that 10,000 films from the UK’s national and regional film archives will be digitized in the next three years. Now the Ico will help exhibitors to get such films to audiences.
The Archive Screening Day will also include workshops and discussions. Guest speakers will include composer Carl Davis and Italian festival producer Guy Borlée.
Films to be screened including special compilations from the BFI National Archive:
The Wonderful World of ColourA Time Travellers Guide to ChinaThe Phantom Carriage (with a new score)This is Now: Film and Video After Punk London at ChristmasA preview of the three-year, UK-wide project...
The Archive Screening Day, to be held Dec 4 at BFI Southbank, is funded through the BFI Audience Fund.
The Unlocking Film Heritage project, backed by £5m ($7.8m) of Lottery Funding, means that 10,000 films from the UK’s national and regional film archives will be digitized in the next three years. Now the Ico will help exhibitors to get such films to audiences.
The Archive Screening Day will also include workshops and discussions. Guest speakers will include composer Carl Davis and Italian festival producer Guy Borlée.
Films to be screened including special compilations from the BFI National Archive:
The Wonderful World of ColourA Time Travellers Guide to ChinaThe Phantom Carriage (with a new score)This is Now: Film and Video After Punk London at ChristmasA preview of the three-year, UK-wide project...
- 11/17/2014
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has landed four film restorations set to make their world premieres during the 2015 TCM Classic Film Festival, taking place March 26-29, 2015, in Hollywood. The movies, each from a different era in cinema history, including Ron Howard’s Apollo 13 (1995), Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus (1960), William Dieterle’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) and Charles Reisner and Buster Keaton’s Steamboat Bill Jr. (1928). The Keaton comedy will be accompanied by legendary silent film composer Carl Davis conducting the world premiere performance of his new score for the film.
Earlier this month, TCM announced that the theme for the 2015 TCM Classic Film Festival will be History According to Hollywood:
The Old West. Medieval England. Ancient Rome. Hollywood has found endless inspiration in re-creating historical moments and bringing to life the heroes and villains of the past, creating a form of time travel for audiences through the ages and around the world.
Earlier this month, TCM announced that the theme for the 2015 TCM Classic Film Festival will be History According to Hollywood:
The Old West. Medieval England. Ancient Rome. Hollywood has found endless inspiration in re-creating historical moments and bringing to life the heroes and villains of the past, creating a form of time travel for audiences through the ages and around the world.
- 11/3/2014
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
In the San Francisco Bay Area as elsewhere, long-established film festivals intent on expanding their brand are putting on additional events. The San Francisco Silent Film Festival, traditionally a summer fest -- and this year moving up a bit, to May 29 through June 1st -- has a several-year history of dazzling special programs, including presenting Abel Gance’s Napoleon, with a 48-member orchestra, conducted by Carl Davis in the American premiere of his score; the nine surviving Hitchcock silents, and this winter’s centennial tribute to Charlie Chaplin. The springtime San Francisco International Film Festival has an ever-expanding Fall Season that comprises half-a-dozen programs devoted to various national cinemas, including Hong Kong, France, and Italy.And the venerable San Francisco Jewish Film Festival just presented its first-ever Winter Fest, an eclectically-programmed five-film marathon held at the single-screen 1910-vintage Vogue Theater in Pacific...
- 2/27/2014
- by Meredith Brody
- Thompson on Hollywood
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) will open the 2014 edition of the TCM Classic Film Festival with the world premiere of a brand new restoration of the beloved Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Oklahoma! (1955). TCM’s own Robert Osborne, who serves as official host for the festival, will introduce Oklahoma!, with the film’s star, Academy Award®-winner Shirley Jones, in attendance. Vanity Fair will also return for the fifth year as a festival partner and co-presenter of the opening night after-party. Marking its fifth year, the TCM Classic Film Festival will take place April 10-13, 2014, in Hollywood. The gathering will coincide withTCM’s 20th anniversary as a leading authority in classic film.
In addition, the festival has added several high-profile guests to this year’s lineup, including Oscar®-winning director William Friedkin, who will attend for the screening of the U.S. premiere restoration of his suspenseful cult classic Sorcerer (1977); Kim Novak, who...
In addition, the festival has added several high-profile guests to this year’s lineup, including Oscar®-winning director William Friedkin, who will attend for the screening of the U.S. premiere restoration of his suspenseful cult classic Sorcerer (1977); Kim Novak, who...
- 2/14/2014
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has added an exciting roster of screen legends and beloved titles to the 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival, including appearances by Maureen O’Hara, Mel Brooks and Margaret O’Brien, plus a two-film tribute to Academy Award®-winner Richard Dreyfuss. Marking its fifth year, the TCM Classic Film Festival will take place April 10-13, 2014, in Hollywood. The gathering will coincide with TCM’s 20th anniversary as a leading authority in classic film.
O’Hara will present the world premiere restoration of John Ford’s Oscar®-winning Best Picture How Green Was My Valley (1941), while Brooks will appear at a screening of his western comedy Blazing Saddles (1974). O’Brien will be on-hand for Vincente Minnelli’s perennial musical favorite Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), starring Judy Garland. The tribute to Dreyfuss will consist of a double feature of two of his most popular roles: his Oscar®-winning performance...
O’Hara will present the world premiere restoration of John Ford’s Oscar®-winning Best Picture How Green Was My Valley (1941), while Brooks will appear at a screening of his western comedy Blazing Saddles (1974). O’Brien will be on-hand for Vincente Minnelli’s perennial musical favorite Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), starring Judy Garland. The tribute to Dreyfuss will consist of a double feature of two of his most popular roles: his Oscar®-winning performance...
- 2/5/2014
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival will honor legendary actor, filmmaker and humanitarian Jerry Lewiswith a multi-tiered celebration of his remarkable career. Highlighting the tribute, Lewis will have his hand and footprints enshrined in concrete in front of the world-famous Tcl Chinese Theatre IMAX. In addition, Lewis will be on-hand for a screening of one of his most memorable films: The Nutty Professor (1963). Marking its fifth year, the TCM Classic Film Festival will take place April 10-13, 2014, in Hollywood. The gathering will coincide with TCM’s 20th anniversary as a leading authority in classic film.
“Jerry Lewis is a very important name whenever movie comedy is discussed and enjoyed,” said TCM host Robert Osborne, who also serves as the official host of the TCM Classic Film Festival. “Jerry has provided the world with great merriment and laughter, while also showing, in such films as Martin Scorsese’s The King of Comedy,...
“Jerry Lewis is a very important name whenever movie comedy is discussed and enjoyed,” said TCM host Robert Osborne, who also serves as the official host of the TCM Classic Film Festival. “Jerry has provided the world with great merriment and laughter, while also showing, in such films as Martin Scorsese’s The King of Comedy,...
- 1/23/2014
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
(Rupert Julian, 1925; BFI, PG)
Reading this on mobile? Click here to view video
A few years ago it seemed that TV was helping to revive a public interest in early cinema by broadcasting classic pre-talkies and backing the cinematic presentation of restored silent movies accompanied by live orchestras. Sadly this trend has been largely discontinued despite the success of Michel Hazanavicius's The Artist and Martin Scorsese's Hugo. The peak of that great silent revival was Kevin Brownlow's restoration of Abel Gance's Napoleon, but other major successes include this handsome version of the 1925 Phantom of the Opera with a new score by Carl Davis that Brownlow, David Gill and Patrick Stanbury's Photoplay Productions put on in 1998.
Its conventional hero and heroine are rather dull, but Lon Chaney's Phantom, the mad, disfigured, lovelorn musician manipulating the world from the cellars and dungeons beneath the Opera House in fin-de-siècle Paris,...
Reading this on mobile? Click here to view video
A few years ago it seemed that TV was helping to revive a public interest in early cinema by broadcasting classic pre-talkies and backing the cinematic presentation of restored silent movies accompanied by live orchestras. Sadly this trend has been largely discontinued despite the success of Michel Hazanavicius's The Artist and Martin Scorsese's Hugo. The peak of that great silent revival was Kevin Brownlow's restoration of Abel Gance's Napoleon, but other major successes include this handsome version of the 1925 Phantom of the Opera with a new score by Carl Davis that Brownlow, David Gill and Patrick Stanbury's Photoplay Productions put on in 1998.
Its conventional hero and heroine are rather dull, but Lon Chaney's Phantom, the mad, disfigured, lovelorn musician manipulating the world from the cellars and dungeons beneath the Opera House in fin-de-siècle Paris,...
- 1/5/2014
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: March 25, 2014
Price: Blu-ray/DVD Combo $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Harold Lloyd gets kittenish in The Freshman.
Harold Lloyd’s (Safety Last!) biggest box-office hit was the 1925 silent comedy classic The Freshman, featuring the befuddled everyman at his eager best as a new college student.
Though he dreams of being a big man on campus, the freshman’s careful plans inevitably go hilariously awry, be it on the football field or at the Fall Frolic. But he gets a climactic chance to prove his mettle—and impress the sweet girl he loves—in one of the most famous sports sequences ever filmed.
The popular, crowd-pleasing movie directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor is a gleeful showcase for Lloyd’s slapstick brilliance and incandescent charm, and it’s accompanied here by a new orchestral score by Carl Davis (Napoleon).
Criterion’s Blu-ray/DVD Combo of The Freshman includes...
Price: Blu-ray/DVD Combo $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Harold Lloyd gets kittenish in The Freshman.
Harold Lloyd’s (Safety Last!) biggest box-office hit was the 1925 silent comedy classic The Freshman, featuring the befuddled everyman at his eager best as a new college student.
Though he dreams of being a big man on campus, the freshman’s careful plans inevitably go hilariously awry, be it on the football field or at the Fall Frolic. But he gets a climactic chance to prove his mettle—and impress the sweet girl he loves—in one of the most famous sports sequences ever filmed.
The popular, crowd-pleasing movie directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor is a gleeful showcase for Lloyd’s slapstick brilliance and incandescent charm, and it’s accompanied here by a new orchestral score by Carl Davis (Napoleon).
Criterion’s Blu-ray/DVD Combo of The Freshman includes...
- 12/30/2013
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Carl Davis and Christopher Gunning claim synthesised orchestras are preferred to the real thing to save money
Two of Britain's leading film composers warn that the quality of music for film and TV is suffering because synthesised sounds are increasingly replacing real instruments in an effort to cut costs.
Carl Davis, whose scores include that for the World at War documentary series, said a synthesised soundtrack lacked "the heart" of symphonic or instrumental music.
Christopher Gunning, who wrote the Bafta-winning score for La Vie en Rose, about Edith Piaf, was even more critical: "A lot of television music has got to the stage where I have to turn it off. There's an enormous amount of programmes where I find the programme content really quite interesting, but can't watch because I find the music so blooming irritating. Part of that is, I am afraid, the poor quality of the musical composition.
Two of Britain's leading film composers warn that the quality of music for film and TV is suffering because synthesised sounds are increasingly replacing real instruments in an effort to cut costs.
Carl Davis, whose scores include that for the World at War documentary series, said a synthesised soundtrack lacked "the heart" of symphonic or instrumental music.
Christopher Gunning, who wrote the Bafta-winning score for La Vie en Rose, about Edith Piaf, was even more critical: "A lot of television music has got to the stage where I have to turn it off. There's an enormous amount of programmes where I find the programme content really quite interesting, but can't watch because I find the music so blooming irritating. Part of that is, I am afraid, the poor quality of the musical composition.
- 12/16/2013
- by Dalya Alberge
- The Guardian - Film News
When did a film last blow you away? The pair behind the restoration of an old silent classic about Napoleon say it's a reminder of how magnificent pure cinema can be
Napoleon is a silent film directed by Abel Gance, dramatising the youth and early career of Napoleon Bonaparte. Its most complete screening, said to be nine hours long, took place in Paris in 1927 – but this version was subsequently lost. British film-maker Kevin Brownlow saw a version as a schoolboy and subsequently restored the film to close to its original length from various prints. His restoration was first shown in London in 1980 with a score by Carl Davis. It will screen again on 30 November at the city's Royal Festival Hall.
Kevin Brownlow, restorer
It was 1953 and I was still at school. I'd borrowed a silent French film from the library for my 9.5mm projector. It was by Jean Epstein and it was awful.
Napoleon is a silent film directed by Abel Gance, dramatising the youth and early career of Napoleon Bonaparte. Its most complete screening, said to be nine hours long, took place in Paris in 1927 – but this version was subsequently lost. British film-maker Kevin Brownlow saw a version as a schoolboy and subsequently restored the film to close to its original length from various prints. His restoration was first shown in London in 1980 with a score by Carl Davis. It will screen again on 30 November at the city's Royal Festival Hall.
Kevin Brownlow, restorer
It was 1953 and I was still at school. I'd borrowed a silent French film from the library for my 9.5mm projector. It was by Jean Epstein and it was awful.
- 11/29/2013
- by Pamela Hutchinson
- The Guardian - Film News
The British Film Institute has been busy this year restoring and releasing cinema classics onto Blu-ray. The latest to be announced by the BFI is 1925′s The Phantom of the Opera, the silent film directed by Rupert Julian and starring Lon Chaney. We’ve included a look at the cover art below and a list of special features. The UK will see The Phantom of the Opera arrive on Blu-ray as part of a three disc set on December 3rd. Image Entertainment released this movie to Blu-ray back in 2011 for Us readers who are interested in seeing the movie in high-definition.
“BFI Video proudly presents this definitive three-disc Dual Format Edition of this celebrated classic of silent film and horror cinema.
Lon Chaney, ‘the man of a thousand faces’, gives his most famous performance in this first version of the oft-filmed tale. Based on Gaston Leroux’s novel, Chaney stars...
“BFI Video proudly presents this definitive three-disc Dual Format Edition of this celebrated classic of silent film and horror cinema.
Lon Chaney, ‘the man of a thousand faces’, gives his most famous performance in this first version of the oft-filmed tale. Based on Gaston Leroux’s novel, Chaney stars...
- 11/12/2013
- by Jemma George
- DailyDead
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has unveiled the first three movies in the lineup for the 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival, including the recently restored Gone with the Wind (1939) and a presentation of The Wizard of Oz (1939) in its stunning new IMAX 3D format. Set to take place in Hollywood April 10-13, the fifth-annual edition of the festival will also include a screening of the Harold Lloyd comedy classic Why Worry? (1923), with legendary silent-film composer Carl Davis conducting the live world premiere performance of his new original score. Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz are each celebrating their 75th anniversaries in 2014.
Passes for the 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival are set to go on sale to the public Thursday, Nov. 14, at noon (Et). Passes can be purchased exclusively through the official festival website: http://www.tcm.com/festival. Descriptions for the first three films on the festival slate are included below.
Passes for the 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival are set to go on sale to the public Thursday, Nov. 14, at noon (Et). Passes can be purchased exclusively through the official festival website: http://www.tcm.com/festival. Descriptions for the first three films on the festival slate are included below.
- 10/29/2013
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
This year's edition of the silent film festival featured Welles' previously-thought-lost Too Much Johnson amid a typically irreverent and varied selection
• Orson Welles's first professional film discovered in an Italian warehouse
• Review: Peter Bradshaw on Blancanieves
The first full day of the 32nd Giornate del Cinema Muto, the world's most prestigious silent-film festival, took place exactly 86 years after The Jazz Singer premiered in New York. There were no mournful faces in the town of Pordenone, Italy, where the Giornate is held, however. In this corner of the world, for one week only, it is not quite as if the talkies never arrived, but rather that they failed to stop the party. Silent cinema continues to reinvent itself, to surprise even its most protective guardians, and to multiply.
The opening gala night of the festival featured a recent film that paid tribute to European silent cinema, Pablo Berger's invigoratingly...
• Orson Welles's first professional film discovered in an Italian warehouse
• Review: Peter Bradshaw on Blancanieves
The first full day of the 32nd Giornate del Cinema Muto, the world's most prestigious silent-film festival, took place exactly 86 years after The Jazz Singer premiered in New York. There were no mournful faces in the town of Pordenone, Italy, where the Giornate is held, however. In this corner of the world, for one week only, it is not quite as if the talkies never arrived, but rather that they failed to stop the party. Silent cinema continues to reinvent itself, to surprise even its most protective guardians, and to multiply.
The opening gala night of the festival featured a recent film that paid tribute to European silent cinema, Pablo Berger's invigoratingly...
- 10/14/2013
- by Pamela Hutchinson
- The Guardian - Film News
Do you remember the last time you cried at a movie? I mean, had to stop the film for a few minutes just to recover kind of crying? I had that experience watching King Vidor’s World War I epic The Big Parade, now available on a beautiful Blu-Ray from Warner Brothers.
The Big Parade is one of those epic films that silent Hollywood was well known for: sweeping vistas, massive casts, melodramatic tales of love, war, and redemption. Some of these epics fall flat now, with our contemporary need for sound, kinetic camerawork, rousing speeches and booming scores. While the score is still there – and it is booming, to say the least – The Big Parade is an intimate story surrounded by an epic event, making it one of the most affecting wartime dramas ever made.
The film follows the fortunes of spoiled rich guy Jim Apperson (John Gilbert) and...
The Big Parade is one of those epic films that silent Hollywood was well known for: sweeping vistas, massive casts, melodramatic tales of love, war, and redemption. Some of these epics fall flat now, with our contemporary need for sound, kinetic camerawork, rousing speeches and booming scores. While the score is still there – and it is booming, to say the least – The Big Parade is an intimate story surrounded by an epic event, making it one of the most affecting wartime dramas ever made.
The film follows the fortunes of spoiled rich guy Jim Apperson (John Gilbert) and...
- 10/1/2013
- by Lauren Humphries-Brooks
- We Got This Covered
Ramon Novarro in one of the best silent movies: ‘The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg’ (photo: Ramon Novarro leapfrog) (See previous post: "Ramon Novarro Ben-Hur: First Big-Budget Hollywood Movie Saved by the International Market.") Ben-Hur also solidified Ramon Novarro’s international superstardom. In fact, moviegoers outside North America helped to keep Novarro working steadily at MGM up to the mid-’30s, several years after his domestic popularity had markedly diminished — and several years after fellow male silent era stars John Gilbert and William Haines had been gone from the studio. With the passing of the decades, especially since the release of William Wyler’s multiple Oscar-winning 1959 version of Ben-Hur, starring Charlton Heston, Ramon Novarro’s 1925 movie fell into oblivion. The following is from Beyond Paradise: The Life of Ramon Novarro: As the years passed, Ben-Hur, the motion picture that would “remain, as the Bible remains” became but...
- 8/9/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Can another silent, black and white film be a smash hit after the Artist? If it packs a surreal Spanish twist, believes the director who recast Snow White as a matador in Blancanieves
In May 2011 the Spanish writer-director Pablo Berger was busily prepping his second film, Blancanieves. After an eight-year struggle to raise funding, he was finally about to start shooting a film whose uniqueness he was convinced would surprise and delight audiences the world over. After all, this was the sort of mainstream entertainment that hadn't been seen in decades — a black and white, silent movie, complete with lush orchestration.
But then came the Cannes film festival, and The Artist.
"Nobody knew about The Artist until it appeared in Cannes," he recalls, with a reflex ruefulness. "It was completely out of the blue. I was in my office in Madrid, doing the storyboards for my film, when a producer...
In May 2011 the Spanish writer-director Pablo Berger was busily prepping his second film, Blancanieves. After an eight-year struggle to raise funding, he was finally about to start shooting a film whose uniqueness he was convinced would surprise and delight audiences the world over. After all, this was the sort of mainstream entertainment that hadn't been seen in decades — a black and white, silent movie, complete with lush orchestration.
But then came the Cannes film festival, and The Artist.
"Nobody knew about The Artist until it appeared in Cannes," he recalls, with a reflex ruefulness. "It was completely out of the blue. I was in my office in Madrid, doing the storyboards for my film, when a producer...
- 7/11/2013
- by Demetrios Matheou
- The Guardian - Film News
By Raymond Benson
We expect nothing less than greatness from that Cadillac of DVD/Blu-Ray labels, The Criterion Collection, and this month’s releases do not disappoint. I’m betting that even hardcore Cinema Retro readers may not have seen these two brilliant classics—one a silent film from 1923, the other a British work of wonder from 1936—both containing jaw-dropping visuals that will amaze even the most cynical of cinema aficionados.
First up—Safety Last!, the film for which actor Harold Lloyd will be most remembered. Lloyd was often called “the third genius” (after Chaplin and Keaton), and his works were not readily available to Baby Boomers because he had refused to sell them to television at the low price he was offered. Lloyd always felt his films were worth more, and rightly so. This was a guy who made many more pictures than either Chaplin or Keaton and transitioned...
We expect nothing less than greatness from that Cadillac of DVD/Blu-Ray labels, The Criterion Collection, and this month’s releases do not disappoint. I’m betting that even hardcore Cinema Retro readers may not have seen these two brilliant classics—one a silent film from 1923, the other a British work of wonder from 1936—both containing jaw-dropping visuals that will amaze even the most cynical of cinema aficionados.
First up—Safety Last!, the film for which actor Harold Lloyd will be most remembered. Lloyd was often called “the third genius” (after Chaplin and Keaton), and his works were not readily available to Baby Boomers because he had refused to sell them to television at the low price he was offered. Lloyd always felt his films were worth more, and rightly so. This was a guy who made many more pictures than either Chaplin or Keaton and transitioned...
- 6/23/2013
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
The timeless comic genius of Harold Lloyd shines through in Fred Newmeyer and Sam Taylor’s 1923 classic Safety Last!, one more silent film championed by the Criterion Collection folks. The indelible bookish, horn-rimmed glasses, straw-hat-wearing comedian show wonderfully how he earned the moniker “the King of Daredevil Comedy”. The “third genius” of the silent era (after Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton), stars in this Horatio Alger-style story of a country boy trying to make good in the big city.
The naive Boy (Harold Lloyd) travels on a train to the big city from the small town Great Bend, promising to send for his Girl (Mildred Davis, Lloyd’s real-life wife) after he has ‘made good’ with fame and fortune. In the opening sequence, he appears behind vertical bars – presumably imprisoning jail bars, but they are actually the train station’s gate. He becomes a low-paid, bookish-looking salesman in the...
The naive Boy (Harold Lloyd) travels on a train to the big city from the small town Great Bend, promising to send for his Girl (Mildred Davis, Lloyd’s real-life wife) after he has ‘made good’ with fame and fortune. In the opening sequence, he appears behind vertical bars – presumably imprisoning jail bars, but they are actually the train station’s gate. He becomes a low-paid, bookish-looking salesman in the...
- 6/19/2013
- by Larry Peel
- IONCINEMA.com
I first saw Harold Lloyd's Safety Last! back in 2009. I'd made a list of the current IMDb Top 250 Films and it was the only one I had not yet seen. Problem was, at the time, it wasn't on Netflix and was only available as part of an $80+ boxset of Lloyd films. Fast forward four years later and you can buy a pristine, restored, feature-filled Blu-ray edition of the 1923 silent classic from Criterion and it's worth every penny. For those that read the site on a regular basis, I wrote up some brief thoughts on the film after seeing it for the first time four years ago in what was then only the third installment in my Sunday morning "What I Watched" column, which has grown considerably since. I mention this because my first time viewing Safety Last! was not on DVD or Blu-ray, but by finding it on TCM's...
- 6/10/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Tinseltown is ready to greet film fans from around the world again for the 2013 TCM Classic Film Festival.
Beginning this Thursday, April 25 and running through Sunday, April 28 in Hollywood, the festival will open with a gala presentation of the newly restored musical classic Funny Girl (1968).
Over four big days, TCM will welcome legendary stars, award-winning filmmakers and classic movie fans for the cinematic celebration, which this year will center on the theme Cinematic Journeys: Travel in the Movies.
But first on the schedule is Funny Girl!
Legendary superstar Barbra Streisand demonstrates why she’s the greatest star in her Academy Award winning role (Best Actress, 1968) as “Fanny Brice” in the celebrated musical biography Funny Girl. Commemorating its 45th anniversary, the classic film was meticulously restored from the original negative by Sony Pictures Entertainment in 4K at Sony Pictures’ Colorworks.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will release Funny Girl for the first time on Blu-ray April 30th,...
Beginning this Thursday, April 25 and running through Sunday, April 28 in Hollywood, the festival will open with a gala presentation of the newly restored musical classic Funny Girl (1968).
Over four big days, TCM will welcome legendary stars, award-winning filmmakers and classic movie fans for the cinematic celebration, which this year will center on the theme Cinematic Journeys: Travel in the Movies.
But first on the schedule is Funny Girl!
Legendary superstar Barbra Streisand demonstrates why she’s the greatest star in her Academy Award winning role (Best Actress, 1968) as “Fanny Brice” in the celebrated musical biography Funny Girl. Commemorating its 45th anniversary, the classic film was meticulously restored from the original negative by Sony Pictures Entertainment in 4K at Sony Pictures’ Colorworks.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will release Funny Girl for the first time on Blu-ray April 30th,...
- 4/22/2013
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: June 18, 2013
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Harold Lloyd clocks his rise to success in Safety Last!
Silent movie star Harold Lloyd lets loose with a torrent of perfectly executed gags and astonishing stunts in the 1923 comedy classic Safety Last!.
In the film, Lloyd plays a small-town bumpkin trying to make it in the big city, who finds employment as a lowly department-store clerk. He comes up with a wild publicity stunt to draw attention to the store, resulting in an incredible feat of derring-do on his part that gets him started on the climb to success.
Directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor, Safety Last! is the first Harold Lloyd film to be released by the Criterion Collection since the Lloyd catalog was acquired by Janus Films in 2012. Janus Films will tour Safety Last! theatrically starting in April to celebrate the ninetieth anniversary of its Release,...
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Harold Lloyd clocks his rise to success in Safety Last!
Silent movie star Harold Lloyd lets loose with a torrent of perfectly executed gags and astonishing stunts in the 1923 comedy classic Safety Last!.
In the film, Lloyd plays a small-town bumpkin trying to make it in the big city, who finds employment as a lowly department-store clerk. He comes up with a wild publicity stunt to draw attention to the store, resulting in an incredible feat of derring-do on his part that gets him started on the climb to success.
Directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor, Safety Last! is the first Harold Lloyd film to be released by the Criterion Collection since the Lloyd catalog was acquired by Janus Films in 2012. Janus Films will tour Safety Last! theatrically starting in April to celebrate the ninetieth anniversary of its Release,...
- 3/28/2013
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Timeless. Janus Films has unveiled a fun trailer for their upcoming digitally restored re-release of Safety Last!, the classic 1923 silent film starring Harold Lloyd that made him and the image of him hanging off the clock an icon. The studio painstakingly cleaned up a 2K digital transfer of an original nitrate print and re-synced Carl Davis' score, and is planning to re-release this in theaters during the summer. Safety Last! is one of those timeless classics that should be seen by everyone, and this is a rare chance to actually catch it in theaters. Janus debuted this trailer and a poster to build re-release buzz, so take a look and spread the word. Here's the brand new re-release trailer for Harold Lloyd's Safety Last! (1923), found via The Film Stage: Laugh-out-loud funny and jawdropping in equal measure, Safety Last! is an unforgettable movie experience from a genuine legend. Janus Films...
- 3/28/2013
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
The 2013 TCM Classic Film Festival continues to expand, with newly added appearances by legendary stars at screenings of some of their most memorable films, including Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Mickey Rooney, Jonathan Winters, Marvin Kaplan, Barrie Chase, Polly Bergen,Coleen Gray, Theodore Bikel and Norman Lloyd, as well as producer Stanley Rubin, Clara Bow biographer David Stenn, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) film collections manager Katie Trainor and director Nicholas Ray’s widow, Susan Ray. In addition, TCM’s Essentials Jr. host and Saturday Night Live star Bill Hader will present screenings of Shane (1953) and The Ladykillers(1955).
And The Film Forum’s Bruce Goldstein will present a special screening of Frank Capra’s The Donovan Affair (1929), complete with live voice actors and sound effects to replace the film’s long-lost soundtrack.Mel Brooks is slated to talk about his comedy The Twelve Chairs (1970). Carl Reiner, Mickey Rooney, Jonathan Winters, Marvin Kaplan...
And The Film Forum’s Bruce Goldstein will present a special screening of Frank Capra’s The Donovan Affair (1929), complete with live voice actors and sound effects to replace the film’s long-lost soundtrack.Mel Brooks is slated to talk about his comedy The Twelve Chairs (1970). Carl Reiner, Mickey Rooney, Jonathan Winters, Marvin Kaplan...
- 3/13/2013
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Chicago – Audiences cry for many reasons other than sadness. They cry tears of joy, of amusement, of recognition…and of awe. When an artist manages to pull off a groundbreaking technical achievement never before brought to the big screen (or the stage, for that matter), it can elicit a response of overwhelming astonishment. Of course, in the age of digital overkill, such reactions are as rare as original scripts.
Watching Cohen Media Group’s unmissable Blu-ray release of Raoul Walsh’s 1924 masterpiece, “The Thief of Bagdad,” was an experience akin to witnessing the Broadway production of Julie Taymor’s “The Lion King” (which I was lucky enough to catch on a high school trip). The ingenious props and fluid choreography that allowed towering animals to suddenly materialize onstage during the opening “Circle of Life” number caused me to bawl out of sheer exhilaration, and the final, incredible moments of Walsh...
Watching Cohen Media Group’s unmissable Blu-ray release of Raoul Walsh’s 1924 masterpiece, “The Thief of Bagdad,” was an experience akin to witnessing the Broadway production of Julie Taymor’s “The Lion King” (which I was lucky enough to catch on a high school trip). The ingenious props and fluid choreography that allowed towering animals to suddenly materialize onstage during the opening “Circle of Life” number caused me to bawl out of sheer exhilaration, and the final, incredible moments of Walsh...
- 3/1/2013
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Feb. 19, 2013
Price: DVD $19.98, Blu-ray $24.98
Studio: Cohen Media/Entertainment One
Fantasy takes flight in 1924's The Thief of Bagdad.
Raoul Walsh’s 1924 film The Thief of Bagdad, a dazzling Arabian Nights adventure fantasy starring Douglas Fairbanks and set in the city of Bagdad, remains one of the most imaginative of all silent movies.
The classic film’s fantastical family-friendly story finds Fairbanks portraying the titular recalcitrant thief Ahmed who vies with a duplicitous Mongol ruler (Sôjin) for the hand of a beautiful princess (Julanne Johnston).
Filled with Fairbanks’ acrobatic and energetic stuntwork, elaborate and lush settings, and backgrounds and massive sets by William Cameron Menzies (who would later design Gone with the Wind), The Thief of Bagdad was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Further, the American Film Institute’s 2008 poll of the creative community ranked the movie among the...
Price: DVD $19.98, Blu-ray $24.98
Studio: Cohen Media/Entertainment One
Fantasy takes flight in 1924's The Thief of Bagdad.
Raoul Walsh’s 1924 film The Thief of Bagdad, a dazzling Arabian Nights adventure fantasy starring Douglas Fairbanks and set in the city of Bagdad, remains one of the most imaginative of all silent movies.
The classic film’s fantastical family-friendly story finds Fairbanks portraying the titular recalcitrant thief Ahmed who vies with a duplicitous Mongol ruler (Sôjin) for the hand of a beautiful princess (Julanne Johnston).
Filled with Fairbanks’ acrobatic and energetic stuntwork, elaborate and lush settings, and backgrounds and massive sets by William Cameron Menzies (who would later design Gone with the Wind), The Thief of Bagdad was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Further, the American Film Institute’s 2008 poll of the creative community ranked the movie among the...
- 2/4/2013
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Looking back at 2012 on what films moved and impressed us, it is clear that watching old films is a crucial part of making new films meaningful. Thus, the annual tradition of our end of year poll, which calls upon our writers to pick both a new and an old film: they were challenged to choose a new film they saw in 2012—in theaters or at a festival—and creatively pair it with an old film they also saw in 2012 to create a unique double feature.
All the contributors were asked to write a paragraph explaining their 2012 fantasy double feature. What's more, each writer was given the option to list more pairings, with or without explanation, as further imaginative film programming we'd be lucky to catch in that perfect world we know doesn't exist but can keep dreaming of every time we go to the movies.
How would you program some...
All the contributors were asked to write a paragraph explaining their 2012 fantasy double feature. What's more, each writer was given the option to list more pairings, with or without explanation, as further imaginative film programming we'd be lucky to catch in that perfect world we know doesn't exist but can keep dreaming of every time we go to the movies.
How would you program some...
- 1/9/2013
- by Daniel Kasman
- MUBI
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