- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
- Messages
- 18,430
- Real Name
- Robert Harris
William Beaudine's Sparrows is a 1926 silent, that comes to us via VCI Entertainment, and it's a class act from first frame to last.
Restored by the Mary Pickford Foundation from a 35mm tinted nitrate print, and a duplicate negative, it gives a wonderful concept of what the film would have looked like in 1926.
The film is important for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it's a Mary Pickford film, also featuring Gustav von Seyffertitz, and deals with a relevant human rights issue, baby farms.
Three top cinematographers were behind the camera(s), and if certain shots take on a certain resemblance to Sunrise, which arrived in 1927, it may be because Karl Struss and Charles Rosher at the helm.
Hal Mohr and Charles Rosher shared the duties.
Between them, they are credited with some of the finest work on the planet.
Mr. Mohr began his career in 1912, and has to his name Little Annie Rooney (also a Pickford film), The Jazz Singer, Noah's Ark, King of Jazz, The Front Page, Devotion, Stage Fair, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Captain Blood, Destry Rides Again, Phantom of the Opera (1943), The Exile, Rancho Notorious, The Wild One, et al...
Mr. Rosher has an equally interesting CV - also hitting the industry in 1912, With General Pancho Villa in Mexico, A Little Princess (Pickford), Pollyanna (Pickford), Little Lord Fauntleroy (Pickford), Tess of Storm Country (Pickford), Sunrise, Tempest, Dance, Fools, Dance, What Price Hollywood, Call of the Wild, Broadway Melody, Kismet, Yolanda and the Thief, Ziegfeld Follies, The Yearling, Song of the Thin Man, Annie Get Your Gun, Show Boat, Scaramouche, Kiss Me, Kate et al...
Mr. Struss didn't enter the industry until 1919. His work includes The Affairs of Anatole, Ben-Hur (1925), The Battle of the Sexes, The Taming of the Shrew, Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Island of Lost Souls, The Sign of the Cross, The Story of Temple Drake, Belle of the Nineties, Mississippi, Anything Goes, The Great Dictator, Limelight, and The Fly.
If this film had nothing to do with Ms Pickford, I'd need a copy just because of the work of those three men.
But it is a Pickford film, and a magnificent one.
Kudos to the Pickford Foundation for its work in saving her productions.
Let's briefly discuss image quality.
In a nutshell, it's lovely. A beautifully resolved image, with accurate grain structure and a wonderful gray scale.
Had I my druthers, I may have done a bit more clean-up, just to remove some sparkle and built-in dirt (as originally printed), but this may not have been what the Foundation was after. I'll go with their concept.
An important silent production, offered here with a new score, which beautifully works with the imagery.
Image – 3.75
Audio – n/a
Pass / Fail – Pass
Upgrade from DVD - Yes
Very Highly Recommended
RAH
Restored by the Mary Pickford Foundation from a 35mm tinted nitrate print, and a duplicate negative, it gives a wonderful concept of what the film would have looked like in 1926.
The film is important for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it's a Mary Pickford film, also featuring Gustav von Seyffertitz, and deals with a relevant human rights issue, baby farms.
Three top cinematographers were behind the camera(s), and if certain shots take on a certain resemblance to Sunrise, which arrived in 1927, it may be because Karl Struss and Charles Rosher at the helm.
Hal Mohr and Charles Rosher shared the duties.
Between them, they are credited with some of the finest work on the planet.
Mr. Mohr began his career in 1912, and has to his name Little Annie Rooney (also a Pickford film), The Jazz Singer, Noah's Ark, King of Jazz, The Front Page, Devotion, Stage Fair, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Captain Blood, Destry Rides Again, Phantom of the Opera (1943), The Exile, Rancho Notorious, The Wild One, et al...
Mr. Rosher has an equally interesting CV - also hitting the industry in 1912, With General Pancho Villa in Mexico, A Little Princess (Pickford), Pollyanna (Pickford), Little Lord Fauntleroy (Pickford), Tess of Storm Country (Pickford), Sunrise, Tempest, Dance, Fools, Dance, What Price Hollywood, Call of the Wild, Broadway Melody, Kismet, Yolanda and the Thief, Ziegfeld Follies, The Yearling, Song of the Thin Man, Annie Get Your Gun, Show Boat, Scaramouche, Kiss Me, Kate et al...
Mr. Struss didn't enter the industry until 1919. His work includes The Affairs of Anatole, Ben-Hur (1925), The Battle of the Sexes, The Taming of the Shrew, Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Island of Lost Souls, The Sign of the Cross, The Story of Temple Drake, Belle of the Nineties, Mississippi, Anything Goes, The Great Dictator, Limelight, and The Fly.
If this film had nothing to do with Ms Pickford, I'd need a copy just because of the work of those three men.
But it is a Pickford film, and a magnificent one.
Kudos to the Pickford Foundation for its work in saving her productions.
Let's briefly discuss image quality.
In a nutshell, it's lovely. A beautifully resolved image, with accurate grain structure and a wonderful gray scale.
Had I my druthers, I may have done a bit more clean-up, just to remove some sparkle and built-in dirt (as originally printed), but this may not have been what the Foundation was after. I'll go with their concept.
An important silent production, offered here with a new score, which beautifully works with the imagery.
Image – 3.75
Audio – n/a
Pass / Fail – Pass
Upgrade from DVD - Yes
Very Highly Recommended
RAH
