Is the a market still for "Greed" or "The Big Parade", et al? (1 Viewer)

[Matt Hough]

Originally Posted by Patrick McCart

Kevin Brownlow's Hollywood miniseries is held up due to cost of licensing the film excerpts, apparently.

What a shame because it's the best introduction to the silent period of Hollywood's history that has ever been produced. The last time it was broadcast, I managed to videotape (shows how long ago that was) a couple of the installments, and naturally watching them makes me wish I had the whole thing.

 

[PODER]

Matt ... I'm in the same boat. I found a few of the Brownlow series when they were released on VHS, and managed to tape a few more the one time the series was shown on TCM. But I'm still missing a couple, and would much prefer a DVD or Blu-Ray boxed set, both for quality and space considerations.

 

[Ruz-El]

I found a copy of the series and watched it twice last year. I'd love to buy a remastered version.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Originally Posted by MattPeriolat

I'd like to think if The Artist wins Best Picture, we may see a revival of interest in silents in the mainstream as well.

If it wins (and it's looking like it will), there will surely be some people who have a new found interest in seeing at the very least films on popular lists of "Best Silent Films".

 

[Rob_Kozlowski]

What I do know about THE BIG PARADE is that Warner Bros. already restored it sometime around 2004 after they found the original camera negative. It was screened at festivals and then dropped off the face of the earth. I swear I remember reading an interview with George Feltenstein in which he said WB wanted to release THE WIND, THE CROWD, THE BIG PARADE, GREED, etc., utilizing the Carl Davis scores from the Thames SIlents editions that MGM/UA released on VHS in the '80s. I think it's actually encouraging we haven't seen any of these in the Warner Archive Collection, that Feltenstein is holding out for approval for a retail BluRay/DVD release. I'm really hoping good sales for WINGS and the success of THE ARTIST and HUGO finally gets WB to spend the money to release these, or at least gives Feltenstein a stronger case to convince the suits that these should be released.

 

[Ed Lachmann]

About a year ago, Kevin Brownlow spoke at a screening of his restoration of FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE here in Los Angeles. A recording of Carl Davis' wonderful score accompanied the film. I remember his saying that he hoped Warners would consider releasing it on DVD or BD, but he thought the chances were slim. I'd never seen this legendary film before but found it even greater than I had imagined it would be. I wonder why, when they have a gorgeous 35mm print already and this rich tango-infused Davis score already recorded in stunning stereo, they don't "take a chance" and release it. The costs would appear to be reasonably minimal, just telecine, mastering and pressing. I'm sure it would find a large international audience if the release were region-free. Arguably, it is Valentino's finest hour and it leaves the Minnelli/Glenn Ford version in the dust.

 

[MattPeriolat]

Originally Posted by Rob_Kozlowski

What I do know about THE BIG PARADE is that Warner Bros. already restored it sometime around 2004 after they found the original camera negative. It was screened at festivals and then dropped off the face of the earth.
I swear I remember reading an interview with George Feltenstein in which he said WB wanted to release THE WIND, THE CROWD, THE BIG PARADE, GREED, etc., utilizing the Carl Davis scores from the Thames SIlents editions that MGM/UA released on VHS in the '80s. I think it's actually encouraging we haven't seen any of these in the Warner Archive Collection, that Feltenstein is holding out for approval for a retail BluRay/DVD release.
I'm really hoping good sales for WINGS and the success of THE ARTIST and HUGO finally gets WB to spend the money to release these, or at least gives Feltenstein a stronger case to convince the suits that these should be released.

As well he should, especially with titles like Greed and The Big Parade. One could argue that NO silent should not be at least tried in the open market, but that might be problematic. Hopefully, like we have been saying with Wings and The Artist, we may be getting another shot at this. Be especially interesting to see if Criterion's sales of The Gold Rush when that comes out are in any way higher than the previous Chaplin releases. Would go a long way to proving our theory.