- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
- Messages
- 19,879
- Real Name
- Robert Harris
Charles Chaplin, not to be confused with LA critic Charles Champlin, was a filmmaker generally known for his work in the comedic field, beginning in second decade of the 20th century.
He produced, directed and starring in a myriad of short, initially for others, and then for his own company, before moving into long form filmmaking in 1920 with The Kid. For his second feature, he remained behind the camera, and directed Edna Purviance in the 1923 A Woman of Paris, not to be confused with the 1927 A Gentleman of Paris, with that other guy who wore formal wear and a top hat.
As was his habit, he tended to tinker with her early works, adding his own scores, and making minor adjustments to the editing. Since he controlled his own films and their elements, most of his later work have survived today in superior condition, as can be attested by screening any of those previously released by Criterion. I'm wondering if, with the release of A Woman of Paris the collection is near complete, but possibly not.
For a film over a hundred years of age, the new Blu-ray of A Woman of Paris looks remarkably good. The pre-credits tell us that the image was harvested from a second generation dupe, which in reality is a third generation duplicate negative. Whether the intermediate positive was stuck during the original release or a quarter century later makes a huge amount of difference, as the early lavender stock wasn't that wonderful an image carrying mechanism.
The film is also not the original 1923 version, although deletions are offered as an extra. I would have loved to have seen the original, but one might presume that the version offered is the re-issue as it will be protected by a 1970s copyright.
And that's fair.
In it's proper 1.33 aspect ratio, the film looks remarkably good, with little obvious wear showing through the restorative effort with the exception of black scratch on the far left side of the screen, that will be go unnoticed by most viewers.
Bottom line, it looks terrific for its age. Grain is controlled, and there's enough shadow detail to make me happy.
As a film, one must simply consider it as vintage Chaplin and appreciate every single frame.
Every time I review one of these new Chaplin releases, I wonder when Universal might get around to a new 4k scan of The Countess from Hong Kong, as the basis for a new release of the 1967 film.
The sheer paucity of Chaplin productions makes it extremely easy to own the entire output, as there simply weren't that many features produced between
1925 and 1967.
If we go back to The Gold Rush in 1925, and move forward, there's The Circus (1928), City Lights (1931), Modern Times (1936), with it's minimalist sound, The Great Dictator (1940), Monsieur Verdeux (1947), Limelight (1952), and A King in New York (1957).
I believe their all available via Criterion, and if you don't own them, you should.
There is a wonderfully fitting score by Timothy Brock.
Image
Forensic - 6.5
NSD - 7.5
Audio – n/a
Pass / Fail – Pass
Plays nicely with projectors - Yes
Upgrade from DVD - Yes
Worth your attention - 10
Slipcover rating - n/a
Very Highly Recommended
RAH
He produced, directed and starring in a myriad of short, initially for others, and then for his own company, before moving into long form filmmaking in 1920 with The Kid. For his second feature, he remained behind the camera, and directed Edna Purviance in the 1923 A Woman of Paris, not to be confused with the 1927 A Gentleman of Paris, with that other guy who wore formal wear and a top hat.
As was his habit, he tended to tinker with her early works, adding his own scores, and making minor adjustments to the editing. Since he controlled his own films and their elements, most of his later work have survived today in superior condition, as can be attested by screening any of those previously released by Criterion. I'm wondering if, with the release of A Woman of Paris the collection is near complete, but possibly not.
For a film over a hundred years of age, the new Blu-ray of A Woman of Paris looks remarkably good. The pre-credits tell us that the image was harvested from a second generation dupe, which in reality is a third generation duplicate negative. Whether the intermediate positive was stuck during the original release or a quarter century later makes a huge amount of difference, as the early lavender stock wasn't that wonderful an image carrying mechanism.
The film is also not the original 1923 version, although deletions are offered as an extra. I would have loved to have seen the original, but one might presume that the version offered is the re-issue as it will be protected by a 1970s copyright.
And that's fair.
In it's proper 1.33 aspect ratio, the film looks remarkably good, with little obvious wear showing through the restorative effort with the exception of black scratch on the far left side of the screen, that will be go unnoticed by most viewers.
Bottom line, it looks terrific for its age. Grain is controlled, and there's enough shadow detail to make me happy.
As a film, one must simply consider it as vintage Chaplin and appreciate every single frame.
Every time I review one of these new Chaplin releases, I wonder when Universal might get around to a new 4k scan of The Countess from Hong Kong, as the basis for a new release of the 1967 film.
The sheer paucity of Chaplin productions makes it extremely easy to own the entire output, as there simply weren't that many features produced between
1925 and 1967.
If we go back to The Gold Rush in 1925, and move forward, there's The Circus (1928), City Lights (1931), Modern Times (1936), with it's minimalist sound, The Great Dictator (1940), Monsieur Verdeux (1947), Limelight (1952), and A King in New York (1957).
I believe their all available via Criterion, and if you don't own them, you should.
There is a wonderfully fitting score by Timothy Brock.
Image
Forensic - 6.5
NSD - 7.5
Audio – n/a
Pass / Fail – Pass
Plays nicely with projectors - Yes
Upgrade from DVD - Yes
Worth your attention - 10
Slipcover rating - n/a
Very Highly Recommended
RAH
