Coming soon - a limited release of Marion Davies' ENCHANTMENT (1921) (1 Viewer)

[Danny Burk]

Folks - one of the members at NitrateVille is making an effort to get some long-unseen silent films back in the public eye. The Library of Congress will make copies available of films in its holdings, provided they are public domain and have no donor restrictions. The cost of doing this is substantial, and he's begun a Kickstarter program to fund it.

He's started out with Marion Davies' ENCHANTMENT, basically unseen since 1921. Those who participate will get a DVD of the film after it's supplied by the Library. I have no connection with this program, other than as an interested (and participating) party, but I'd imagine that other HTF members may also like to support the plan.

Here's a link with more info:

http://nitrateville.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16646

 

[JoeDoakes]

Folks - one of the members at NitrateVille is making an effort to get some long-unseen silent films back in the public eye. The Library of Congress will make copies available of films in its holdings, provided they are public domain and have no donor restrictions. The cost of doing this is substantial, and he's begun a Kickstarter program to fund it.

He's started out with Marion Davies' ENCHANTMENT, basically unseen since 1921. Those who participate will get a DVD of the film after it's supplied by the Library. I have no connection with this program, other than as an interested (and participating) party, but I'd imagine that other HTF members may also like to support the plan.

Here's a link with more info:

http://nitrateville.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16646

Do you have any idea why this film?

 

[JoHud]

Do you have any idea why this film?

My guess:

-Public domain
-LoC has it
-rarely seen
-Marion Davies

 

[Danny Burk]

Exactly right per JoHud. There are quite a few others that can be considered for similar treatment in the future...and, sadly, a far larger number that are not public domain, have a donor restriction, or both.

 

[Danny Burk]

I'm glad to report that over 50 participants met the necessary amount...in only one day!

 

[Michael Elliott]

That's certainly great news. I'll eventually jump on board but it's great to see the fans actually supporting something like this since the studios can't even release something like GREED (let alone a film like this).

 

[kevin_y]

TCM broadcast this film recently but I managed to record only half of it. It was shown again online at "Watch TCM" but my TV provider wasn't supported. I also missed the Kickstarter event for this DVD. But fortunately, the seller was able to sell me a DVD.

But when I played the DVD, I was disappointed to see some kind of strange artifacts throughout the picture. Here is a screenshot of the DVD. Notice how the alphabets somehow look jagged on the edges, most noticeable on the slanting edges of the "V", "A", "M", "N", etc.

Imagine you have a picture on a piece on paper. You put the paper through a shredder. Then you try to assemble the narrow vertical paper strips back together, but can't "align" the image properly. THAT'S what the DVD picture seems to look like. And that is what seems to cause the jagged edges.

These artifacts are present throughout the film's duration, unfortunately.

As I mentioned, I recorded part of the TCM broadcast. Here is a screenshot of the broadcast, and it does not show such an anomaly.

So I don't believe this anomaly is due to the print's quality. It is likely due to video encoding for the DVD. Naturally, I notified the seller (the person who obtained the print from Library of Congress). Let's hope he finds a fix. He did the commendable thing by obtaining the print LoC for the public to see. But it would be a waste of the effort if what the public saw was a ruined picture.

 

[DeWilson]

This is the more interesting restored Silent Project of late

http://www.serialsquadron.com/dvds/silent/hopediamondmystery/