Request studio-owned silent films here! (Aiming for 100 posts) (1 Viewer)

[Patrick McCart]

If you want any silent films on DVD from WB, Paramount, and/or Fox or any other studio, this is the place to do it!

Please post in this thread...

1. Any Titles you'd like to see on DVD

2. Silent DVD's you have already

3. Silent VHS's you have already

4. any other comments

After a large amount of posts are made, this thread will be mailed to each of the studios. The comments for WB-owned silents will go to WB, Paramount comments to Paramount, and so on.

Even if you don't know who owns it, post it anyway.

I'm aiming for at least 100 posts in this thread.

(Admins, any way this can be the official silent film thread in Software?)

 

[Bob Smith]

I really like the idea of this thread. Unfortunately, most silent films have moved into the the public domain or have disentegrated. The studios don't have much to do with these films anymore. But if any great silents are still attached to the majors, I'd vote for a DVD!

 

[Luc D]

Is King Vidor's The Crowd on DVD? I don't think it is. How about Murnau's Sunrise? It's only one of the greatest films ever made.

 

[Richard Waller]

The only one I can think of that I really want is the most recent restoration of Metropolis. Of course, if better versions of Hitchcock's silent films can be done, I would be glad to pick those up too.

 

[Adam_S]

1: I'd love to see John Ford's Epic, Iron Horse

The Musketeers of Pig Alley

Napolean and Greed (if they're on dvd I didn't know!) the long versions please

2: I own the Image Chaplin Box Set on dvd

3: I own no silent vhs, though have taped a few off of TCM

4: Silent film is very important, I'd love to see more John Ford and other influential directors works preserved on dvds, I'd even be interested in an archival dvd of sorts preserving those many films which are missing reels, it would be wonderful resource for many film scholars and film fans who don't have a chance to see those films only barely surviving in one location.

Adam

 

[Ben Motley]

1.
I'll second Metropolis. I'm not sure what else is out there, but do know that Lon Chaney and Fritz Lang are extremely important to me. I'd pick anything up of theirs sight unseen. By my list below, you'll see I have a lot of catching up to do on Fritz, as there is actually a few of his on dvd already, but sadly still, no Metropolis.
2.
Destiny
Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler
Les Vampires
The Bells (Karloff)
Phantom of the Opera
Hunchback of Notre Dame (Chaney)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Barrymore)
Nosferatu
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Der Golem
Haxan
Fall of the House of Usher (Epstein/Bunuel)
Charlie Chaplin - all of the Image dvds
Passion of Joan of Arc
(I unfortunately have yet to get the Buster Keaton set, but look forward to adding that to my collection.)
3.
None
4.
Silent film is incredibly important to me. I feel the aesthetic value is immeasureable. The German expressionism and European gothic horror exploding at the time, and the heyday of American comedy and horror are unparalleled. There must be other genres that were popular and/or ingenuitive during the silent era, but these are the ones I am personally most interested in. But I would also be interested in adventure/action films of the silent era, as well as those exploitive vamp vehicles of Theda Baro and Clara Bow I've only read briefly about. Apparently, pre-code Hollywood was pretty racy for it's time. I've seen some examples of talkie exploitation, the Roan pre-code Hollywood dvds, but would like to see examples of how far they went in the silent era.
It's a shame that there seems to be a sentiment amongst production companys and distributors that unless a title will sell at least a half a million units the week of the street date, it isn't worth producing. Isn't there some value in making the classics available to the discerning public, alongside the money makers for the masses? And is it so inconceivable that these very same masses, or a portion of them anyway, may notice these more obscure films, and perhaps be curious enough about them to either purchase or rent them? No, not everyone who watched The Messenger would buy The Passion of Joan of Arc, but a few would. I, for one did. Not the best example, I know, but it illuminates my point. Actually, they could be completely unrelated titles. There are people out there who, while enjoying films like Lord of the Rings, Titanic, Fast and Furious, whatever, don't exclusively watch "blockbusters", but also like to see the roots of the industry. It's not like you have "silent-era-only people" and "blockbuster-only-people". So have a little faith in the public, and make available to them the classics. Without them, we would have never got to where we are now. Oof, now that's a loaded statement, heh.

 

[Claes Ljunghorn]

1. (Fox) Sunrise, (Warner) The Big Parade, The Crowd, The Cameraman, The Wind, Ben Hur, (Paramount) Ten Commandments, Wings, The Wedding March.

(The above films are all still controlled by the studios and are indeed in existance.)

2. The General, Sherlock Junior, Seven Chances, Steamboat Bill Junior, Battling Butler, Go West, Three Ages, The Cat and the Canary, The Iron Horse (japanese release)

3. Tabu, The Chess Player, Spies, The Big Parade, Greed, The Eagle, Thief of Bagdad, Broken Blossoms, Our Hospitality, Metropolis, Napoleon.

(Also have a lot of silent films on other formats)

4. If the major studios don't release these films on DVD, I wish they would consider leasing them to other interested distributors. (Yes, there are several interested companys)

/Claes

 

[Brook K]

The Wind (Warner), The Crowd, Wings, Sunrise

On DVD I have: Nosferatu, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Steamboat Bill Jr., Haxan, The Passion of Joan of Arc, The Fall of the House of Usher, Vampyr, The Last Laugh, Faust, The Lost World, Image's History of Early Cinema Vol 1, and Broken Blossoms

 

[Evan Case]

1. Sunrise, first and foremost.
- Any and all Harold Lloyd features and shorts (many of which aren't even on VHS)
- Any and all shorts from the Hal Roach Studios, in particular Charlie Chase and Our Gang (some of these are around)
- Keaton's The Cameraman & Spite Marriage
- Everything else everyone mentions (No one should be denied their favorites)
2. Every Keaton DVD (Including the Arbuckle ones), Chaplin Mutuals Vols. 1-3, Chaplin at First National, City Lights, Modern Times, Harry Langdon: The Forgotten Clown, The Lost Films of Laurel and Hardy Vols. 1-9
3. Including recorded stuff: Various Chaplin stuff from Keystone & Essanay, The Kid, The Gold Rush, The Circus, The odd Our Gang short, Sunrise, The Crowd, The Big Parade, Greed, Wings, Metropolis, Intolerance, Passion of Joan of Arc, Les Vampires, Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Battleship Potemkin, Napoleon, Nosferatu, Ben-Hur, some that I'm forgetting (In addition to the dozen or so I've seen but don't own in any capacity)
4. What Ben & Adam said. Simply look at my signature to see Silent Film's impact upon me and my cinema-going.
Evan

 

[Roderick Gauci]

This is one thread I have been waiting long for. Acordingly, my post will try to be as comprehensive and exhaustive as I can possibly manage it.

I have sub-divided the categories into three:

SILENT FILMS ON DVDs I OWN (IN ORDER OF PURCHASE):

1The Passion Of Joan Of Arc (1928) – The Criterion Collection

2The Cat And The Canary (1927)/Haunted Spooks (1920) – Image Entertainment

3Harry Langdon: The Forgotten Clown [Tramp, Tramp, Tramp (1926)/The Strong Man (1926)/Long Pants (1927)] – Kino On Video

4Fantomas (1913-14) [2-Disc Set] – Gaumont {Region 2}

5Les Vampires (1915-1916)/For The Children (1916)/Bout-de-Zan And The Shirker (1916) – Image Entertainment

6The Thief Of Bagdad (1924) – Image Entertainment

7The Black Pirate (1926) – Kino On Video

8The Last Laugh (1924) – Kino On Video

9Faust (1926) – Kino On Video

10Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler (1922) [2-Disc Set] – Image Entertainment

11The Penalty (1920)/By The Sun’s Rays (1914) – Kino On Video

12The Adventures Of Prince Achmed (1926)/Lotte Reiniger: Homage To The Inventor Of The Silhouette Film (Documentary) – BFI {Region 2}

13The Saphead (1920)/The High Sign (1921)/One Week (1920) - Kino On Video

14Three Ages (1923)/The Goat (1921)/My Wife's Relations (1922) – Kino On Video

15Our Hospitality (1923)/Sherlock Jr. (1924) – Kino On Video

16The Navigator (1924)/The Boat (1921)/The Love Nest (1923) – Kino On Video

17Seven Chances (1925)/Neighbors (1920)/The Balloonatic (1923) – Kino On Video

18Go West (1925)/The Scarecrow (1920)/The Paleface (1921) – Kino On Video

19Battling Butler (1926)/The Haunted House (1921)/The Frozen North (1922) – Kino On Video

20The General (1926)/Cops/The Playhouse (1921) – Kino On Video

21College (1927)/The Electric House (1922)/Hard Luck (1921)/The Blacksmith (1922) – Kino On Video

22Steamboat Bill Jr. (1928)/Convict 13 (1920)/Daydreams (1922) – Kino On Video

23Keaton Plus [featuring: Hard Luck (1921)/Daydreams (1922)/The Love Nest (1923)] – Kino On Video

24El Dorado (1921) – Gaumont {Region 2}

25The Indian Tomb (1921) – Image Entertainment

26The Fall Of The House Of Usher (1928) – All Day Entertainment

27Haxan (1922) – The Criterion Collection [ON ORDER]

SILENT FILMS ON PAL VHS I OWN (IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER):

1The Birth Of A Nation (1915)

2Intolerance (1916)

3The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari (1919)

4Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde (1920)

5The Golem (1920)

6Nosferatu (1922)

7Safety Last (1923)

8The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (1923)

9Strike (1924)

10Greed (1924)

11The Phantom Of The Opera (1925)

12The Battleship Potemkin (1925)

13The Big Parade (1925)

14Ben-Hur (1925)

15Mother (1926)

16The Lodger (1926)

17Metropolis (1926)

18The End Of St. Petersburg (1927)

19The Kid Brother (1927)

20October (1927)

21Pandora's Box (1928)

22Diary Of A Lost Girl (1929)

23Tabu (1931)

SILENT FILMS I TAPED OFF THE TV (IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER):

1Carmen (1915)

2One A.M. (1915) – Short

3The Tramp (1915) – Short

4A Burlesque On Carmen (1916) – Short

5The Count (1916) – Short

6The Pawnshop (1916) – Short

7The Rink (1916) – Short

8The Vagabond (1916) - Short

9The Cure (1917) – Short

10Easy Street (1917) – Short

11The Floorwalker (1917) – Short

12The Immigrant (1917) – Short

13A Day's Pleasure (1919) – Short

14The Conquering Power (1921)

15The Kid (1921)

16The Idle Class (1922) – Short

17The Prisoner Of Zenda (1922)

18A Woman Of Paris (1923)

19He Who Gets Slapped (1924)

20The Blackbird (1925)

21The Late Mathias Pascal (1925)

22Master Of The House (1925)

23The Monster (1925)

24Flesh And The Devil (1927)

25The Jazz Singer (1927)

26Mr. Wu (1927)

27The Unknown (1927)

28The Circus (1928)

29The Crowd (1928)

30Speedy (1928)

31The Wind (1928)

32A Woman Of Affairs (1928)

33Where East Is East (1929)

34City Lights (1931)

35Modern Times (1936)

I am still compiling a list of the titles which will be included in the SILENT FILMS I WANT TO SEE ON DVD category. Besides, I will also name those SILENT FILMS ON DVD I AM PLANNING TO BUY. Since both these categories can (and ought to) take some time to compile, I have decided to post these results later on. I guess this post is long enough as it is!

One final word to Patrick: I congratulate you on your initiative and sincerely hope that this petition will reap the desired results. I have read in another thread that you recently bought your first Criterion Collection DVD (MY MAN GODFREY). Although I definitely plan to order this DVD soon myself, there is no better place for a Silent film lover to start collecting them on DVD than Criterion's THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC - perhaps the greatest of all Silent films.

 

[Jay E]

1- Sunrise, Greed, The Crowd & Metropolis are my top 4 most wanted silent films.

2- I own the following DVDs

Cabinet of Dr Caligari

Destiny

Diary of a Lost Girl

Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler

Haxan

Last Laugh, The

Lost World, The

Nosferatu

Passion of Joan of Arc, The

3- None

4- There are quite a few silent films I still haven't bought yet that I want (at least another 10 to 12 titles). I didn't even know that The Cat & the Canary was on DVD. I have to go and get that ASAP.

I'm hoping the studios realize that there are quite a few silent film lovers out there who would love to see more silent films on DVD. At the very least you can allow other companies to put them out on DVD. Our film heritage needs to be seen.

 

[Vincent Matis]

1. Any Titles you'd like to see on DVD
Greed (both versions), Sunrise,...
2. Silent DVD's you have already
Nosferatu, Metropolis (1927, R2 DVD), All Chaplin silent movies, Passion Of Joan Of Arc
3. Silent VHS's you have already
Greed (2h version), Metropolis, Hunckback of Notre Dame (Lon Chaney), Phantom Of The Opera (Lon Chaney), Vampyr, Golem (edit 03/21)
4. any other comments
Restoration for a decent picture quality... And if possible, DVD released as "Special Edition"...

 

[Mark Zimmer]

1. Silents I'd like to see on DVD, in stream of consciousness order:

A good, COMPLETE AS POSSIBLE, version of Metropolis with the cooperation of all of the holders of footage

More Fritz Lang (Nibelungenlied, especially)

Harold Lloyd-everything, even the surviving Lonesome Luke shorts

The Cameraman

Spite Marriage

Chaplin Keystones

Edison 1910 Frankenstein

More Chaney: The Monster, The Unholy Three (both versions), HE Who Gets Slapped, Laugh Clown Laugh, The Blackbird, The Unknown, etc.

A Kiss for Cinderella

Mysterious Island (part sound)--the color version, if it still exists somewhere

A compilation of all of the Oz films put out by Baum's studio

Ben-Hur

King of Kings

The Crowd

Sunrise

Greed

More Mary Pickford; possibly a selection of the best Biograph shorts

The 1925 version of Phantom of the Opera (which only exists in a poor quality blowup print, unfortunately--the extant DVDs are from the 1929 re-edited version)

The Man Who Laughs

Pandora's Box

More William S. Hart westerns

The beautiful BFI print of Hitchcock's The Lodger

Blackmail

Man, I could go on all day.

2. Silent DVDs I own: Too many to list. If I've not lost count, I have 74, plus compilation sets like The Movies Begin and Treasures from American Film Archives.

3. Silent VHS-the pre-records have pretty much been eliminated by the duplication on DVD. However, I still have about 50 silents taped off the air that haven't been issued on DVD.

 

[Scott Leopold]

1. Silents I'd love to see on DVD: Wings, the 4hr Greed, Metropolis, and as many of Lon Chaney's films as possible.

2. Silents I own on DVD: It (one of my favorite movies, and one I'm shocked nobody else has mentioned), Nosferatu SE, Masterworks of German Horror Cinema (Nosferatu, Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Der Golem), Fall of the House of Usher, Passion of Joan of Arc, Haxan, The Lost World SE, Battleship Potemkin, and the silent Hitchcock's from Laserlight.

3. Silents I own on VHS: While I've never purchased any silent VHS's (except for Nosferatu), I've recorded quite a few, including the Treasures From the American Film Archives (thanks TCM!), Intolerance, several Lon Chaney films, and a few others. I also downloaded The Great Train Robbery from the Library of Congress.

4. Other comments: While I won't make the broad statement that I love Silent Cinema in general (I'm sure there are just as many awful silents as there are talkies), I'm a strong proponent of film preservation, and I think it's terrible that so many people refuse to give silents a chance just because they're silents (sadly, I know plenty of people who won't watch B&W films because they're not in color). There are so many wonderful, silent classics, and plenty of people who would love to own them on DVD. Hopefully the studios will realize this, and start making an effort to both preserve these and make them available on DVD. I personally do my best to convice others to at least try watching a few silent films, just to get an idea of how good they can be. I try to recommend movies that I feel would appeal to a broader audience, such as The Lost World, Phantom of the Opera, Nosferatu, just about anything from Buster Keaton, and It. My wife used to never want to sit through any silent movies until she discovered (with my help, of course) the German horror films, Lon Chaney, and It. My 11-year old son still has a hard time with the silents. He says he doesn't like the fact that nobody talks, and that he has to read everything they "say." I find this odd because he loves all our Kurosawa films and the Samurai Trilogy, and has enjoyed other foreign films as well. I still haven't had a chance to show him The Lost World. I feel this and some of the Hitchcock films (he's a Hitchcock nut) may win him over.

5. Silent DVD's I'm planning on purchasing: The Buster Keaton Box Set, the new Kino editions of Nosferatu & Caligari, Phantom of the Opera, Kino's new Clara Bow 2-pack, the Lon Chaney films that are available on DVD, and a good many more that I can't think of right now.

 

[Patrick McCart]

I really like the idea of this thread. Unfortunately, most silent films have moved into the the public domain or have disentegrated. The studios don't have much to do with these films anymore. But if any great silents are still attached to the majors, I'd vote for a DVD!

I forgot to mention it, but WB still has all of their WB and MGM silents under copyright, as well as Fox and Paramount still owning nearly all their silents. Most of the public domain silent DVD's are mostly of foreign silents or illegal (Madacy's Metropolis, Birth of a Nation, The Gold Rush) bootlegs.
All of Image's and Kino's videos are under some sort of copyright, whether it's a David Shepard restoration or the film is still owned by the copyright holder (Estates of Griffith, Keaton, Gloria Swanson, Douglas Fairbanks, etc.)
Now that we got some activity in this thread (Thank you to those who have replied so far!) I'll answer my own questions...
I'd like pretty much all of the WB and Paramount silents. I especially would like Sunrise, The Crowd, The Cameraman, Ben-Hur (WB really missed a great opportunity by not releasing this when the 1959 version came out.), Napoleon, The Unknown, The Unholy Three (Double feature with both the 1925 and 1930 versions...or even better: A MGM Lon Chaney box set. ), He Who Gets Slapped, The Ten Commandments (Again, a missed opportunity for Paramount.), Greed (4-hour reconstruction), and Wings.
I own Blackhawk's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Blackhawk's Nosferatu: Special Edition, The Gold Rush (1941 version), City Lights, Modern Times, and The Circus on DVD.
On VHS, I own the entire sets of Hollywood and Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood, Ben-Hur (1925), Republic's Intolerance, Napoleon, The Man With The Movie Camera (Kino), The Movie's First Greatest Hits (Blackhawk), and "WhiteStar's" Battleship Potemkin. I would be more than willing to re-purcase all of these VHS tapes with DVD's, as well as all the titles I mentioned that I've only seen or heard about.
I reccomend Fox to release a box set of silent John Ford films, WB to release a Lon Chaney silents box set (since many are actually not very long) as well as a "Early Sound Films" set with the early WB and MGM sound films such as The Jazz Singer. Paramount could probably do single releases since their surviving silents are normal length.
Many of WB's silents are actually ready for remastering since I've seen many on TCM that are in great condition such as The Unholy Three, The Unknown (though to be lost for some time, in fact!), and The Crowd.

 

[Joseph Goodman]

Ben-Hur, without a doubt. And while we're at it, let's get down to the bottom of rumors that the George Eastman House has an acetate print made in the fifties from the original roadshow negative, which runs about twenty minutes longer than the current restoration (supposedly based off of the 1930 sound re-issue).

 

[Patrick McCart]

amazon.com lists a few of the MGM Silent Classics as out of print, as well as some Paramount tapes. Sunrise isn't even on legit VHS yet. (Just an OOP LD.)

 

[Ryan L B]

how about the original Snow white that supposingly influenced Walt Disney to make the cartoon version. I saw it on TCM and was wondering if it is on DVD or VHS at all.

 

[Evan Case]

I thought the people in this thread would enjoy this wonderful bit of news.
TCM's schedule for the evening of May 28th:
8:00 PM Safety Last (1923) In this silent film, a small-town boy tries to impress his girlfriend by entering a skyscraper-climbing contest. Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Noah Young. D: Sam Taylor. BW 74m.
9:30 PM Girl Shy (1924) A small-town boy raises a ruckus when he writes a book about how to handle women. Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, Richard Daniels. D: Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor. BW 89m.
11:00 PM Hot Water (1924) A newlywed husband has in-law problems. Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, Josephine Crowell. D: Fred Newmeyer, Sam Taylor. BW 60m.
12:30 AM The Kid Brother (1927) The weakling in a family of he-men tries to prove his mettle. Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, Walter James. D: Ted Wilde, J.A. Howe. BW 83m.
2:00 AM Speedy (1928) A young man helps his girlfriend save the family trolley business. Harold Lloyd, Ann Christy, Babe Ruth. D: Ted Wilde. BW 86m.
All hail TCM, the greatest channel on the planet, bar none!
Evan

 

[Ryan L B]

will they ever replay the Birth of a Nation at a resonable time of day. I don't want to rent or but the dvd, just to watch it.