Tweet Seven Chances and the 1922 Sherlock Holmes on BD from Kino

From the Digital Bits website:
Kino is releasing Rapt on Blu-ray and DVD on 12/6 (SRP $34.95 and $29.95), the 1922 silent version of Sherlock Holmes starring John Barrymore on Blu-ray (SRP $34.95) and Seven Chances: Ultimate Edition on both Blu-ray and DVD (SRP $34.95 and $29.95) on 12/13, the original 1932 Best Picture-winning version of A Farewell to Arms on Blu-ray and DVD (SRP $29.95 and $24.95) and Nothing Sacred on Blu-ray and DVD (SRP $29.95 and $24.95) on 12/20, and finally the recent Tuesday, After Christmas on DVD only on 12/27 (SRP $29.95). A Farewell to Arms and Nothing Sacred are both mastered from original 35mm nitrite prints and are authorized by the estate of David O. Selznick.

So, it looks like that Kino will not be pairing up Seven Chances with another Keaton film. I hope the extras will be good. I'll be ordering it the instant deepdiscount.com puts it up. I'm not sure if I'll be picking up Sherlock Holmes though. I have the dvd edition from Kino, and I cannot say that that movie is one of my higher priorities for upgrading.

More info courtesy of classicflix.com:
More Blu from Kino as they have announced Sherlock Holmes (1922) and Seven Chances (1925) for release on December 13th.

Also out will be a standard Ultimate Edition of Seven Chances. Both the Blu and Standard version of Chances will have the bonus features below:

Audio Commentary (TBD)
“Silent Echoes” featurette
Seven Chances restoration featurette featuring Technicolor comparison and more!


This sounds good. I can't wait to hear what the "more" includes.

I can't wait to hear what the "more" includes.

An FBI warning.

I can't wait to hear what the "more" includes.

An FBI warning.

A menu screen would be nice too.

A Farewell to Arms did not win Best Picture in 1932 or ever.

A Farewell to Arms did not win Best Picture in 1932 or ever.

The film won two Academy Awards and was nominated for another two:

Academy Award for Best Picture (nominee)
Academy Award for Best Art Direction (nominee)
Academy Award for Best Cinematography (winner)
Academy Award for Sound - Franklin Hansen (winner)

Cover Art:

I have generally been pretty disappointed in the cover art for the Buster Keaton blu rays. However, I really like this one.

[silentfilm]

Extras on Blu-Ray/DVD

• Audio commentary and conversation by film historians Ken Gordon and Bruce Lawton
• A Brideless Groom (1947, 17 min.), a Three Stooges short that recycles the premise of Seven Chances, co-written by Keaton collaborator Clyde Bruckman
• How a French Nobleman Got a Wife Through the New York Herald Personal Columns, a 1904 Edison short directed by Edwin S. Porter
• Visual essay on the film’s locations, by Silent Echoes author John Bengtson
• Analysis of the Technicolor sequence by film historian Eric Grayson
• Gallery of production stills
• Music arranged and conducted by Robert Israel, in 2.0 stereo and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Edison short scored by Ben Model (repurposed from the Edison set), if anyone cares.

I care Ben. I care....

[silentfilm]

Ben Model and the Three Stooges on the same BluRay!

Edison short scored by Ben Model (repurposed from the Edison set), if anyone cares.

Pssh like anyone would care about that hack!

Just kidding! Whenever I see your name on a silent set my ears grin.

I think you guys will be amazed by the color sequence!

Oh, yeah, I can tell you that the transfer on this title is amazing. It's much nicer than the old one. Can't say much more...

Eric you're killing me! Now I'm really dying to see this blu-ray of my favorite Keaton. I've long wondered what a decade's worth of technological advancement might do to help restore the color of the prologue, when compared to the original release. I'm not sure I'll be able to wait til Christmas for this one!

Eric you're killing me! Now I'm really dying to see this blu-ray of my favorite Keaton. I've long wondered what a decade's worth of technological advancement might do to help restore the color of the prologue, when compared to the original release. I'm not sure I'll be able to wait til Christmas for this one!

The decade's worth of technological advancement came down to my knowing to bring a very daunting and complicated problem of existing elements on the color sequence to Eric (with his expertise in both early color --AND-- computer wizardry) and having him sequester himself for several days while he used his genius to restore the color. Keaton fans everywhere owe Eric 'Rotwang' Grayson some serious appreciation for this impressive resurrection.

Can't wait to see some screencaps over at the 'Beaver or Blu-ray.com

I'm not sure if I'll be picking up Sherlock Holmes though. I have the dvd edition from Kino, and I cannot say that that movie is one of my higher priorities for upgrading.

re the Barrymore "Sherlock" -- I can tell you that the music track on the Blu-Ray of "Sherlock Holmes" (theatre organ score by me) will be in synch with the film, as opposed to the DVD release. It's 6 seconds behind the film on the DVD release. (The master got corrected before being sent to TCM, so if anyone DV-R'ed it off Turner the score's in synch there too.)

Deep Discount shipped my copy today! Yea!

will Sherlock Holmes still be available in conventional dvd even after the Blu Ray release?

My copy arrived today, and I've looked over the disc for a few minutes. In short, Kino has produced another stellar Keaton blu-ray disc. The feature looks excellent, and the Technicolor prologue looks very nice. I tried to make a screen capture to post here, but apparently the software I use on my computer won't allow it. Drat! Anyway, I look forward to sitting back later tonight to watch the movie in its entirety.

will Sherlock Holmes still be available in conventional dvd even after the Blu Ray release?

I believe so...

I suppose it's better to be Rotwang than Rasputin! Thanks for the plug, Bruce. I suppose I should visit the forum here more often.

[silentfilm]

Here's a shot of Eric's restoration of the prologue in Seven Chances.

Wow that's magnificent! I didn't expect that so much could be done, given the degree of fading in the original. And I just love that two color palette. Lovely warm reds and greens...marvelous!

And extra kudos for not adding the bloody blue layer, as Warners did for "Mystery of the Wax Museum"

It was lucky we got red and green out of it. Seriously. It was in bad shape.

[Mike Gebert]

I remember when I saw the footage on the laserdisc, I thought, "This almost looks like it was two-strip once." I just thought it was some weird anomaly of sepiatone footage, though. To have something that is plainly color is a huge step forward, I can't wait to see it in total (and in context).

It was lucky we got red and green out of it. Seriously. It was in bad shape.

Looks fantastic! Pardon my ignorance of this subject, but what process(es) did you use to restore the color?

Lo! That is a tremendous improvement over what I have seen in the past. So, why didn't it look like this on TCM a couple months ago? I thought they had the latest transfer? I'm confused.