Tweet The Loves of Pharaoh (Lubitsch, 1922)

Glenn Erickson of DVD Savant (http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/) announced this rather astonishing news on Tuesday:

A couple of weeks ago I received a note from Thomas Bakels of Alpha-Omega Gmbh, the firm that performed the full restoration makeover on both the 2001 and 2010 releases of Fritz Lang's Metropolis. The news is pretty exciting -- it announces the restoration of yet another classic German silent epic:

Alpha-Omega's latest restoration project, the 1922 silent film The Loves of Pharaoh (Das Weib des Pharao) by the famous director Ernst Lubitsch will have its US premiere at the Egyptian Theater on Hollywood Blvd, October 18th 2011. The theater is excited about this project and has scheduled it for their birthday event this year.

The Loves of Pharaoh has been unviewable for over 70 years. The restoration was begun with just a remnant of original tinted nitrate 35mm found in Russia. In 2004 another tinted element was located in Italy and donated to the George Eastman Archive, which then allowed it to be augment the ongoing restoration. Both nitrates together filled in 90% of the film's storyline. It's a true miracle for lost films.

Alpha Omega will be proudly presenting the film in its final restored form. Several language versions have been created by replicating the intertitles in the language of choice, like it was done in the 1920s. Also restored are the original tint colors, according to the findings in the actual nitrate material. The image restoration has been performed in 2K resolution and also printed back to silent 35mm.

This is really big news -- I have reference books that list The Loves of Pharaoh as a lost film. What Thomas didn't mention is the film's lofty cast: Emil Jannings, Paul Wegener, Lyda Salmonova, Albert Bassermann and Bernhard Goetzke. I've seen some brief clips from the picture and the quality is stunning, both in intimate scenes and in a couple of epic views. Enormous Egyptian structures like those in The Ten Commandment are seen, as is a large-scale battle with armies clashing on giant sand dunes.

Bakels says that the film will be available on DVD and Blu-ray by the end of the year. The release will have multiple sets of intertitles, in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Arabic (Egyptian), Chinese and Thai.

Unviewable? No, it's been seen. In d***ed poor shape, yes.

Reminds me of the first time I saw METROPOLIS in 1971. Compare it with the last-but-one restoration and you have an idea of what I hope for.

Bob

The restored version played last year's Bonn silent film festival. I was looking forward to it quite a lot, so I was - inevitably perhaps - disappointed. I thought the film was clunky and lacked any Lubitsch lightness. Bassermann was worst in it.
French/German TV station ARTE have got it scheduled for 26 September.

I watched it in a non-english version & the story was sketchy but somewhat coherent. There are missing scenes which are filled in by stills & an explanation of what happened. Jannings gets dethroned & depantsted just kidding but he regains his throne & there is a love triangle in which the woman can't make up her mind which man she loves or none of the above. Wegener plays an Ethopian warlord who brings a special philly to Egypt to entice Jannings & in this way better himself. It doesn't quite work out. It turns out all the power of the throne belongs to the high priest when push comes to shove. There is alot more than 10% missing but you get a typical German silent with all the things they do that made them great. a lot of posing & glancing & a curious telescope effect which means focus.

Is there any word on a street date for this release?

Dear Forum Members,

We are excited to announce the release of the DVD and BluRay of „The Loves of Pharaoh“ on 30th June 2012.

The production of the DVD and BluRay edition took longer than expected due to the complexity of the project and extraordinarily high production costs. The established production methods and distribution channels make an independent release in limited edition difficult to finance and hardly profitable. Despite the difficult and long journey we are proud to present a high-quality collectors edition with exciting content and packaging.

DVD UND BLURAY EDITION SPECIFICATIONS:
This digital restoration recreates the original color tinting scheme in accordance to the only surviving projection print fragments. This release makes the original orchestral score available for the first time ever on recorded media.

Special features:
- Digibox packaging
- Booklet: 20. pages, color. Texts and images relating to the film and the restoration: Introduction by Thomas Bakels, personal message to the fans from Ms Nicola Lubitsch, Essay by Kristin Thompson, Interview with Frank Strobel, Text by Egyptology expert Bernt Müller- Trailer: English, German- Production documentation: location shots, photos of missing scenes, programme booklet - Filmkurier Berlin 1922 (BluRay disc only)
- The Return of Lubitsch’s Pharaoh: A documentary about the restoration of The Loves of Pharaoh, depicting the complex restoration project in pictures and narration about the making of the film, interviews with contributors and scene comparisons. Information about color selection, technical procedures and source material is provided as well as a context to the new recording of the original music score. (35mins)
- Film concert: A high-class program in its own right is this HD recording of WDR Rundfunkorchester performing the music score in Cologne, Germany, on 14th and 15th September 2011. This program was produced by ALPHA-OMEGA digital especially for this release. Assembled using footage from 16 cameras strategically placed within the orchestra, the music takes center stage and the film becomes the supporting act. The outstanding performance of the orchestra under the direction of Frank Strobel finally completes the film and can be experienced in full length and from close-up with this first ever recording of Künneke’s score. (100 mins)

Language Versions:
German, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, ArabicThe film is presented in 10 selectable language versions. The title cards are re-created as full screen intertitles as was common practice for foreign releases in the silent film era. The titles were translated by colleagues and friends who came to the project with a profound subject expertise. For the German, English, French and Italian versions the original type face could be used. The Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Arabic versions exhibit a different appearance due to their unique characteristics.

Technical Specifications:
DVD Edition: 1*DVD9 + 1*DVD9
BluRay Edition: 1*BluRay50
Duration: Main Feature: approx. 100min, Additional Material: approx. 144min
Frame Rate: 20 f/s
Resolution: PAL, 720×576 (DVD) | NTSC, 720×480 (DVD) | HD 1920×1080 (BD)
Aspect Ratio: 4:3 (1,33:1) (main feature)
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 (DVD) | PCM 2.0 Stereo (DVD & BluRay)| DTS-HD 5.1 (BluRay)
Source Material: Original Russian and Italian nitrate release prints

You can place the order on the Alpha-Omega digital online shop:
http://www.alpha-omega.de/doku.php?id=e ... pharao_dvd" target="_blank

We hope you enjoy the restored version of this long lost Lubitsch spectacle!

Your ALPHA-OMEGA digital Team

Wow pricey!

Yikes!

Blu-ray with U.S. shipping comes to €42.80, or about $53.41. I was expecting it to be around $100 from the above couple of posts; I don't think that's too bad for a deluxe extras-laden limited edition of an extremely rare niche title that hasn't been available in any form previously. Certainly a much better deal than $20 for a bare-bones Warner Archive title (which I never buy unless they're 50% off).

And from the review by our very own Herr Graf, it sounds like a definite winner:

"Das Weib Des Pharao" (1922) has been one of the most anticipated silent film restorations released in this modernen year. September saw the long awaited premiere of the film which was superbly restored thanks to the efforts of different European institutions. This little known Herr Ernst Lubitsch movie of his German period is now available to the joy of silent film fans around the world.

"Das Weib Des Pharao" was the last film directed by Herr Lubitsch before he departed to Amerika where his career was very different in terms of artistic style and goals. Certainly "Das Weib Des Pharao" is characteristic of his work during his Teutonic epoch.

First of all, the film is "kolossal": magnificent décors, lavish and gorgeous costumes, crowd scenes astonishing in the number of extras employed. This huge production and Herr Lubitsch's mastery transports the audience back to ancient Egypt.

But "Das Weib Des Pharao", spectacular art direction and staging notwithstanding, is also a tormented love story, intimate and nuanced and combining seamlessly with the more spectacular dimension of the plot, the war between the king of Ethiopia Herr Samlak ( Herr Paul Wegener ) and the pharaoh Herr Amenes ( Herr Emil Jannings ). The conflict begins when the king of Ethiopia invades Egypt because his daughter, Frau Makeda ( Frau Lyda Salmonova ) has been rejected by Herr Amenes due to his infatuation with Frau Theonis (Frau Dagny Servaies), namely slave of Frau Makeda. To complicate matters, Theonis is in love with Herr Ramphis (Herr Harry Liedtke). Theonis, against her will, becomes the Queen of Egypt. Tragedy follows for all.

This Herr Von was absolutely fascinated during the scenes between the pharaoh Amenes and the beautiful slave Theonis; Jannings' restrained performance shows all the pain and longing of unrequited love as he vainly tries to win her favour. Some of the scenes are in lovely chiaroscuro; the cinematography by Herr Alfred Hansen und Herr Theodor Sparkhul is brilliant.

"Das Weib Des Pharao" is for this German count a very special Lubistch oeuvre, combining the characteristics of a "kolossal" picture with intimate melodrama. None of the Lubitsch wit is on hand and there is certainly no humor in the film to lighten the story. It remains serious all the way through and is without concessions, making it a very unique Lubitsch film whose rediscovery is a great gift to lovers of the Silent Era.

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count has an appointment with his beautiful Teutonic slave instead of one of his fat German heiresses.

[Christopher Jacobs]

The price may be on the moderately high side, but is certainly reasonable for such a rare and limited-appeal title in High Definition with a nice selection of bonus features, especially with the unusual option of alternate-language intertitles rather than simply superimposed subtitles. The limited-edition Twilight Time Blu-rays are in the $30-$40 range with fewer extras and the Olive Films Blu-rays of obscure Paramount catalog titles are often $20-$25 with no extras at all.

The main issue is payment -- I don't (currently) do PayPal. Am I reading the webpage correctly that the only non-PayPal payment option is a direct bank tranfer?

It looks like PayPal only but then you have to write to them and get an email address first.... I didn't see any other payment options....

Based on what I've seen of the quality of the restoration and the score, I think this would be a worthy addition to the home library of rare films. The clarity on some of it looks like they filmed it yesterday, like viewing through crystal.

The main issue is payment -- I don't (currently) do PayPal. Am I reading the webpage correctly that the only non-PayPal payment option is a direct bank tranfer?

Good God, man, what will you own up to next...no cell?

(I'm still waiting to get mine!)

The main issue is payment -- I don't (currently) do PayPal. Am I reading the webpage correctly that the only non-PayPal payment option is a direct bank tranfer?

I believe you can use your credit card but it goes through PayPal.

You have to register your credit card with PayPal....

[Christopher Jacobs]

The main issue is payment -- I don't (currently) do PayPal. Am I reading the webpage correctly that the only non-PayPal payment option is a direct bank tranfer?

Good God, man, what will you own up to next...no cell?

(I'm still waiting to get mine!)

Not only no cellphone, but no home broadband; just dialup internet, so also no facebook, no LinkedIn, no youtube, no streaming videos, etc. Also no remote car ignition, no Onstar, no satellite radio, no Xbox or Playstation, no Netflix, and only extended-basic cable (just enough to get TCM). The money I save buys lots of extra Blu-rays and periodically a bottle of single-malt Scotch to sip on special occasions. Maybe I'll even save enough to switch to a 3-D Blu-ray player and 3-D HD projector sometime next year if all the hinted Blu-ray releases of classic 3-D movies actually materialize.

Another Nitratevillean with Paypal has graciously offered to order an extra copy of THE LOVES OF PHARAOH when he orders his, so I'll get it through him.

Dial up!?! I'd have to kill myself. Dial M for Murder announced...I'm temped to get a 3D tv just for that but probably won't. Did order my blu of Pharaoh though.

no cellphone

Your name will be submitted forthwith for membership in the Cell-Free Club, an elite society open only to advanced intellects of irreproachable taste.

Until only about a year ago, I too spurned YouTube as the greatest repository of idiocy & filth in the cosmos (which of course, it is), but then I somehow discovered that it had also become (amazingly) the raison d'etre of antique 78 collectors, & my life has never been the same.

Cover, menus and booklet are in German & English. The 37 minute documentary about the film also has English subtitles.

Cool! Patiently awaiting my copy.

The packaging looks really nice! Can't wait for my copy to arrive.

I got my box today. I hadn't seen those pictures above so I waited a little more luxurious set but that's fine anyway. The movie itself was good but not a masterpiece. Wegener and Jannings made a good work and Servaes was quite good too. I thought that Lyda Salmonova would have a bigger part but she disappeared very early. Crowd scenes were breathtaking, art direction and cinematography masterful. Lubitsch's best spectacle.

Ehh, didn't have a good experience getting this. Bent box, loose disc that resulted in light surface scratches on the disc. I'll be playing this soon to see if it works fine or not, but I'm currently wondering if they do replacements.

Edit: Ok, blu-ray played flawlessly, which is good because I greatly enjoyed the film. The extra features were generously in-depth. I'll hang onto it despite the item getting bumped around in the mail. Worth every penny.

Mine came in just yesterday. The packaging was very pretty. The bonus documentary gives a detailed account of the restoration which I found fascinating. The film itself went beyond my expectations and is now definitely one of my favorites!

Hopefully my Blu arrives in a few days. Along with the Milestone Mary Pickford pre-release.

[Christopher Jacobs]

Got my copy. The documentary on the restoration (in German with English subtitles for most of it) is indeed an eye-opening revelation on just how bad the condition of the original material actually was, which makes the restoration all the more remarkable. And then there was even greater improvement in the 2010 restoration over the 2005 restoration.

I only spot-checked a few minutes of a few chapters for quality and what I saw looked very good to excellent, and the orchestra score sounded wonderfully operatic in various senses of the term. It's really a great option to have the alternate language subtitles available as full-screen title cards instead of superimposed over another language title. The font looks a bit modern, but actually matches the font in the surviving nitrate footage of the German theatrical release. I'm looking forward to watching the whole film soon (plan to double-feature it with Twilight Time's Blu-ray of THE EGYPTIAN), as well as watching the video concert of the orchestra performing the entire score for the film.

(Those two films are the ideal thing to run in the context of my basement theatre's decor. THE MUMMY is another one!
The photos at http://www.und.nodak.edu/instruct/cjaco ... Photos.htm" target="_blank are from a few years ago, before I replaced my screen and made a few other modifications this summer, but still give a pretty good idea of how it looks now.)

I ordered this on July 16. My order got misplaced at Alpha-Omega and finally got shipped by them on July 26 (they found the mistake, not me). I got it today and watched the film and much of the material on the restoration.. IMO definitely worth the cost and the wait.

Now I wonder what other gems Alpha-Omega is working on.

[Christopher Jacobs]

Finally got around to watching the complete feature last Saturday night, appropriately double-billed with THE EGYPTIAN (1954) and a couple of Ancient Egypt-themed shorts. Amazingly, I had the largest group of guests to see it that I've had for any of my basement home theatre screenings, several of them no doubt quickly taken aback at what they'd gotten themselves in for. Monday night I watched (alone) the complete orchestra performance of the score, recorded at live screenings last September. It's a wonderful score beautifuly performed (still can't get that main "Pharaoh motif" out of my head) and very entertaining movie, all the more so for anyone with an interest in Ancient Egypt and/or large-scale silent screen epics. (It made me want to watch Lang's Niebelungensaga films again -- sure wish they'd get a good Blu-ray transfer with the original score, with the edited American cuts as bonus features!) Several hours ago I posted a full review of both THE LOVES OF PHARAOH and THE EGYPTIAN Blu-rays in the "Old Movies in HD" thread in the "Talking About Talkies" forum.

Am I the only one to have problems with this disc? I played it for the first time a few days ago on an OPPO BDP-93, the firmware just updated. The main menu came up, I pressed play and got the blurb at the beginning about the restoration, but it stayed on the screen, even when the movie started, and didn't go off until I fast-forwarded. After that it did play (the restored image is just gorgeous by the way), but the picture would jump occasionally, as if there were missing frames. It kept happening, not enough to keep me from following the story, but enough to be extremely annoying. It reminded me of a similar problem when I used to play region 2 DVDs on an all-region Panasonic DVD player I used to have. The problem is not with my OPPO. The disc played the same way when I tried it on another machine the next day. Do I have a defective disc? I would like to know if anyone has had similar problems. I would be grateful for any feedback.

[Danny Burk]

Mitch - I have exactly the same Oppo player - my copy plays with no problem. It does sound like a problem with the disk.