NitrateVille.com

I forgot to mention in my Kansas Silent Film Festival review that one of the promos from Flicker Alley mentioned that a Douglas Fairbanks boxed set would be coming out from David Shepard later this year. I assume that it would be similar to what was on the Fairbanks laserdisc set that was released in the early 1990s.

Are there any hints as to the contents?

The present plan is for
(Triangle films)
FLIRTING WITH FATE
THE MATRIMANIAC
MYSTERY OF THE LEAPING FISH
(Artcraft Films)
WILD AND WOOLLY
REACHING FOR THE MOON
(UA Films)
A MODERN MUSKETEER (new restoration from 35mm, Mont Alto score)
WHEN THE CLOUDS ROLL BY (from 35mm with Mont Alto score)
THE MOLLYCODDLE
THE NUT
THE MARK OF ZORRO (all new edition from 35mm with Mont Alto score)
extensive stills gallery, brochure, some commentaries

David Shepard

DShepFilm wrote:The present plan is for
(Triangle films)
FLIRTING WITH FATE
THE MATRIMANIAC
MYSTERY OF THE LEAPING FISH
(Artcraft Films)
WILD AND WOOLLY
REACHING FOR THE MOON
(UA Films)
A MODERN MUSKETEER (new restoration from 35mm, Mont Alto score)
WHEN THE CLOUDS ROLL BY (from 35mm with Mont Alto score)
THE MOLLYCODDLE
THE NUT
THE MARK OF ZORRO (all new edition from 35mm with Mont Alto score)
extensive stills gallery, brochure, some commentaries

David Shepard

I think this calls for a hearty "Woo-hoo!"

Mike S.

I do too. I have both the laser box sets of the swashbuckling (mostly) pictures, but I've managed to see surprisingly few of the earlier comedies over the years, so I am very much looking forward to this.

DShepFilm wrote:The present plan is for
(Triangle films)
FLIRTING WITH FATE
THE MATRIMANIAC
MYSTERY OF THE LEAPING FISH
(Artcraft Films)
WILD AND WOOLLY
REACHING FOR THE MOON
(UA Films)
A MODERN MUSKETEER (new restoration from 35mm, Mont Alto score)
WHEN THE CLOUDS ROLL BY (from 35mm with Mont Alto score)
THE MOLLYCODDLE
THE NUT
THE MARK OF ZORRO (all new edition from 35mm with Mont Alto score)
extensive stills gallery, brochure, some commentaries

David Shepard

Oh, nice! I was afraid it was going to be yet another version of the features, but other than Zorro and the indescribable Leaping Fish, this stuff is more or less new to DVD. I'll be glad to finally replace my 30-year-old French-titled taped-off-TV Beta copies of Mollycoddle and The Nut.

Coke Ennyday lives to snort again!

Jim

Ditto. Somehow I've only seen a few from the above list and really liked them. Any clues as to when it may be available?

rollot24 wrote:Are there any hints as to the contents?

And as to the release date?


Jim

This is very exciting! I'm thrilled! The Nut on DVD! Yay!

Woo-hoo indeed. I've never seen any of the pre-swashbucklers.
Thanks Mr. S.

rollot24 wrote:Woo-hoo indeed. I've never seen any of the pre-swashbucklers.
Thanks Mr. S.

Drool. And I should be done with Ford & Lubitsch by then!

Oh, for dumb.

A MODERN MUSKETEER (1918) is an Artcraft film, of course; not UA. Release date will be late November, timed to the publication of the new Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences/University of California Press book on Fairbanks by Jeffrey Vance.

David Shepard

Great news!

I caught the premiere of Modern Musketeer at the Buster Keaton Festival last year and I'm really looking forward to seeing it on DVD. If you ask me, you can't have too much Fairbanks.

Any chance of other non-costume titles coming in the future (esp. His Picture in the Papers, American Aristocracy, The Americano, etc.)?

Cool! I'm looking forward to A Modern Musketeer. I've seen most of the other films except Wild and Woolly and When The Clouds Roll By. I saw the 1917 Reaching For The Moon when I was a kid and it was one of those crummy Video Yesteryear tapes. So this should be a treat!

DShepFilm wrote: Release date will be late November

Please note, in case anyone is wondering what to get me for Hanukkah!

Mike S.

DShepFilm wrote:The present plan is for
(Triangle films)
FLIRTING WITH FATE
THE MATRIMANIAC
MYSTERY OF THE LEAPING FISH
(Artcraft Films)
WILD AND WOOLLY
REACHING FOR THE MOON
(UA Films)
A MODERN MUSKETEER (new restoration from 35mm, Mont Alto score)
WHEN THE CLOUDS ROLL BY (from 35mm with Mont Alto score)
THE MOLLYCODDLE
THE NUT
THE MARK OF ZORRO (all new edition from 35mm with Mont Alto score)
extensive stills gallery, brochure, some commentaries

David Shepard

Thank you David! Of Fairbanks' earlier stuff, all I've seen is HIS PICTURE IN THE PAPERS, and I can't wait to see more. And while I'm at it, thank you also for the Melies box. Been waiting for a set like that for ages. Both of these will be mine on street date.

Now that the subject has been brought up, would anyone know which film this fragment is from?




It is a scene from an early Douglas Fairbanks "suit and tie" comedy.

The fragment I have is one of those films mass produced for Keystone Moviegraph projectors and is 35mm diacetate safety film.

The scene seems to take place in a barbershop.

Here's a link to Flicker Alley's description:
http://www.flickeralley.com/fa_fairbanks01.html

http://www.flickeralley.com/fa_fairbanks01.html

Douglas Fairbanks: A Modern Musketeer

Douglas Fairbanks came to the movies in 1915, when high salaries were luring well-known stage performers to the new feature-length productions. Although most of these performers failed to “register” on camera and soon returned to New York, Fairbanks quickly became a supernova. His energetic, optimistic character, ingratiating smile and graceful, acrobatic style rapidly made Fairbanks one of the most admired stars in the world. By 1917, he had established his own production company. In 1919, along with Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and D. W. Griffith, Fairbanks formed United Artists Corporation.

This five-disc DVD collection includes eleven of the delightful modern-dress comedies, westerns, satires, dream-fantasies and romances which made Fairbanks a popular hero, before he launched into the costume spectacles for which he is best remembered.

The set begins with four films produced in 1916 through Triangle-Fine Arts: His Picture in the Papers, The Mystery of the Leaping Fish, Flirting With Fate and The Matrimaniac. The collection continues with three films produced by Fairbanks for Artcraft / Famous Players-Lasky Corp. in 1917 and 1918: Wild and Woolly (1917), Reaching for the Moon (1917) and A Modern Musketeer (1918). Finally, four wonderful features that Fairbanks produced for United are included: When the Clouds Roll By (1919), The Mollycoddle (1920), The Mark of Zorro (1920) and The Nut (1921).

In addition to Fairbanks’s great talent, these ebullient films are also informed by gifted collaborators, including scenario writer Anita Loos and directors Allan Dwan and Victor Fleming, among others. This body of work showcases the lively “All-American” character that Fairbanks would continue to draw upon in his later 1920s epics.

Douglas Fairbanks: A Modern Musketeer will coincide with the release of a new book, Douglas Fairbanks by Jeffrey Vance, the first critical analysis of Fairbanks’s body of work in over twenty-five years as well as the first full scale biography in over a half century. This extensively researched, engagingly written and sumptuously designed book goes behind Fairbanks’s public persona to thoroughly explore his art and far-reaching influence. Utilizing access to Fairbanks’s personal and professional papers, Douglas Fairbanks is a superb portrait of a true pioneer, critically important to the creation of cinema as the defining art form of the 20th-century. (With Tony Maietta. Robert Cushman, Photographic Editor - University of California Press. Co-Published with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences).

That's so great that HIS PICTURE IN THE PAPERS will be included as well! Can't wait to get this set.

Very excited about the Fairbanks set! A MODERN MUSKETEER was awesome when it premiered on TCM several months ago! I was amazed at just how good and delightful this film was. Great score by Mont Alto too! This ought to be quite a collection!

Now if we could just get Flicker Alley, Milestone, or somebody, to release some nicely restored Colleen Moore titles, and early Marion Davies films not owned by Warners. And keep working on those blasted Hughes people for an official release of TWO ARABIAN KNIGHTS, THE RACKET, and THE MATING CALL, It's long overdue!