Forgive me if anything similar has been posted before. I stumbled across this site:
www.brandeis.edu/jewishfilm/Catalogue/filmsaz.htm#T
It has a number of very interesting titles from the silent era on DVD which I have not seen elsewhere, namely:
Benya Krik - 1926
His Excellency - 1928 - Grigori Roshal
Hungry Hearts - 1922 E.Mason Hopper
Jewish Luck - 1925 - Alexander Granovsky
Laughter Through Tears - 1928 - Grigori Gricher-Cherikover
Scenes From Jewish Life - 1912
Unfortunate Bride, The - 1932 - Maurice Schwartz
Yizkor - 1924 - Sidney M.Goldin
They are quite pricey to buy though and I wondered whether anyone would be interested in sharing the cost to acquire any of these?
National Centre for Jewish films
Jewish films
I can't share the cost with you but I did get a lot of their films from a guy who issued the VHS and then the DVDs about 5-6 years ago from Brandeis where the films are held. These were the feature films from the 1930s and a few other things. The DVDs were half the price of the VHS but more practical now. The subtitles had been done as more user friendly on the DVD with some new ones overlapping the old ones. I enjoy these films and they had people in them like the stage actress Molly Picon who was also in the film Filddler on the Roof and nearly made 100. She was Yidl Mit Dem Fidl, in a boy's costume. The original story of Tevye, the Milliker(c1939) was amongst tem and made in New Jersey, I believe, but IMDB says Biograph in Manhattan & two locations on Long Island(Jericho for one). They might be right This was not a musical. Some were also made in Poland by a producer/director who did his thing in both USA & Poland(Green).
I will attempt to find out what's new since I bought those films. Some had been on Amazon at the time but I got all direct along with some other later material.
I will attempt to find out what's new since I bought those films. Some had been on Amazon at the time but I got all direct along with some other later material.
Re: National Centre for Jewish films
I just spent some time with the Rivo's when I was in Boston last month. The pricing is based on the number 18 (it relates to the numerical equivalent of the Jewish word for "life" -- a very mystical number in Judaism). I would suspect if you called, they might have a price for individuals.trevorha wrote:They are quite pricey to buy though and I wondered whether anyone would be interested in sharing the cost to acquire any of these?
Dennis Doros
Milestone F&V
Milestone F&V
On the website, the prices are $36 for home use and $72 for institutions (at least the titles I looked at) - multiples of 18, as you say.
What makes these really expensive for overseas buyers is the shipping fees (for Europe $12 per order + $3 per DVD) and, if they declare the full value for customs, UK buyers would have to pay an additional 20% VAT (on the shipping fee too) plus a flat £8 fee collection charge. So one DVD ordered alone would cost around $66 or over £40. I wonder if the (current) UK import threshold of £18 has mystical significance too!
What makes these really expensive for overseas buyers is the shipping fees (for Europe $12 per order + $3 per DVD) and, if they declare the full value for customs, UK buyers would have to pay an additional 20% VAT (on the shipping fee too) plus a flat £8 fee collection charge. So one DVD ordered alone would cost around $66 or over £40. I wonder if the (current) UK import threshold of £18 has mystical significance too!
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R Michael Pyle
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Brandeis
What makes these really expensive for overseas buyers is the shipping fees (for Europe $12 per order + $3 per DVD) and, if they declare the full value for customs, UK buyers would have to pay an additional 20% VAT (on the shipping fee too) plus a flat £8 fee collection charge. So one DVD ordered alone would cost around $66 or over £40. I wonder if the (current) UK import threshold of £18 has mystical significance too!
That's what's so good about Australia currently. No tax under A$1000 imported and a lower exchange rate than we have enjoyed for years.
The US$72 is close to the $75 I paid plus postage from the New Jersey agent back in those dark ages when the items were new.
A fact is that many of these films were found in very poor state and places like barns and covered in oil had been mentioned at the time. Many of the performers were well-known, famous even, on the US Yiddish stage. Although he was known there in the early days, Edward G Robinson did not appear in any of these films. A few turn up in some British films of the period. I only recently found out, thru a book published on the subject, that my city of Melbourne/Australia had a vibrant Yiddish theatre in an inner city suburb. I can read some Yiddish when written in our script but the Yiddish editions of the local Jewish major newspaper always used the Hebrew script and was a lift in the English language paper.
Leonard Maltin added these titles to an edition that came out of his TV Guide when the were newly available to buy and see on TV a a time when older movies were being jettisoned from his mammoth guide. The reasoning, and a correct one, was that he had not listed them before. He has a classic films edition now, of course.
That's what's so good about Australia currently. No tax under A$1000 imported and a lower exchange rate than we have enjoyed for years.
The US$72 is close to the $75 I paid plus postage from the New Jersey agent back in those dark ages when the items were new.
A fact is that many of these films were found in very poor state and places like barns and covered in oil had been mentioned at the time. Many of the performers were well-known, famous even, on the US Yiddish stage. Although he was known there in the early days, Edward G Robinson did not appear in any of these films. A few turn up in some British films of the period. I only recently found out, thru a book published on the subject, that my city of Melbourne/Australia had a vibrant Yiddish theatre in an inner city suburb. I can read some Yiddish when written in our script but the Yiddish editions of the local Jewish major newspaper always used the Hebrew script and was a lift in the English language paper.
Leonard Maltin added these titles to an edition that came out of his TV Guide when the were newly available to buy and see on TV a a time when older movies were being jettisoned from his mammoth guide. The reasoning, and a correct one, was that he had not listed them before. He has a classic films edition now, of course.