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One of my early joys when buying silent films on VHS was the Paramount issued nearly flawless preserved print of The Covered Wagon, purchased at a Sam Goody of all places. It was released if I remember in a green box around the same time as Wings (VHS) but before the block of silent films Paramount put out for their 75th anniversary in 1987.

Will this western ever make it back out, in dvd this time, with a new orchestral score or even the old Gaylord Carter pipe organ, which I liked at the time. Since this film celebrates the expansion of American it may not be too popular a subject right now with some in positions of authority, our times right now being tinged somewhat with anti-American sentiment. This being said, Westerns were at one time a huge staple in films, radio, serials, and television at least up the end of the 1960s. Now Westerns are almost certainly a niche genre amongst older viewers in the population.

I read that Mary Miles Minter was offered the role in Covered Wagon even after the William Desmond Taylor murder, but she turned it down. I guess the murder helped her get away from the film business like she said she wanted. Anyway the film made Lois Wilson a star.

sepiatone,

I thought MISS LULU BETT (1921) made Lois Wilson a Star? If she was not one already? In any event two things I should make note of. One THE COVERED WAGON was also issued on Lase-disc by Paramount. Two, About 7 years ago Kevin Brownlow wanted to produce a Photoplay Productions Version of THE COVERED WAGON but Paramount showed no interest in the venture at the time. Or at any rate felt that the film had little or no commercial value. Kevin was justifiably despondent . He mentioned during the interview in 2008 on Silver Screen Oasis that Paramount had the one of the most beautiful prints he had seen of almost any Silent film. Perhaps Paramount's attitude has softened since then? Who knows? I would love to see it. Although THE COVERED WAGON wouldn't necessarily be my first choice among Paramount Silents for an official release.

Paramount has at least shown some willingness to license their movies as shown with their dealings with Warner Bros, Olive Films, Legend, and Criterion. However, aside from Criterion's licensing of the three von Sternberg silents and allegedly "The Wedding March" (has it ever been confirmed that Criterion is actually working on that movie?), I don't think that the silents have been a part of any of these deals. You would think that the ones with the Gaylord Carter scores would at least be given consideration since no one would have to pay for them to be scored. Perhaps Olive Films will at some point consider them since they have released some pretty obscure Paramount titles on DVD and blu-ray. Perhaps Flicker Alley could license some of these movies (I know - wishful thinking).

The laserdisc of THE COVERED WAGON looks very nice and Gaylord Carter's score is pretty good. It would be really fantastic if Olive Films or even Warners would do a new HD scan and release a Blu-ray edition, but at the rate they're releasing classics lately my bet would be on Olive over Warner!

Christopher Jacobs,

Funny you should mention Warner's, because according to that old article on Movies alt.Silent from 1997, Turner actually did have a 35 Millimeter print of THE COVERED WAGON (1923)? Assuming this was correct, how they got one and where it came from I do not know? Nonetheless, I would assume that Warner's acquired it from Turner with the rest of the Silents? Anyone know they story about this matter?

Lois:

Lois Wilson certainly was a star before The Covered Wagon. Even before Miss Lulu Bett she costarred or was leading lady with the likes of Robert Warwick and Wallace Reid, big names at the end of the teens. The Covered Wagon is one of the silents she's best remembered for and probably The Great Gatsby would be also if it existed to be evaluated, she got great reviews for her performance.

Olive films:
Yeah Olive's logo is on the header of "Sands of the Kalahari" (1965 originally Paramount), but Paramount only had a distribution deal with Stanley Baker and Cy Endfield. After more than 40 years I wouldn't have thought Paramount no longer had an exclusive anything with the film. The same possibly with "Fraulein Doktor"(1969 Italian/Paramount/Ennio Morricone score) which has not seen a dvd release and was thought to be cut horribly after the shakeup of Paramount being acquired by Gulf-Western.