Hitchcock Silent films to tour

[Gil1957]

I hope it comes to Chicago

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/ ... -tour-u-s/" target="_blank

[Frederica]

I hope it comes to Chicago

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/ ... -tour-u-s/" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

Do be sure to read "Freddie's" (not me) comment on this announcement. It's the only comment on a news article I've ever seen that isn't a complete waste of "send."

[didi-5]

Ah, that comment is wonderful

[mwalls]

This sounds like a great event. I searched the Internet, but all I could find was a reference to a handful of cities mostly with no dates and a mention that some other unnamed cities would be included. Does anyone by chance know if there is a full schedule available anywhere?

Matthew

[rudyfan]

This sounds like a great event. I searched the Internet, but all I could find was a reference to a handful of cities mostly with no dates and a mention that some other unnamed cities would be included. Does anyone by chance know if there is a full schedule available anywhere?

Matthew

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival is hosting this as a special event in June. June 14-16

[Rodney]

We're playing for some of the films in San Francisco (as is the great Stephen Horne), and we expect to play in Brooklyn (we just haven't actually gotten it worked out in terms of dates yet). There are some additional cities* mentioned in this Variety article, but no dates for those shows.

These are DCP packages, and the BFI commissioned new recorded scores for all of them in the UK, so some of the venues may play them with those scores rather than live music. We're hoping that some other cities will be interested in our three scores, but it can be expensive to bring us out. And, of course, many of these venues have their own talented local accompanists.

* Washington, D.C., Berkeley, Chicago, Seattle, Houston, Boston

[silentmovies742]

You have to love the British Film Institute. They restore these films, show them in London (did all of them get shown? not sure), and then they tour America. Did they tour Britain? Of course not!

[Rodney]

You have to love the British Film Institute. They restore these films, show them in London (did all of them get shown? not sure), and then they tour America. Did they tour Britain? Of course not!

To be fair, London is closer to the rest of Britain than most of the U.S. is to San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, Boston, Houston, and Brooklyn.

The venues in the U.S. are paying handsomely for the privilege of showing this series. If there were a venue in Glasgow or Liverpool that was interested in putting on screenings (and had the funding), I'm sure it would be very easy to make it happen. Talk to your local cinematheque.

And next time you vote, try hard not to elect a government that promotes austerity. It's bad policy economically, and also contributes greatly to the lack of funding for cultural events.

[silentmovies742]

You have to love the British Film Institute. They restore these films, show them in London (did all of them get shown? not sure), and then they tour America. Did they tour Britain? Of course not!

To be fair, London is closer to the rest of Britain than most of the U.S. is to San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, Boston, Houston, and Brooklyn.

The venues in the U.S. are paying handsomely for the privilege of showing this series. If there were a venue in Glasgow or Liverpool that was interested in putting on screenings (and had the funding), I'm sure it would be very easy to make it happen. Talk to your local cinematheque.

And next time you vote, try hard not to elect a government that promotes austerity. It's bad policy economically, and also contributes greatly to the lack of funding for cultural events.

You think I voted for these idiots?!

Yes, I realise that London is easier to get to, but that's hardly the point. The BFI made the rather strange decision of allowing Sky Movies to show The Lodger and Downhill a year or so ago in their new prints. The BFI are sending Underground on tour around the country but not the Hitchcock films which, one would assume, would create more interest as Hitchcock is a bigger name (although I would suggest the majority of the silent Hitchcocks aren't as good as Underground). It does certainly seem odd that the restorations hit the headlines and yet the films appear to be shown in London briefly and then thrown back in the vaults. Other than The Lodger, there is no sign of a DVD/Blu-Ray release for the others. It always seems odd to me that about 50% of the films released by the BFI label aren't British. You certainly don't see the Danish Film Institute releasing sets of Japanese films!

[s.w.a.c.]

While we're on the topic, how is that Network UK blu-ray of The Lodger? I have the North American DVD put out by Fox/MGM, which is tinted, but all the images on the packaging of the UK disc suggest it's straight-up B&W. But if it's greatly improved print and transfer-wise, I'd consider an upgrade.

[silentmovies742]

While we're on the topic, how is that Network UK blu-ray of The Lodger? I have the North American DVD put out by Fox/MGM, which is tinted, but all the images on the packaging of the UK disc suggest it's straight-up B&W. But if it's greatly improved print and transfer-wise, I'd consider an upgrade.

To be honest, I didn't buy it as I was assuming that a box of the nine films would appear shortly afterwards...but they didn't. I did see the restoration on Sky Classics, but can't rmeember for the life of me whether it was tinted or not. I have to say that I didn't think there was a VAST difference between that and the version(s) I have already - Downhill, the other one they showed, was a huge improvement, though.

[Rodney]

For what it's worth, the BFI version of The Lodger that I was sent for preparing our score is tinted. Mostly amber, blue at night, and a few scenes untinted.