Maurice Tourneur silents DVD box set from France

[pathe16mm]

Poking around amazon France, I came across this box set Hommage à Maurice Tourneur, containing The Blue Bird, The Whip, The Pride of the Clan, The County Fair, Lorna Doone, Victory, The Last of the Mohicans, and Poor Little Rich Girl. Does anyone know if this is legit, or is its producer Bach Films just the French equivalent of Alpha Video?

http://www.amazon.fr/Hommage-Maurice-To ... =pd_cp_d_1" target="_blank

[Arndt]

First of all, I do not know how legit Bach Films are. I have bought some of their DVDs from shops in France and French Amazon over the years and, yes, they are comparable to Alpha in that you never know what you are going to get. The quality varies between quite watchable and poor. Most frustratingly they often (but not always) replace the original title cards with only French titles. This is especially annoying as it is so unnecessary. Fortunately the DVDs are cheap, so if you are desperate to see a film - like HEARTS OF THE WORLD - they are worth a punt.

[Ann Harding]

Avoid like the plague. Bach Films just copies DVDs published elsewhere and adds its own French titles (often badly translated) plus some awful compilation music. Do not give them a cent!

[pathe16mm]

Will certainly pass on it. Thanks!

[Arndt]

I bought Bach Film's DVD of BROKEN LULLABY (1932), as it appears to be the only DVD of this film available anywhere. I did not have much hope, but my TV recording of this outstanding Lubitsch is pretty poor. Much to my surprise the picture quality of the Bach DVD is very good. My only gripe is that the French subtitles are hardcoded.

It actually appears that even with them it is out of print. I picked it up on Ebay. The French title is the one of the original play: "L'homme que j'ai tué".

This film deserves a proper Bluray edition. It is one of the best anti-war movies I know.

[Ann Harding]

Their BROKEN LULLABY DVD is certainly the best they ever produced. Unlike the silents (which are poached abroad), it was a legitimate licensing from Universal, hence the quality.

[Gaucho]

I recently found a used copy of this in Paris and was very pleased with the film.
I hadn't seen it before and thought it's anti-war message was much more effective than even Milestone's All Quiet on the Western Front. Absolutely riveting film.