THE WIND (1928) on TCM's THE ESSENTIALS this year?

[Gagman 66]

Say I saw a clip alerting us to TCM's brand new season of THE ESSENTIALS beginning in March. It appears that Victor Seastrom's THE WIND (1928) will be part of the 2015 lineup. Does this finally infer a potential DVD or Blu-ray release in the works? Hopefully an upgraded transfer over the old Thames Silents master from the Mid 80's that they have been running all along? Does anyone have any additional information about this matter that they could share? Thanks.

[George O'Brien]

It was scheduled at the request of Drew Barrymore who thinks her grandmother is in it.

[Clem Dickey]

Broadcast date is April 25. http://essentials.tcm.com/schedule

[azjazzman]

It was scheduled at the request of Drew Barrymore who thinks her grandmother is in it.

But won't Sally Field have taken over on The Essentials before the date THE WIND is aired?

[Zool]

It was scheduled at the request of Drew Barrymore who thinks her grandmother is in it.

But won't Sally Field have taken over on The Essentials before the date THE WIND is aired?

Then someone besides Drew made a boo boo.

[George O'Brien]

"But won't Sally Field have taken over on The Essentials before the date THE WIND is aired?"

I was only funnin, son.

[Javier]

Say I saw a clip alerting us to TCM's brand new season of THE ESSENTIALS beginning in March. It appears that Victor Seastrom's THE WIND (1928) will be part of the 2015 lineup. Does this finally infer a potential DVD or Blu-ray release in the works? Hopefully an upgraded transfer over the old Thames Silents master from the Mid 80's that they have been running all along? Does anyone have any additional information about this matter that they could share? Thanks.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if Warner decided to release The Wind in a box set that includes Greed, The Crowd, and The Student Prince In Old Heidelberg?
I know it is wishful thinking, but it doesn't hurt to wish for this kind of dream.

[Mitch Farish]

Seriously, though, The Warner Archive could put together a very nice box of Lillian Gish films - The White Sister, La Boheme, The Scarlet Letter, Annie Laurie, and The Wind. They released a set of seven pressed DVDs for Jean Harlow. Why not Gish? They would not have to restore the films, just release new transfers. They might have rights trouble with the Photoplay score for The Wind. I'm assuming Annie Laurie has a synchronized sound track, but maybe I'm wrong.

[BenModel]

The stumbling block, when it comes to Warner Archive DVDs, is usually cost of scores...either the licensing of an existing one or the creation of a new one. I wonder if THE WIND will have the Davis or the Vitaphone score. I know MoMA's 35mm has the latter on it...

Ben

[Mitch Farish]

But the movies that have appeared on TCM already have scores. Since Time-Warner owns TCM, what would be the problem? And if The Wind and Annie Laurie have synchronized scores Warner's would not have to create a new one or license an old one.

[Jim Reid]

Warner may own broadcast rights to those scores but they may not own the rights to release them on DVD. Plus, when's the last time Warners released a box set of any classic films? Not sure that animal exists anymore.

[silentfilm]

There is also Gish's The Enemy (1927) which is missing a reel, but is supposed to be excellent.

[azjazzman]

Warner may own broadcast rights to those scores but they may not own the rights to release them on DVD. Plus, when's the last time Warners released a box set of any classic films? Not sure that animal exists anymore.

THE WIND, GREED, STUDENT PRINCE and THE CROWD all were released on VHS and LaserDisc with Carl Davis scores, so it is hard for me to believe that there would be any significant hurdles relative to licensing the scores for DVD.

From what I have gleaned from various comments from George Feltenstein, the real hang-up in releasing these titles is the need for them to be remastered. All of them were mastered in the early 1980s and they simply are not be up to snuff for a DVD release. If you have ever seen STUDENT PRINCE IN OLD HEIDELBERG in a 35mm presentation, you understand how inadequate the 1980s video transfer is. It is like a Xerox of a Cezanne.

Remastering is fairly expensive. George F. really walks a tight rope in making sure he keeps Warner Archive in the black overall so he can maintain funding for current and future projects. That is why it was so important for THE BIG PARADE to do well. It would give him the impetus get things like remasteing THE WIND and THE CROWD in the budget. Unfortunately, from what I understand, sales on PARADE were nothing to write home about.

It's not that Warners doesn't do box sets of classic films....they do them all the time. The Bowery Boys, Monogram Westerns, Early Gangster films and the very recent Musicals box sets are just a few recent examples.

[Gagman 66]

Mitch,

As far as I'm aware, [ANNIE LAURIE (1927) doesn't and never did have a synchronized score. Where did you get that idea? But it does have a brand new orchestral score that was written for it by Shona Mooney. I understand this score was not just preformed live, but also recorded before hand at Hippodrome. So I hope that TCM picks up the rights to that score so we can get a premiere of this picture sometime in the near future.

[Mitch Farish]

Warner may own broadcast rights to those scores but they may not own the rights to release them on DVD. Plus, when's the last time Warners released a box set of any classic films? Not sure that animal exists anymore.

THE WIND, GREED, STUDENT PRINCE and THE CROWD all were released on VHS and LaserDisc with Carl Davis scores, so it is hard for me to believe that there would be any significant hurdles relative to licensing the scores for DVD.

From what I have gleaned from various comments from George Feltenstein, the real hang-up in releasing these titles is the need for them to be remastered. All of them were mastered in the early 1980s and they simply are not be up to snuff for a DVD release. If you have ever seen STUDENT PRINCE IN OLD HEIDELBERG in a 35mm presentation, you understand how inadequate the 1980s video transfer is. It is like a Xerox of a Cezanne.

Remastering is fairly expensive. George F. really walks a tight rope in making sure he keeps Warner Archive in the black overall so he can maintain funding for current and future projects. That is why it was so important for THE BIG PARADE to do well. It would give him the impetus get things like remasteing THE WIND and THE CROWD in the budget. Unfortunately, from what I understand, sales on PARADE were nothing to write home about.

It's not that Warners doesn't do box sets of classic films....they do them all the time. The Bowery Boys, Monogram Westerns, Early Gangster films and the very recent Musicals box sets are just a few recent examples.

I had no idea remastering was so costly, and The Wind sorely needs remastering. But from what you said about The Big Parade, the larger problem is that there isn't much demand for silents on disc. I hear all the time from people you think would jump at the opportunity to buy hi-def versions of silent film, who watch silents on YouTube, and the diminution in quality is no issue for them at all. A real shame. No wonder Kino seems to have thrown in the towel.

As for believing Annie Laurie had a synchronized score, I mistakenly thought it was released in 1928, not 1927. Sorry about that, Jeff.

[Jim Reid]

It's not that Warners doesn't do box sets of classic films....they do them all the time. The Bowery Boys, Monogram Westerns, Early Gangster films and the very recent Musicals box sets are just a few recent examples.

Well, I guess I'd be ok with those DVD-R boxsets but I was hoping for something better for the MGM silents. Blu-ray would be ideal. They just don't do boxsets of pressed DVDs like they used to. I'm afraid it's approaching DVD-R or nothing.

I think that musicals set was just a way of unloading unsold Singin in the Rain discs with three new releases.

[Gagman 66]

Here is a review from someone who was at the ANNIE LAURIE screening last week at Hippodrome.


https://dcairns.wordpress.com/2015/03/2 ... ertitle-3/" target="_blank

[Big Silent Fan]

Another reminder that "The Wind" will be shown Saturday night, April 25th on TCM's Essentials.
After all the prior notice it would be a shame to miss it.

[Rick Lanham]

I just noticed that The Wind is scheduled again on June 2nd, early in the morning:

http://www.tcm.com/schedule/monthly.htm ... 2015-06-01" target="_blank" target="_blank

Times are Eastern Time Zone:
2 Tuesday
6:45 AM
WIND, THE (1928)
 
In this silent film, a sheltered southern girl fights to adapt to the rough-and-tumble life of the wild West.
Dir: Victor Seastrom Cast:  Lillian Gish , Lars Hanson , Montagu Love .
BW-82 mins,
8:30 AM
SQUALL, THE (1929)
 
A gypsy beauty sets the men of a farming family to fighting over her favors.
Dir: Alexander Korda Cast:  Myrna Loy , Richard Tucker , Alice Joyce .
BW-102 mins,
10:15 AM
RAIN OR SHINE (1930)
 
A young woman inherits her father's financially troubled circus.
Dir: Frank Capra Cast:  Joe Cook , Louise Fazenda , Joan Peers .
C-89 mins,
12:00 PM
RAIN (1932)
 
A missionary tries to reform a streetwalker trapped on a Pacific island.
Dir: Lewis Milestone Cast:  Frederic Howard , Ben Hendricks , William Gargan .
BW-94 mins,
2:00 PM
HURRICANE, THE (1937)
 
A Polynesian escapes prison to return home during a raging storm.
Dir: John Ford Cast:  Dorothy Lamour , Jon Hall , Mary Astor .
BW-104 mins, CC,
4:00 PM
KEY LARGO (1948)
 
A returning veteran tangles with a ruthless gangster during a hurricane.
Dir: John Huston Cast:  Humphrey Bogart , Edward G. Robinson , Lauren Bacall .
BW-101 mins, CC,
6:00 PM
MIRACLE IN THE RAIN (1956)
 
When a lonely woman's wartime lover dies, her loneliness threatens her life.
Dir: Rudolph Maté Cast:  Jane Wyman , Van Johnson , Peggie Castle .
BW-107 mins, CC,

Rick

[entredeuxguerres]

Another reminder that "The Wind" will be shown Saturday night, April 25th on TCM's Essentials.
After all the prior notice it would be a shame to miss it.

I didn't; glad to see it again for the first time in 20+ years, though in truth, it's not a great favorite of mine--that bank of wind machines (one should have been plenty) created a maelstrom of wind & sand far too intolerable to permit a moment's belief in the possibility of human life coexisting with it; and the cattle evidently subsisted on sand alone, as not a blade of grass was to be seen anywhere.

I'd remembered her killing Montague Love (my favorite character) to protect her precious treasure, but no, the golden bowl had already been broken, & she seemed to have pulled the trigger almost accidentally, & certainly not in any revenging rage, which I think would have been more plausible.

[Mike Gebert]

I love The Searchers, but it has the same problem: putting a cattle ranch in the deserts of New Mexico is about as historically logical as setting Moby Dick on the Mississippi. I'd love to know what the cattle fed on, saguaro cactus? Rattlesnake skins?

[Mitch Farish]

I love The Searchers, but it has the same problem: putting a cattle ranch in the deserts of New Mexico is about as historically logical as setting Moby Dick on the Mississippi. I'd love to know what the cattle fed on, saquaro cactus? Rattlesnake skins?

Although it isn't stated specifically, I think it's fairly obvious that The Wind takes place during a prolonged drought period. That's why Lige is going to a meeting of the Cattlemen's Association, to discuss what they can do to keep from starving. Ford set The Searchers in Monument Valley just because of the dramatic scenery, and it does jar, making the brown, sandy landscape seem even more barren than it does in B&W. But in The Wind we are treated to a picture of dessicated steer's carcass that underscores the perilously dry conditions.

[Mitch Farish]

that bank of wind machines (one should have been plenty) created a maelstrom of wind & sand far too intolerable to permit a moment's belief in the possibility of human life coexisting with it; and the cattle evidently subsisted on sand alone, as not a blade of grass was to be seen anywhere.

But conditions like that did exist in the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, and although many left, many stayed and found a way to survive, and some like Letty also when mad.

Images of the Dust Bowl:

[Wm. Charles Morrow]

There are a lot of things I admire about The Wind, but seamless plotting isn’t one of them. I haven’t read Dorothy Scarborough’s novel so I don’t know what was omitted or changed, that is, aside from the ending, but it always seemed to me that the film’s viewers lack crucial information about the characters (especially Letty) and what motivates them. We need to know a lot more than the filmmakers were willing to tell us. Why did Letty leave her home in Virginia for this godforsaken wilderness? Presumably, she had no place else to go, but considering how awful her new home turns out to be, that point could have used some serious emphasis. (Compare Letty’s situation to that of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire; there it’s made abundantly clear that Blanche really had no place else to go.) And while it’s implied that Letty’s relationship with her male cousin Beverly goes beyond familial fondness, and thus provokes jealousy in his wife Cora, he takes no part in the matter when Cora orders Letty out of their home; Beverly just vanishes from the story. Later, Letty wonders why she’s left alone in the cabin with the injured Wirt Roddy—and so do we! Why doesn’t she tell her husband Lige she has reason to fear him? For that matter, why didn’t she tell Lige she only married him because Cora forced her to do so? Letty seems unnaturally close-mouthed about practically everything.

Where plotting is concerned, The Wind reminds me of those moments in Hitchcock’s films, even the best of them, when the characters are maneuvered into perilous but unlikely situations because 1) it’s more suspenseful that way, and 2) the locale is picturesque, so to hell with logic. That said, I do admire The Wind for its acting and its impressive cinematography, but in order to enjoy it I have to just forget about logical behavior for a while.

P.S. Oh, and there’s the cyclone, the one that hits during the hoe-down. Again, it’s a striking scene in terms of dramatic impact and special effects, but when the storm blows over in a matter of moments, and the villagers promptly resume dancing, I have to laugh. In my experience, funnel clouds aren’t regarded so lightly. In reality, the party would very definitely be over.

[Jim Gettys]

... putting a cattle ranch in the deserts of New Mexico is about as historically logical as setting Moby Dick on the Mississippi.

Actually, in fairly recent millennia, sperm whales did frolic in the Mississippi. Their bones have been found in ancient beach deposits near Ypsilanti, Michigan. At the time, the Mississippi was connected to the Great Lakes via the Illinois and Chicago Rivers, and Lake Erie was much higher. The St. Lawrence River was not an option for whales intent on dying in Washtenaw County. Niagara Falls, you know.

Jim Gettys

[Mitch Farish]

Letty seems unnaturally close-mouthed about practically everything.

It's a silent movie.

[entredeuxguerres]

that bank of wind machines (one should have been plenty) created a maelstrom of wind & sand far too intolerable to permit a moment's belief in the possibility of human life coexisting with it; and the cattle evidently subsisted on sand alone, as not a blade of grass was to be seen anywhere.

But conditions like that did exist in the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, and although many left, many stayed and found a way to survive, and some like Letty also when mad.

Well aware of that, having descended from Oakies, & with a grandfather who died in California (TB), where he'd gone (following the Joads I presume) seeking field-work.

But there was no Dust Bowl in the 1880s--the settlers hadn't yet had time to wreck the land, though of course they were applying themselves assiduously to that task. And even in the worst of the Dust Bowl years, the dust storms weren't continuous. It's the over-the-top excessiveness of the conditions in this picture that strain credulity.

[Mitch Farish]

that bank of wind machines (one should have been plenty) created a maelstrom of wind & sand far too intolerable to permit a moment's belief in the possibility of human life coexisting with it; and the cattle evidently subsisted on sand alone, as not a blade of grass was to be seen anywhere.

But conditions like that did exist in the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, and although many left, many stayed and found a way to survive, and some like Letty also when mad.

Well aware of that, having descended from Oakies, & with a grandfather who died in California (TB), where he'd gone (following the Joads I presume) seeking field-work.

But there was no Dust Bowl in the 1880s--the settlers hadn't yet had time to wreck the land, though of course they were applying themselves assiduously to that task. And even in the worst of the Dust Bowl years, the dust storms weren't continuous.

But there were droughts before the Dust Bowl. Just a few years past we've seen images from the plains that make once-fertile areas seem like desert. If a filmmaker exaggerates sometimes, I believe it's forgivable because he or she only has a short space to get the point across.

[entredeuxguerres]

I love The Searchers, but it has the same problem: putting a cattle ranch in the deserts of New Mexico is about as historically logical as setting Moby Dick on the Mississippi. I'd love to know what the cattle fed on, saguaro cactus? Rattlesnake skins?

In that film, it's obvious the beeves would have to photosynthesize to survive, but at least there's no explicit mention of their presumed sustenance. But another John Wayne picture, Red River, provides a big laugh at the beginning, when he looks out over the virgin prairie & predicts how cattle would flourish on such rich pasturage; the camera then pans to the ground to show a growth, amidst bare dirt, of ragged patches of grass maybe about an inch high.

[Donald Binks]

Where plotting is concerned, The Wind reminds me of those moments in Hitchcock’s films, even the best of them, when the characters are maneuvered into perilous but unlikely situations because 1) it’s more suspenseful that way, and 2) the locale is picturesque, so to hell with logic. That said, I do admire The Wind for its acting and its impressive cinematography, but in order to enjoy it I have to just forget about logical behavior for a while.

I suspend disbelief when watching ANY PICTURE. I find that in nearly 90% of cases, truth and realism have not got in the way of what is going on, on the screen. Probably modern pictures are more incredulous when one sees car chases that could not occur (one would hope) due to safety issues, same thing applying to police officers chasing criminals in crowded streets with guns out, firing away....

As Hitch said himself "it's only a movie!"