new broadcast master for Orphans of the Storm

[deadroll]

There will be new broadcast masters from Photoplay for TCM's 11/20 airing of Phantom of the Opera and 11/23 airing of Orphans of the Storm. I'm not sure which version of Phantom TCM has been airing , but the new master for Orphans will definitely be an improvement on the old Killiam Collection show. I am really looking forward to this one.

[radiotelefonia]

There will be new broadcast masters from Photoplay for TCM's 11/20 airing of Phantom of the Opera and 11/23 airing of Orphans of the Storm. I'm not sure which version of Phantom TCM has been airing , but the new master for Orphans will definitely be an improvement on the old Killiam Collection show. I am really looking forward to this one.

I'll miss the William Perry score then.

[Gagman 66]

deadroll, Jorge,

Well, I first reported on this clear back in July. TCM inked the rights to both the Photo-play Productions versions of ORPHANS OF THE STORM, and THE GODLESS GIRL. The latter has the great Carl Davis score, but I am completely unsure about who scored ORPHANS for Photo-play in 2004? I don't think that it was Carl Davis though? It might have been John Lanchbery? I have tried to find the information, and came up empty! So it will be as big a surprise to me as it will to everyone else here on this forum.

Far as I know, I was the first person to approach Charles Tabesh back in March of 2007 when THE GODLESS GIRL debuted on Film 4 in Britain about these versions. He promised to look into them and seemed quite intrigued. I have seen THE GODLESS GIRL with the Davis score, and it is fantastic. Personally I think this is one of De Mille's two or three best films. I was disappointed that Image released the film with a much lesser score, but still hope that Kino might make the Photo-play version available on DVD soon.

TCM used to air some awful version with Horrid singing throughout. However, Since 2000, TCM has been running the 1996 Photo-play version of the 1929 re-issue of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA with the Carl Davis score. However, I don't think it has been run since 2005?

As you are probably aware when this version was released on DVD by Milestone as part of the Ultimate Edition THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA in 2003, there were complaints of a sub-par Pal to NTSC transfer. Are you saying that this is an improvement over the Image DVD release? If so, that is huge, because I was never able to bet a hold of a copy of the Pal format or Region 2 encoded broadcast. The disappointing ghosting of the Image/Milestone DVD should be eliminated with a fresh, and more recent transfer!

Now keep pounding the pavement for a North American Broadcast premier of the Photo-play WINGS. I have a copy on DVD-R from VHS, but would love to see what it would look like as broadcast on TCM. Same with Von Stroheim's THE WEDDING MARCH. Mr. Tabesh said that He had not given up on either of these a month or so ago when I last spoke with him. So that was good to hear.

[Rodney]

I have seen THE GODLESS GIRL with the Davis score, and it is fantastic. Personally I think this is one of De Mille's two or three best films. I was disappointed that Image released the film with a much lesser score, but still hope that Kino might make the Photo-play version available on DVD soon.

That wasn't Image. It was the National Film Preservation Foundation. Carl Davis' scores are too expensive for almost all American releases -- even as a nonprofit with some government support, the NFPF can't afford much for music. I really wanted to do REDSKIN on that set, but we were apparently too expensive -- and we're a lot cheaper than Carl Davis (who does a whole lot more work on his scores and has an order-of-magnitude larger orchestra). So enjoy Kino's THE GENERAL when it appears, and see what other Davis scores you can find in Region 2. Even if Kino urgently wanted to re-release THE GODLESS GIRL the year after a decent release of the film on the Treasures III set, they'd be absolutely insane to license the Carl Davis score. It's not a film that enough people would buy.

I'm proud of the scores WE do, but I have no illusion that if we cost as much as full-orchestra scores composed from scratch in modern times we'd still have work. The historic photoplay music library technique has several advantages -- speed, effectiveness, and economy among them -- that make it still a very cost-effective option today.

[Gagman 66]

Rodney,

Kevin Brownlow told us in May, that Photo-play recently re-mastered Clarence Brown's THE EAGLE from the Original Camera Negative. So I was hoping it would be paired up with the Carl Davis score once available on the Image laser-disc of the Thames Silents version. The current DVD of THE EAGLE is to say the least sub-par by comparison. The print Thames had access to, even in the 80's was dramatically superior to the Kino DVD version. Now you are telling me basically there is little chance we would get the restored THE EAGLE with the Davis score on DVD? That's disappointing.

Anyway, no one has addressed my questions concerning PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. and ORPHANS OF THE STORM on TCM with regard to the new transfers? And does anyone know who scored the Photo-play ORPHANS?

[deadroll]

Anyway, no one has addressed my questions concerning PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. and ORPHANS OF THE STORM on TCM with regard to the new transfers? And does anyone know who scored the Photo-play ORPHANS?
I'll let you nkow when the tapes come in.

[silentfilm]

Kevin Brownlow showed his restored 35mm print of The Eagle (1925) at Cinecon in 2001. It had a recorded Carl Davis score. The sharpness of the print was remarkable.

[Rodney]

Now you are telling me basically there is little chance we would get the restored THE EAGLE with the Davis score on DVD?

No, I didn't say that. I said that it's unlikely that we'd get an expensive re-release of THE GODLESS GIRL after it was already released last year -- this is not due to any insider information, but just basic logic. I was encouraging you not to set yourself up for disappointment by hoping for something so unlikely.

THE EAGLE, of course, is quite a different story, so I'm a bit baffled at how you made that leap. Valentino is a bigger name than Lina Basquette, for one, and it doesn't have a fresh release, and (as you say) there's been a restoration -- so it's a much more likelybet for release than THE GODLESS GIRL. Since a Carl Davis score would be very expensive and doesn't have historic relevance to the film, it seems more likely that it would show up on a European release, since that kind of score is more popular there than in the U.S.

Now, please don't draw from this that I said THE EAGLE is likely to be released. I simply don't know.

[WaverBoy]

Now you are telling me basically there is little chance we would get the restored THE EAGLE with the Davis score on DVD?

No, I didn't say that. I said that it's unlikely that we'd get an expensive re-release of THE GODLESS GIRL after it was already released last year -- this is not due to any insider information, but just basic logic. I was encouraging you not to set yourself up for disappointment by hoping for something so unlikely.

THE EAGLE, of course, is quite a different story, so I'm a bit baffled at how you made that leap.

I made the same leap, because of this bit in your post:

Carl Davis' scores are too expensive for almost all American releases

[35MM]

Anyway, no one has addressed my questions concerning PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. and ORPHANS OF THE STORM on TCM with regard to the new transfers? And does anyone know who scored the Photo-play ORPHANS?
I'll let you nkow when the tapes come in.

I think the Photoplay ORPHANS was scored by John Lanchbery but not in 2004, around 2001-2002. Here is a link:

http://www.photoplay.co.uk/indiv%20film ... storm.html

I was not aware of PAL/NTSC conversion issues with Milestone's Phantom of the Opera DVD. It was plagued with artifacts caused by overuse (possibly unsupervised) of digital clean-up software. Unsure who is to blame for that, Milestone or PhotoPlay. Let's hope that problem is taken care of this time around.

[Gagman 66]

35MM,

Wow, thanks much for the great link! Lanchbery is awesome! His scores to the Photo-play versions of THE BIRTH OF A NATION, and THE IRON HORSE, were both spectacular! This should be a wonderful event! To bad I have to have surgury the next morning! Yikes!!! I'll be recording though.

I guess the Photo-play version of THE CAT AND THE CANARY was produced in 2004. That is where I must have gotten the two mixed up. And CANARY has seen a DVD release from Kino late last year, after premiering on TCM in 2006. This is another reason I was hopefull that the Photo-play THE GODLESS GIRL would still pop up. Wish TCM would run The Brownlow restoration of THE EAGLE, and INTOLERANCE.

What's this about Photo-play actually having produced it's own version of THE PATSY with a different composer other than Vivek Maddalla? Somebody named Maud Neilsson? Anyone seen this? Or the Davis scored THE MYSTERIOUS LADY?

[deadroll]

Ok, I have seen the Orphans tape, and it looks very good. Definately has the John Lanchbery orchestral score. This print is not pristine, but looks very good and is tinted. Running time is 151:15. Enjoy.

[Penfold]

35MM,

What's this about Photo-play actually having produced it's own version of THE PATSY with a different composer other than Vivek Maddalla? Somebody named Maud Neilsson? Anyone seen this? Or the Davis scored THE MYSTERIOUS LADY?

I've not seen this, but the lady in question is Maud Nelissen, a very talented composer/arranger and silent film pianist, and I believe the resident pianist at the Nederland Filmmuseum, the Dutch equivalent of the NFT or MOMA.

http://www.maudnelissen.com/ ....if you go in, look at 'videos' you will see a clip from 'The Patsy' with her score..

[M Verdoux]

By happenstance I tuned in rather late to TCM's broadcast of ORPHANS tonight (not realizing that they were premiering something new). I was rather impressed (with both image and music) and thought I began to smell "Photoplay".....

Well, the credits at the end not only confirmed this - but also confirmed another suspicion I began to have as the film unfolded - this was THE transfer that I personally supervised back in the early 1990s at Post Perfect in NYC. I was working for Killiam Shows at the time - and the project was to create D2 video masters of a number of Griffith features (in their entirety!) for Photoplay for use in their "D.W. Griffith: Father of Film" documentary. It was a painstaking process that took several weeks (every single shot was timed, corrected - and in many cases speed adjusted as per Kevin's very detailed instructions.) It was exhausting AND exhilarating. I can honestly say that I was never prouder than working on this project for them and it's most gratifying to see some of this work finally see the light of day.

[Frederica]

By happenstance I tuned in rather late to TCM's broadcast of ORPHANS tonight (not realizing that they were premiering something new). I was rather impressed (with both image and music) and thought I began to smell "Photoplay".....

Kewel! I'm looking forward to seeing this version of Orphans. I've seen the film on TCM once before, but was not yet au fait enough regarding silents to spot that it was run wayyy too fast. I just thought that Miss Lillian was more annoying than usual, and why is that cute little bug Dorothy waving her arms like that?

Fred

[Peter Kalm]

Since I have it on DVD I was just going to watch some of it last night on TCM but ended up watching the whole movie and did not get to bed until 2:30. What a great film! One of my favorite silents!