Goose Woman

Danny · Post by **Danny** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 6:33 pm

Has anybody bought THE GOOSE WOMAN from Televista DVD? I had never heard of this company before. It seems to come out of Great Britain.

My question is in regard to the transfer. Is it any good? And WHAT kind of music soundtrack is included with this edition? Thanks

Danny

silentkermy · Post by **silentkermy** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 6:46 pm

its a watchable print but dark, the film has NOT been restored just a transfer. i believe the film is mostly dark blue, but its been a while since i watched mine

other than that i highly recomend you get it, its a wonderful film with great performances all around

a rare glimpse of jack pickford and an even more rare silent performance of Constance Bennett.

Gagman 66 · Post by **Gagman 66** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 11:07 pm

Daniel,

The dark blue print is not the Televista release. But neither is very good quality. Both were transferred at way to slow of a projection speed. I have a recording off of Spanish TV, and that isn't very good either. Universal renewed the copyright to THE GOOSE WOMAN and Kevin Brownlow said back in May of 2008 that the film was up for restoration by UCLA. I don't know if that has been completed or not yet. It must be though, because Kevin wanted Universal to release the film on DVD. I think they still had the deal with Kino, that brought out a few films. He considered making it his next project for Photoplay Productions. This is among Kevin's favorite movies.

missdupont · Post by **missdupont** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 12:24 am

A restored print of THE GOOSE WOMAN, with tints, plays Friday, March 4 on the first night of UCLA's Festival of Preservation.

Gagman 66 · Post by **Gagman 66** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 12:40 am

Thanks for the info. That is wonderful to know that they have completed the restoration. Now if I could get a similar report of SMOULDERING FIRES, and ORCHIDS AND ERMINE. They had restored Clarence Brown's BUTTERFLY (1924). in 2007. Is that part of the line-up as well?

drednm · Post by **drednm** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 9:21 am

Great performance by Louise Dresser.... Why do I remember a green tint?

R Michael Pyle · Post by **R Michael Pyle** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 9:33 am

drednm wrote:Great performance by Louise Dresser.... Why do I remember a green tint?

I remember a green tint, too! I'm not where I can look up the "distributor", but we probably have the same print. I watched this last year and thought, "She'd (Louise Dresser) have been up for an Academy Award, were they offered in 1925!" I thought the show was a tad slow in projection, too, however, but it still played marvelously. I really liked it.

drednm · Post by **drednm** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 9:39 am

It wasn't just a green tint, it was lime green.

Post by **Mike Gebert** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 9:41 am

Does the movie for which she was nominated, A Ship Comes In, survive? Has anyone seen it?

drednm · Post by **drednm** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 9:46 am

Yes it survives but may be incomplete. A review on IMDb says there was a Grapevine issue running 70 minutes. The original film was 94 minutes (7 reels).

sepiatone · Post by **sepiatone** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 11:18 am

It played at the CAPITOL HILL ARTS WORKSHOP a couple years ago. The CHAW is about ?five blocks from the Library of Congress. The print was ok, 16mm.

Richard M Roberts · Post by **Richard M Roberts** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 1:26 pm

drednm wrote:Yes it survives but may be incomplete. A review on IMDb says there was a Grapevine issue running 70 minutes. The original film was 94 minutes (7 reels).

The surviving prints of A SHIP COMES IN (including mine and the one Grapevine used) are complete. Seven reels run at the correct projection speed of 24 fps marks it at 70 minutes. 94 minutes is what you'd get if you ran it like molasses.

It's a terrific picture, with great performances by Rudolph Schildekraut and Louise Dressler. It is a bit of a downer though.

RICHARD M ROBERTS

R Michael Pyle · Post by **R Michael Pyle** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 1:54 pm

drednm wrote:It wasn't just a green tint, it was lime green.

Yep, that's the one. I'm pretty sure. That's how I remember it, too, unless I'm inventing history...

moviepas · Post by **moviepas** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 2:16 pm

Televista seems to be a newish business but I know little of them. They had a couple of German 1930s comedies recently(The Man Who was Sherlock Holmes with Hans Albers & Heinz Ruehmann was one) & I got these because unlike my German imported copies these had English subtitles added. The quality was very so-so & their prices a little high and the on-lines could give little percentage discount as well.

Post by **Mike Gebert** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 2:31 pm

I bought Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes and I thought the quality was very good, well above the Alpha Video standard.

drednm · Post by **drednm** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 4:47 pm

A Ship Comes In (1928) stars Louise Dresser and Rudolph Schildkraut as immigrants who experience America pre-WW I. The father gets a lowly job as a janitor but befriends a kindly judge. On the very day (5 years after arrival) that he is to become a citizen, he innocently delivers a cake to the judge that contains an anarchist's bomb. He he convicted of murder. Meanwhile WWI breaks out and the son joins up. In a melodramatic ending all things are resolved.

Originally this film was 7 reels long and ran probably 90-95 minutes. An incomplete version exists that runs just under 70 minutes. My guess is 2 reels are missing.

There may have been talking sequences (now missing) which might account for the missing reels but the film may also have been all silent. In any case, the film as it stands offers Dresser (Oscar nominated) almost nothing to do, making her Oscar nomination quite baffling. Schildkraut is excellent.

Does anyone know anything about this film? The copy I have is an old Grapevine release.

Jay Schwartz · Post by **Jay Schwartz** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 5:10 pm

A lovely new, multi-tinted 16mm print of THE GOOSE WOMAN, restored by the late Rusty Casselton, was shown at Cinefest a few years ago. I believe the source was a Kodascope or Show-At-Home print?

Does anyone know what happened to Rusty's collection?

Richard M Roberts · Post by **Richard M Roberts** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 6:17 pm

Originally this film was 7 reels long and ran probably 90-95 minutes. An incomplete version exists that runs just under 70 minutes. My guess is 2 reels are missing.

There may have been talking sequences (now missing) which might account for the missing reels but the film may also have been all silent. In any case, the film as it stands offers Dresser (Oscar nominated) almost nothing to do, making her Oscar nomination quite baffling. Schildkraut is excellent.

Does anyone know anything about this film? The copy I have is an old Grapevine release.

Bubs, read my lips again, seven reels only runs at 90-95 minutes if you are showing it at the incorrect speeds of 20 fps or less. There is nothing missing from the survivng prints of A SHIP COMES IN. There were also no talking sequences in the film.

RICHARD M ROBERTS

drednm · Post by **drednm** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 6:44 pm

Silent Era says the print is incomplete. A 94-minute movie doesn't run at 68 minutes. Something is missing.

David Pierce · Post by **David Pierce** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:09 pm

drednm wrote:Silent Era says the print is incomplete. A 94-minutes movie doesn't run at 68 minutes. Something is missing.

The Library of Congress has a 16mm print and a 35mm print from different sources.
http://lccn.loc.gov/95501083

The 35mm print is more or less complete, at 6,440 feet, while the 16mm print is the equivalent of 6,250 feet; the AFI catalog gives an original release length of 6,900 feet.

This picture never ran 94 minutes unless it was projected really s-l-o-w.

David Pierce

drednm · Post by **drednm** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:36 pm

Well then source information is wrong and Silent Era is wrong.... I just watched the film and there are several places where something might be missing. I have no idea if there is or not. Just saying most of the storyline is quite smooth, then there are some rough jumps. The original Grapevine packaging also says 94 minutes.

In any case, and as much as I like Louise Dresser (magnificent in The Goose Woman) this Oscar nomination, based on what I saw, is wildly out of line.

Post by **Danny Burk** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:56 pm

drednm wrote:Well then source information is wrong and Silent Era is wrong.... I just watched the film and there are several places where something might be missing. I have no idea if there is or not. Just saying most of the storyline is quite smooth, then there are some rough jumps. The original Grapevine packaging also says 94 minutes.

In any case, and as much as I like Louise Dresser (magnificent in The Goose Woman) this Oscar nomination, based on what I saw, is wildly out of line.

It's possible that the 94 minute version, if this figure is not an error, was done at 18 fps. That would add 1/3 to the running time, which is about what 70 minutes would come to. I've seen a few such releases of mid-late 1920s films; they looked like they were moving underwater.

drednm · Post by **drednm** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 9:37 pm

Well you guys are probably right, but the film didn't seem slow.

pickfair14 · Post by **pickfair14** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 1:05 pm

Danny wrote: And WHAT kind of music soundtrack is included with this edition? Thanks

Danny

Danny - I have many of the Televista silent dvd's, but I watch them with the "mute" button. The scores are just random instrumental or classical pieces, with no relation whatsoever to the action on the screen. Very annoying. All the prints vary in quality

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