The aficionados of classic movies at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog are thrilled to hear that numerous formerly lost feature films and animation gems from the halycon days of silent movies can, a century later in 2017, hold an esteemed place on the film buff's shelf.
Author Leonard Maltin has beat Your Blogmeister to the punch with his October 22 post From Lon Chaney To Louise Brooks: Silent Films That Speak, which covers the slew of cool silents becoming available on Blu-ray and DVD. These include the William A. "Wild Bill" Wellmann feature Beggars Of Life (starring Wallace Beery, Richard Arlen and, in a good part not in a despair-ridden G.W. Pabst opus, Louise Brooks), two Marion Davies comedies and Chaney: Before The 1000 Faces, featuring three 1915-1916 Universal films which precede the gifted actor's mega-stardom as Hollywood's ever-menacing monster du jour.
On this blog, we have extolled the good work of Ben Model and Undercrank Productions. We were happy to support the Kickstarter fundraiser that led to the release of When Knighthood Was In Flower, just one of several fun and entertaining Marion Davies vehicles produced in 1922.
An original 35mm nitrate print of When Knighthood Was In Flower, preserved by the Library of Congress. was scanned for this Blu-ray/DVD release. The original color tints have been reinstated and the hand-colored sequence digitally replicated.
Added to this: two more Marion Davies comedies produced in 1922, Beauty's Worth and The Bride’s Play. There is a certain long overdue justice to these films finally becoming available for viewing, as Ms. Davies, whose skills as a comedienne, actress and mimic enliven such classic late silents as The Patsy and Show People, received an enduring bad rap as vapid and untalented via (Citizen Kane) screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz
These vehicles for Davies, charming and funny in both light comedy features and elaborate costume dramas, have essentially been unseen since those halcyon days entertaining audiences on the big screen in 1922. In all cases, her playfulness, likability and good humor shines through.
Considerably less lovely and charming but an even bigger star in the early days was Vitagraph Pictures comedian John Bunny (1863-1915).
Bunny, the corpulent, irascible, craggy and most Dickensian character actor, was the first comedy star of American movies.
There's a new DVD on the prolific silent movie star which features several of his farcical starring short subjects, as well as Tony Susnick's superb film, John Bunny - Film's 1st King of Comedy Documentary, which can be ordered here.
Bunny's stardom, beginning in 1910, preceded Roscoe Arbuckle and Charlie Chaplin. He appeared in 172 films and was frequently teamed with character actress Flora Finch in a series termed Bunnyfinches. There was palpable tension between the two of them - think William Frawley & Vivian Vance on I Love Lucy or John Belushi & Jane Curtin in Saturday Night Live - and this added to the comedy.
To answer those who find the John Bunny films most entertaining and what to know where the heck can one more of them, will note that in addition to the John Bunny DVD, several John Bunny Vitagraph short subjects in excellent pictorial quality have been uploaded to YouTube by the marvelous archivists of Eye Film Institute.
As far as early cartoons are concerned, we champion those who have been presenting animation rarities on the big screen. The usual suspects would include Jerry Beck, author, teacher and curator of numerous programs at The Steve Allen Theatre, this blogger/showman's frequent collaborators Bob Ekman and Scott Moon of the KFJC Psychotronix Film Festival and Rheem Theatre screenings, as well as Tommy Jose Stathes of Cartoons On Film, who has been bringing early 20th century animation to 21st century Blu-ray and DVD in his Cartoon Roots series.
Halloween Haunts, featuring new HD transfers & restorations of animation from the Stathes Collection, is the latest in the Cartoon Roots series. The eye candy for toonheads comes with informative liner notes and extras galleries.
The lineup of Halloween Haunts, including both silents and goodies from the sound era, is as follows:
The Haunted Hotel (J. Stuart Blackton, 1907)
The Pumpkin Race (Roméo Bosetti, 1907)
Out of the Inkwell: The Ouija Board (Max Fleischer, 1920)
Dinky Doodle in Just Spooks (Walter Lantz, 1925)
Out of the Inkwell: Koko Sees Spooks (Max Fleischer, 1925)
Alice’s Mysterious Mystery (Walt Disney, 1926)
Mutt & Jeff: Slick Sleuths (Associated Animators, 1926)
Hot Dog Cartoons: Pete's Haunted House (Walter Lantz, 1926)
Felix the Cat in Sure-Locked Homes (Otto Messmer, 1928)
The Fresh Lobster (circa 1920s) with Billy Bletcher
Snap the Gingerbread Man: The Witch’s Cat (Kinex Studios, 1929)
Waffles & Don in The Haunted Ship (Van Beuren Productions, 1930)
Felix the Cat in Skulls & Sculls (Otto Messmer, 1930)
Tom & Jerry: Wot A Night (Van Beuren Productions, 1931)
Felix the Cat: Bold King Cole (Van Beuren Productions, 1936)
We at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog support these endeavors and encourage readers to do so as well!
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