Saved From The Flames - 54 Rare and Restored Films 1896 - 1944

Flicker Alley proudly presents SAVED FROM THE FLAMES, a unique and wonderful collection of 54 rare and restored short films from the inflammable years of cinema. Movies were once made on nitrate film stock, which has a chemical composition similar to gunpowder and is highly vulnerable to fire and decay. This remarkable seven-hour anthology, organized in eight thematic groups over three DVDs, presents amazing treasures from the vaults of Lobster Films in Paris and from the Blackhawk Films Collection, rescued during half a century of gathering movies from the nitrate era.
DISC ONE
NEW BEGINNINGS: Seven films including the early cinematic experiments of Lumière, Georges Mendel and others, featuring Cyrano De Bergerac from 1900, believed to be the first color and sound film. MAGICAL MOVIES: Five early fantasy and trick films, including a previously-unseen trick film by Georges Méliès, hand-colored films from Segundo de Chomon and Gaston Velle, and astonishing stop-motion animation from 1911. SEEING THE WORLD: Among the ten films in this section: A transatlantic crossing in a Zeppelin dirigible, a stencilcolored trek through the Belgian Congo in 1925, Parisian street kids in Montmartre during the first World War, a 1916 visit to Los Angeles, 1927 sound film of Charles Lindbergh embarking on his New York-Paris flight, an early 1930s portrait of New York s Coney Island, and a film promoting Josephine Baker s revue at the Folies-Bergère.
DISC TWO LAUGHING LIKE WE USED TO: Seven comedies, including four restored from turn of the century Italy and France, a recently-discovered nitrate negative of Chaplin's first appearance in his tramp attire, a frenetic Mack Sennett gag fest with tin lizzies galore, and The Pest, starring an early Stan Laurel (before Hardy). DRAWINGS AND MODELS: Six works of animation: Gaumont's Fantasmagorie (1908), three cartoons from the Fleischer Studios Cartoon Factory (1924), Ain't She Sweet (1932), and Play Safe (1936) Ub Iwerks' Balloonland (1935) featuring a new color restoration made from the original negatives, and a filmed performance by puppetry pioneer Tony Sarg. GRACE NOTES: Rare musical performances: Django Reinhardt with Stephane Grapelli and the Quintet of the Hot Club of France, Duke Ellington and the Cotton Club Orchestra, Louis Armstrong, and the Utica Jubilee Singers.
DISC THREE PERSUADE ME: Eleven films designed to influence, including vintage promotional films featuring Laurel & Hardy (dubbed in French), Michel Simon and Jacques Tati, puppet animation by George Pal, three WW-II era musical shorts, two political campaign films, and Master Hands, a paean to the 1936 Chevrolet, selected for the National Film Registry. TELL ME A STORY: Narratives from 1912-1913 by D.W. Griffith (For His Son), Lois Weber (Suspense), and Thomas Ince (The Heart of an Indian), all mastered from beautiful 35 mm film elements.
SAVED FROM THE FLAMES Booklet: An illustrated history and comments on each film in the collection, written by David Shepard and Serge Bromberg. Product Description

History In Your Living Room

Absolutely fabulous and breath-taking. If you are into cinema history or photographic evolution at all, this is a MUST item. Hours and hours of fascinating footage from more than 100 years of motion picture filmmaking. Worth watching over and over, too. September 10, 2008

Wonderful!

Wonderful!

Fans of Prince Ranian wil cherish a 1900 film of human torso "Kobelkoff," showing off his unique dance stylings.

"Danse Serpentine," "The Talion Punishment," and "Kiriki" feature breathtakingly beautiful coloring by hand and stencil.

In the delightfully funny "Excelsior," Melies materializes a giant lobster (seventy years before "Multiple Maniacs"), among other magical feats.

"Over the Top" documents a trip across a snowy mountain range by a group of madmen in a 1915 Buick, a feat to daunt Werner Herzog.

"The Dirigible Los Angeles" documents the majestic airship's trip from Germany to the U. S.

"The Fireman of the Follies-Bergere" resembles a fifties Nudie movie: some slob wanders around and imagines naked ladies in every nook and cranny of Paris. At one point a priest is transformed into a nude, starting rumors of Bunuel's involvement! Notable only for a forgotten dance routine by Josephine Baker, allowed to retain her top.

"In The Land of Pygmies and Giants," a documentary on the Belgian Congo, is prettily stencil-colored but depressingly condescending and not recommended to those who are sensitive to elephant slaughter.

"The Pest," a Stan Laurel comedy, features a cameo by the Hats Off/Music Box stairs (or are those the "An Ache In Every Stake" stairs?) and will teach you a politically incorrect term for the Brazil nut.

The Fleischers are represented by several films, from the Screen Song "Ain't She Sweet?" featuring a charming pre-alcoholic Lillian Roth and lots of bouncing black cats, to "Play Safe," from their bland and cutesy period, with some great 3-D technicolor effects.

We have several musical shorts, documenting the Utica Jubilee Singers, Louis Armstrong (in 1934, performing "I Cover The Waterfront," "Dinah," and "Tiger Rag"), and Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli (performing "J'attendra" in 1939, in a short which unfortunately wastes half its brief running time explaining what jazz is before getting to the musical number!). Less important musicians are showcased in three WWII soundies; William Frawley in "The Yankee Doodler," the Smoothies and the Cappy Barra Harmonica Boys in "Rosie the Riveter," and Ray Noble in "Dear Arabella."

A 1936 MGM promo reel is hosted by Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, and James Finlayson! They are dubbed into French, but with their own wordless exclamations intact; it amounts to a brief Laurel/Hardy/Finlayson short you've probably never seen!

A few familiar titles - "Kid's Auto Race," "Black and Tan" with Duke Ellington, Ub Iwerk's Cinecolor "Balloonland" - are here reproduced from original negatives, and presumably look as good as they ever will.

Chuck Jones, Yip Harburg, and UPA rally support for FDR in the stylish "Hell Bent for Election" (if you vote Republican you'll soon be selling apples on a street corner for Hoover), while MGM undermines Upton Sinclair's gubernatorial campaign in the fake newsreel, "California Election News #2" (Sinclair is supported by twitchy foreigners).

"Philips Broadcast of 1938" is one of George Pal's most beautiful works.

D. W. Griffith's "For My Son" is a 1912 morality drama that prefigures the later drug scare exploitation cycle. A doctor invents a cocaine laced soft drink, "Dopokoke" (!), "For That Tired Feeling," only to see his son fall victim to soda pop addiction!

In "Suspense," cinematically sophisticated for 1913, writer/director/star Lois Weber is menaced by a sandwich-purloining, knife-wielding tramp; Lon Chaney is rumored to be an extra, but I must have blinked.

And more! Overall, "Save from the Flames" at least as resourceful and engaging a collection as the American Film Archives compilations. There are no commentaries; the accompanying booklet tells how the films were rediscovered, but otherwise adds little to the discs. April 23, 2008

Fantastic collection of rare gems

After carefully reading the other very good reviews of this 3-DVD set, I finally gave in and purchased "Saved from the Flames." If you love silent cinema and the beginnings of cinema as much as I do, you will love this collection. There are seven-hours of delightful shorts, animations, science fiction shorts, documentary-style films, and hand-colored/tinted films. I found the quality to be excellent, especially considering the age of these silent gems (and most of these films, by the way, have music, as did most films of the silent era, and there is more than one film with synchronized sound (voice)). For more exacting details on the contents, please see the other reviews of this product. But this is a great collection -- just wonderful and quite entertaining to watch. March 29, 2008

Saved from the Flammes

Precious early films which are part of the History of Film making. Being french myself the french movies included in this wonderful selection take an even greater interest. It is a miracle those important works were so well restored & preserved for posterity. It is a must for everybody interested in the History of Movie making.It was sent to me excellently packaged , the price is reasonable for such an important collection. March 4, 2008

Priceless films saved.

I certainly welcome any and all efforts to save and preserve films that have historical value, and that will soon be lost. There is something fascinating about watching these images of a long ago world--and knowing that practically every person you see is no longer alive.

If you are at all interested in history and films, then these are for you. Right price, and excellent production values, etc.

Gary H. Geivet March 1, 2008

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