Bruce Calvert
2010-08-07 03:52:20 UTC
Contact: Jeff Masino, 800 - 936 -1115, jeff(at)flickeralley.com
Flicker Alley and The Blackhawk Films Collection proudly present
Chaplin At Keystone, an international collaboration of 34 original
films.
This 4-Disc DVD boxed set makes its debut on Tuesday, October 26th
Charles Chaplin came to Mack Sennett’s Keystone Studios
late in 1913 as a little-known British vaudevillian, and after a year,
had not only established his Tramp character, learned to write and
direct his own films, and also achieved public recognition as a star
comedian. Although Keystone did not publicize its performers by name,
standees of Chaplin's likeness outside theatres sufficed to attract
audiences. Some of the films, especially Tillie's Punctured Romance,
remained in theatrical distribution for decades.
The fact that all but one of the Chaplin Keystones exist is due,
of course, to the star’s enormous subsequent popularity. Most of the
original Keystone negatives, however, were simply printed away and the
survival of all but a few of these films depends upon a very few
original prints, a larger number of reissue prints, and some duped
prints from later years. With the support of Association Chaplin
(Paris), 35mm full aperture, early-generation materials were gathered
over an eight year search on almost all the films from archives and
collectors around the world, and were painstakingly pieced together
and restored by the British Film Institute National Archive, the
Cineteca Bologna and its laboratory L’Immagine Ritrovata in Italy, and
Lobster Films in Paris. Most are now clear, sharp and rock-steady,
although some reveal that their source prints are well-used and a
handful survives only in 16mm. While admitting these limitations, one
can now understand Chaplin's meteoric rise, for it is possible for the
first time in generations to see clearly what clever and imaginative
films he made at Keystone.
Flicker Alley is proud to present the world debut of
Chaplin at Keystone, a 4-DVD boxed set. These editions feature all-new
musical settings by outstanding practitioners of silent film
accompaniment Eric Beheim, Neil Brand, Antonio Coppola, Frederick
Hodges, Stephen Horne, Robert Israel, Rodney Sauer and The Mont Alto
Motion Picture Orchestra, Ethan Uslan, and Ken Winokur's band Tillie’s
Nightmare with the UCLA Film and Television Archive restoration of
Tillie's Punctured Romance.
Chaplin At Keystone also includes several fascinating
special features. An extensive booklet provides an overview of the
importance of the Chaplin Keystone comedies and detailed notes on the
individual films by film historian and author Jeffrey Vance (Chaplin:
Genius of the Cinema). Inside the Keystone Project is a short
documentary detailing the international restoration efforts; historian
John Bengtson takes a "then and now" look at several Keystone film
locations in a 10 minute filmed tour based on his book Silent Traces.
There is also a short excerpt from A Thief Catcher, recently-
discovered by Paul E. Gierucki, with Chaplin as a Keystone Cop; along
with the animated Charlie's White Elephant, and a gallery of rare
photographs.
Chaplin At Keystone is the thirteenth DVD release from the
partnership of Film Preservation Associates’ Blackhawk Films
Collection and Flicker Alley, following Discovering Cinema, Saved From
The Flames, Georges Méliès: First Wizard of Cinema (1896-1913), Abel
Gance’s La Roue, Perils of the New Land: Films of the Immigrant
Experience (1910-1915), Douglas Fairbanks: A Modern Musketeer, Under
Full Sail – Silent Cinema on the High Seas; Bardelys The Magnificent /
Monte Cristo, George Méliès Encore, Miss Mend, The Italian Straw Hat
and the original 1927 version of Chicago.
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWK FILMS COLLECTION
Blackhawk Films was founded in 1927 as a producer of film advertising
for merchants and as a distributor of regional newsreels. The company
made its mark as a nontheatrical distributor with the advent of 16mm
sound film in 1933, establishing several regional offices before WWII.
In 1947, Blackhawk expanded into sales of used film and soon
thereafter began distributing new 8mm and 16mm prints of Laurel &
Hardy comedies from Hal Roach Studios as well as titles from such
other suppliers such as Fox Movietone, Killiam Shows, and National
Telefilm Associates. David Shepard joined Blackhawk as Vice President
(1973-1976) and after founding Film Preservation Associates in 1986,
acquired the Blackhawk Films library which now comprises some 5,000
titles.
ABOUT FLICKER ALLEY
Flicker Alley, LLC was founded in 2002 by Jeff Masino. Each Flicker
Alley project is the culmination of hundreds of hours of research,
digital restoration, and music production. Flicker Alley has partnered
with Turner Classic Movies on several historic cable broadcasts
including three previously unavailable silent films produced by Howard
Hughes, three rarely seen Rudolph Valentino films and new digital
editions of J’Accuse and La Roue, by Abel Gance. The Flicker Alley
brand has grown to enjoy national and international critical acclaim
and is regularly featured in annual "Best Of" lists. Twice, the
company has been honored with the prestigious Il Cinema Ritrovato DVD
Award: In 2008 for George Melies - First Wizard of Cinema, and again
in 2009 for Douglas Fairbanks - A Modern Musketeer. In 2009, the
company was a Heritage Award recipient from the National Society of
Film Critics.
Flicker Alley and The Blackhawk Films Collection proudly present
Chaplin At Keystone, an international collaboration of 34 original
films.
This 4-Disc DVD boxed set makes its debut on Tuesday, October 26th
Charles Chaplin came to Mack Sennett’s Keystone Studios
late in 1913 as a little-known British vaudevillian, and after a year,
had not only established his Tramp character, learned to write and
direct his own films, and also achieved public recognition as a star
comedian. Although Keystone did not publicize its performers by name,
standees of Chaplin's likeness outside theatres sufficed to attract
audiences. Some of the films, especially Tillie's Punctured Romance,
remained in theatrical distribution for decades.
The fact that all but one of the Chaplin Keystones exist is due,
of course, to the star’s enormous subsequent popularity. Most of the
original Keystone negatives, however, were simply printed away and the
survival of all but a few of these films depends upon a very few
original prints, a larger number of reissue prints, and some duped
prints from later years. With the support of Association Chaplin
(Paris), 35mm full aperture, early-generation materials were gathered
over an eight year search on almost all the films from archives and
collectors around the world, and were painstakingly pieced together
and restored by the British Film Institute National Archive, the
Cineteca Bologna and its laboratory L’Immagine Ritrovata in Italy, and
Lobster Films in Paris. Most are now clear, sharp and rock-steady,
although some reveal that their source prints are well-used and a
handful survives only in 16mm. While admitting these limitations, one
can now understand Chaplin's meteoric rise, for it is possible for the
first time in generations to see clearly what clever and imaginative
films he made at Keystone.
Flicker Alley is proud to present the world debut of
Chaplin at Keystone, a 4-DVD boxed set. These editions feature all-new
musical settings by outstanding practitioners of silent film
accompaniment Eric Beheim, Neil Brand, Antonio Coppola, Frederick
Hodges, Stephen Horne, Robert Israel, Rodney Sauer and The Mont Alto
Motion Picture Orchestra, Ethan Uslan, and Ken Winokur's band Tillie’s
Nightmare with the UCLA Film and Television Archive restoration of
Tillie's Punctured Romance.
Chaplin At Keystone also includes several fascinating
special features. An extensive booklet provides an overview of the
importance of the Chaplin Keystone comedies and detailed notes on the
individual films by film historian and author Jeffrey Vance (Chaplin:
Genius of the Cinema). Inside the Keystone Project is a short
documentary detailing the international restoration efforts; historian
John Bengtson takes a "then and now" look at several Keystone film
locations in a 10 minute filmed tour based on his book Silent Traces.
There is also a short excerpt from A Thief Catcher, recently-
discovered by Paul E. Gierucki, with Chaplin as a Keystone Cop; along
with the animated Charlie's White Elephant, and a gallery of rare
photographs.
Chaplin At Keystone is the thirteenth DVD release from the
partnership of Film Preservation Associates’ Blackhawk Films
Collection and Flicker Alley, following Discovering Cinema, Saved From
The Flames, Georges Méliès: First Wizard of Cinema (1896-1913), Abel
Gance’s La Roue, Perils of the New Land: Films of the Immigrant
Experience (1910-1915), Douglas Fairbanks: A Modern Musketeer, Under
Full Sail – Silent Cinema on the High Seas; Bardelys The Magnificent /
Monte Cristo, George Méliès Encore, Miss Mend, The Italian Straw Hat
and the original 1927 version of Chicago.
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWK FILMS COLLECTION
Blackhawk Films was founded in 1927 as a producer of film advertising
for merchants and as a distributor of regional newsreels. The company
made its mark as a nontheatrical distributor with the advent of 16mm
sound film in 1933, establishing several regional offices before WWII.
In 1947, Blackhawk expanded into sales of used film and soon
thereafter began distributing new 8mm and 16mm prints of Laurel &
Hardy comedies from Hal Roach Studios as well as titles from such
other suppliers such as Fox Movietone, Killiam Shows, and National
Telefilm Associates. David Shepard joined Blackhawk as Vice President
(1973-1976) and after founding Film Preservation Associates in 1986,
acquired the Blackhawk Films library which now comprises some 5,000
titles.
ABOUT FLICKER ALLEY
Flicker Alley, LLC was founded in 2002 by Jeff Masino. Each Flicker
Alley project is the culmination of hundreds of hours of research,
digital restoration, and music production. Flicker Alley has partnered
with Turner Classic Movies on several historic cable broadcasts
including three previously unavailable silent films produced by Howard
Hughes, three rarely seen Rudolph Valentino films and new digital
editions of J’Accuse and La Roue, by Abel Gance. The Flicker Alley
brand has grown to enjoy national and international critical acclaim
and is regularly featured in annual "Best Of" lists. Twice, the
company has been honored with the prestigious Il Cinema Ritrovato DVD
Award: In 2008 for George Melies - First Wizard of Cinema, and again
in 2009 for Douglas Fairbanks - A Modern Musketeer. In 2009, the
company was a Heritage Award recipient from the National Society of
Film Critics.