Search - Discovering Cinema on DVD

Set emphasizing early experiments in sound and color

calvinnme | 09/15/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is apparently a redo of a 2-DVD set previously released in France. One disc is concerned with the birth of sound in film, the other with color. If you have lots of film history sets such as Treasures from The American Film Archives you may see some overlap with the supplementary films.

On the disc pertaining to sound, in addition to the documentary material, there are films and fragments dating back to 1900 and made in France, Germany, and the US. Included is Gus Vissar and his singing duck from the 1920's, also included on volume two of the Treasures of the American Film Archives. There is a ten minute interview with Arthur Conan Doyle from 1927, and a 1928 short film in which Ronald Colman introduces the governor of California, who urges people to attend the wholesome talkies versus what is now known as "the precodes". It was an effort to prevent the passage of the motion picture code, and it didn't work. There is also a Max Fleischer animation, "Finding His Voice", in which animated character Mutie, looking for work, visits his friend Talkie. Talkie takes Mutie to the Western Electric sound lab, where a technician explains how sound is put on film.

On the disc pertaining to color, in addition to the documentary material, there are fragments, trailers, and short films dating back to the 19th century. The earliest of these are eight French films that have been either stenciled or brushed in color that are under three minutes in length. "Inauguration of the Bell-tower of San Marco" (England, 1912) uses a early color film in which the problems are quite obvious when the subjects are moving. It is under ten minutes in length. The latter films from the 1930's are American including "La Cucaracha" from 1934, a twenty minute short that was the first to use the three-strip Technicolor process.

The one person I could find who has seen the original French DVD set stated "... it's a mixed bag, certainly not as good as the Treasures from The American Film Archives." But then, the Treasures from the American Film Archives are very good, so it may still be that the set is excellent."

This Set Is Absolutely Indispensible...

Chip Kaufmann | Asheville, N.C. United States | 09/30/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"...to anyone interested in film history and yet it's not so academic that it can't be appreciated by the casual moviegoer. There are two documentaries here one dealing with the development of sound, the other with the development of color. Both were made in France a few years back and are just now making their way here. Rather than use subtitles they utilize voiceovers when necessary which makes them more accessible to most people.

The remarkable thing about both documentaries is the wealth of rare material used in both. Even an experienced film buff is likely to find something here that they've never encountered before and the excellent condition of the clips is absolutely breathtaking. It's also fascinating to see where most of these developments came about (France for sound and England for color) and just how many different experiments there were. In addition to the docs there is a wealth of bonus material including 1908 recordings of Enrico Caruso mimed by an actor, the first true Technicolor short LA CUCARACHA from 1934, a 1927 interview with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and color footage of the Marx Brothers from 1930. The total running time for this set is 267 minutes so you more than get your money's worth. Another winner from the folks at Flicker Alley."

Discovering Cinema

Paul Hawker | Sydney Australia | 04/08/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Discovering Cinema.

Fascinating to follow the development of Cinema in it's early days. It is astounding to note that Sound on film today has gone around the circle to include separate sound discs that are used for Digital (sound is also on the actual film),as they were used in the pioneering days.

A good collection of rare films are used to show the development of both Sound and Color."