Les Vampires (new restoration)

[Kinsayder]

No - the documentary is frustratingly brief: just 7 minutes excerpted from a 1989 French TV broadcast about film restoration. I'd be happy for someone else who's seen it to correct me if I've got any of the details wrong! (It's on disc 2 of the Gaumont set.)

One theory: if the reels that Langlois picked up as a job lot were indeed in different formats, they may have been bundled together from different sources. Maybe a few did indeed have their intertitles, and for the sake of consistency Henri chose to "homogenise" his collection. Just speculation...

[Narshty]

I think this has already been mentioned previously on the board, but the Gaumont restoration of Les Vampires will be getting a release by Artificial Eye in 2007 (as they just informed me via email).

[domino harvey]

Apparently another (?) new restoration comes out next week from Gaumont?

[Hashi]

Apparently another (?) new restoration comes out next week from Gaumont?

They're just restocking it...

[denti alligator]

The question is: when is Artificial Eye going to get their act together and put this out with English subs (and at a lower price)? Then Gaumont needs to get crackin on Barrabas, Tih Minh, and Judex (though, unfortunately, I'm sure they'll be doing them in the opposite order).

[Cinetwist]

Well, I'm a bit late to the discussion, but I was searching for a thread on Chabrol films* and this came up (?).

Anyways, re. Langlois' oddball screening techniques (the man's my hero but sometimes his motives were indecipherable).

I remembered reading this in the Myrent biography:

Farrokh Gaffray - 'Langlois usually screened the silent films without their credits and title cards, and it became a game for him to identify them. I especially remember an occasion when he looked at just a few images of a film and said, "It's Danish, and it must have been made before 1914." And when I checked up on it, it was a Danish film from before World War I.'

So he may not have taken the intertitles out of Les Vampires, but it wouldn't have been out of character if he did.


*If anyone knows whether the French dvd of Le Beau Serge and Les Cousins has English subtitles, do tell. I presume it doesn't but would like to know for sure.

[Kinsayder]

If anyone knows whether the French dvd of Le Beau Serge and Les Cousins has English subtitles, do tell. I presume it doesn't but would like to know for sure.

No, there are no subs on that DVD.

[Petty Bourgeoisie]

It appears the Image DVD is suddenly in print again. One week ago Amazon said OOP and the cheapest vendor price was $95. Tonight they say they have it in stock for $62.99 and the vendor prices have plummeted. Good news I would say.

Wonder if I should restrain myself in hopes DVD Planet will stock it in time for their 20% sale. Hmmmmm... deep thinking.