Great news that this is going ahead. In the meantime, does anyone have any images of the various posters for Vampyr? I've spent a long time searching various places but so far only come up with the following:
bollibasher wrote:This is listed on a German vintage poster website as being of Vampyr though i'm not so sure... be interesting if it is!
It almost certainly has nothing to do with Vampyr. The scenario depicted has nothing to do with the film (guy hanging in a line) and I don't think it ever played as "Vampir" in Germany. The look and text of the poster is very silent era-ish.
A bit of trivia: Sabine Schmitz, who plays the older daughter and is shown on the poster, is the actress whose life was the primary inspiration for Fassbinder's Veronika Voss.
markhax wrote:A bit of trivia: Sabine Schmitz, who plays the older daughter and is shown on the poster, is the actress whose life was the primary inspiration for Fassbinder's Veronika Voss.
Her name was Sybille, not Sabine. She started out right at the ass end of the German silent era in Diary of a Lost Girl (she's the first maid who poppas been doinking, got preggo, and boots-- whereby she throws herself off a bridge where her wet body is brought back in to be viewed w horror by Thymian/Louise Brooks.) She also was in UBERFALL by Erno Metzner visible on Kino's Avant Garde 1 where she's hanging out in a whorehouse and appears to be her first screen appearance. She also did Vampyr as mentioned, and eventually went on from these bit "nothing" parts to becoming one of the Nazi eras biggest leading female stars... duly got hooked on narcotics, fell from favor and nixed herself. Her "dance with death" was well celebrated by RWF in Voss, and there's a fantastic documentary on her life & death included in the CC RWF BRD Trilogy box.
She also stars as the title character in the wonderful Frank Wisbar directed fantasy/horror/mystery movie Fährmann Maria, which he later remade as Strangler of the Swamp (not starring Schmitz) in USA.
Schmitz was also in a curious , but highly successful film by Karl Hartl called "F.P.1 antwortet nicht" (1932), starring Hans Albers in the German version and I believe Conrad Veidt in the English one, with a cast that also includes Paul Hartmann and Peter Lorre. The film is best remembered because it featured the famous Albers song "Flieger grüß mir die Sonne"(although he doesn't even sing it himself in the film). It's based on a science fiction novel by Curt Siodmak and the story revolves around the building of a huge platform in the middle of the Atlantic which is destined to make travel from Europe to the US easier. And of course there are parties that don't like it. Schmitz plays the daughter of the owner of that project and is the centre of a love triangle between Hartmann and Albers. The film looks a little like late silent pulpy Lang (somewhat a la "Spione" with a little bit of "Frau im Mond" technical nerdiness thrown in), but isn't really engaging nowadays. But as far as I can see, this was the film that made Schmitz a star even before she became that highly successful actress during the Nazi period.
We'll be issuing this in July or August, using the same HD telecine source of the Koerber/Cineteca di Bologna film restoration that Criterion will be using.
We've been working on this for years, and we were planning for a September or October release -- but we'll be bringing it forward now...
Can you tell us anything about extras, peerpee? I know the Criterion is loaded, but I'm sureyou guys can make it very appealing to those of us who'd like to double-dip. I promised I would either way, so I'll be buying it, if anything, as a "thank you" for listening to your fans.
I'm more than willing to get both versions too. Since the Criterion has signed up Rayns for a commentary is there any hope for some involvement with the mercurial David Rudkin on this?
Oh, I'm definitely getting the MoC version, despite the imminent Criterion. Nick, I'm counting on you to include a meatier book with your "Vampyr" release.
Precisely. I'm not pre-ordering/buying the CC unless it's 1.19, and would very much like to have this from MoC rather than from CC,anyway. Those MoC books can't be beat in my opinion, and well, I'd rather see MoC's unmanipulated image than CC's blackness boosted one. But to make it easier for us to make the decision for MoC, please Nick, try to include an audio commentary as well. And get that darn thing out as soon as you can.
I'm sticking with the MoC in this instance. I've wanted to see a good copy of Vampyr for years and the fact we're able to see a proper representation of the Koerber restoration at all is due in large part to the persistent, unpaid efforts of Nick and his associates over the last few years and I think that merits direct support.
I'll be sticking with MoC too - aside from everything else (solidarity, saving the planet), the pre-order price will be much cheaper for UK residents. The printed material that Criterion have put together does look mightly impressive though, so I hope MoC's will be comparable.
I think both Criterion and MoC are going to do wonderful job with this great film. When I see the plethora of second-tier stuff that gets our attention and money, buying both these editions seems like an obvious decision. It will show our support for both these organizations, which are our oasis in the rather dry world of popular DVD's. We could do a lot worse than spend an extra $25 to show our support and enjoy two different perspectives on this great work.
I'll be buying the MoC definitely - much cheaper, and based on previous overlaps, the image should look better. And once I've got that, I couldn't really justify splashing out another £15 or so for a couple of 30 minute documentaries and a commentary I won't listen to. Sure the CC book looks good, but MoC's will be comparable at least.
