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That color footage from the Great Dictator is fascinating and I wish every young B&W decrier could see it, because the color choices Chaplin uses are ghastly and so far beyond what you'd imagine watching the B&W final product.

Wouldn't those colors have been selected, in large part, for how they'd read in B&W?

I never claimed it was a fair example :-"

Do you think they will release his earlier shorts from Mutual and Essanay?

david hare wrote:Ummmm......

It looks as weak as the damn 39 Steps BD. The brightness is far too wide to permit much contrast which seems all wrong to me. And the ratio is a gigantic fuckup. How can they not get this right with a full 1.78 aperture to work within.

This is a maddening situation - there are a whole bunch of people who've gone ahead and ordered the current five coming Chaplins from either/or Park Circus and Kinowelt. And when - finally Criterion gets around to these we're all going to get far superior product. But the waiting! And the other worry is the lack of info on extras, Will both or either Dictators have all the color home movie footage etc? At least we know with Crit there's some guarantee of quality in the telecine and the overall package. These look like they might just be slapped together with minimum effort as some sort of afterthought.

If you already own the R2 set, there is no reason worrying for extras, you just wait to see if the Criterion blu-ray PQ delivers.

More Kinowelt Blus:

Modern Times - http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompar ... ntimes.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Great Dictator - http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompar ... ctator.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Have somebody spotted any early reviews of the Park Circus editions of The Great Dictator and The Kid?

Well, according to this, Park Circus Blu-ray edition of The Kid is the shorter version Chaplin prepared in 1971. If that turns out to be true, I think I'll have to wait for the Criterion releases to evaluate my purchase. I want the uncut version of the film, because I already own the MK2 DVD R2 edition of the movie.

The supplements look that they're the same included in the MK2 edition (missing a few ones though), so apparently they are not giving extra incentives on this side for people who already own this cut on DVD. It seems that they're putting all their chips on the video and audio transfer. We'll see.

david hare wrote:Quick run down on the two Park Circus titles and the three Kinowelt titles

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I got the impression that you were referring only to the Kinowelt editions.

david hare wrote:I'm commenting on two Park Circus titles - Dictator and The Kid - and three Kinowelt titles - Gold Rush, City Lights and Modern Times. They are all based on MK2 sources, regardless of label .

This IS the 1925 version from a ragged but far superior print to the 42 revision, and runs 95 minutes. It is SD only!!!!!!!!!!

So yes it's there but I would contend the 25 version should have taken precedence, or at least been given a 1080p (or 1080i if necessary) transfer.

Interesting. If that's the case, I also agree that they should have given an 1080p transfer to the 1925 version.

david hare wrote:I can only guess Criterion, having forked out for the US rights, is scouring the planet for the best elements. I can't believe they wouldn't put out a Goldrush without the 25 version for instance. And I am wondering where oh where is The Circus and Verdoux? (Two of my all time favorite Chaplins.)

Wouldn't that be the Chaplin estate, with home CC has been dealing? I thought because Chaplin retained control of his titles that they'd retained all the OCNS, or at least, master interpos.

I too would strongly suspect, if indeed CC releases Gold Rush and/or The Kid, that they would include both versions. But I wouldn't be surprised if the original cuts are relegated to the B-side or supplements, since the Chaplin estate seems pretty adamant on Chaplin's 1970s versions as the authoritative version.

Park Circus have announced their next two Chaplin releases. GOLD RUSH (featuring the recut version in HD and the original cut with music by Neil Brand in SD) and MODERN TIMES. Both are being released as BluRay/DVD dual format. The versions released are the only ones approved by the Chaplin Association.

Timothy Brock recently, painstakingly, reconstructed Chaplin's original score for the '25 Gold Rush. For Criterion to issue the film and not include that in all its glory (i.e. HD) would be pretty embarrassing for the company, surely.

david hare wrote: Is it just me, or am I being hopelssly arrogant in loathing the 42 version and loving the 25 version?

No, the 1942 version is indeed loathsome. I always thought it represented Chaplin at his absolute worst...utterly infatuated with the notion of himself as genius. It's as if some director decides that a DVD of one of his or her films can only be viewed with the commentary always on.

First of all, Chaplin was a genius. Now, if the Chaplin estate says the 70's versions are the authoritative, why were both silent and the 70's reconstruction both included in the Gold Rush MK2 ediition? I actually enjoy the 70's version a lot, and I could only see the Chaplin estate allowing every possible thing Charlie did to exist on the best possible DVDs.

"Fuck the Chaplin estate" is harsh and I'm not sure if it's really founded on any evidence.

I doubt anyone here is calling in to question Chaplin's genius, though I and several others here could have that debate if you wanted, but rather expressing that the re-edits shouldn't get primary care because they are revisionism of the most annoying kind.

I understand where you are coming from, but your "fuck the Chaplin estate" just came off as internet posturing. For the Gold Rush screenings the Chaplin estate always sends the 1925 version. In fact, the estate has cooperated with the Kevin Brownlow and his restoration crew since the mid 70's, a relationship that continues today - Brownlow was questioned about this while attending a silent film festival in Italy last year. I understand the bitterness of Beatrice Welles and the idiotic Marcel Ophuls position on Lola Montes looms over most of our filmmaker/family rights issues, but there's no cause to bash the Chaplin people. My only complaint would be to swinging the doors open to get a full look at Chaplin's vault. I would love to see the films he discarded and to read the crown jewel - The Freak script.

By the way, I do find the 1942 version charming in it's own way, because Chaplin is a such a gifted storyteller and has a soothing voice - however, I find the ending too sweet when compared to the '25 version.

Is this the first official confirmation of the titles that Janus has the rights to? Perhaps not surprising, but that site lists all the films Jeff predicted here, with the exception of The Bond.

Omigod omigod omigod! They got Kate Beaton to do the poster. Perfect match of subject to artist. I hope she does illustrations for all the eventual covers.

Matt wrote:Omigod omigod omigod! They got Kate Beaton to do the poster. Perfect match of subject to artist. I hope she does illustrations for all the eventual covers.

This would have been my exact post if I had found out first

It looks absolutely stunning - a poster I would definitely order if given the chance.

Matt wrote:Omigod omigod omigod! They got Kate Beaton to do the poster. Perfect match of subject to artist. I hope she does illustrations for all the eventual covers.

Oh my god, that is amazing.

Is Film Desk the US distributor? They advertise Le Amiche on their page with a font that looks suspiciously similar to the Studio Canal collection one, so hopefully this will get a blu-ray release soon.