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Martin Scorsese's Film Foundation donates $275,000 to the BFI's Hitchcock silents restoration project.

Aww, Bless his little heart. Out of curiosity are the DVDs the ones with covers like this the restorations?

None of the BFI restorations has been unveiled yet, though several are now in progress - and of course the Scorsese donation is a big step forwards in terms of ensuring that the entire nine-film project will be completed.

But you won't see the end results until next year at the earliest.

Thanks for that info. I guess I'll wait to pick up those missing silents then.

I've seen the Network edition of The Pleasure Garden (well, it came free with a newspaper actually, but it had the Network logo so I'm guessing it's representative of the official product) and it looked pretty bad, even for a film of this era. Great movie though; it's amazing how nakedly all of Hitchcock's familiar obsessions and perversions turn up in his first film, and how their intensity somehow remains undiluted by the neat happy ending. The griminess of the print kind of enhances the experience on one level, but it would be great to see this film in better condition.

Until now, hardly any of the Hitchcock silents have undergone proper restoration - and none of them have had the kind of frame-by-frame combined photochemical/digital restoration that they're getting now.

If all goes according to plan with the fundraising, the outcome of this exercise will be new 35mm and 4K digital masters for every title, plus recordings of brand new scores - and the films will be barely recognisable from current DVD releases.

MichaelB wrote:Until now, hardly any of the Hitchcock silents have undergone proper restoration - and none of them have had the kind of frame-by-frame combined photochemical/digital restoration that they're getting now.

If all goes according to plan with the fundraising, the outcome of this exercise will be new 35mm and 4K digital masters for every title, plus recordings of brand new scores - and the films will be barely recognisable from current DVD releases.

I can't say I'm that unhappy with the current state of affairs except for Easy Virtue which needs a proper DVD release. I'd prefer to see Shooting Stars and Underground in proper DVD editions and maybe one or two discoveries from the vaults shown in Silent Britain instead of a momumental digital restoration of every second Hitchcock ever left as silent director.

lubitsch wrote:I'd prefer to see Shooting Stars and Underground in proper DVD editions and maybe one or two discoveries from the vaults shown in Silent Britain instead of a momumental digital restoration of every second Hitchcock ever left as silent director.

Happily, it almost certainly won't be an either/or situation.

But there are reasons for doing the Hitchcock project now that probably won't be repeated any time soon - chiefly, the unprecedented focus on London-based cinema (and London-born filmmakers with instant name recognition but whose early work isn't that widely shown) that's a planned by-product of next year's Olympics.

Sloper wrote:I've seen the Network edition of The Pleasure Garden (well, it came free with a newspaper actually, but it had the Network logo so I'm guessing it's representative of the official product) and it looked pretty bad, even for a film of this era. Great movie though; it's amazing how nakedly all of Hitchcock's familiar obsessions and perversions turn up in his first film, and how their intensity somehow remains undiluted by the neat happy ending. The griminess of the print kind of enhances the experience on one level, but it would be great to see this film in better condition.

Yes, the Network edition is Raymond Rohauer's "restored version" (ha ha) which as usual from him means missing footage, re-made and indeed re-written intertitles. I also have a German TV broadcast of an original print (prefaced by the UK "National Film & Television Archive" logo) which is much better quality and more complete, though curiously it lacks a short section included in the Rohauer print. Somewhere I have the timings of that segment if anyone is interested.

The Network DVD is worth getting anyway for the 50 minutes of unedited Hitchcock interviews conducted for Granada TV in the 1960s (the finished programmes do not survive).

The repackaged Un Chien Andalou set seems to have been removed from HMV and Play, it's only available on Amazon now. Has this release been delayed or cancelled (maybe the BFI decided to revisit elements for a brand new transfer? [-o< )?

The Central Books catalog lists L'Age d'or as coming May 15, 2011, as a Dual Format (!!!). Really hope this is true!

MichaelB wrote:

lubitsch wrote:I'd prefer to see Shooting Stars and Underground in proper DVD editions and maybe one or two discoveries from the vaults shown in Silent Britain instead of a momumental digital restoration of every second Hitchcock ever left as silent director.

Happily, it almost certainly won't be an either/or situation.

But there are reasons for doing the Hitchcock project now that probably won't be repeated any time soon - chiefly, the unprecedented focus on London-based cinema (and London-born filmmakers with instant name recognition but whose early work isn't that widely shown) that's a planned by-product of next year's Olympics.

A couple of Asquith double Dual Formats would fit this bill nicely wouldn't it? Underground and Runaway Princess and Cottage in Dartmoor and Shooting Stars perhaps? Fingers crossed.

I'm not sure what the BFI or NFB's (or Radia Canada's) policies are on such an arrangement are, but is it possible for the BFI to procure some Canadian films for video release, or even work with the NFB on certain projects?

Is there any word on Asquith's UNDERGROUND on DVD/Blu? I've been keen to see this since I read about it in Sight & Sound what seems like ages ago.

same here! blu please.

MichaelB wrote:

lubitsch wrote:the unprecedented focus on London-based cinema (and London-born filmmakers with instant name recognition but whose early work isn't that widely shown)

Technically, Hitchcock was born and raised in Essex, but I'll let that slide

Saw some of the Hitchcock 9 restorations taking place on a visit to the NFTVA a few months ago and it all looks great. The recent Film Foundation boost should help ensure this will be the definitive presentation of those films.

david hare wrote:Michael, the Powell is just gorgeous! Photographically I dont think you can get better video repro of early panchromatic stock with razor sharp blacks to whites than this. It's just fabulous!!

Love Powell in his only other walkon (after Peeping Tom) as the skipper. And I think, now anyway, this is the first Powell masterpiece. Obviously not the first, or alone in that opinion. But the first time in decades I wanted to watch it through. And came to love it.

A perfect double, surely with IKWIG.

Really, knockout disc!

Which Powell are you talking about?

He's probably talking about Edge of the World which fits the description given.

JamesF wrote:Technically, Hitchcock was born and raised in Essex, but I'll let that slide

Saw some of the Hitchcock 9 restorations taking place on a visit to the NFTVA

Sorry, where?

Two can play the pedantry game - the NFTVA has been the BFI National Archive for several years now!

knives wrote:He's probably talking about Edge of the World which fits the description given.

Not to mention the only Michael Powell film in the BFI's entire DVD catalogue, never mind Blu-ray. And the timing of David's original post fits the release, so there's no serious doubt.

A load of the single format BFI Blus (the ones before the dual format sets, early Flipsides etc.) on sale now @ £5.99 at Amazon UK...

ellipsis7 wrote:A load of the single format BFI Blus (the ones before the dual format sets, early Flipsides etc.) on sale now @ £5.99 at Amazon UK...

Including 'Comrades' which is a steal. If you haven't got it put that mother to bed now.

Most of the BFI's BD-only range to be replaced by Dual Format editions.

NABOB OF NOWHERE wrote:

ellipsis7 wrote:A load of the single format BFI Blus (the ones before the dual format sets, early Flipsides etc.) on sale now @ £5.99 at Amazon UK...

Including 'Comrades' which is a steal. If you haven't got it put that mother to bed now.

I tried buying the Bill Douglas Trilogy Blu in this offer the other week. Alas, Amazon held it for a week or two before cancelling it due to stock not being available for the forseeable future.

I am so sorry, but I just now found out Anger's films are on blu-ray, so I am trying to be quick with this. Is the BFI blu-ray Kenneth Anger's Magick Lantern Cycle region-free or would I have to buy a region-free player? Thanks for who answers this.

*CG* wrote:I am so sorry, but I just now found out Anger's films are on blu-ray, so I am trying to be quick with this. Is the BFI blu-ray Kenneth Anger's Magick Lantern Cycle region-free or would I have to buy a region-free player? Thanks for who answers this.

Region Free