criterionforum.org

Early Universal Vol. 1



The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present three early silent features from Universal Pictures, all fully restored as part of the studio's ongoing restoration program.

Skinner's Dress Suit (dir. William A. Seiter, 1926) – Reginald Denny stars as a shy clerk who asks his boss for a raise at the urging of his wife. His request is rejected, but he lies to his wife, who immediately goes out and buys an expensive suit, an act that upends his once-ordered life.

The Shield of Honor (dir. Emory Johnson, 1927) – The LAPD has a new method of fighting crime, the Air Police! Their newest recruit, young hotshot pilot Jack MacDowell (Neil Hamilton), is tasked with catching a gang of jewellery thieves.

The Shakedown (dir. William Wyler, 1929) – Dave Roberts (James Murray) is a fighter better known for taking falls in fixed fights than for taking home the prize money. But then he falls head-over-heels for a fiery waitress (Barbara Kent) and a rough-and-tumble orphan (Jack Hanlon), and he begins to dramatically alter his life inside and outside of the ring.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• Limited Edition O-Card slipcase [2000 copies]
• 1080p presentation on Blu-ray from restorations undertaken by Universal Pictures (Skinner's Dress Suit and The Shakedown restored in 4K, The Shield of Honor restored in 2K)
• Skinner's Dress Suit – score by Leo Birenberg
• The Shield of Honor – score by Alex Kovacs
• The Shakedown – score by Michael Gatt
• Audio Commentary tracks on all three features
• A collection of additional materials from the early era of Universal Pictures, with complimentary analysis by silent film experts and historians
• A collector's booklet featuring new writing on the films included in this set

I'm wondering if this series will only be devoted to more 'obscure' films. Anyway, very excited.

Sounds like a great series.

I’m willing to bet some Tod Browning will be represented as well later; Outside the Law (1920), Drifting (1923) and White Tiger (1923) have been restored and are available from Kino.

Would love if Whale's Kiss Before The Mirror also got a release.

Another title already on Blu-ray from Kino. I would love some more Whale though

Never heard of the other two films, but The Shakedown is terrific.

If only for the Wyler this brings me more joy than could be thought possible.

Another 2-disc volume coming in October, fingers crossed for some Edward L. Cahn

I'm guessing one of the films is 1916's 20000 Leagues Under the Sea, a prestige project which clocks in at 86 minutes and was released by Kino. Volume 2 is 4 hours and 7 minutes, according to Amazon, so if I am correct, this means the other two films will average 81 minutes each. A meatier set than the first one, anyway.

Well that runtime and the listing of actors (Allen HOLUBAR, Jane GAIL, Hoot GIBSON, Virginia Browne FAIRE, Reginald DENNY) are new since I posted the link

Amazon is listing four actors in the specs for the new set, the first two of which are featuring in 20000 Leagues under the Sea so your guess seems spot on. One of the other actors, Hoot Gibson, did several one hour westerns in the 1920s.

Here are three Universal films I've never heard of starring both Hoot Gibson and Virginia Browne Faire

Well, The Thrill Chaser from 1923 has both Hoot Gibson (as the lead) and Reginald Denny in it, and runs one hour according to imdb.

Burning the Wind has Karloff in it so if it doesn't end up in this set, I imagine at least it had to have been in contention.

This has officially been announced with the further two mystery titles being The Calgary Stampede and Whatever Happened to Jones.

So, I'm just gonna come out and say it, what's the deal with David Kalat and Reginald Denny? He's given commentaries on both of the Deny films in these sets (replacing Anthony Slide, whose commentary for 20,000 Leagues was similarly excised in favor of a Kim Newman video piece), and he's not exactly the kind of guy you call on to give commentaries for something he isn't a passionate admirer of. Should I be excited about Reginald Deny?

Any word on what the region code for these will be?

knives wrote: Wed Aug 04, 2021 1:19 am Any word on what the region code for these will be?

I believe MoC are always region B but occasionally unlocked and region free. I'm not sure if they ever announce this in advance, as I've only ever found out when reviewers start testing whether a disc is locked

Being a major studio license, barring a mistake by MoC, there is no chance these are anything but region B locked.

Dang and thanks.

DVD Compare for the first one.

Has anybody picked up either of these, who can speak to the quality of the films? I see zedz views one film from the first set favorably, but I haven't heard anything about the other two, or the second set at all

I made it through set 1 and it was fine. Skinner's Dress Suit is definitely a minor gem, and one I would re-watch. Shield of Honor was painful, but I concede that the politics rubbed me the wrong way, taking me out of the film early on (though if you like silent film special effects/miniatures, you may enjoy it.) I did enjoy the Shakedown, but not as much as the first film.