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R2Project just posted that a distribution company named Network has announced the March 20th R2 release of Kevin Brownlow's groundbreaking documentary Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film.

Also on that day, the same company will be releasing something called The D.W. Griffith Collection which will include:

Avenging Conscience
Way Down East (finally a decent copy?)
Birth of a Nation (Thames Silents Version)

dmkb wrote:R2Project just posted that a distribution company named Network has announced the March 20th R2 release of Kevin Brownlow's groundbreaking documentary Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film.

WOW! I thought that we'd never see this on DVD. Staggering. There are thirteen 60-minute episodes, right?

Great stuff!

Worryingly, Network's forthcoming releases page doesn't show anything concerning either Hollywood or Griffith on the 20th March, or any other date. Then again, Network's website is the usual ITV tat, so I wouldn't be overly concerned by either title's absence from their 'official' release slate. Yet.

On a more positive note, Brownlow and Andrew Mollo's It Happened Here is definitely forthcoming in the new year.

'On a more positive note, Brownlow and Andrew Mollo's It Happened Here is definitely forthcoming in the new year.'

In fact, it's already available and in stock at MovieMail here:

http://www.moviemail-online.co.uk/films/5675

The January release is the general trade release date.

R2 Project states that they got their information directly from Network so I'm hoping it is accurate (or at least not false). By the way, on Feb 27th, Network will also release "The Buster Keaton Collection" which will contain:

The General, Steamboat Bill Junior, The Three Ages, College, Go West, The Saphead, Seven Chances, Sherlock Junior, Our Hospitality, Battling Butler

I hope the Hollywood documentary does come out on dvd. I rented the vhs tape collection about a year ago from the library and i thought it was great!! Anybody who is a fan of silent movies or is a film buff should see this!!

I recieved a reply from Network:

Dear Gordon,

Thank you for your enquiry, the retail price for 'Hollywood: A Celebration
of the American Silent Film' will be £29.99 and this boxset will contain 4
discs. I do not have information on whether it will contain any extra
features yet but when it moves from the 'forthcoming' section to the
catalogue' section of the website all of the details will be updates. I
hope this helps.

Kind Regards
Louise Neal

That's a bloody amazing bargain even without any discount! Being 13 hours over 4 discs, I doubt that there will be any extras, but at this price, I'm not complaining.

On Ebay i have seen the video set or the laserdisc set go for as much as $200.00 and over!! I will buy the set when it comes out.

Gordon McMurphy wrote:That's a bloody amazing bargain even without any discount! Being 13 hours over 4 discs, I doubt that there will be any extras, but at this price, I'm not complaining.

That would mean there will be approximately three episodes per disc (one with four). At the very least, it would appear that Network isn't following Universal's "firesale" mentality (thankfully) cramming everything it can onto doublesided discs. And for US$60 the pricing seems pretty consistent with that of other recent silent box sets such as the Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection or Unseen Cinema.

I hope that the visual quality of the discs is an improvment over the laserdisc set. I got that out the other day and was surprised at how poor the transfer really was. I somehow remembered it being much clearer...

www.bensonsworld.co.uk/dvd/7000000109249.asp

20th March
£23.99 ($40 USA) with worldwide shipping.

It's up at Amazon.uk now, too.

Network has just updated their "Forthcoming" section which now lists Hollywood for 3/20. Still a bit too early for artwork or specs.

Surprisingly, they also list another Kevin Brownlow doc -- the excellent Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow for a 2/27 release -- this is the first mention I've heard of their releasing the set.

Hollywood, Keaton -- too much to hope for D.W. Griffith: Father of Film and Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius to make their way to DVD?

Cover art is up at Amazon.

Nice cover......I hope they will release a region 1 because i have it on tape and to see this on dvd would be great! I also have DW Griffith Father of Film on a 3 volume video tape and would love to see that one on dvd too! =D>

Potentially bad news for this release -- Bensonsworld, Moviemail and others have just relisted this as "rescheduled" and Network has pulled any mention of this title and the D.W. Griffith Collection (also scheduled for 3/20 release) from their website without any explanation.

Amazon.UK still has it for sale as a March 20th release but that could change too. I hope it still gets released somehow, it's one of my favorite documentaries

Someone on the alt.movies.silents newsgroup is now saying that it has been pulled -- along with the Griffith -- due to a rights issue but doesn't cite anything more specific or what his/her source is.

Just got this email from Amazon.uk:

Dear Customer,
We wanted to give you an update on the status of your order. We are sorry to report that the following items have been delayed.
"Hollywood - Complete Series" [DVD] is not yet released by publisher
We are sorry for any inconvenience this causes. On the date of dispatch, you should receive an e-mail message confirming the date, contents and delivery method. Thank you for shopping at Amazon.co.uk, we hope to see you again.

Sincerely,

Customer Service Department
Amazon.co.uk
http://www.amazon.co.uk

I hear the problem is still just temporary and involves clearance problems for just one film. Fingers crossed this comes through complete and intact.

peerpee wrote:I hear the problem is still just temporary and involves clearance problems for just one film. Fingers crossed this comes through complete and intact.

Pheww! That's good news (unless the one film is "Hollywood"!).

Thanks, Nick. Any word on whether the film elements (clips and interviews) were cleaned up for the DVD?
I haven't seen Network's release of Buster Keaton A Hard Act to Follow yet but as they don't appear to be a very big company, my guess is that they are working from existing (video?) masters.

I think that Network are owned by Virgin, so they're not *that* small

-

A HARD ACT TO FOLLOW is slightly faulty. They used the international version with all the interviewee identifiers missing, and are apparently planning to redo it.

peerpee wrote:I think that Network are owned by Virgin, so they're not *that* small

I did not know this, no I guess they aren't at that. They just seem to be acting small.
I also didn't know of the existence of an international version of A Hard Act to Follow. I always learn something from your posts, thanks!

Just been rescheduled to August 7th. Ironically, the film that was apparently causing the rights clearance problems was THE JAZZ SINGER.

peerpee wrote:A HARD ACT TO FOLLOW is slightly faulty. They used the international version with all the interviewee identifiers missing, and are apparently planning to redo it.

I've just been watching this. It's a "damfino" documentary even without the identifiers. On the other hand, Network's 6-disc Buster Keaton Chronicles is a bit of a disappointment. The print quality of the films I've watched so far is way below that of the recent mk2 set (though admittedly the Network set is a lot cheaper). My main reason for buying it was to get the Thames Silents versions of The General and Our Hospitality with the Carl Davis scores, as those broadcasts were my first experience of Keaton's work; but even these look like slightly blurry VHS copies. Sherlock Jr has an irritating diagonal strobing intereference throughout.