Silent movies

Compilation of 17 short films made between 1905 and 1955, in black and white and in colored versions, restored from original elements: newsreel-type documentaries, obscure Hollywood shorts, cartoons, promotional films and just plain odd bits of celluloid. Among others there are two films by the most famous female directors of the silent era Lois Weber and Alice Guy Blaché, slapstick comedies with Stan Laurel and James Parrott, cartoons by Ub Iwerks and by the Van Beuren Studio, one of the first French jazz films with Stéphane Grappelli, a hunting film from Africa by the Belgian cinematographer Alfred Machin and French commercials from the 30s and 50s. All films are with short introductions as extra features.

The five-disc DVD set includes eleven of the joyul modern-dress comedies, westerns, satires, dream-fantasies and romances from 1916-1921 which made Douglas Fairbanks the tremendously popular hero of the American silent cinema. In addition to Fairbank's unique talent , these ebullient films showcase his gifted collaborators including writer Anita Loos and directors Allan Dwan, Victor Fleming , and John Emerson. All the films have been digitally mastered from 35mm or original-negative prints and feature new music scores.

Three years in production, and for its time unprecedented in length and complexity of emotion, Abel Gance's monumental film La Roue pushed the frontiers of film art beyond all previous efforts and is till one of the most extraordinary achievements in the whole history of cinema. The new restoration with a running time of nearly four and a half hours, accompanied by Robert Israel's symphonic score, is the fullest presentation of La Roue to reach the public since 1923. It at last allows audiences today to experience the amazing, poetic vision that Abel Gance brought to the world. The DVD also includes a short film that provides a vivid documentary record of the great work in production, along with a booklet containing an outstanding essay by William M. Drew on the history and impact of La Roue, and comments by Robert Israel on the score.