Tweet Flicker Alley Chaplin Mutuals

I have just finished watching this set and I too am having a mixed reaction to it. I noticed while watching the Rink how bleached out and over-exposed it is. Edna is playing with a white cat that you can hardly see, because the image is so bleached out. Just for fun, I popped a copy of the same movie from my Image boxed DVD set and it actually looked much better with the cat clearly visible. The entire movie is less detailed being a DVD of course but looks to be much less scratched. Is this version from a different source (possibly 16 mm)? I know that these new Blu-rays are from 35 mm but if they are so damaged that the extra details do not make up for what is lost, what is the point? This is like playing a 78 rpm record on a very expensive turntable. You get to hear (in this case see) the scratches in state of the art quality. Most of the other movies look very good, especially The Immigrant ironically enough, but they also seem to show much more wear than I ever noticed before.

I have just finished watching this set and I too am having a mixed reaction to it. I noticed while watching the Rink how bleached out and over-exposed it is. Edna is playing with a white cat that you can hardly see, because the image is so bleached out. Just for fun, I popped a copy of the same movie from my Image boxed DVD set and it actually looked much better with the cat clearly visible. The entire movie is less detailed being a DVD of course but looks to be much less scratched. Is this version from a different source (possibly 16 mm)? I know that these new Blu-rays are from 35 mm but if they are so damaged that the extra details do not make up for what is lost, what is the point? This is like playing a 78 rpm record on a very expensive turntable. You get to hear (in this case see) the scratches in state of the art quality. Most of the other movies look very good, especially The Immigrant ironically enough, but they also seem to show much more wear than I ever noticed before.

I know I had a slight problem with that at one point. We own a 40inch plasma and it has quite a few different settings on it that seem to provide the best quality for certain films. The Chaplin Mutuals looked best on the Cinema setting, which adds a great deal of warmth and evens out the contrast nicely. Here's some photos taken directly off our TV. I guess you could compare them and see if the settings need to be tweaked.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127607002 ... 187043532/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127607002 ... otostream/

BEHIND THE SCREEN is hilarious with the new Robert Israel-score. Wonderful. I always liked the film, of course, as I do with all of Chaplin's Mutuals, but not as much as several of the others, and I didn't revisit it that often. I expect that to change now, with the new score.

Re: Washed out appearance of the Rink. I have 55" and a 45" flat screen TVs and the film on Blu-ray looked washed out on both. I have to admit however that I only very rarely tweak the settings. I always find one generic one and use it for everything. I will have to try the different settings and "report" back.

I do think that "The Rink" looks hot. The problem is that if the source is bleached out, making the print darker will only make the whites look muddy. It's hard to second guess the restorers without seeing the source material.

I'm projecting this on a 10 foot screen so the wear and tear is obvious. While I'd love these films to look as clean as "City Lights", I'm just thankful we still have them, considering how much from the silent era has been lost forever.

I have just finished watching this set and I too am having a mixed reaction to it. I noticed while watching the Rink how bleached out and over-exposed it is. Edna is playing with a white cat that you can hardly see, because the image is so bleached out. Just for fun, I popped a copy of the same movie from my Image boxed DVD set and it actually looked much better with the cat clearly visible. The entire movie is less detailed being a DVD of course but looks to be much less scratched. Is this version from a different source (possibly 16 mm)? I know that these new Blu-rays are from 35 mm but if they are so damaged that the extra details do not make up for what is lost, what is the point? This is like playing a 78 rpm record on a very expensive turntable. You get to hear (in this case see) the scratches in state of the art quality. Most of the other movies look very good, especially The Immigrant ironically enough, but they also seem to show much more wear than I ever noticed before.

As has been mentioned earlier in this thread, and in other threads, this restoration was made from 35mm silent aperture prints struck from the original camera negatives, mainly A (domestic) and sometimes B (foreign) when it was unavoidable. Regarding THE RINK looking washed out, David Shepard wrote (on page 3 of this thread): "The original nitrate print of THE RINK had severe emulsion fading (hypoing). The problem is in the source, the scan is more or less a miraculous recovery."

The reason THE RINK looks "better" in the Image DVD is that it was made mostly from the much younger Van Beuren/Commonwealth elements, which were not silent aperture because they had soundtracks. The downside is that Van Beuren made cuts. Lots of them. I watched THE VAGABOND last night and realized that VB had made even more cuts than I'd detailed in CHAPLIN'S VINTAGE YEAR.

I mentioned in another thread that there are two approaches to restoration: 1) Use every frame you can, regardless of generation, gauge or aperture, to get the film complete (see TILLIE'S PUNCTURED ROMANCE), or 2) Use the best, earliest original source material you can, regardless of completeness, to reconstruct the film as closely as possible to the original without jarring visual discrepancies that can take casual viewers out of the movie.

The parties involved in the Mutual set went with 2), and in this case I think they're right. These films are much too iconic to be presented in a way that may distract audiences, especially since these versions are also DCPs currently appearing in theaters and winning new fans.

Michael Hayde

The Rink is also available on the recent Criterion Modern Times disc (both DVD and Blu-ray). I wonder if anyone has compared these two versions?

The Rink on the Criterion DVD is the same from the Image Entertainment DVD.

Thanks everyone for your patience. We're happy to announce Chaplin's Mutual Comedies 5-disc Blu-ray/DVD set is back in stock and discounted over 40% off.

Thanks! Finally purchased this. I just discarded all my old VHS tapes of these.

Have the out of sync soundtracks been corrected in the new pressing?

Have the out of sync soundtracks been corrected in the new pressing?

Hi, thanks for your question. The content is the same as the previous edition. The set includes an alternate piano score for all films.

For those of us who bought this the first time around but are not fans of steelbooks, is there anyway to get the new slip case packaging (presumably the same as the Essanay set)?

I have a question about the various versions of the Chaplin Mutuals. I've triple dipped on these... Flicker Alley, Spanish and UK. I know the Spanish is redundant to the UK version, but is there anything on the Flicker Alley set (other than the tin can) that makes it a keeper? Supplements perhaps?

I have a question about the various versions of the Chaplin Mutuals. I've triple dipped on these... Flicker Alley, Spanish and UK. I know the Spanish is redundant to the UK version, but is there anything on the Flicker Alley set (other than the tin can) that makes it a keeper? Supplements perhaps?

This site lists the contents of all three:

http://www.dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=31852

Looks like if I keep blu-ray disc 2 from the Flicker Alley and the BFI set, I can safely jettison the rest. They'll make nice stocking stuffers this Christmas.

Will a Blu-Ray edition of the Keystone period be available (eventually) ?

Doubt it will anytime soon. Perhaps Cineteca Bologna might take that on.