Tweet Nitrateville Creations:Books;DVDs;Calendars-2018 Gift Ideas!

This thread is a listing of fabulous holiday- or any day- gift suggestions:
Currently “in print” items- DVDs; eBooks; CDs; Calendars; Books; Art; etc.
Produced, in whole or in part, by NITRATEVILLE MEMBERS.
Ideally, each post will provide an image, publisher’s description, and on-line purchase link.

When Movies Mattered:
Reviews from a Transformative Decade
Paperback, Kindle – April 15, 2011
by Dave Kehr
"Dave Kehr is one of the most gifted film critics in America."(Roger Ebert)
"Dave Kehr belongs in the pantheon of film critics who have been associated in one way or another with the city of Chicago—in fact, he's one of the best writers on film the country as a whole has ever produced. This collection of his work for the Chicago Reader constitutes an important act of cultural recovery, which provides insights into a crucial period of transition in the film industry. Not only a critic but also a public intellectual, Kehr teaches us about film style, calls attention to pictures that have received too little attention, and makes us care more about an art form. When Movies Mattered is a great pleasure." (James O. Naremore, author of More Than Night: Film Noir in Its Contexts)
"Kehr writes in a way that merges an enthusiasm for innovation with an exhaustive knowledge of film history. And it seems he's never lacked for bold opinions. . . . He might be right—which makes this collection all the more essential." (Film Comment)
"Most people now know Kehr as writer of the weekly DVD column in the New York Times, a gig he's turned into an ongoing tutorial on film history. But that may change somewhat now that the University of Chicago (his alma mater) has anthologized 53 of his long reviews from the Reader (and one ringer from Film Comment) in the book When Movies Mattered: Reviews From a Transformative Decade. No one familiar with Kehr's writing will be surprised to learn that the pieces are informed, insightful, and eloquent. Having inherited his job at the paper, though, I probably value the book more than most people, not only for its content but for its example. If you have any interest in the embattled art of film criticism, this collection (by a writer who, incredibly, was still in his 20s or early 30s) offers many lessons quite apart from his examination of the films themselves." (J. R. Jones Chicago Reader)
"When Movies Mattered is long overdue. . . . Kehr's enviable strength in his chosen mold is his exceptional attention to detail and evocative power of description." (Andrew Tracy Cinema Scope)”

The 100 Greatest Silent Film Comedians
Hardcover, Kindle – October 28, 2014
by James Roots
"The silent film era featured some of the most revered names of on-screen comic performance, from Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton to Harold Lloyd, Douglas Fairbanks, and Laurel & Hardy. Besides these giants of cinema, however, there are other silent era performers—both leading actors and supporting players—who left an enduring legacy of laughter.
In The 100 Greatest Silent Film Comedians, James Roots ranks the greatest performers based on a scorecard that measures each comic’s humor, timelessness, originality, and teamwork. Far more than just a listing, this is an idiosyncratic and entertaining review of the men and women who created the golden age of comedy. As a critic and deaf viewer, Roots brings a truly unique perspective to the evaluation of these performers and their work. He has viewed thousands of silent comedies and offers some assessments that run contrary to the standard list of performers. While many obvious names are placed in the top echelon, the author also champions performers who have been neglected, in part because their work has not been as visible. Each entry includes
a filmography
a scorecard
an evaluation of the artist’s overall work
an assessment of representative films
DVD availability
With the increased availability of films on DVD, as well as Internet access, more and more silent performers are being discovered by film fans. Supplemented by an appendix of comedians who missed the cut, as well as an annotated bibliography, The 100 Greatest Silent Film Comedians will be an invaluable resource to anyone wanting to know more about the brilliant entertainers of the silent era”

Cinerama's Search For Paradise
117 minutes
[Blu-ray] November 11, 2014
"Join Lowell Thomas and follow in the footsteps of Marco Polo in this new, digital restoration of Search for Paradise, the fourth of the original, 3-panel Cinerama travelogues. Released in 1957, the motion picture takes you to the "Roof of the World," the Himalayas and Karakoram mountains of Central Asia, the highest region on Earth. You'll become part of the adventure as explorer Lowell Thomas searches for paradise in ancient cities, wild river rapids, and the lush gardens of mountaintops.
Your first stop is the Forbidden Kingdom of Hunza, a hidden valley bordered by China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, home to a legendary warrior tribe. Next, you'll challenge the rapids of the Mighty Indus River, fed from a fantastic galaxy of monumental glaciers draining from some of the greatest heights known to man. From there, find respite in the romantic Shalimar Gardens in the Vale of Kashmir, then fly to Katmandu for the coronation ceremony of King Mahendra of Nepal. The adventure concludes with a trip to a U.S. Air Force base, where Thunderbird jet planes cut across the sapphire blue sky overhead at supersonic speed.
Flicker Alley and Cinerama, Inc. are proud to present Search for Paradise in the Smilebox® Curved Screen Simulation. Unseen theatrically since the early 1970s and never before issued on home video, Search for Paradise has been digitally remastered from original camera negatives. The film captures the imagination and asks what your dream paradise would be: beauty, adventure or peace.
Bonus Materials Include:
The original Search for Paradise breakdown reel the same one used in its 1956 theatrical run.
Behind-the-scenes video of the Cinerama crew setting up for the Air Force base shoot and on location 16mm footage of the Nepal shoot.
The 3-panel 2012 Cinerama short In the Picture, as well as The Last Days of Cinerama, which goes behind-the-scenes of the making of In The Picture.
A 1998 interview with director Otto Lang
David Coles Search for Paradise presentation
Demonstration on how the original negatives were restored
A brand new rerelease movie trailer, a 1950s black & white announcement trailer, and image gallery
Plus a facsimile representation of the original program booklet.

Cinerama's Seven Wonders of the World
106 minutes
[Blu-ray] – November 11, 2014.
"Of the seven sites the ancient Greeks named the "wonders of the world," only one remains. Seven Wonders of the World is a round-the-world adventure that picks up where the Greeks of antiquity left off. Released in 1956, this Cinerama spectacle follows 20th century adventurer Lowell Thomas as he seeks out the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. Join him as he flies across the globe in the "Smasher," a converted B-25, capturing some of the most breathtaking photography ever shot.
The quest opens at the great pyramids, the last of the original Seven Wonders to still exist. From there, the "Smasher" circles the globe with Cinerama photographing a live East Africa volcano, under the bridges in New York, over and around Rio de Janeiro, the Parthenon in Athens, Angel Falls in South America, and many stops along the way to experience the beautiful culture of diverse locales. The film encourages the audience to choose from the dozens of sites explored. "What are your seven wonders?"
Flicker Alley and Cinerama, Inc. are proud to present Seven Wonders of the World in the Smilebox® Curved Screen Simulation. Unseen theatrically since the early 1970s and never before broadcast or issued on home video, Seven Wonders of the World has been digitally remastered from its original camera negatives. The global adventure captures the beauty and culture of these extraordinary places in a Cinerama time capsule.

American Slapstick, Vol. 2
3 DVD Box Set
3 Discs 440 minutes – July 22, 2008
"They were the bad boy superstars of the Jazz Age. They told jokes without words, with punch-lines made from brickbats and cream pies. At a time when pop culture was in its infancy, they made movies that would last for ages. They dressed in drag, wore crazy moustaches, showed a complete disregard for private property, and drove way too fast. This 3-disc collection is their legacy, a deluxe sampler of silent comedy rarities, B-sides, and one-hit wonders. Brace yourself for: Comedians in skirts (some of 'em girls!), the nut who used too much glue, the Frenchman with a mouthful of marbles, Charlie Chaplin comedies that don't have Charlie Chaplin in them, the girl everyone thought was crazy, the incomparable Snub Pollard goes looking for trouble, famous brothers doing their thing, and a portrait of Harold Lloyd as young man.
These never-before-on-home-video comedy shorts have been mastered from archival elements and rare collections, some of them previously thought lost altogether, and are presented with new musical scores. Hold on to your porkpie hat here comes AMERICAN SLAPSTICK VOLUME TWO!
This is brand new stock from AllDay Entertainment, sold by Undercrank Prods. 31 comedy shorts plus Syd Chaplin in "Charley's Aunt". Good transfers, and music by Ben Model, Andrew Simpson, David Drazin, Blaine Gale, Ethan Uslan and Jay Warren. Includes a booklet with notes on the films and comedians by Steve Massa.
DISC ONE:
LUKE JOINS THE NAVY • Harold Lloyd • 1916 - Surviving extract from this rare Lonesome Luke short
BY THE SAD SEA WAVES • Harold Lloyd • 1917 - Early glasses character short restored from 9.5mm materials.
BLISS • Harold Lloyd • 1917 - Reconstructed from the surviving nitrate and 9.5mm materials.
HEY THERE • Harold Lloyd • 1918 - Harold Lloyd in an early one-reel glasses short.
DON'T SHOVE • Harold Lloyd • 1919 - Lloyd riffs on Chaplin's THE RINK in his own idiom.
DODGE YOUR DEBTS • Gaylord Lloyd • 1921 - Harold's brother creates his own brand of havoc.
LOOKING FOR TROUBLE • Snub Pollard • 1919 - Two-reel short restored from nitrate and 16mm.
WHIRL O' THE WEST • Snub Pollard • 1921 - A rare one-reel Snub comedy restored from 9.5mm sources.
THE DIPPY DENTIST • Snub Pollard • 1920 - Snub, Gaylord, and Paul Parrott.
SHIVER AND SHAKE • Paul Parrott • 1922 - Paul Parrott and his bride face a haunted house, restored from 9.5mm.
POST NO BILLS • Paul Parrott • 1923 - Paul Parrott and too much glue.
A FRESH START • Jimmie Adams and Lige Conley • 1920 - The first ever Educational Mermaid Comedy
AT YOUR SERVICE • Sid Smith and Harry McCoy • 1921 - A Hallroom Boys comedy.
JONAH JONES • Lloyd Hamilton • 1924 - Ham and Babe London in a two-reeler.
BREEZING ALONG • Lloyd Hamilton • 1927 - A complete Ham two-reeler.
DISC TWO:
CHARLEY CARTOONS BY SULLIVAN/MESSMER • 1919 -
FELIX IN HOLLYWOOD and CHARLEY AT THE BEACH - Excerpts and CHARLEY OUT WEST- complete cartoon
THE HOBO • Billy West • 1917 - A gorgeous print of this faux-Chaplin short with Billy West and Oliver Hardy.
OH SHOOT • Bobby Dunn • 1923 - The second reel of this rare Arrow comedy.
CAUGHT IN A PARK • Syd Chaplin • 1915 - Syd's Gussle in a Keystone one-reeler.
GUSSLE'S WAYWARD PATH • Syd Chaplin • 1915 - Syd's Gussle in a Keystone one-reeler.
CHARLEY'S AUNT • Syd Chaplin • 1925 - Syd in one of his biggest feature hits.
DISC THREE:
BE REASONABLE • Billy Bevan • 1921 - One of Bevan's best comedies.
KID SPEED • Larry Semon • 1924 - Larry the speed demon.
CALL THE WAGON • Neal Burns • 1923 - Gag-addled Christie 2-reeler: a fellow frames his girl as a lunatic, only to get his in return.
CINDERELLA CINDERS • Alice Howell • 1920 - If you aren't an Alice Howell fan yet, you will be.
HOLD STILL • Anne Cornwall • 1926 - Anne is an aspiring photojournalist. This premise results in slapstick galore.
HASH HOUSE FRAUD • Louise Fazenda • 1915 - Louise is a waitress at a lunch counter that descends into chaos.
FARO NELL • Louise Fazenda • 1929 - Campy, double-entendre-packed Western spoof.
PLAYBOY NUMBER ONE • Willie Howard • 1937 - Dialogue comedy on a steamship!
HOLLYWOOD RUNAROUND • Monte Collins • 1932 - Goodnight, Monte!

Nobody's Stooge: Ted Healy
Hardbound/Paperback– December 15, 2014
by Bill Cassara
“ Ted Healy had a successful, if mysterious life. Starting from the lowest rung of show business, he soon conquered the stages of vaudeville, Broadway and the silver screen. Healy's biography also serves as the backstory to the rise of what became The Three Stooges act. He had an eagle eye in spotting and cultivating the talents of Shemp, Moe, Larry and Curly, who served their apprenticeship in his act off and on from 1923 to 1934. As "father" of the act, he took his stooges to Broadway and Hollywood. Healy is the tree around which some mighty acorns fell. Healy died at age 41, four days after his only child was born in 1937. His passing quickly became one of the most notorious of Hollywood's celebrity death scandals. Was it foul play or natural causes? Author Bill Cassara, author of Vernon Dent: Stooge Heavy and Edgar Kennedy: Master of the Slow Burn, explores all the possibilities.”

"Grapevinevideo" Joined Nitrateville: Tue Oct 09, 2012 11:53 am


Square Shoulders (1929)
DVD– November, 2014
60 minutes - presented with the original movie score
Director: E. Mason Hopper
"Rambling tramp and decorated war veteran Slag just happens to rolls into his hometown after many years away and has a chance encounter with a scrappy newsie kid that turns out to be his own son! The discovery motivates Slag to steal funds so he can send his son to the local military academy but he is careful to keep his influence and relation hidden even as he takes a job at the academy's stable. Will he be able to protect his son and his secret as his past closes in?
Stars: Louis Wolheim, Frank Coghlan Jr, Philippe De Lacy, Kewpie Morgan, Maurice Black

Distressed Damsels and Masked Marauders:
Cliffhanger Serials of the Silent-Movie Era
Paperback – April 16, 2014
by Ed Hulse
"The silent-era movie serial——routinely dismissed, overlooked or undervalued by film historians——finally gets the attention it deserves in this meticulously researched, lovingly written book.
Drawing on the well-established conventions of pulp fiction and blood-and-thunder stage melodrama, the motion-picture chapter play thrilled viewers of all ages and, more importantly, made weekly moviegoing a habit for millions of Americans during the Teens and Twenties.
Ed Hulse, editor and publisher of Blood ‘n’ Thunder magazine, opens this deluxe trade paperback with a 25,000-word overview on the silent serial’s development, debunking old myths and putting the chapter play in its proper historical context. The bulk of the book is devoted to the output of Pathé Exchange, the production/distribution entity that employed the most popular stars (including serial queens Pearl White, Ruth Roland, and Allene Ray) and released the most successful and influential serials (The Perils of Pauline, The Exploits of Elaine, The Lightning Raider, The Timber Queen, and The Green Archer, to name a few). This company history has been impeccably sourced and even features first-hand recollections from people who were part of serial-making in those halcyon days.
Distressed Damsels and Masked Marauders has more than 200 illustrations: rare stills, posters, advertisements, lobby cards, candid on-set photos, even frame captures from the film themselves. Most of these have never been published.
Hulse has recaptured this remarkable period in film history in painstaking detail, and even those film buffs or pulp fans with limited interest in serials will be fascinated by his evocative chronicle of the early chapter plays.”

The Dragon Painter

DVD– March 18, 2008
Milestone Films
“This gem of Asian-American cinema is restored by the George Eastman House Motion Picture Department, with a new digital master with original tinting, and new ensemble score by Mark Izu. Many special features are included.
'THE DRAGON PAINTER was one of the first films to present a Japanese aesthetic to an American audience. The performances by Hayakawa and Tsuru Aoki are a revelation.' --Stephen Gong, Pacific Film Archive
'A silent classic!' --Seattle News Tribune
'A masterful blend of lyricism and entertainment!' --Salt Lake City Deseret News
BONUS FEATURES Special Features:
Restored by the George Eastman House Motion Picture Department
New digital master featuring original tinting
New ensemble score by composer Mark Izu
Full-length Feature: Thomas Ince's "The Wrath of the Gods" (1914. 60 mins.)
Comedy short "Screen Snapshots" (1921. 5 mins.)
Stills gallery
"How to Build Your Own Volcano" featurette
Mary McNeil Fenollosa's novel "The Dragon Painter"
"Hollywood's First Asian Cycle", an essay by film historian Brian Taves.”

Cartoon Roots

Blu-ray/DVD Combo– 2 Discs
Cartoons On Film 90 minutes
“Out of history's mists and the Tom Stathes Collection come cartoon pioneers' earliest hits-the "roots" of animation's Golden Age!
Dive into rare works by Max Fleischer, Earl Hurd, Paul Terry, and Walter Lantz; sample the best of Col. Heeza Liar, Krazy, Koko and more. You'll even meet Bob McKimson's long-lost Binko the Cub-making his home theatre debut!
Cartoons include:
LIGHTNING SKETCHES (Blackton, 1907)
CARTOONS ON TOUR (Barré, 1915)
COL. HEEZA LIAR, DETECTIVE (Bray, 1923)
BOBBY BUMPS STARTS TO SCHOOL (Earl Hurd, 1917)
Out of the Inkwell: THE CIRCUS (Fleischer, 1920)
THE JOLLY ROUNDERS (Terry, 1923)
Mutt and Jeff: FIREMAN SAVE MY CHILD (Dick Huemer, 1919)
Jerry On the Job: THE BOMB IDEA (Bray, 1920)
FELIX COMES BACK (Otto Messmer, 1922)
Farmer Al Falfa: SPRINGTIME (Terry, 1923)
Krazy Kat: SCENTS AND NONSENSE (Bill Nolan, 1926)
Dinky Doodle: LOST AND FOUND (Lantz, 1926)
Binko the Cub: HOT-TOE MOLLIE (Romer Grey, 1930)
Toby the Pup: THE MILKMAN (Huemer, 1930)
FARMERETTE (Van Beuren, 1932)
Extras! Info booklet, archival galleries, and music by noted composers Robert Israel and Ben Model!
Co-Produced by Thunderbean Animation”

The Silver Nitrate Trail

Kindle/Paperback– Jan 13, 2015
by Robert M. Fells
“In 1913 the old west is fading away while Hollywood is better known for orange groves than for movies. Ben Wade is a young director sent to Arizona by a fledgling motion picture company back east to organize a troupe to make westerns. Ben meets Mary Malone, a rancher, who helps him hire experienced riders and tries to keep Ben from getting fleeced by local con men. The odd thing is that whatever location the troupe moves to, bank robberies occur nearby. Ben starts to wonder if some of his ’’actors’’ have old habits that are hard to break, bringing new meaning when he calls for ’’Action.’’

Maurice Tourneur
Realisateur Sans Frontieres
January 26, 2015
512 pages with over 100 rare stills
by Christine Leteux
"This is the first comprehensive biography of the great French-American filmmaker: it provides a comprehensive overview of his career and his life, accompanied by a rich iconography composed mostly of unpublished images. Here is the Book synopsis:
"In 1914, an unknown French filmmaker arrives in New York. Four years later, Maurice Tourneur has become one of the greatest American filmmakers with D. W. Griffith and C. B. DeMille. He directed the biggest French and American stars and was a complex character, both hated and admired. For the first time, the life and the entire career of Maurice Tourneur have been the subject of extensive research. From his beginnings as a painter to his career in the talkies, he appears as one of the twentieth century landmark filmmakers, who, additionally, trained two great directors, Clarence Brown and his son Jacques. Unpublished records shed new light on this unusual character whose life reads like a novel.”

The Marcel Perez Collection
DVD 120 minutes – January 26, 2015
Musical Scores by Ben Model
10 rare Perez comedies – 5 Italian (from the EYE Filmmuseum) and 5 American (from the LOC)
Robinet's White Suit (1911) Italy. Ambrosio
Robinet in Love with a Singer (1911) Italy. Ambrosio
Mademoiselle Robinet (1912) - Italy. Ambrosio
Robinet is Loved Too Much By His Wife (1912) Italy. Ambrosio
Robinet is Jealous (1914) - Italy. Ambrosio
A Bathtub Elopement (1916) - USA, Eagle
A Busy Night (1916) - USA, Eagle
Camouflage (1918) - USA, Jester (reel 2 only) - just preserved by LoC!
You're Next (1919) - USA, Jester
Sweet Daddy (1921) - USA, Reelcraft.

Marcel Perez:
The International Mirth-Maker
Paperback– December 24, 2014
by Steve Massa
“Marcel Perez: The International Mirth-Maker examines the life and career of perhaps the best silent film comedian whom no one's ever heard of. One of the founding fathers of film comedy whose career spanned the silent era as a comic, director, and writer, Marcel Perez is a missing link between the early European and American cinemas, and in the book author Steve Massa follows his work, and also explores the very beginnings of film comedy. Tracking Perez's career through industry trade journals and film fragments from archives all over the world, Massa also includes a detailed filmography and lavishly illustrates with more that 50 rare photographs.’’

"B2MP, Inc." Joined Nitrateville: Mon Feb 16, 2015 5:53 pm


The Puppetoon Movie
Blu-ray
Limited Edition 2-Disc Set
Director: George Pal
"The Puppetoon Movie is a 1987 animated film written, produced, and directed by Arnold Leibovit. Some of the Puppetoons included in the film are Tubby the Tuba, Tulips Shall Grow, John Henry and the Inky Poo, all created by George Pal in the 1930s and 1940s, and framed by a story featuring Gumby, Pokey, and Arnie the Dinosaur.
Not Available at retail. Limited to 3000 copies.
• Bonus Puppetoons (High Definition):
– And To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street – 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins
– The Sky Princess – Rhapsody in Wood – Date with Duke
– Jasper and the Beanstalk – Rhythm in the Ranks
• The Great Rupert (High Definition) B/W:
starring Jimmy Durante, Terry Moore, and the Puppetoons
• Previously unreleased interview footage (Standard Definition):
– Ray Harryhausen – Ray Bradbury – Gene Roddenberry
– Roy Disney – Wah Chang – Duke Goldstone – Russ Tamblyn
• Bonus Puppetoons (Standard Definition):
– What Ho She Bumps – Mr. Strauss Takes A Walk – Olio for Jasper
– Philips Cavalcade – Jasper’s Derby – Hoola Boola – Ether Symphony
– Aladdin and the Magic Lamp – The Magic Atlas – Jasper and the Haunted House
– The Philips Broadcast of 1938 – The Ship of the Ether
• The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal (Standard Definition):
Arnold Leibovit’s inspired tribute to George Pal
• Audio commentary by Arnold Leibovit and Jerry Beck
• And more…
Full-color and B/W • 79 Minutes on 2 Discs • 1947 • Not Rated



The Slipper and the Rose
DVD
Runtime: COLOR • 143 Minutes • 1976
Director: Bryan Forbes
"Magnificent 2013 restoration! The most beloved version of Cinderella is now available on DVD
In Euphrania, live two unhappy people: a sad young girl called Cinderella and a proud young prince – trapped in two very different worlds. Following the death of her father, poor Cinderella has been left in the care of her unfriendly stepmother and two spoilt stepsisters. Meanwhile, the prince of the land has come of age and the King and Queen want him to marry. His desperate parents hold a splendid ball and invite every noble girl in the land. Cinderella is shunned by her ugly sisters, when they leave her behind and flounce off to the Great Ball in all their finery. Fortunately her Fairy Godmother intervenes, transforming Cinderella and whisks her off to the ball–and so the love story blossoms in this exquisite, uplifting masterpiece. The film stars Gemma Craven as the heroine, Richard Chamberlain as the Prince, and a supporting cast led by Michael Hordern, Kenneth More, Edith Evans and Annette Crosbie. Academy Award nominated songs are written by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, who also shared scripting duties with Forbes and, reportedly, the film’s executive producer, broadcaster David Frost. "

Living Large:
Wilna Hervey and Nan Mason

Hardcover– June 1, 2015
by Joseph P. Eckhardt
“Living Large: Wilna Hervey and Nan Mason, by noted silent film historian Joseph P. Eckhardt, is by turns a rollicking dual biography and a sweet love story. Wilna Hervey a six-foot-three-inch, three-hundred-pound heiress won the role of "The Powerful Katrinka" in the Toonerville Trolley comedies of the early nineteen-twenties through her impressive size. Her evocation of Katrinka was so successful that it became a permanent part of her identity.
Wilna's movie work brought her something else that would long endure a partner for life. While filming on location in the Philadelphia suburbs, Wilna Hervey met Nan Mason, the surprisingly tall daughter of her Toonerville co-star, Dan Mason. Wilna and Nan became close friends and ultimately life partners. They discovered that they had a mutual passion for art. So when Wilna's cinema work began to wane, she and Nan decided to pursue careers as artists in the famed artists' colony at Woodstock, New York. As artists, Wilna Hervey and Nan Mason evolved into accomplished and imaginative talents, exploring a wide variety of genres over the course of their long careers. As a same-sex couple, living in one of the few American communities where they could comfortably be themselves, the "Big Girls," as they were known locally, carved out extraordinarily creative lives for themselves. Uninterested in defining themselves except as artists, they lived a free and joyous existence, fully participating in the life of their community. They hosted some of the wildest parties ever seen in the Catskills, and frequently used their legendary "full moon" soirées to raise money for local causes such as the Woodstock Library and the children's health center. An irrepressible enthusiasm permeated everything that Wilna and Nan did, whether it was building a real estate empire, trying their luck as farmers, painting houses or entertaining bar patrons with medleys of quaint old songs. Their many friends included a number of noteworthy figures in twentieth-century American arts and letters: film director Frank Capra; photographer Edward Weston; portrait artist Eugene Speicher; the Whitney Museum's Juliana Force; painters Henry Lee McFee, William Pachner and Charles Rosen; and legendary children's book illustrators Maud and Miska Petersham. Wilna Hervey and Nan Mason were inseparable for the better part of six decades. Their unfailing devotion to each other was respected, even admired, by their friends. Their enduring partnership, the art it inspired and their go-for-broke lifestyle form the major narrative arc of Living Large.”

Max Steiner The Complete Score to THE SEARCHERS
June 2015
36 Track CD plus 32 Page Book

"Screen Archives Entertainment and Chelsea Rialto Studios are proud to announce the newly remastered release in early June 2015 of Max Steiner’s thundering soundtrack score to John Ford’s THE SEARCHERS.
Released by Warner Bros. in 1956, John Ford and Merian C. Cooper’s production of THE SEARCHERS is one of the great iconic westerns of American cinema and Max Steiner’s score has gained legendary status in its own right. Steiner had written music for dozens of westerns but this was, by far, his most dynamic and muscular exercise in musical storytelling. From his deft interpolation of Stan Jones’ title song as well as the traditional melody “Lorena” to his lyrical original “Indian Idyll,” to the supremely thrilling action sequences, Max Steiner’s music for THE SEARCHERS is at times pastoral, personal and relentless within the space of twelve reels. Recorded at the famed Goldwyn Stage, the score was orchestrated by Steiner’s longtime colleague Murray Cutter and conducted by the composer.
This CD presents the complete score to THE SEARCHERS composed by Max Steiner and the title song by Stan Jones as sung by the Sons of the Pioneers. The score was preserved on acetate discs in the Steiner Collection at Brigham Young University and has been newly remastered by Chelsea Rialto Studios. As a bonus, we have compiled outtake choruses of “The Searchers” into a final vocal encore by the Sons of the Pioneers.
The album includes a 32 page book with notes by James V. D'Arc and Ray Faiola. Disc mastering by Ray Faiola, Chelsea Rialto Studios. Package design by Jim Titus.
A Brigham Young University Film Music Archive Production. All proceeds from this limited edition compact disc go towards the acquisition, preservation of film music elements and public future releases.”

Moonlighting

Blu-ray/DVD May 2015
2 Discs Run Time Each: 97 minutes
Jerzy Skolimowski wrote and directed this brilliant story about four foreign workers who come to London under false pretense to restore an apartment. Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons stars as Nowak, the only one of the four Polish workers who speaks and understands English. While they are deep in the midst of reconstruction, Poland is swept by political turmoil. The military have imposed martial law, outlawed the unions and put the free world on alert. Nowak, aware of the situation through phone calls and news reports, must keep knowledge of it from his co-workers until the job is finished, and also figure out a way to get his fellow workers home before it's too late. The film won the best screenplay award at the Cannes Film Festival the year it was screened. First time released on Blu-ray Blu-ray/DVD combo Bonus audio with comments from Jeremy Irons New essay by Ewa Hanna Mazierska Isolated music track Theatrical trailer

Stop Yellin'
Ben Pivar and the Horror, Mystery, and Action-Adventure Films of His Universal B Unit
Paperback– Nov 30, 2011
by Thomas Reeder
“Never heard of him? Not surprising, as Ben Pivar was one of the faceless craftsmen who inhabited the sizable world of Hollywood's cinematic underbelly, the B film. But while often disparaged and mocked for their low-budget look, breakneck storytelling, and low wattage casts, B films occupied the second half of most theaters' bill during the thirties and forties-something most patrons expected to fill out their evening's entertainment. And Ben Pivar was responsible for a staggering number of them. Stop Yellin' chronicles Pivar's life, both the highs and lows, concentrating on his most productive years while at Universal Studios. From his late-1920s start as a film cutter at Universal, Pivar advanced into film production in the 1930s at Columbia, Grand National, and Republic, before settling in at Universal as associate producer in 1938. For the next eight years, Pivar would master his craft and churn out a lot of slick, thoroughly enjoyable films; his eventual promotion to one of the studio's coveted executive producer positions placed him at the top of the B unit hierarchy. It's his horror films that have stood the test of time, the films that Pivar is remembered for today: The Mummy's Hand and its three sequels; the Inner Sanctum series featuring Lon Chaney, Jr.; The Mad Ghoul; Horror Island; and She-Wolf of London. There were Pivar's own personal creations as well: Captive Wild Woman and its two sequels; and the Rondo Hatton "Creeper" series, House of Horrors (the source of the oft-quoted "Stop Yellin'" line) and The Brute Man."

Monty Banks: A Filmography 1920-1924
Paperback – May 20, 2015
by Robert S. Birchard (Author); Rob Farr, Sam Gill, Robert James Kiss, Steve Massa, and Karl Thiede (Contributors)
Monty Banks may not be as well remembered as Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd or Buster Keaton, but he was one of the bread and butter comics who made audiences roar in the Golden Age of Comedy. Here for the first time is a comprehensive filmography of Monty Banks' 1920-1924 starring two reelers, well illustrated with stills from the films and behind-the-scenes photos that bring the comedian and his times to life.

Chaplin's Essanay Comedies 1915
Silent Films With Timothy Brock, Robert Israel, and The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra Musical Scores
Release date: 11/10/15
- Run Time: 405 minutes
Format Blu-ray/DVD Combo
In late 1914, Charlie Chaplin was paid the then-unprecedented salary of $1,250 per week (with a bonus of $10,000) in exchange for signing a one-year contract with the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company. The resulting 14 films he created for Essanay find Chaplin further experimenting with new cinematic techniques, while continuing to add complexities and pathos into his celebrated Little Tramp character, soon to become immortalized as the face, hat, and mustache of modern screen comedy.
Flicker Alley and The Blackhawk Films® Collection are proud to present Chaplin’s Essanay Comedies, the third and final installment of the Chaplin Project (lead by Lobster Films and Cineteca di Bologna), a massive, twelve year endeavor to restore all of Chaplin’s cinematic output from 1914-1917. This 5-disc box Blu-ray/DVD box set features 15 newly restored films—His New Job, A Night Out, The Champion, In the Park, A Jitney Elopement, The Tramp, By the Sea, His Regeneration, Work, A Woman, The Bank, Shanghaied, A Night in the Show, Charlie Chaplin’s Burlesque on Carmen, and Police. All were scanned under the aegis of Association Chaplin at a resolution of 2,000 lines from original 35mm prints gathered from archives all over the world, then digitally assembled and restored, a collaborative effort of Lobster Films and Cineteca di Bologna. These editions feature scores from some of the foremost composers and musicians of silent film accompaniment, including Timothy Brock, Robert Israel, and The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra.
Essanay and Mutual were Chaplin’s laboratory and he later would borrow heavily from the films he created there to craft the masterworks The Kid (1921), The Gold Rush (1925), City Lights (1931) and Modern Times (1936) for which he is best known and for which he always will be remembered.
Bonus Materials Include:
Triple Trouble (1918), an unofficial Chaplin film, edited together from outtakes and footage shot by the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company without Chaplin’s approval
The Blu-ray/DVD premiere of the newly restored Charlie Butts In, a one-reel film widely distributed in the 1920s assembled from alternate takes of the standard, two-reel version of A Night Out
The two-reel edits of A Night Out and Charlie Chaplin's Burlesque on Carmen, restored and conforming as nearly as possible to the Chaplin’s original intentions for release
A never-before-seen restoration of Police, including a newly improved final shot
A 28-page booklet with rare, behind-the-scenes images, and an extensive essay by film historian and author Jeffrey Vance (Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema)

1907 Chicago Projecting Co.'s Entertainer's Supplies:
Catalog No. 122.
November 14, 2015
Deluxe 438 Pages, Hundreds of Illustrations!
Edited, with Introduction by, Darren Nemeth
"Back in 1907 when this mail order catalog was printed audiences were seeing motion pictures, stereopticon lectures and talking machine concerts through traveling showmen events. It was published several years before nickelodeons and vaudeville shows were about to edge out the independent traveling cinema trade. The spread of movie theatres throughout the United States was still a few years into the future.
Each page of this Chicago Projecting Co. Catalog No. 122 has been scanned to uncompressed 600 dpi TIFF files and gently retouched. This extremely rare showman's catalog is now available for the first time since 1907.
- Hundreds of Original Illustrations and New Bonus Materials.
- Over 1,050 Pre-Hollywood Films & 1,000+ Stereopticon Slides & Sets Fully Indexed
- More Than 280 Motion Picture and Stereopticon Projector and Equipment Listings. Optigraphs, Stereopticons, Graphophones, and much more!
- Introduction, Notes and Indexes By Darren Nemeth
- All 334 original pages scanned and Photoshopped directly from the extremely rare catalog.
This reprint shows everything you'll need to buy and know to operate and profit in the booming pre-nickelodeon traveling exhibitor trade!! Join the Facebook group for news, information and a few things that didn't make it into the book!
As a bonus the 23 page index is a free download. Find it in the Facebook group "files" section. No need to look through the back of the book for something. The PDF file is searchable.

A George Arliss Photoplay Reader

Kindle/Paperback– September 3, 2015
by Robert M. Fells
“Among the most fragile items in the Arliss Archives are the faded and crumbling pages of film souvenir booklets and weekly movie magazines from the 1930s. These 80+ year old pieces of memorabilia capture the excitement of their times and still echo their marketing strategies of why you really, even in the depths of the Great Depression, need to see this particular motion picture. By scanning and digitally restoring this material it is now preserved for future generations long after the original documents will have crumbled away. The pages are faithfully reproduced in their original black and white, color tints, or full color. This fifth volume in The ARLISS ARCHIVES series is a worthy addition to the previous four.’’

Out West with Houdini

Kindle/Paperback– October 15, 2015
by Robert M. Fells
“Young lawyer Arthur Jeffries travels out west in the 1890s to locate some fortunate individuals who are unaware they have inherited wealth. Finding them is easy but extricating them from jail or worse seems impossible. That is, until Arthur meets an unknown magician named Houdini who reveals the secrets of mind reading, handcuff escapes, disappearing from a locked trunk, and the Indian Fakir Mind Control. Arthur puts this knowledge to good use on behalf of his clients.’’

Rudolph Valentino 2016:
Celebrating 90 Years The Son of the Sheik
Calendar– Published October 2015
Donna Hill
"2016 marks the 90th anniversary of the release of Rudolph Valentino's final film, The Son of the Sheik. The 2016 Rudolph Valentino calendar celebrates the film and Valentino's performance with this special edition calendar. "

Masterworks of American Avant-Garde, 1920-1970

Release date: 10/06/15
Run Time: 418 minutes
Format Blu-ray/DVD Combo
Commencing in 1920 with Charles Sheeler and Paul Strand s creative collaboration on Manhatta, successive generations of experimental filmmakers and artists have worked in collaboration or alone to create a cinema capable of expressing dynamic unspoken concepts in totally abstract visual terms.
Flicker Alley and the Blackhawk Films® Collection in cooperation with Filmmakers Showcase are proud to present this premiere collection of 37 films created by some of the most acclaimed names of American Avant-garde experimental filmmaking, including Charles Sheeler, Paul Strand, Fernand Le ger, Dudley Murphy, Rrose Se lavy (Marcel Duchamp), Robert Florey, Slavko Vorkapich, Ralph Steiner, Jay Leyda, James Sibley Watson, Jr., Melville Webber, Emlen Etting, Oskar Fischinger, Joseph Cornell, Mary Ellen Bute, Ted Nemeth, Rudy Burckhardt, Francis Lee, Maya Deren, Alexander Hackenschmied, Helen Levitt, Janice Loeb, James Agee, James Broughton, Kenneth Anger, Ian Hugo, Anai s Nin, Len Lye, Jim Davis, Hy Hirsh, Marie Menken, Francis Thompson, Hilary Harris, Bruce Baillie, George Landow, Jonas Mekas, Lawrence Jordan, Tom Palazzolo, Lawrence Janiak, Amy Greenfield, Phil Solomon, and Stan Brakhage.
To watch these films is to see the world anew through innovative cinematic interventions: fast cutting, expressive camerawork, abstract animation, surrealistic collage, distorted and superimposed imagery, and many more extraordinary techniques. Essentially the filmmakers ask us to open our eyes and see, to permit the reception of pure sensations uninhibited by any complex web of predetermined associations dominant in mainstream Hollywood film and television.
Collected from archives around the world, and beautifully restored in high definition, the majority of vintage silent films in Masterworks of American Avant-Garde Experimental Film 1920-1970 feature new musical scores and performances by innovative composers George Antheil, Louis Siegel, William O. Smith, Gene Forrell, Arthur Kleiner, Louis & Bebe Barron, Donald Sosin, Eric Beheim, Rodney Sauer, Gustavo Matamoros, Henry Wolfe, and Phil Carluzzo.

BONUS FEATURES:
- 2K restoration of Manhatta (1920-21, dir. Charles Sheeler, Paul Strand) with 2008 Slovak Sinfonietta orchestral score by Donald Sosin and 2013 music score by Henry Wolfe and Phil Carluzzo
- 2K restoration of Ballet Mechanique (1924, dir. Fernand Le ger, Dudley Murphy) with additional footage and George Antheil s 1925 percussive score for 16 player pianos and mechanical noises
- Previously unavailable, unique versions of Meshes of the Afternoon (1943, dir. Maya Deren, Alexandr Hackenschmied), In the Street (1948, 1952, dir. Helen Levitt, Janice Loeb, James Agee), N.Y., N.Y. (1958, dir. Francis Thompson), Castro Street (1966, dir. Bruce Baillie), and Film That Rises to the Surface of Clarified Butter (1968, dir. Owen Land formerly George Landow)
- Sappho and Jerry, Parts 1-3 (1977-78, dir. Bruce Posner)
- Seasons... (2002, dir. Phil Solomon, Stan Brakhage)
- Ch an (1983, dir. Francis Lee) with music by Christopher Atwood
- 28-page booklet featuring an essay and extensive notes on restorations by curator, filmmaker, and film historian Bruce Posner

HOLLYWOOD Celebrates THE HOLIDAYS
Hardcover– October 05, 2015
221 color & b/w photos | 192 pp
by Karie Bible ; Mary Mallory (Authors)
Marvelously illustrated with more than 200 rare images from the silent era through the 1970s, this joyous treasure trove features film and television’s most famous actors and actresses celebrating the holidays, big and small, in lavishly produced photographs. Join the stars for festive fun in celebrating a variety of holidays, from New Year’s to Saint Patrick’s Day to Christmas and everything in between. Legends such as Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Crawford, Judy Garland, and Audrey Hepburn spread holiday cheer throughout the calendar year in iconic, ironic, and illustrious style. These images, taken by legendary stills photographers, hearken back to the Golden Age of Hollywood, when motion picture studios devised elaborate publicity campaigns to promote their stars and to keep their names and faces in front of the movie-going public all year round.

The Mishaps of Musty Suffer vol. 2
Silent Films With Musical Scores - 97 minutes
DVD– April 15, 2015
Produced for video and scored by Ben Model
"TThis second volume of "whirls" from the 1916-17 silent comedy film series THE MISHAPS OF MUSTY SUFFER features four more entries in which Musty Suffer works in an arcade and as a messenger boy, has his body and face repeatedly mangled in the hopes of getting a meal, and is gifted a pantomime horse by the itinerant Fairy Tramp for a business opportunity. Also on the DVD as bonuses are Bickel & Watson's first film from 1915, and a 1910 newsreel that contains footage of them as members of a clown band as well as of Bert Williams doing some of his boxing routine.
These films have been preserved by the Library of Congress and have never been available on video. New musical scores for all six films have been composed and recorded by Ben Model.

THE MISHAPS OF MUSTY SUFFER: VOLUME 2
Showing Some Speed (1916) - 13 mins
Out of Order (1916) - 13 mins
Musty's Vacation (1916) - 13 mins
Strictly Private (1916) - 13 mins
Actors Fund Field Day (1910) - 5 mins
The Fixer (1915) - (1916) - 33 mins
Produced by Ben Model/Undercrank Productions
Curated by Steve Massa and Ben Model
97 mins - B&W - stereo
NTSC - region 0 (all-regions)

The Family Secret - new restored edition
Silent Comedy Feature With Musical Score and Shorts 98 minutes
DVD– October 20, 2015
Video Producers- Ben Model; Scored by Ben Model
"THE FAMILY SECRET (1924) was the third feature-length film to star "Baby Peggy" Montgomery, and is one of her best pictures. Baby Peggy plays the young daughter of a woman whose father had opposed her marriage to a man because of his social standing. Like Shirley Temple would do in pictures a decade later, Peggy eventually warms the heart of her curmudgeonly grandfather and unites the whole family. Baby Peggy had already starred in more than 40 comedy shorts by the time she made this movie, having entered movies in 1921 at age 2½. The edition of THE FAMILY SECRET on this DVD is a new 35mm restoration by the Library of Congress, with a new theatre organ score by Ben Model. Bonus features are the newly restored Baby Peggy shorts CIRCUS CLOWNS (1922) and MILES OF SMILES (1923), plus newsreel excerpts. Enjoy these rare gems, and fall in love with Baby Peggy's charm and winning smile just as movie audiences did in the 1920s! -- DVD contents: The Family Secret (60 mins), Circus Clowns (16 mins), Miles of Smiles (18 mins), newsreels (4 mins).

Albert Capellani:
Pioneer of the Silent Screen
December 10, 2015
224 pages 32 b&w photos
by Christine Leteux Kevin Brownlow-Foreword
"The cloth edition is currently being discounted by 20% as part of our holiday sale. Use code FHOL or FSNO at checkout to receive sale prices.

In recent years, technology has given films of the silent era and their creators a second life as new processes have eased their restoration and distribution. Among the films benefitting from these developments are the works of director Albert Capellani (1874–1931), whose oeuvre was instrumental in the development of cinema in the early 1900s and whose contributions rival those of D. W. Griffith.

For the first time in English, Christine Leteux’s essential biography of Capellani offers a detailed assessment of the groundbreaking director. Capellani began his career in France at what was, at the time, the biggest film company in the world: Pathé. There, he directed the first multireel version of Les Miserables in 1912 as well as his masterpiece, Germinal (1913). After immigrating to the United States, Capellani worked at a number of production houses, including Metro Pictures Corporation, where he produced his two best-known films, The House of Mirth (1918) and The Red Lantern (1919). He was well known for making stage actors into movie stars, and Mistinguett, Stacia Napierkowska, and Alla Nazimova all rose to prominence under his direction.

The ups and downs of Capellani’s career paralleled the evolution of the film industry and demonstrated the fickle nature of success. His technical and aesthetic achievements, however, paved the way for future filmmakers. Featuring a foreword by Academy Award–winning film historian Kevin Brownlow, Leteux’s intimate biography paints a fascinating portrait of one of the leading pioneers of early cinema and provides a new window into the origins of the moving picture.

Christine Leteux is the author of Albert Capellani: Cineaste du Romanesque. She has translated a number of works, including Kevin Brownlow’s The Parade’s Gone By, Napoleon: Abel Gance’s Classic Film, and How It Happened Here, and also worked as a researcher for the documentary Natan.

Albert Capellani is a formidably well researched work that includes not only original documents but also some telling personal testimony. The book pieces together the details of Capellani's early life and, in providing an account of the subsequent film career, sifts through the available evidence with impressive discernment. Leteux offers a great insight into Capellani’s life and career, but also provides a fascinating account of the wider film milieu in which he operated in both France and America. -- Charles Drazin, author of The Faber Book of French Cinema.”

Not Just Batman's Butler:
The Autobiography of Alan Napier
Paperback/Kindle– September 24, 2015
by Alan Napier & James Bigwood
“In January 1966, Alan Napier became a household name on ABC's hit series Batman (1966-1968) as Alfred Pennyworth, loyal butler to the show's title character. This "overnight success" came after 16 years of stage work (and the occasional film) in his native England and 26 years of film and television work (and the occasional play) in the United States.
In the early 1970s, Napier wrote an autobiography, detailing his childhood as a "poor relation" of the famous Birmingham political family the Chamberlains (Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was a cousin), and his collaborations over the years with the likes of John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier, George Bernard Shaw, Noël Coward, Fritz Lang, Otto Preminger and Alfred Hitchcock.
Almost 30 years after Napier's death, James Bigwood, who first read the manuscript in 1975 when interviewing the actor for a Films in Review profile, has prepared it for publication.
This is Alan Napier's story in his own words, annotated and updated, with dozens of rare photographs.”

The 2016 Silent Film Calendar:
The Great West
Calendar– November 2015
Rodney Sauer
"The Silent Movies Benefit Calendar features silent film artwork and birthdays of silent-era film stars and personalities, as well as notable marriages, deaths, film openings, and other significant dates.
Total net proceeds (after printing expenses) are used to benefit silent film restoration. "

Any of the above books, or any book, on Amazon can be discounted 25%, up to $10 off
with this coupon:

http://dealnews.com/Amazon-coupon-25-of ... 38623.html

Amazon cuts an extra 25% off one book via coupon code "25OFFBOOK". (A maximum discount of $10 applies.) Plus, Prime members qualify for free shipping. (Non-members can spend $35 to qualify for free shipping; otherwise, shipping starts at around $5.) That's tied with our mention from three days ago, a rare discount on all Amazon books, and cuts many titles to the best price we could find. Some exclusions apply. Deal ends December 13.

//////

Rick

A Nitrateville member's book- previously unmentioned in this thread- but still in print.

Syd Chaplin: A Biography

Paperback and Kindle– November 11, 2010
279 Pages
by Lisa K Stein
This is the first study of the life and art of Sydney Chaplin, Charlie Chaplin's brother, a person notable not only for his importance in establishing his brother's career, but in several other early Hollywood enterprises, including the founding of United Artists and the Syd Chaplin Aircraft Corporation, America's first domestic airline. Sydney also had a successful film career, beginning in 1914 with Keystone and culminating with a string of popular films for Warner Bros. in the 1920s. Sydney's film career ended in 1929 because of an assault charge by an actress. This incident proved to be only the last in a string of scandals, each causing him to move to another place, another studio, or another business venture.