Tweet Ou Est Filibus

I just tried to take a look at the 1915 Filibus on Youtube again. Unfortunately, it is one of the many rare items posted by Bucketstein, with elaborate tinting.... but still not particularly watchable as large swaths of it are too dark to watch.

Does anyone know of a more watchable version, either on the Web or dvd?

Bob

[silentfilm]

Bob,

Here it is on Vimeo. I don't know if it's better or not.

I just tried to take a look at the 1915 Filibus on Youtube again. Unfortunately, it is one of the many rare items posted by Bucketstein, with elaborate tinting.... but still not particularly watchable as large swaths of it are too dark to watch.

Does anyone know of a more watchable version, either on the Web or dvd?

Bob

What is the unfortunate thing about that? It even has English translations for the title cards.
The copy on vimeo is obviously from the same source.

AMPAS used to have a gorgeous poster of this exhibited in the hallway of the Pickford Center on Vine St., along with Gance's "Napoleon," "M" with Peter Lorre, a Max Linder from about 1913, but they removed them all last year.

AMPAS used to have a gorgeous poster of this exhibited in the hallway of the Pickford Center on Vine St., along with Gance's "Napoleon," "M" with Peter Lorre, a Max Linder from about 1913, but they removed them all last year.

Take your pick:

It was the last one, of the giant Egyptian cat.

Those posters must have cost a fortune to print at the time but they are very cool. They remind me of classic graphic novels like the best of the Tintins.

Those posters must have cost a fortune to print at the time but they are very cool. They remind me of classic graphic novels like the best of the Tintins.

Actually, no, posters were dirt cheap to print back in the day . . . something in the neighborhood of a 1/4 to 1/2 cent each in quantities of 5, 000, which was a pretty average print run in the U.S. Companies actually made good money renting and selling accessories. Typical buying prices as as late as the early to mid 1970s were a buck and a half for a one sheet, 50 cents for an insert card, two bucks for a set of eight lobby cards, etc. And several poster exchanges were happy to "bilk" the suckers who collected posters at those prices.

It was the last one, of the giant Egyptian cat.

Bastet, by name.

Those posters must have cost a fortune to print at the time but they are very cool. They remind me of classic graphic novels like the best of the Tintins.

Haven't tried to watch any of the film yet, but how could it possibly "live up" to such glamorous posters?

Yeah they probably were inspired by this authentic cat:

Those posters must have cost a fortune to print at the time but they are very cool. They remind me of classic graphic novels like the best of the Tintins.

Haven't tried to watch any of the film yet, but how could it possibly "live up" to such glamorous posters?

Well, let bob explain his disappointment.

And several poster exchanges were happy to "bilk" the suckers who collected posters at those prices.

And who got the last laugh?

This is such a fun film. I keep hoping that it's going to be this year's 'Cento anni fa' release (although I'd settle for Fior de male ...)
If anyone is interested, you can find a writeup of Filibus here.

If anyone is interested, you can find a writeup of Filibus here.

Bit silly that that doesn't actually show the film (embedded or as a link). It is PD you know.

If anyone is interested, you can find a writeup of Filibus here.

Bit silly that that doesn't actually show the film (embedded or as a link). It is PD you know.

Well, it's very easy to pull up the video via google etc.

If anyone is interested, you can find a writeup of Filibus here.

Bit silly that that doesn't actually show the film (embedded or as a link). It is PD you know.

Well, it's very easy to pull up the video via google etc.

But what harm would it do to steer people in that direction? I just don't see a reason not to.

But what harm would it do to steer people in that direction? I just don't see a reason not to.

No harm at all, I simply didn't remember when writing late at night.

But what harm would it do to steer people in that direction? I just don't see a reason not to.

No harm at all, I simply didn't remember when writing late at night.

Oh right, I thought perhaps it was concern for not getting your blog shut down over potential grey areas. Which would be completely understandable.

This cat is an Egyptian goddess named Bastet.

EDG already said that. But the whole Egyptian cat plays only a minor part in the film, because unlike others I have actually watched it, being unafraid of sub-HD quality or the youtube channel of the (according to Bob) infamous Bucketstein.

Well, that was a lot of fun! And, gee, despite all the complaining the print isn't nearly as bad as most of the ones i see on youTube (i watched the Vimeo version). And the titles were clearly legible.

Give it a try, you'll enjoy it!

greta

Now that a lot of people have seen this wonderful film, this brings up the question...who could score this?
Let's say if this were get a DVD release...Who has the musical chops to score so much mystery, weirdness, and intrigue?
Alloy?

Now that a lot of people have seen this wonderful film, this brings up the question...who could score this?
Let's say if this were get a DVD release...Who has the musical chops to score so much mystery, weirdness, and intrigue?
Alloy?

A somewhat modern score with electrical instruments might work for this particular film?

Dream accompaniment for me would be someone like Bang on a Can.
I'm in the minority on Nville in liking experimental/modern classical type scores, though.

Okay, group mind. Filibus (March 1915) and Les Vampires (Nov. 1915) were early film renditions of the woman criminal. But were their creators influenced by earlier films, fiction or stage plays? Thank you!

Okay, group mind. Filibus (March 1915) and Les Vampires (Nov. 1915) were early film renditions of the woman criminal. But were their creators influenced by earlier films, fiction or stage plays? Thank you!

Not sure about female villains (other than Sherlock Holmes' Irene Adler), but villains as protagonists were a French thing from before 1900. Arsene Lupin was a criminal who was the hero of a long series of novels (therefore presumably never brought to justice). He may prefigure the Fantomas/Dr. Mabuse-style super-villain. One web-site I saw posits that the French had such a low opinion of police at this time that no one wanted policeman heroes in their novels.

And it may be that the female super-villain was a logical extension of adapting crime fiction to cinema. I read a lot of Jules Verne novels as a child, and noted that every time one of his books was made into a movie, women were added who weren't in the book. Who wants to watch a bunch of men journey to the center of the Earth? Add in a woman and some dinosaurs and you've got a movie!

Ditto, perhaps, for super-villain stories...

Thanks, Rodney! I also think that the rivals of Sherlock Holmes had to come up with something different and your right, Arsene Lupin and A.J. Raffles led the way. They were two of my favorites growing up. Which led to...

Richard Koszarski pointing out Grace Cunard in 1914 with her Lady Raffles role! From Women Film Pioneers website:

Lauded as making the most “popular” of films, Cunard’s stories tend toward the fantastic, and her female characters tend toward the fantastically unconventional. In 1914 Cunard created “My Lady Raffles,” a jewel thief with a delightfully reckless charm who first appeared in short films like The Mysterious Leopard Lady (1914) and The Mystery of the White Car (1914). Cunard costarred in the Raffles films with Ford, and then joined Ford in directing and starring in The Twins’ Double series (1914), described by Photoplay in 1914 as “remarkable photoplay successes” in which “Miss Cunard not only takes the part of twin sisters, but of an adventuress who impersonates them as well, and she appears in several scenes as all three at once” (Shaw 38). The disarming nature of Cunard’s role as “at once” twin sisters as well as their impersonation reveals her fascination with stories of split, hypnotized, or double personalities.

Anybody have anything else?

Okay, group mind. Filibus (March 1915) and Les Vampires (Nov. 1915) were early film renditions of the woman criminal. But were their creators influenced by earlier films, fiction or stage plays? Thank you!

There's of course milady De Winter in the Three Musketeers.
Although by modern standards it's simply D'Artagnan and his friends who abuse, rape, and eventually murder her.
She's not the protagonist though.

Is anyone familiar with the DVD available from Loving the Classics?
https://www.lovingtheclassics.com/by-title/f/filibus-1915-dvd-r.html

[silentfilm]

You need to see the tinted version restored by the Eye Archive in the Netherlands. The film looks mostly great. Mont Alto performed their dynamic score last weekend at the Kansas Silent Film Festival. The film is very imaginative with a great story and a lot of action. My only disappointment was that closeups were mostly used when we see the objects used or stolen in different crimes. Most of the film is in long-shot, which makes it difficult to distinguish the male characters somewhat. And the "framed" detective is at least 20 years older than his fiance!

It looks like the Vimeo version posted above is the Eye restoration, but with Dutch intertitles and English subtitles. The version we saw had English intertitles.

Don't miss it if you get a chance to see it.