Tweet released on silentfilmmusic's YouTube channel

Newly scored and uploaded to honor the birthday of Alice Guy Blaché (July 1st):
Falling Leaves (1912)

Just released to YouTube:

Malcolm "Big Boy" Sebastian in HELTER SKELTER (1929)
This is the 2nd-to-last in the series, and is transferred from a Kodascope in my collection. New piano score by yours truly.

Click here to watch the film.



Ben

Thanks for uploading--I'm a fan of Big Boy and silent kid comedies in general.

Is reel 1 still around? Perhaps it would benefit from camphor treatments.

Thankfully, though, Kodascopes are not unique unlike some Universal Show-at-Homes so a better print might turn up one day.

Tom,

Reel one turned into an unprojectable hexagonal brick several years ago, way before a lot of us got hooked on camphor. Reel 2 however is fine and has been soaking up camphor for the last few years. Hopefully another print of R1 will surface.

Ben

Very nice!

In a 2-reeler there is ALWAYS a bathtub standing full of water, for no particular reason. That's a very elaborate house set- I wonder if it was left over from a feature.

Just released to YouTube:

Malcolm "Big Boy" Sebastian in HELTER SKELTER (1929)
This is the 2nd-to-last in the series, and is transferred from a Kodascope in my collection. New piano score by yours truly.

Click here to watch the film.

Ben

Very funny stuff!

Excellent piece. Lamont should've stuck to directing animals.

Was it the music or does this seem to move more like a Fox short than usual for Jack White productions?

Bob

Bob, possibly both. It does have a lot more wild action sequences that a typical Big Boy.

Ben

Ben, you're awesome. I enjoy your scores and I really love how you're posting these shorts for us to enjoy.

Thanks for your kind words.

(If there are any other collectors with 16mm of a similar ilk (rare and/or interesting but with limited/zero commercial potential) interested in collaborating and sharing a film this way, please PM/email me.)

Sneak peek at digitally restored edition of a rare 1925 animated advertising film...
(watch at full 720p resolution, and full-screen)

Here's the digitally restored toon, from my 16mm print. Graphic blandishments attributed to Fleischer animator Dick Huemer; film transfer by Bruce Lawton, (new) digital restoration by Archive Ade Restorations. Uploaded at full HD, so do watch at fullscreen and max rez.



I uploaded this to my YouTube channel exactly a year ago. Here's the "before" video, if you want to compare.



HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Ben Model

New release: COOK, PAPA, COOK (1928) with Henry Murdock. Previously lost film.

I will be posting a film from my 16mm collection on my YouTube channel every other week on Weds.

I love it! Like Charley Chase with the violence factor turned up.

Another lost silent comedy will be released this Wednesday, June 13th!

On a side note, I've changed my written silent film accomp blog to an audio podcast. You can listen to the premiere podcast and also subscribe to it by clicking here.

The erudite Luke McKiernan has devoted the latest installment of his always excellent BIOSCOPE to Ben's latest foray into making silents available, complete with very complimentary and well deserved observations.

http://thebioscope.net/2012/06/11/watching-with-ben/

Bob

Here is today's new release!



And is here is the film I released on June 13…I was in Culpeper VA on 6/13-17 for the silent film ID conference and didn't get around to posting the film here.


Next film in 2 weeks! Subscribe to my channel by clicking here. Thanks for watching.

Not part of my every-other-Weds release schedule, per se, but just released this morning apropos of the July 4th holiday.

If you can ID any performers or turn up any info on the film, please post data as a comment on the YouTube page for the film. One of my channel subscribers has already suggested a possible ID for the lead actress...

Next regularly-scheduled release is Weds July 11, a rare comedy short from the collection of Dino Everett.

Ben,

Excellent! Thanks for posting!

What are the odds, I came into a print of this same film not too long ago. Except it is a 40s reissue with a soundtrack added, which I have to revisit (I can't remember what that's like, but very curious now) and sadly no original credits remain. I'd be very curious to know if anyone can identify the players and production company.

Apologies for posting here rather than at YouTube, but this is the only way I can include a link and some images!

I presume this to be THE STORY OF THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER as made available to schools, churches, etc. by Pictorial Clubs Pictures and distributed by Pathé. It was first offered as a 2-reeler in The Educational Screen of January 1924, and as a 1-reel cut-down (omitting most of Key's early life) in connection with Patriotism Day in November 1925. It passed through the hands of the New York State censor as STAR SPANGLED BANNER in 1927:
http://iarchives.nysed.gov/MPD/rr_other_film_details2.htm?selected_casefile=1427

Sadly, no credits are given in The Educational Screen (see clippings below from Jan. 1924 and Nov. 1925), and it remains conceivable that the footage might possibly have done service in some other form prior to this date.

Well, that didn't take too long! Thanks for all the info. The person who has a possible ID on the lead actress posted:

Kathleen Key (April 1, 1903 - December 22, 1954) was an American actress who achieved a brief period of fame during the silent era. She is best remembered for playing Tirzah in the 1925 film Ben-Hur. Key was the great-great granddaughter of Francis Scott Key, composer of "The Star Spangled Banner", and a distant cousin of author F. Scott Fitzgerald.
She looks enough like the actress playing key's wife that it might be a lead.

Here's hoping more details turn up!

Ben

Am familiar with Pictorial Clubs Pictures handling of Disney's Laugh O Grams, so yes, they were indeed a small distributor of sorts. This footage probably has an entire production history behind it before their involvement. Curious to know what others dig up...

Since Holland's last film role is 1921 (in "The Traveling Salesman"), could be that this was made earlier than '24. The subject matter made it "evergreen" as far as it being marketable beyond its original release. The "research" I did that told me the film was originally in 2 reels was that I remembered seeing a tinted silent 35mm print on 2 1000' reels offered on eBay a couple months after I won my print. I tried contacting the seller after the fact but never heard back.

Ben

Just found this online:

The memory of the author of "The Star Spangled Banner," Francis Scott Key, is to be revived by the histrionic ability of his grand-child, Kathleen Key, a California school girl, who is to make her appearance upon the screen.
-- The Billboard, September 10, 1921

Ben

Here's the digitally restored toon, from my 16mm print. Graphic blandishments attributed to Fleischer animator Dick Huemer; film transfer by Bruce Lawton, (new) digital restoration by Archive Ade Restorations. Uploaded at full HD, so do watch at fullscreen and max rez.



I uploaded this to my YouTube channel exactly a year ago. Here's the "before" video, if you want to compare.



HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Ben Model

Wow, excellent work on both the score and the restoration; looks a zillion times better now. Cute bit of vintage animation.

New release: COOK, PAPA, COOK (1928) with Henry Murdock. Previously lost film.

I will be posting a film from my 16mm collection on my YouTube channel every other week on Weds.

A Charley Chase clone! Interesting film, but this guy just doesn't have that Chase personality magic.

Thanks for posting all these! I'm loving your scores.

Glad you're enjoying these, Waver, and thanks for reposting some of the "older" releases from my YouTube channel here.

One of the nice things that has come up as a result of my launching the web-series is that a couple people have sent in a rare silent short from their own collection for the series. This week's release on July 11 will be one of these.

Ben

Also liking my YouTube series is one Leonard Maltin:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/leonardmalti ... A2t1HARK8M

Ben

Here is the new release for today, July 25:



Subscribe to the channel at http://www.youtube.com/silentfilmmusic" target="_blank

I visit your channel regularly and really enjoy seeing these rare comedies and always liked your scores. Thanks for sharing these.