New films on the National Film Preservation Foundation site

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Steve Massa
Capo
Posts: 262
Joined: Sun May 31, 2009 10:55 pm

New films on the National Film Preservation Foundation site

Postby Steve Massa » Thu Nov 03, 2016 10:25 pm

Hello all
Wanted to mention that the National Film Preservation Foundation posted three new American films on their site today. They are the Happy Hooligan cartoon A SMASHUP IN CHINA (1919), and two comedies - WHO'S WHO (1910) and WHEN CIDERVILLE WENT DRY (1915).

They were preserved by a combo of the NFPF, EYE Filmmuseum, LOC, and Colorlab. The notes for the cartoon are by J.B. Kaufman, the scores by Michael Mortilla, and yours truly is responsible for the notes on the two comedies.


http://www.filmpreservation.org/preserv ... china-1919

http://www.filmpreservation.org/preserv ... s-who-1910

http://www.filmpreservation.org/preserv ... t-dry-1915


WHO'S WHO is a nice and early Essanay where you get to see a lot of outdoor Chicago shots (and J. Warren Kerrigan), and WHEN CIDERVILLE WENT DRY is the only known surviving film of the short-lived Esperanto Film Co.

Frank Flood
Cugine
Posts: 80
Joined: Wed Jun 03, 2009 12:04 pm

Re: New films on the National Film Preservation Foundation site

Postby Frank Flood » Fri Nov 04, 2016 1:09 pm

Detroit was a major hub for non-theatrical filmmaking, but there were never very many non-industrial films shot in the area. When Ciderville Went Dry has the unmistakable look of mid-winter Detroit: some snow, some slush, and cold enough to see your breath. It was released by Pathe in February 1915, so they didn't waste much time getting it sold.

I am curious where it was filmed. The first scenes seem to show a body of water in the background. That could be the Detroit River or the Oakland County lakes area northwest of the city. The rural look suggests that some filming took place outside of the city, but not too far out because of the streetcar / interurban tracks on the side of the road.

Films like these always remind me of one of the real charms of short comedies. Because budget conscious producers were not trying create the artificial world found in many features, they accurately - if incidentally - recorded the real world around them.


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