Nitrateville Nitwittery: WHEN COMEDY WAS KING

Interact with your favorite SCM authors, producers, directors, historians, archivists and silent comedy savants. Or just read along. Whatever.
William Ferry
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Re: Nitrateville Nitwittery: WHEN COMEDY WAS KING

Postby William Ferry » Mon Jan 16, 2017 7:37 pm

Well, on a positive note, I got my copy of the restored WHEN COMEDY WAS KING this weekend. And I'm happy to say it lived up to my expectations. Wonderful job, and it's not hyperbole to say the film has never looked better on a home release.

Then again, I never owned the two-reel cut-down Americom 8mm release with the vinyl soundtrack. (Getting ready to duck).

All kidding aside, even if you have this on the previous DVD release (from Genius Entertainment, not Image as I wrongly thought), this is well-worth the double dip.

Richard, any possibility of future Youngson fix-ups?

Richard M Roberts
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Re: Nitrateville Nitwittery: WHEN COMEDY WAS KING

Postby Richard M Roberts » Mon Jan 16, 2017 8:37 pm

William Ferry wrote:Well, on a positive note, I got my copy of the restored WHEN COMEDY WAS KING this weekend. And I'm happy to say it lived up to my expectations. Wonderful job, and it's not hyperbole to say the film has never looked better on a home release.

Then again, I never owned the two-reel cut-down Americom 8mm release with the vinyl soundtrack. (Getting ready to duck).

All kidding aside, even if you have this on the previous DVD release (from Genius Entertainment, not Image as I wrongly thought), this is well-worth the double dip.

Richard, any possibility of future Youngson fix-ups?


Thanks for the thumbs-up William, sadly, the chances of a complete Youngson set, much less any more of his compilations coming out from Sprocket Vault, is remote due to the scattered rights situations the films have had since Youngson's death. Both FOUR CLOWNS and LAUREL AND HARDY'S LAUGHING 20'S are in perpetual limbo due to various owners of the original footage, and the other Youngson compilations are all now for the most part owned by separate entities.

The one I would like to get out there is THIRTY YEARS OF FUN (1963), which has never had a proper video release, but so far, we haven't been able to determine who actually owns the rights to that one. It's certainly not the best of Youngson's compilations, but as with all of them, it does have some unique and rare footage in it.

As I have said before, it's sad and extremely ironic that the compilations and documentaries of both Robert Youngson and Kevin Brownlow are now actually harder to see due to rights issues than many of the films showcased in them, especially sad because it is just those works that introduced and hooked so many of us when we were newbies, they really were terrific in introducing folk to an unknown form and whetting our appetites for more, and are still successful in doing that. That's why I say please find some kids and run WCWK for them, it can still win over some converts today.


RICHARD M ROBERTS

Bill Sprague
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Re: Nitrateville Nitwittery: WHEN COMEDY WAS KING

Postby Bill Sprague » Tue Mar 14, 2017 12:01 pm

People should be thankful that the film is available at all and stop their complaining. It appears that some people just need to have something to say. "Nitrateville" seems to be a forum for all of the complainers that cannot be satisfied no matter what is released.

Richard M Roberts
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Re: Nitrateville Nitwittery: WHEN COMEDY WAS KING

Postby Richard M Roberts » Tue Mar 14, 2017 2:06 pm

Bill Sprague wrote:People should be thankful that the film is available at all and stop their complaining. It appears that some people just need to have something to say. "Nitrateville" seems to be a forum for all of the complainers that cannot be satisfied no matter what is released.


Hello Bill, nice to see you around here.

And, of course, most of those constant complainers, like all critics, couldn't do what they're complaining about if they tried. It's that unfortunate symptomatic by-product of the internet for some to have to say something when they really have nothing to say at all, something I may add that we seem to be able to keep to a minimum here in these neck of the woods.


RICHARD M ROBERTS

Bill Sprague
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Re: Nitrateville Nitwittery: WHEN COMEDY WAS KING

Postby Bill Sprague » Tue Mar 14, 2017 9:32 pm

The use of ones' actual names as their user names was one of the best ideas for a web forum such as this. This idea plainly identifies the complainers. "The complainers at Nitrateville often use phony user names to mask their silliness. This site plainly identifies them as people who really do not know what it takes to do the job. So they complain about every little thing they can simply to make themselves heard. That is basically what they are doing. Silly people hiding behind silly phony usernames. Trying to look informed, but coming off looking silly and misinformed , and idiotic

Richard M Roberts
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Re: Nitrateville Nitwittery: WHEN COMEDY WAS KING

Postby Richard M Roberts » Tue Mar 14, 2017 9:49 pm

Bill Sprague wrote:The use of ones' actual names as their user names was one of the best ideas for a web forum such as this. This idea plainly identifies the complainers. "The complainers at Nitrateville often use phony user names to mask their silliness. This site plainly identifies them as people who really do not know what it takes to do the job. So they complain about every little thing they can simply to make themselves heard. That is basically what they are doing. Silly people hiding behind silly phony usernames. Trying to look informed, but coming off looking silly and misinformed , and idiotic



Hey Bill, feel free to become the new official Nitratevile basher for our group, I'm bored with it.

Using your own name seemed like a no-brainer to us in the mafia, you can't have a real opinion without a real name attached to it, and as we have said before, we're just talkin' about movies here folks, how are you coping with the rest of the real world if you can't put your real name to that? It has definitely made this a very civilized place to play.


RICHARD M ROBERTS

Rob Farr
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Re: Nitrateville Nitwittery: WHEN COMEDY WAS KING

Postby Rob Farr » Wed Mar 15, 2017 10:41 am

Not to belabor the point, but as soon as Ron Hutchinson announced a new DVD set of incredibly rare 1928-29 Vitaphone shorts, someone pipes up complaining that they didn't include Keystone Hotel. Ron patiently explained that this set has every restoration completed to date and that it would be years before there will be another one. The phrase "pearls before swine" comes to mind.
Rob Farr
"If it's not comedy, I fall asleep" - Harpo Marx

Louie Despres
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Re: Nitrateville Nitwittery: WHEN COMEDY WAS KING

Postby Louie Despres » Thu Mar 16, 2017 2:01 am

Rob Farr wrote:Not to belabor the point, but as soon as Ron Hutchinson announced a new DVD set of incredibly rare 1928-29 Vitaphone shorts, someone pipes up complaining that they didn't include Keystone Hotel. Ron patiently explained that this set has every restoration completed to date and that it would be years before there will be another one. The phrase "pearls before swine" comes to mind.


The word "dip" followed closely by "shits" comes to mind.

Bill Sprague
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Re: Nitrateville Nitwittery: WHEN COMEDY WAS KING

Postby Bill Sprague » Thu Mar 16, 2017 9:20 am

This is especially sad for those who encounter Ham and Bud and Musty Suffer for the first time. There are people nowadays that have no appreciation for history, but what annoys me is that the same people watch all of this reality nonsense on TV. It is hard to envision that reality shows would have any value in the future. Reality shows are just like toilet paper. Disposable. Watch it once and throw it away. Ham and Bud and Musty Suffer are still around, even if the political correct police whine and cry, and have their ridiculous reactions to them.

Bill Sprague
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Re: Nitrateville Nitwittery: WHEN COMEDY WAS KING

Postby Bill Sprague » Thu Mar 16, 2017 9:26 am

Louie Despres wrote:
Rob Farr wrote:Not to belabor the point, but as soon as Ron Hutchinson announced a new DVD set of incredibly rare 1928-29 Vitaphone shorts, someone pipes up complaining that they didn't include Keystone Hotel. Ron patiently explained that this set has every restoration completed to date and that it would be years before there will be another one. The phrase "pearls before swine" comes to mind.


The word "dip" followed closely by "shits" comes to mind.
"Keystone Hotel" was on YouTube for a while so those people saying that "Keystone Hotel" was not on Ron's DVD Vitaphone set really have absolutely nothing to cry about.


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