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Max Davidson/Female Comedy DVD question

Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 3:52 pm
by Louie Despres
I am looking over the 2 DVD sets being released by Edition Filmmuseum of the Max Davidson and Female Comedy Team shorts. I know there are some people on this forum who help/helping in the production of these discs, so I was wondering if there was an answer as to why they are not including 1929's "Going Ga-Ga", only "Work in Progress: The Restoration of GOING GA-GA"??

Re: Max Davidson/Female Comedy DVD question

Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 4:13 pm
by Richard M Roberts
Louie Despres wrote:I am looking over the 2 DVD sets being released by Edition Filmmuseum of the Max Davidson and Female Comedy Team shorts. I know there are some people on this forum who help/helping in the production of these discs, so I was wondering if there was an answer as to why they are not including 1929's "Going Ga-Ga", only "Work in Progress: The Restoration of GOING GA-GA"??



They don;t have it listed as THAT NIGHT do they? That was the title MOMA had the material catalogued under.

RICHARD M ROBERTS

Re: Max Davidson/Female Comedy DVD question

Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 4:33 pm
by Louie Despres
Richard M Roberts wrote:They don;t have it listed as THAT NIGHT do they? That was the title MOMA had the material catalogued under.

RICHARD M ROBERTS


No, Richard, here's what they have listed for the Female Teams set:

DVD 1

* Feed 'em and Weep 1928, 16'
* New score by Günter A. Buchwald (piano & violin)
* A Pair of Tights 1929, 19'
* New scores by Joachim Bärenz (piano) and Christian Roderburg (percussion)
* The Pajama Party 1931, 20'
* On the Loose 1931, 20'
* Show Business 1932, 19'
* Asleep in the Feet 1933, 18'
* Work in Progress: The Restoration of GOING GA-GA 5'
* ROM section with essays, documents and stills

DVD 2

* The Bargain of the Century 1933, 19'
* Beauty and the Bus 1933, 17'
* Babes in the Goods 1934, 19'
* Maid in Hollywood 1934, 19'
* The Misses Stooge 1935, 18'
* Top Flat 1935, 19'
* 20-page bilingual booklet with essays by Anke Sterneborg, Dave Stevenson and Cole Johnson

And the Max Davidson one:
DVD 1

* Why Girls Say No 1927, 22'
* Jewish Prudence 1927, 21'
* Don't Tell Everything 1927, 22'
* Should Second Husbands Come First? 1927, 21'
* Flaming Fathers 1927, 24'
* Hurdy Gurdy 1929, 20'
* New scores by Joachim Bärenz, Christian Roderburg and Günter A. Buchwald
* 20-page bilingual Booklet with essays by Richard W. Bann, Steve Massa, Stewart Tryster and Stefan Drössler

DVD 2

* Call of the Cuckoo 1927, 19'
* Love 'em and Feed 'em 1927, 9', tinted
* Pass the Gravy 1928, 25'
* Dumb Daddies 1928, 15'
* Came the Dawn 1928, 17', tinted
* The Boy Friend 1928, 19'
* The Itching Hour 1931, 18'
* New scores by Joachim Bärenz, Christian Roderburg and Stephen Horne
* Scripts, cutting continuities, stills and lobby cards of all the lost Max Davidson comedies as ROM features

What I found interesting about the Max set is that they have a 17 minute run time for "Came The Dawn" which I was led to believe only the first reel survived.

Re: Max Davidson/Female Comedy DVD question

Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 4:44 pm
by Rob Farr
I saw Going Ga-Ga at a MoMA screening years ago and it is so fragmentary as to be incomprehensible. What survives is less than a reel of scraps.

Re: Max Davidson/Female Comedy DVD question

Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 5:01 pm
by Richard M Roberts
Yes, the GOING GA-GA material is a jumble, so that may be their way of apologizing for that. What is more comforting is that the running times look comedy-friendly for the most part, with an exception or two because I think both CAME THE DAWN and DUMB DADDIES only have single reels existing.

These should both be well worth getting.

RICHARD M ROBERTS

Re: Max Davidson/Female Comedy DVD question

Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2010 9:17 am
by Rob Farr
This set is well worth getting especially since TCM has scheduled only five Todd/Pitts/Kelly shorts in their Roach marathon next month. Does anyone know if this will be encoded as region-free?

Re: Max Davidson/Female Comedy DVD question

Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 8:50 am
by Louie Despres
Rob,
I have purchased 3 DVD's from this company in the past and they have all been region free, so I don't see why they would change now.

Re: Max Davidson/Female Comedy DVD question

Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 10:45 am
by Steve Massa
Hi guys
Haven't seen anything from Female Comedy Teams, but as I've been involved in the Davidson set I've had some nice previews of that one. I think producer Stefan Droessler is right alongside Paul Gierucki and David Kalat in his dedication and desire to make this the most comprehensive Max set possible.

Seen all the material on the CD ROM, which is very extensive with original scripts and cutting continuities, plus stills, ads, lobby cards, and posters for each film of the series. Luckily some of the missing titles have the most photos, so WHAT EVERY ICEMAN KNOWS, FIGHTING FATHERS, SHOULD WOMEN DRIVE? and DO GENTLEMEN SNORE? have about 30 photos each.

The booklet is made up of very detailed articles by Stewart Tryster/Stefan Droessler and Dick Bann (you can make up your own mind about the one by yours truely). Of the three incomplete films I've seen the presentation for LOVE 'EM AND FEED 'EM (the other two being DUMB DADDIES and CAME THE DAWN). As there is only two or three minutes of actual LOVE 'EM AND FEED 'EM footage, Stefan has used the titles from the continuity and stills to fill in, and the end result gives a entertaining and substantial taste of what the complete short was like. He's doing the same for the other two, hence the 15 and 17 minutes running times.

The latest word I had from Stefan this week is that he thinks the release date will be in February as he's still obtaining material and refining what he already has, but I think it will be worth the wait.

Anyway, those ares my admittedly biased thoughts - but everything I've seen is very impressive, and I think it'll be a valuable set for silent comedy fans.

Re: Max Davidson/Female Comedy DVD question

Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2010 7:18 pm
by Rob Stone
I have seen the reconstructions of CAME THE DAWN and DUMB DADDIES and also supplied the material on LOVE EM AND FEED EM. With all these titles Stefan gives through stills and titles the full continuity of the shorts. Certainly he could have just put them on the DVD and called them fragments but I think presenting the surviving reels in context is really cool. Gives new life to some really funny material since many (most) would bother with fragments... to their loss.

Rob

Re: Max Davidson/Female Comedy DVD question

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 9:56 am
by Chris Seguin
I've got Female Comedy Teams on order (finally, a complete DVD release of A PAIR OF TIGHTS), but THIS is the one I'm waiting for. I'm sure it's going to be a remarkable set, and kudos to everyone in the Mafia who's involved.
Chris