... the new (and upgraded) Monty Banks bluray set is finally about to drop!
The official release date is set for 14th July and it's available for pre-order on a few sites already. (Deep Discount, Movies Unlimited, WowHD etc) I suggest you shop around for the best price, but it looks like it'll be around the $20/£20 mark, which is pretty good for 6+ hours of Monty on two blu-ray discs, containing 14 shorts and 2 features, plus a bunch of extras. Details down below...
FYI, the elements that have been upgraded from the original Kickstarter release in 2024 are:
- A newly restored version of the feature ATTA BOY (1926) utilizing a new scan from the British Film Institute print, combined with the one from the Library of Congress.
- The restored and now complete short ALWAYS LATE (1923), courtesy of the Bundesarchiv, featuring a new score by Richard Siedhoff.
- The now complete (and further restored) feature PLAY SAFE (1927), courtesy of the Bundesarchiv, LoC and others. This new version (which contains more than 7 minutes of additional footage) also includes a choice of THREE superb new music scores - a newly expanded one created by Meg Morley; a newly recorded one by Donald MacKenzie and a new third score from Richard Siedhoff.
- There's also an additional alternative score for the short PAGING LOVE (1923) and a new 'Restoring Play Safe' featurette extra, highlighting the challenges and revealing the differences encountered!
Thanks again if you were one of the original Kickstarter backers. I hope you agree that, because of the extra PLAY SAFE footage that had been found, we just HAD to upgrade the "street" edition as much as possible, before publishing it. A labour of love... and beyond!
Thanks for your support and thank you Monty for being such a wonderful lovable talent.
Dave (and Dave)
