News from the Silent Movie Front: Hollywood, William Wellman, Old Ironsides and I'm on the Radio!
News	by Movies Silently August 23, 2018
Lots of new releases, some of them have been on our wishlists for years! Let's dive in.
Hear Me Talk About My DVD Release
I was invited to talk about my release of Kidnapped: A Complete 1917 Night at the Movies on the Nitrateville Radio Podcast, which you can listen to right here!
I usually like to run and hide after podcasting and I usually sound like I just downed fifteen espressos so excuse my hyperactive voice. But enjoy. (Hides under table.)
Here's my DVD, isn't it spiffy? You can purchase it here.
Old Ironsides and You Never Know Women on DVD and Bluray from Kino!
Kino is continuing its campaign of releasing Paramount silents in HD. I know fans have been calling for an Old Ironsides release for years so this is very welcome news. You Never Know Women is not quite as famous but it's one of the many, many, many Russian-themed romances Hollywood produced in the 1920s and was directed by William Wellman.
You pre-order You Never Know Women here. It will be released October 23, 2018.
You can pre-order Old Ironsides here. It will be released October 30, 2018.
Hollywood (1980) Streaming on Amazon
The miniseries Hollywood is almost forty years old and is responsible for a great number of silent film fans discovering the art. Alas, it has only been available on VHS and laserdisc but six episodes from the series are now available to stream from Amazon Prime. Directed by Kevin Browlow and David Gill, it features beautiful music from Carl Davis, a passionate affection for the silent era and interviews with industry veterans.
This streaming license is good in the USA. If you can, please let me know if it is available from other legal streaming services in other markets. Here's hoping more episodes are added in the future.
In other news, Ronaldo the kitten is almost six pounds and continues to wreck the joint with his antics. His main goal in life is the theft and consumption of Nilla Wafers, as well as monitoring all hummingbird activity and ambushing his adult kitty friends. He also has a rather extensive wardrobe of collars and bows and kitty bells, which he has figured out how to silence when he is stalking.
In Which I Unbox Myself: The Complete Kidnapped Program (1917) is on DVD!
After the Silents: Rawhide (1951)
Ethan Michael Crane	 on August 23, 2018 at 12:14 pm
You don't sound hyperactive at all. You sound enthusiastic and intelligent, and I would have told you this on Twitter had I not made myself persona non grata (c'est la vie). "By gum, there's a gal who knows her stuff!"
If you started a podcast, I would listen to every episode.
Fritzi Kramer	 on August 23, 2018 at 1:07 pm
Thanks so much! Too bad about Twitter, though. 😦
Ethan Michael Crane	 on August 23, 2018 at 2:15 pm
In many ways, it was my own fault. I'm not tone deaf; I know the current climate. That said, there's a huge silver lining as it was becoming a distraction from discussions about more important things (like film, literature, art, and video games). And at least I'm still able to heap praises here.
I'm serious about the podcast thing. You should consider it if you haven't (as though you need more stuff to do). You're kind of a natural IMO.
Kenneth Henderson	 on August 23, 2018 at 3:22 pm
I am listening now. I am a regular on Nitrateville. Twitter is troublesome now giving me a blu page with the bird in the center and then a message telling me to get an internet connection. Funny, I had only started using Twitter in earnest maybe a year ago for posts of things like Maltin, Silent whatever.
bP	 on August 23, 2018 at 1:55 pm
Enjoyed the podcast. Always nice hearing people speak about silent films.
Marie Roget	 on August 23, 2018 at 4:40 pm
Great job on the podcast- that was a lovely little interview!
Ronaldo is getting to be a good size. Bet he looks very dapper in his multi-collar wardrobe 🙂
I'm one of those that has been waiting for Old Ironsides to come out, so just preordered.
Fritzi Kramer	 on August 24, 2018 at 8:02 am
Thanks so much! Yes, I have heard so many people say they wished for an upgrade of Old Ironsides over the years. It's a smashing bit of entertainment and I'm looking forward to re-watching it.
Overseas Visitor	 on August 24, 2018 at 1:26 pm
This is a bit off-topic, but someone here mentioned that He Who Gets Slapped has been released on DVD by Warner in Lon Chaney collection. However, both Amazon and Warner show very little information and there are mixed reviews. Does anybody know, whether these claims are true:
– The film is shown at 24 fps which is far too fast.
– The image quality is bad.
– The music score doesn't fit to the action.
Victor Sjöström is a very interesting director (and actor, just watched both Phantom Carriage and Wild Strawberries again) and I'd like to see all his major works, but I don't want to see a wrong version of a potential masterpiece. Even official releases like this can be bad, if the publishing company doesn't really care about the film. (I'm sure Fritzi cares more about Kidnapped than Warner about He Who Gets Slapped.)
David	 on August 29, 2018 at 4:13 am
i enjoyed the podcast!
Unfortunately, Hollywood isn't on Amazon Prime here in the UK, but it's on YouTube (quite watchable quality) except for part 12 – something about a copyright dispute with the BBC