Posts

Fragment from "Der Balletterzherzog: Ein Wiener Spiel von Tanz und Liebe" (1927)

Image
One of the must fun and frustrating experiences working in archives is trying to identify mystery films, or film fragments. Features cut up for toy projectors, saved from an odd reel, or mishandled by a previous owner can leave an archivist or historian scratching their head. I've had a fair number of this, but mystery films are common both and and out of the archives. My friend Josh from England, recently acquired this 40 second nitrate fragment and was able to identify it as from Der Balleterherzog: Ein Weiner Spiel von Tanz und Liebe (English translation: The Ballet Duke: A Vienna Game of Dance and Love ; Austria, 1927). The Kodak edge code is dated 1925, so is print likely used an older stock. .  Finding this fasinating, I did a little digging, and here are some of my findings: The film was recently restored by the Austrian Film Archive , from a print with English inter-titles.  Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be streamable currently and hasn't gotten a physical home v...
Post a Comment
Read more

What was Steamboat Willie's original poster?

Image
Recently, while browsing, I've come across this product, a poster for Steamboat Willie  (1928): (c) 2020 The Walt Disney Company. My knee-jerk reaction is that the art was a clever faux-vintage work by Disney Consumer products. Indeed the image has appeared on other products as well. However, When I think to the poster most commonly associated with Steamboat Willie  (see below) I wonder if either are actually authentic? (c) The Walt Disney Company Neither mentions a distributor, which seems unusual. The later poster seems more in line for what we saw for Mickey Mouse's 50th Anniversary retrospective at MOMA and the Lincoln center, where Disney provided recreated title cards stripped of United Artists,Columbia, and Celebrity Pictures names. The second also features the more familiar MICKEY MOUSE logo font in it's finalized form, where the first is much more organic and unrefined. Did Celebrity Pictures ever issue posters for Mickey's early films? I...
Post a Comment
Read more

TCM around the World: TCM UK

Image
This year, Turner Classic Movies turns twenty five, marking a quarter century in offering a virtually unchanged presence on American television. Like many networks in Warnermedia, TCM has seen a variety of TCM branded networks that while different from the US feed, usually offers something fresh and familiar. As a long-time fan of TCM in the US, I thought It would be a fun exercise to explore how TCM differs around the world. Recently, Turner Classic Movies' UK channel re-branded from TCM UK to TCM Movies. The news was greeted with a mixed reaction, as TCM will no longer offer an HD Feed (at least to satellite Subscribers via SKY, it's unclear whether that's the case through other providers). Surprisingly TCM UK has had a proactive existence in the UK, offering similar and divergent material compared to the commercial free US network. TCM UK launched on October 15th 1999, alongside several other European feeds, replacing TNT Classic Movies which had launched in 1993 ...
Post a Comment
Read more