Lost Lubitsch Silent found and restored!
Lost Lubitsch Silent found and restored!
Big, Big news here. Take a look at this trailer! Lost Ernst Lubitsch film THE LOVES OF PHARAOH (1922) Starring Emil Jannings found and painstakingly restored! DVD and Blu-ray edition is expected out shortly. Before the end of the year! Movie was considered long since gone until 2004, when a forgotten Nitate print turned up in Russia. The original Orchestra score was re-created, and recorded. This is an extremely impressive restoration effort.
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- moira finnie
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Re: Lost Lubitsch Silent found and restored!
Bless those Russkies! Someone in the worker's paradise must have saved any entertainment they could find and were apparently reluctant to throw away a scrap of escapism. This looks like a gloriously lush, strangely modern Lubitsch film and that heady music makes me swoon in anticipation (but then, I swoon easily!)
I must admit that Emil Jannings is sometimes fascinating--not only because of his talent in silents, but because a man who was rather unprepossessing had the audacity to be an actor--and he was an artist in this period of his career. Thanks so much for posting this good news.
I must admit that Emil Jannings is sometimes fascinating--not only because of his talent in silents, but because a man who was rather unprepossessing had the audacity to be an actor--and he was an artist in this period of his career. Thanks so much for posting this good news.
- MissGoddess
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Re: Lost Lubitsch Silent found and restored!
Jeff this is FANTASTIQUE!!!! What a wonderful event to look forward to! Goodness, in the past two years two lost films from my top two favorite directors found...I'm sooooo excited to see The Loves of Pharaoh I can hardly stand it. Thank you for being the bearer of this great news.
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education."
-- Will Rogers
-- Will Rogers
- MissGoddess
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Re: Lost Lubitsch Silent found and restored!
Did anyone mention that among the lost films found in New Zealand was one that Hitchcock worked on? Somehow I missed it and I just found out tonight! So all three of my favorite directors turned up.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film ... aland.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film ... aland.html
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education."
-- Will Rogers
-- Will Rogers
Re: Lost Lubitsch Silent found and restored!
MissGoddess,
The Hitchcock film is THE WHITE SHADOW (1923) with Betty Compson and Clive Brook. But only three of the 6 reels were discovered. While its great to see Ernst Lubitsch THE LOVES OF PHARAOH restored and made available there are allot of Lubitsch Silents that have yet to be released. THREE WOMEN (1924), FORBIDDEN PARADISE (1924), and SO THIS IS PARIS (1926) to name three. Not to mention OLD HEIDELBERG (1927).
Two page Trade Ad for the Domestic release of THE WHITE SHADOW.
The Hitchcock film is THE WHITE SHADOW (1923) with Betty Compson and Clive Brook. But only three of the 6 reels were discovered. While its great to see Ernst Lubitsch THE LOVES OF PHARAOH restored and made available there are allot of Lubitsch Silents that have yet to be released. THREE WOMEN (1924), FORBIDDEN PARADISE (1924), and SO THIS IS PARIS (1926) to name three. Not to mention OLD HEIDELBERG (1927).
Two page Trade Ad for the Domestic release of THE WHITE SHADOW.
Re: Lost Lubitsch Silent found and restored!
[quote="Gagman 66"]MissGoddess,
Not to mention OLD HEIDELBERG (1927).
The Ernst Lubitsch film OLD HEIDELBERG aka The Student Prince In Old Heidelberg, starring Ramon Novarro and Norma Shearer MUST BE AVAILABLE BECAUSE I HAVE IT.
Not to mention OLD HEIDELBERG (1927).
The Ernst Lubitsch film OLD HEIDELBERG aka The Student Prince In Old Heidelberg, starring Ramon Novarro and Norma Shearer MUST BE AVAILABLE BECAUSE I HAVE IT.
- MissGoddess
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Re: Lost Lubitsch Silent found and restored!
Oooh, Jeff, that ad is gorgeous...I love the Georges Barbier look of the left illustration. I'm curious about Clive Brook in THE WHITE SHADOW, I've only seen him in one movie, Dietrich's Shanghai Express.
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education."
-- Will Rogers
-- Will Rogers
- MissGoddess
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Re: Lost Lubitsch Silent found and restored!
I see at the bottom of the second artwork piece, SELZNICK DISTRIBUTION CORPORATION. So the Selznicks already had a brush with Hitch as early as that. Things to come....
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education."
-- Will Rogers
-- Will Rogers
- Ann Harding
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Re: Lost Lubitsch Silent found and restored!
The Lubitsch is on Arte tonight. I'll report about it. But I have the feeling it's not going to be a major Lubitsch, more like one of his 'mammoth spectacle' on the ponderous side...
- Ann Harding
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Re: Lost Lubitsch Silent found and restored!
Sorry, I was a bit slow, but here is my review of the mammoth Lubitsch.
Das Weib des Pharao (The Loves of Pharaoh/Pharaoh's Wife, 1922) by Ernst Lubitsch with Emil Jannings, Paul Wegener, Harry Liedtke, Dagny Servaes and Albert Bassermann
Pharaoh Amenes (Emil Jannings) and Sothis, his architect (Albert Bassermann)
Theonis (D. Servaes), a Greek slave, is abducted by Ramphis (H. Liedtke), Sothis' son. But, both Theonis and Ramphis are arrested by Pharaoh Amenes (E. Jannings) because they approached his newly built Treasure Palace. Amenes falls madly in love with Theonis and offer to let Ramphis go free if she accepts to be his wife...
This enormous epic was the last film but one made by Lubitsch in Germany before moving to Hollywood. Watching the film, it's obvious no expenses were spared to make it a monumental picture with gigantic sets with an army of extras. The story written by his usual collaborator Hans Kräly and Norbert Falk has the usual clichés and twists and turns you can expect from this Egyptians vs. Ethiopians plot. In the title role, Emil Jannings is a larger than life Pharaoh, unloved by his people. He seems to be an Egyptian Nero. Against him, we have another large personality, Paul Wegener, playing Samlak the King of Ethiopia. Equipped with a bouffant wig and in black-face, Wegener (aka The Golem) mugs with gusto. Then, there is Harry Liedtke, playing the love interest of the film, who also chews the scenery quite a bit. The heroine that drives all men crazy is lovely Dagny Servaes. A simple greek slave, she becomes the Pharaoh's wife, against her will. Her acting requires just a little more than looking heavenwards and tragic. Obviously, they are providing exactly the kind of acting their director demanded. Ernst Lubitsch was himself a serious ham. Just look at Sumurun (1920) and you'll see that the divine Ernst was addicted to chewing sceneries. But, unlike other mammoth German spectacles made by Lubitsch, Das Weib des Pharao proves really worth investigating. If the story is quite predictable, it's very handsomely lit by Theodor Sparkuhl which gives the film a real atmosphere and glorifies the leading lady. The second important element of this resurrection is the gorgeous orginal film score by Eduard Künneke, recreated by conductor Frank Strobel, a specialist of silent film music. The acting is so intense and melodramatic, this flamboyant post-romantic score fits it to a T. Without this score, I would certainly have had a few fits of giggle. But, with this music, I was faced with a grand opera full of chromatic chords, rich in colour and atmosphere. Each protagonist is supported by a battery of themes that gives them inner feelings. You have to remember that 20s German music was still flourishing with Richard Strauss at the height of his power and the young Erich Wolfgang Korngold would bring his fabulous range of colours to Hollywood. So I stayed glued to my seat, watching this 98-min drama. The torments of the Greek slave Theonis were attractive enough to engage me. The final twist when the 'deceased' Pharaoh comes back looking like a pauper was pretty hard to believe, but who cares? In such pictures, we want some dramatic turns of events and to be surprised. So overall, while I didn't expect it, I really enjoyed this huge epic.
This new restoration was made with prints coming from GEH, Gosfilmofond, Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv and Munich Filmmuseum. The film is still not quite complete, another 600 m are missing. But they have patched up the missing scenes with title cards and stills in such an efficient way that there no plot holes. The print is absolutely gorgeous and it's certainly one of the main reasons the film is so enjoyable.
Samlak (Paul Wegener); Theonis (D. Servaes) and Ramphis (H. Liedtke)
Das Weib des Pharao (The Loves of Pharaoh/Pharaoh's Wife, 1922) by Ernst Lubitsch with Emil Jannings, Paul Wegener, Harry Liedtke, Dagny Servaes and Albert Bassermann
Pharaoh Amenes (Emil Jannings) and Sothis, his architect (Albert Bassermann)
Theonis (D. Servaes), a Greek slave, is abducted by Ramphis (H. Liedtke), Sothis' son. But, both Theonis and Ramphis are arrested by Pharaoh Amenes (E. Jannings) because they approached his newly built Treasure Palace. Amenes falls madly in love with Theonis and offer to let Ramphis go free if she accepts to be his wife...
This enormous epic was the last film but one made by Lubitsch in Germany before moving to Hollywood. Watching the film, it's obvious no expenses were spared to make it a monumental picture with gigantic sets with an army of extras. The story written by his usual collaborator Hans Kräly and Norbert Falk has the usual clichés and twists and turns you can expect from this Egyptians vs. Ethiopians plot. In the title role, Emil Jannings is a larger than life Pharaoh, unloved by his people. He seems to be an Egyptian Nero. Against him, we have another large personality, Paul Wegener, playing Samlak the King of Ethiopia. Equipped with a bouffant wig and in black-face, Wegener (aka The Golem) mugs with gusto. Then, there is Harry Liedtke, playing the love interest of the film, who also chews the scenery quite a bit. The heroine that drives all men crazy is lovely Dagny Servaes. A simple greek slave, she becomes the Pharaoh's wife, against her will. Her acting requires just a little more than looking heavenwards and tragic. Obviously, they are providing exactly the kind of acting their director demanded. Ernst Lubitsch was himself a serious ham. Just look at Sumurun (1920) and you'll see that the divine Ernst was addicted to chewing sceneries. But, unlike other mammoth German spectacles made by Lubitsch, Das Weib des Pharao proves really worth investigating. If the story is quite predictable, it's very handsomely lit by Theodor Sparkuhl which gives the film a real atmosphere and glorifies the leading lady. The second important element of this resurrection is the gorgeous orginal film score by Eduard Künneke, recreated by conductor Frank Strobel, a specialist of silent film music. The acting is so intense and melodramatic, this flamboyant post-romantic score fits it to a T. Without this score, I would certainly have had a few fits of giggle. But, with this music, I was faced with a grand opera full of chromatic chords, rich in colour and atmosphere. Each protagonist is supported by a battery of themes that gives them inner feelings. You have to remember that 20s German music was still flourishing with Richard Strauss at the height of his power and the young Erich Wolfgang Korngold would bring his fabulous range of colours to Hollywood. So I stayed glued to my seat, watching this 98-min drama. The torments of the Greek slave Theonis were attractive enough to engage me. The final twist when the 'deceased' Pharaoh comes back looking like a pauper was pretty hard to believe, but who cares? In such pictures, we want some dramatic turns of events and to be surprised. So overall, while I didn't expect it, I really enjoyed this huge epic.
This new restoration was made with prints coming from GEH, Gosfilmofond, Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv and Munich Filmmuseum. The film is still not quite complete, another 600 m are missing. But they have patched up the missing scenes with title cards and stills in such an efficient way that there no plot holes. The print is absolutely gorgeous and it's certainly one of the main reasons the film is so enjoyable.
Samlak (Paul Wegener); Theonis (D. Servaes) and Ramphis (H. Liedtke)
- moira finnie
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Re: Lost Lubitsch Silent found and restored!
Thanks for that insightful report on the restored Das Weib des Pharao, Christine. I think I would pay to see this just for the glimpse of Albert Bassermann wearing what appears to be the same wig that Barbara Stanwyck wore in Double Indemnity. The preview clip previously posted really conveyed the majesty and polish of this film--though it is funny how much Lubitsch craved to be seriously dramatic instead of seriously entertaining at certain moments in his career. I am hoping that the George Eastman House has a showing soon, but I did find that Arte has a filmed concert version of the movie online. The music is beautiful and it has German captions (which are easily understood) and can be accessed here (though who knows for how long it will remain available?):
http://liveweb.arte.tv/de/video/Filmkonzert__Das_Weib_des_Pharao/
http://liveweb.arte.tv/de/video/Filmkonzert__Das_Weib_des_Pharao/
- Ann Harding
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Re: Lost Lubitsch Silent found and restored!
Thanks for posting the link. I completely forgot to mention it! In general, you can watch the film for 7 days after its broadcast. So it's on until next Monday.
Here is the other link: http://videos.arte.tv/fr/videos/la_femm ... 12258.html
Here is the other link: http://videos.arte.tv/fr/videos/la_femm ... 12258.html