Structured entries
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“1300B!”
left column
- The Dirigible Los Angeles
USA, 1924, 19:24. Germany was forbidden to build dirigibles after World War I, but the Zeppelin Company was allowed to make one for the U.S. Navy as partial war reparation. Filled with hydrogen and manned by a German crew, the ZR-3, later renamed Los Angeles, flew 5,000 miles in 82.5 hours to Lakehurst, New Jersey in October, 1924. During its life, it logged 4,398 hours and 331 successful flights. Still in good flying condition, the Los Angeles was decommissioned and scrapped in October 1939, after the longest career of any rigid airship. This lovely film was copied by Blackhawk from an original nitrate print, but has not previously been rereleased in any format. Music by Eric Beheim.
- In the Land of Giants and Pygmies
(stencil-colored) - Aurelio Rossi, 1925, 8:33. In the Land of Giants and Pygmies, a diary of Aurelio Rossi's 1925 trek into the immense Belgian Congo, preserves a long-gone Colonial-era wonder at natural resources, "primitive" tribes, customs and costumes in Europe's vast African possessions, and implies that the "dark continent" could benefit from the "civilizing" influences of home. This edition was restored from two stencil-colored 35mm prints. A few shots come from a print in the René Charles Collection (now in the collection of the region of Charente), but most of it was copied from a vintage safety film print found in a camera store in Lyon. The English titles are translations, re-created in the original typography. Music by Eric le Guen.
- Technicolor Fashion Parade
Fashion Features, Inc., USA, 1927, 5:53. These two-color Technicolor fashion shots were copied from nitrate film many years ago, without the benefit of later techniques that minimize blemishes. Even heavily abraded, they're of interest as a portrait of couture in 1927, as a document of color cinematography when the process was still novel, and because many of the models were successful Hollywood actresses. The film was found and copied by Murray Glass, one of the best American friends of early cinema. Music by Frederick Hodges.
- Charles A. Lindbergh, Hero of the Air
Fox-Case Movietone, USA, 1927, 11:50. On May 20-21, 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh flew alone, non-stop from New York to Paris, in a single-engine plane without parachute or radio. With this feat, Lindbergh became perhaps the greatest hero of the decade. Fox Movietone's sound film record of Lindbergh's take-off was the first popular sensation of sound film; it was soon augmented by coverage of his welcome in Washington on June 11th. The original negative, misfiled in a vault at the old Fox studios on Tenth Avenue in New York City, was found in 1973 by David Shepard. With permission from 20th Century-Fox, we donated the negative to the National Archives after printing the 35mm fine grain master used for this transfer.
- The Fireman of the Folies-Bergère
w/ Josephine Baker
(With Josephine Baker) - France, 1928, 7:38. The Fireman of the Folies Bergère is strangely undocumented, but was probably made to promote Josephine Baker's wild revue "Vents de Folies" in 1927-1928 at Paris' celebrated music hall after her 1925 triumph in the Negro revue at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. The Folies emphasized fine costumes, dancers, stage effects—and naked women. "Ah, the naked women," said manager Paul Derval, if I ever tried to get rid of them, I might as well close the place down." This film was restored from two very incomplete prints, found ten years apart. It took more time to identify the film, make heads and tails of the many bits and pieces, and match the two elements, than to find the film. This version is still slightly incomplete; the first title, although not genuine, was added for clarity. Music by Eric le Guen.
- Meet Me Down at Coney Isle
Fox Magic Carpet of Movietone, USA, 1932, 8:13. After the success of Walter Ruttman's city symphony Berlin, produced by Fox in 1927, the studio launched a series of short subjects with location shooting by Fox Movietone news crews, depicting days in the life of various cities, with music and sound effects. Welcome to New York's Coney Island in 1932! Reproduced by Blackhawk from an original nitrate print, the music, uncredited, is by Louis de Francesco.
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right column
- PROGRAM TWO - LAUGHING LIKE WE USED TO
- The Dancing Pig
Pathé Frères, France, 1907, 2:24. Silent films owe a great deal to the vaudeville tradition; its short, unrelated stage acts were not only a nearly inexhaustible source for early film content, but also a programming model for nickelodeon theaters. The Dancing Pig was a mind-boggling music hall routine filmed several times for different companies - here, for Pathé Frères in 1907.
- The Monkey Race
Italia Film, Italy, 1909, 4:03. The Monkey Race (1909), Italian-made, is typical of hundreds of chase films produced in America, France and Italy between about 1904 and 1910, mostly for fairgrounds and vaudeville. They greatly influenced Mack Sennett's Keystone and other comedies, until Charlie Chaplin asked "must every film end with a chase?" Ringling Bros. circus featured a Polish monkey-imper-sinator well into the 1960s.
- I Fetch the Bread
Pathé Frères, France, 1907, 5:10. Arriving dinner guests find somewhat improbably that the hostess has forgotten the bread; a quick visit to the bakery motivates this accumulation of comic incident, a variation on the chase film formula. I Fetch the Bread was filmed in the empty streets of Paris by Pathé Frères in 1907. Original 35mm prints of this film were found both in the USA and in France.
- Arthème Swallows his Clarinet
Eclipse, France, 1912, 3:54. Arthème Swallows His Clarinet was produced in 1912 by France's short-lived Eclipse Company. Few Eclipse films survive; when this delightful comedy was found, the print was decomposed along the edges and the end had melted away. Ten years later, another print miraculously surfaced, free of rot but very choppy. This edition is digitally reconstructed from both, almost frame by frame. Music by Eric Beheim.
- Kid's Auto Race
w/ Charles Chaplin
(with Charles Chaplin) - Keystone Film Co., USA, 1914, 6:20. Mack Sennett produced Kid's Auto Race (January, 1914), Charles Chaplin's second film and the first in which he wore his signature "tramp" costume, although the "little fellow's" character attributes had yet to appear.
- The Pest
w/ Stan Laurel
(with Stan Laurel) - Amalgamated Prod. Co. USA, 1922, 22:26. Stan Laurel was in films for a decade as actor and director before teaming with Oliver Hardy in 1927; until then, Laurel was a comedian without a character, but with a mastery of rapid-fire gags. The Pest was produced and directed in 1922 by G. M. Anderson, a film pioneer since 1903, who as "Broncho Billy" from 1909-1916 was the first important star of westerns, which he also directed.
- Lizzies of the Field
Mack Sennett, USA, 1924, 14:04. Ten years after Chaplin's debut, Sennett produced Lizzies of the Field (1924). Sennett considered Del Lord, director of this manic gag fest, "the best" at the frantic, freewheeling style his studio was known for. The climactic road race was done full size as you see it - no models, cheats or short cuts.
- PROGRAM TWO - DRAWINGS AND MODELS
- Fantasmagorie
Emile Cohl, Gaumont, France, 1908, 1:30. Using the technique of stop-motion photography pioneered in America by J. Stuart Blackton, Emile Cohl of France drew Fantasmagorie for the Gaumont Company in 1908. Arguably the first and certainly the most sophisticated cartoon until that time, its stream-of-conscious narrative remains impressive after a century. The vintage 16mm source print acquired from Francis Doublier seems to be the sole surviving full-frame original copy of this important film, and after our transfer, Gaumont used it for a frame-by-frame scan and restoration to 35mm. Music by Frederick Hodges.
- Cartoon Factory
Fleischer Studios, USA, 1924, 7:00. In 1919, Ko-Ko the Clown first emerged from the inkwell to grapple with his creator, Max Fleischer. Combining live action with animation, this highly imaginative series of 130 films inspired Walt Disney's Alice comedies, among others. This film was found in the same collection as the French original print of I Fetch the Bread. A silent film of 1924, Cartoon Factory is seen here in a reissue version; the added sound has been digitally restored with the latest techniques.
Transcription (raw)
## HEADING: 1300B!
## LEFT COLUMN
The Dirigible Los Angeles - USA, 1924, 19:24
Germany was forbidden to build dirigibles after World War I, but the Zeppelin
Company was allowed to make one for the U.S. Navy as partial war reparation.
Filled with hydrogen and manned by a German crew, the ZR-3, later renamed
Los Angeles, flew 5,000 miles in 82.5 hours to Lakehurst, New Jersey in
October, 1924. During its life, it logged 4,398 hours and 331 successful
flights. Still in good flying condition, the Los Angeles was decommissioned
and scrapped in October 1939, after the longest career of any rigid airship.
This lovely film was copied by Blackhawk from an original nitrate print, but has not
previously been rereleased in any format. Music by Eric Beheim.
In the Land of Giants and Pygmies (stencil-colored) - Aurelio Rossi, 1925, 8:33
In the Land of Giants and Pygmies, a diary of Aurelio Rossi's 1925 trek into
the immense Belgian Congo, preserves a long-gone Colonial-era wonder at
natural resources, "primitive" tribes, customs and costumes in Europe's
vast African possessions, and implies that the "dark continent" could benefit
from the "civilizing" influences of home. This edition was restored from two
stencil-colored 35mm prints. A few shots come from a print in the René
Charles Collection (now in the collection of the region of Charente), but most
of it was copied from a vintage safety film print found in a camera store in Lyon.
The English titles are translations, re-created in the original typography. Music by
Eric le Guen.
Technicolor Fashion Parade - Fashion Features, Inc., USA, 1927, 5:53
These two-color Technicolor fashion shots were copied from nitrate film many
years ago, without the benefit of later techniques that minimize blemishes.
Even heavily abraded, they're of interest as a portrait of couture in 1927, as
a document of color cinematography when the process was still novel, and
because many of the models were successful Hollywood actresses. The film
was found and copied by Murray Glass, one of the best American friends of
early cinema. Music by Frederick Hodges.
Charles A. Lindbergh, Hero of the Air - Fox-Case Movietone, USA, 1927, 11:50
On May 20-21, 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh flew alone, non-stop from New
York to Paris, in a single-engine plane without parachute or radio. With
this feat, Lindbergh became perhaps the greatest hero of the decade. Fox
Movietone's sound film record of Lindbergh's take-off was the first popular
sensation of sound film; it was soon augmented by coverage of his welcome
in Washington on June 11th. The original negative, misfiled in a vault at the
old Fox studios on Tenth Avenue in New York City, was found in 1973 by David
Shepard. With permission from 20th Century-Fox, we donated the negative to the
National Archives after printing the 35mm fine grain master used for this transfer.
The Fireman of the Folies-Bergère - (With Josephine Baker) - France, 1928, 7:38
The Fireman of the Folies Bergère is strangely undocumented, but was
probably made to promote Josephine Baker's wild revue "Vents de Folies"
in 1927-1928 at Paris' celebrated music hall after her 1925 triumph in the
Negro revue at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. The Folies emphasized
fine costumes, dancers, stage effects—and naked women. "Ah, the naked
women," said manager Paul Derval, if I ever tried to get rid of them, I might
as well close the place down."
This film was restored from two very incomplete prints, found ten years apart. It
took more time to identify the film, make heads and tails of the many bits and
pieces, and match the two elements, than to find the film. This version is still
slightly incomplete; the first title, although not genuine, was added for clarity.
Music by Eric le Guen.
Meet Me Down at Coney Isle - Fox Magic Carpet of Movietone, USA, 1932, 8:13
After the success of Walter Ruttman's city symphony Berlin, produced by
Fox in 1927, the studio launched a series of short subjects with location
shooting by Fox Movietone news crews, depicting days in the life of various
cities, with music and sound effects. Welcome to New York's Coney Island in
1932! Reproduced by Blackhawk from an original nitrate print, the music,
uncredited, is by Louis de Francesco.
## RIGHT COLUMN
PROGRAM TWO - LAUGHING LIKE WE USED TO
The Dancing Pig - Pathé Frères, France, 1907, 2:24
Silent films owe a great deal to the vaudeville tradition; its short, unrelated
stage acts were not only a nearly inexhaustible source for early film content,
but also a programming model for nickelodeon theaters. The Dancing Pig
was a mind-boggling music hall routine filmed several times for different
companies - here, for Pathé Frères in 1907.
The Monkey Race - Italia Film, Italy, 1909, 4:03
The Monkey Race (1909), Italian-made, is typical of hundreds of chase films
produced in America, France and Italy between about 1904 and 1910, mostly
for fairgrounds and vaudeville. They greatly influenced Mack Sennett's
Keystone and other comedies, until Charlie Chaplin asked "must every film
end with a chase?" Ringling Bros. circus featured a Polish monkey-imper-
sonator well into the 1960s.
I Fetch the Bread - Pathé Frères, France, 1907, 5:10
Arriving dinner guests find somewhat improbably that the hostess has forgotten
the bread; a quick visit to the bakery motivates this accumulation of comic
incident, a variation on the chase film formula. I Fetch the Bread was filmed
in the empty streets of Paris by Pathé Frères in 1907.
Original 35mm prints of this film were found both in the USA and in France.
Arthème Swallows his Clarinet - Eclipse, France, 1912, 3:54
Arthème Swallows His Clarinet was produced in 1912 by France's short-lived
Eclipse Company. Few Eclipse films survive; when this delightful comedy
was found, the print was decomposed along the edges and the end had
melted away. Ten years later, another print miraculously surfaced, free of
rot but very choppy. This edition is digitally reconstructed from both, almost
frame by frame. Music by Eric Beheim.
Kid's Auto Race - (with Charles Chaplin) - Keystone Film Co., USA, 1914, 6:20
Mack Sennett produced Kid's Auto Race (January, 1914), Charles Chaplin's second
film and the first in which he wore his signature "tramp" costume, although the
"little fellow's" character attributes had yet to appear.
The Pest - (with Stan Laurel) - Amalgamated Prod. Co. USA, 1922, 22:26
Stan Laurel was in films for a decade as actor and director before teaming
with Oliver Hardy in 1927; until then, Laurel was a comedian without a
character, but with a mastery of rapid-fire gags. The Pest was produced
and directed in 1922 by G. M. Anderson, a film pioneer since 1903, who as
"Broncho Billy" from 1909-1916 was the first important star of westerns,
which he also directed.
Lizzies of the Field - Mack Sennett, USA, 1924, 14:04
Ten years after Chaplin's debut, Sennett produced Lizzies of the Field
(1924). Sennett considered Del Lord, director of this manic gag fest, "the
best" at the frantic, freewheeling style his studio was known for. The cli-
mactic road race was done full size as you see it - no models, cheats or
short cuts.
PROGRAM TWO - DRAWINGS AND MODELS
Fantasmagorie - Emile Cohl, Gaumont, France, 1908, 1:30
Using the technique of stop-motion photography pioneered in America by J.
Stuart Blackton, Emile Cohl of France drew Fantasmagorie for the Gaumont
Company in 1908. Arguably the first and certainly the most sophisticated
cartoon until that time, its stream-of-conscious narrative remains impres-
sive after a century. The vintage 16mm source print acquired from Francis
Doublier seems to be the sole surviving full-frame original copy of this
important film, and after our transfer, Gaumont used it for a frame-by-frame scan
and restoration to 35mm. Music by Frederick Hodges.
Cartoon Factory - Fleischer Studios, USA, 1924, 7:00
In 1919, Ko-Ko the Clown first emerged from the inkwell to grapple with his
creator, Max Fleischer. Combining live action with animation, this highly
imaginative series of 130 films inspired Walt Disney's Alice comedies,
among others. This film was found in the same collection as the French
original print of I Fetch the Bread. A silent film of 1924, Cartoon Factory is
seen here in a reissue version; the added sound has been digitally restored
with the latest techniques.