Kino: Buster Keaton: The Short Films Collection (1920-1923)

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Roger Ryan
Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2010 12:04 pm
Location: A Midland town spread and darkened into a city

Re: Kino

#51 Post by Roger Ryan » Tue Jul 19, 2011 5:23 pm

agnamaracs wrote:I wonder how they could have forgotten about the ending. I mean, it doesn't look the best, but neither do the restored scenes from Metropolis, and that made it onto Blu...
It sounds like the HARD LUCK ending was sourced from a print that Kino did not have the rights to use again or were unable to use for this issue. At least I hope it wasn't just negligence.

Jonathan S
Joined: Sat Jun 07, 2008 3:31 am
Location: Somerset, England

Re: Kino

#52 Post by Jonathan S » Wed Jul 20, 2011 3:51 am

According to this Nitrateville interview with the Kino set's producer, they were unable to re-license the footage (from Lobster, who own the unique material on this and other shorts).
Bret Wood wrote:Much to our chagrin, there were a few pieces of footage that have surfaced since the 1996 release that we were not able to obtain for our remasters (the "Chinese family" ending of HARD LUCK, the police bandstand scene of DAY DREAMS, some golf course footage of CONVICT 13). But we have managed to integrate material that was not in the Kino/Arte editions, with original titles, additional footage, plus a small selection of outtakes.
I don't know whether it's significant, but Lobster has for the last decade collaborated with David Shepard/Blackhawk Films (currently through Flicker Alley) and my impression is of strong rivalry - to put it mildly - between DS and Kino, at least during his period of releasing through Image Entertainment. Sometimes they both released DVDs of the same restorations (e.g. D.W. Griffith films) Shepard had done during his earlier period with Kino. But, for example, Kino's Arbuckle/Keaton releases were followed by a Shepard/Lobster set through Image, defiantly titled "The Best Arbuckle Keaton Collection" and including two films omitted by Kino.

So, for instance, we had the situation where the Kino had the most complete print of Moonshine but Lobster - who also licensed to Arte and MoC - had only fragments from that film but in much higher quality. Ideally, of course, the two elements should have been combined. Similarly, the Kino and Lobster editions of Day Dreams have each contained footage missing from the other and apparently that situation continues. I don't know if Lobster are participating in a Keaton shorts edition that will rival Kino's recent release, but for the present at least, it appears that a definitive set - in the sense of incorporating all known extant footage (except for genuinely alternate versions) - remains an elusive goal.

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agnamaracs
Joined: Thu Dec 21, 2006 3:13 am

Re: Kino: Buster Keaton: The Short Films Collection (1920-19

#53 Post by agnamaracs » Mon Jul 25, 2011 12:28 am

Blugh. Never let personal business get in the way of film preservation.

Jonathan S
Joined: Sat Jun 07, 2008 3:31 am
Location: Somerset, England

Re: Kino: Buster Keaton: The Short Films Collection (1920-19

#54 Post by Jonathan S » Mon Jul 25, 2011 4:04 am

Despite my earlier post, it may be that Lobster's decision not to re-license was a commercial (rather than personal) one, especially if they plan to produce their own edition. But whatever the truth, it would be great to see the kind of international cooperation lavished on the Chaplin Keystones bestowed on the far superior Keatons.

By the way, I've amended a previous post of mine to indicate that The Love Nest is in fact complete on the new Kino set (apparently there's even slightly more footage than in the Lobster editions), so it seems that just three films now lack material seen in previous DVD versions.

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denti alligator
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:36 pm
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Re: Kino

#55 Post by denti alligator » Thu Aug 18, 2011 7:34 pm

Any detailed reviews of the shorts set on Blu? I'd like to know whether it's worth upgrading from the MoC box.

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