All Day Entertainment

[Gordon]

All Day Entertainment

The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse (1960, Fritz Lang)
1.66:1 anamorphic
99 mins
B&W

DVD Features:
In German with optional English subtitles
Alternate English audio track
Audio commentary by David Kalat
Photo Gallery
Dr. Mabuse Series Trailers
Featurette: "The Eyes of Fritz Lang"

Reviews
Available here
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1962, Werner Klingler)
1.66:1 anamorphic
85 mins
B&W

DVD Features:
In German with optional English subtitles and alternate English audio track
Audio commentary by David Kalat
Photo Gallery
Dr. Mabuse Series Trailers
Bonus feature: "The Crimes of Dr. Mabuse" 1952 US cut of Lang's 1932 original

Reviews
Available here

Cry of the Owl (1987, Claude Chabrol)
Letterboxed 1.77:1
103 mins
color

DVD Features:
In French with English subtitles
Audio commentary by Ric Menello
Photo Gallery

Reviews
Available here

Christ in Concrete (1949, Edward Dmytryk)
1.33:1
116 mins
B&W

DVD Features:
Digitally mastered from 35mm nitrate originals
Audio Commentary by Fred Gardaphe (Director of Italian-American Studies at SUNY at Stony Brook), Norma Barzman (author of The Red and the Blacklist), Richard di Donato (son of Pietro di Donato) and David Kalat
Isolated music track with commentary by Pietro di Donato
Archive of original stills and artwork
Home movie footage of Pietro di Donato
"Memories in Concrete" featurette
1960s recording of Harold Seletsky's musical monodrama adaptation of Christ in Concrete, performed by Eli Wallach
DVD-ROM supplement with original documents tracing the history of the film's production and distribution

Reviews
Available here

Edgar G. Ulmer Archive

Moon over Harlem (1939)
1.33:1
68 mins
B&W

DVD Features:
Digitally mastered from archival print

Bluebeard (1944)
1.33:1
70 mins
B&W

DVD Features:
Digitally mastered from 35mm preservation positive
Archive of original stills and artwork
Exclusive featurette with never-before-seen color footage from behind the scenes

The Strange Woman (1945)
1.33:1
85 mins
B&W

DVD Features:
Digitally mastered from 35mm preservation positive
Archive of original stills and artwork
Collection of original theatrical trailers for Ulmer's films
Featurette: The King of PRC

Strange Illusion (1945)
1.33:1
85 mins
B&W

DVD Features:
Digitally mastered from 35mm preservation positive
Archive of original stills and artwork
Collection of original theatrical trailers for Ulmer's films
Featurette: The King of PRC

Daughter of Dr. Jekyll (1957)
Letterboxed 1.85:1
70 mins
B&W

DVD Features:
Digitally mastered from 35mm fine grain positive
Isolated Music and Effects Track
Archive of original stills and artwork
Exclusive interviews with star John Agar
and Ulmer's daughter, Arianne Ulmer Cipes
Original Theatrical Trailer

Also included within the set are:
- Ulmer's unsold 1957 pilot for Swiss Family Robinson
- An educational short directed by Ulmer, entitled Goodbye, Mr. Germ
- Interviews with Ulmer's daughter, Arianne, and widow Shirley
- Interview featurettes
- Trailers.

DVD Savant Review
Available here (Good value?

Gunman in the Streets (1950, Frank Tuttle)
1.33:1
88 mins
B&W
English-French Film Noir

DVD Features:
New Digital Master from 35mm Fine-Grain
Censored Footage Restored
Photo Gallery
Production Notes

Reviews
Available here

Wanted for Murder (1946, Lawrence Huntington)
1.33:1
102 mins
B&W
Film Noir

DVD Features:
New Digital Master from 35mm Negative
Original Theatrical Trailer
Photo Gallery

Digitally Obsessed
Available here

The Sadist (1963, James Landis)

1.66:1 letterbox
91 mins
B&W


DVD Features:
Digitally mastered from 35mm master print
Transfer approved by the cinematographer
Audio Commentary by cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond
Collection of trailers for other Arch Hall Jr. films
Production notes
Cover art by acclaimed artist Matt Sesow

Reviews
Available ONLY at All Day's website HERE for $19.95. This title is NOT OOP, apparently - rejoice

Treasure Island (1999, Scott King)
1.33:1 (OAR)
84 mins
B&W
Modern Film Noir

WARNING: This unrated motion picture contains content appropriate only for mature audiences and viewer discretion is strongly advised

DVD Features:
Director approved special edition DVD
Original theatrical trailer
Deleted/Alternate scenes
The Making of Treasure Island
Sundance Featurette
Isolated Music Score
Two complete audio commentaries by filmmaker Scott King
DVD ROM supplements: Director's annotated script and storyboards and liner notes
Unique packaging that includes a hardcover book!

Reviews
Available here

The Pulp Cinema Trailer Collection (Mostly Film Noir trailers)
1.33:1
99 mins
B&W

A Hard-Boiled Collection of 46 classic film noir coming attractions from the Golden Age of pulp thrillers! Starring such luminaries as Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall, Ida Lupino, Vincent Price, Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, and Barbara Stanwyck, this collection of classic original trailers covers everything from favorites of the genre like Double Indemnity, The Maltese Falcon, and The Big Heat to rare gems like Kiss the Blood Off My Hands, A Woman's Face, The Girl in 313, Private Hell 36, and Detective Story. Whether you are a longtime fan of film noir or an interested newcomer, this is the DVD for you.

DVD Verdict review (includes complete list of trailers featured)
Available here (A bit pricey)

The Horror of Hammer (Trailers)
115 mins
Color & B&W
Various aspect ratios

DVD Features:
53 original theatrical trailers
4 bonus alternate trailers
2 original making-of featurettes
Audio commentary by Hammer Horror scholars: Ted Newsom, Gary H. Smith, and Stuart Galbraith IV

Reviews
Available here

Tales of Frankenstein (1958 of rare TV pilot; trailers to many Frankenstein films, plus copious extras)
Complete uncut TV pilot of Hammer Studio's proposed Frankenstein series
21 original theatrical previews for Frankenstein films
interviews with Boris Karloff, Peter Cushing, and Hammer's Michael Carreras
Audio interviews with Boris Karloff and Glenn Strange
Bonus clips
Audio Commentary by Hammer scholars Ted Newsom, Gary H. Smith, and Stuart Galbraith IV

Reviews
Available here

All Monsters Attack! (Monster movie trailers!)
120 mins
Color and B&W
Various aspect ratios

DVD Features:
Over 50 classic monster movie trailers
"The Land That Time Forgot" 1975 original making-of featurette
"The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" 1958 original making-of featurette
"Operation Plumbob" 1954 Atomic safety short
"Mega-Morphosis" 1992 Kafka meets Godzilla in this animated cartoon

Reviews
Available here

Vincent Price: The Sinister Image (Lengthy 1987 interview by David Del Valle)
1.33:1
208 mins
Color and B&W

DVD Features:
The Sinister Image interview program 1987
Audio interview 1988
Radio program: Three Skeleton Key 1950
TV program: The Wild Weird World of Dr. Goldfoot 1965
TV program: Freedom to Get Lost 1958
Animated photo gallery with rare stills (over 200 photos)
Easter Egg

Reviews
Available here

The Fall of the House of Usher (1928, Jean Epstein)
1.33:1
66 mins
B&W
France
Silent
French intertitles with spoken English translation

DVD Features:
Digitally Mastered from 35mm Preservation Positive
Music Score by Rolande de Cande
Booklet

Reviews
Available here

All Day (owned by David Kalat) don't get enough appreciation on the web. They have released many hard-to-see films with generally good, often excellent transfers and illuminating extras. They aren't as prolific as one would wish, but they still manage to release the odd gem.

I was amazed to discover that their The Sadist DVD - with a far better transfer (approved by Vilmos Zsigmond in 1997) than the cheapo Alpha DVD - was still in print at a reasonable price, as the Amazon Marketplace and Ebay lisitngs go for $40-120! It's a striking, nasty little gem, but I couldn't swallow those prices. The Zsigmond commentary (how great is that!) is said to be superb.

Thier excellent Ganja & Hess disc went OOP a long time ago, but David Kalat informed me that there will be a new edition in 2006. I hope that we see a few more elusive classics in addition to that.

[tryavna]

All Day (owned by David Kalat) don't enough appreciation on the web. They have released many hard-to-see films with generally good, often excellent transfers and illuminating extras. They aren't as prolific as one would wish, but they still manage to release the odd gem.

I have only one of All Day's releases (Lang's under-appreciated 1000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse). But based on that one title, I agree with everything you've said.

BTW, I've had my eyes on Christ in Concrete for a few weeks now. Is it worth picking up?

[Gregory]

I recommend Christ in Concrete. First of all, it's an amazing document of the Hollywood blacklist that was thought to be lost forever until All Day located a print. In contrast to Salt of the Earth, which was made by blacklisted filmmakers surreptitiously and under continual threat of violence and other forms of retaliation, Christ in Concrete was made completely out in the open in Britain. A huge middle finger to the House Unamerican Activities Committee, as the liner notes observe.
It's also interesting for its subject matter. Films this bleak about immigrant life just weren't made during that period. In Hollywood's classical period it was unusual just to have characters who had to worry about common problems like how they were going to pay the rent.
Most importantly, the material is consistently well executed. Some parts anticipate the feel of what would later become characteristics of film noir, such as very claustrophobic compositions. One scene, in which the main character discusses with his friend how to break the news to his new bride that he has lied to her about his means, is filmed through a criss-crossing barrier in a restaurant, giving the subtle impression that they are imprisoned.
It's an excellent film that was virtually unseen in its day and that's now ripe for rediscovery. Sadly it hasn't made much of a splash, as it might have if Criterion had released it. All Day did a fine job presenting it considering that the elements were almost surely less than pristine. Here are the DVDBeaver review and DVD Savant review for a rundown on all the extras and different takes on the film.

[Gordon]

Very well summed up, Gregory. It's an amazing film for its period. Sam Wanamaker was an amazing actor - he's so underappreciated - and this has to be one of his greatest performances.

The DVD has superb extra features that really put everything into context and provide great insight into this almost-lost and forgotten masterpiece.

I think that Christ in Concrete is Dmytryk's best film, although I haven't seen Mirage (1965) as it is very hard to get hold of the VHS and it is, inexplicably never shown on TV; a DVD is overdue from Universal.

It was also great to see that The Sadist is still available, if only through the All Day website. I have badly wanted to hear the Vilmos Zsigmond commentary.

[tryavna]

I think that Christ in Concrete is Dmytryk's best film, although I haven't seen Mirage (1965) as it is very hard to get hold of the VHS and it is, inexplicably never shown on TV; a DVD is overdue from Universal.

Still not having seen CinC yet (though I'll probably order it soon, based on the previous two posts), I'd say that Mirage is not going to knock CinC out of its place in your estimation. Mirage is a decent thriller in the Hitchcock vein, and Walter Matthau is typically excellent as some sorely needed (low-key) comic relief. But there's nothing particularly special about it -- except maybe the glimpse of 1960's NYC life it allows us to enjoy vicariosly through its on-location photography.

[Gregory]

When remarking how well executed the film is, I meant to mention one of my favorite sequences: the opening. Cameras set up at wildly varying angles follow the main character, Geremio, as he staggers home through the nighttime Brooklyn streets. It feels desolate almost to the point of being apocalyptic. The film then flashes back, and as the story unfolded I watched with both interest and dread as it came around again to that point in the film's chronology. By this time, when the same images are reprised, the audience has learned the circumstances that found him wandering around, at the end of his rope.

[Ashirg]

Ganja & Hess is being re-released in "The Complete Edition" on October 10.

We are proud to present this exclusive DVD restoration of Bill Gunn's director's cut, including 3 minutes of footage missing from previous home video versions.

Note, the footage was discovered missing after the first DVD was already released back in 1999.

Features:
Audio commentary by Marlene Clark, Cinematographer James Hinton and more
Restored Footage
New 30-minute Featurette, "The Blood of the Thing"
15-minute Featurette Examining Selected Sequences in Detail
Photo gallery
Original Screenplay by Bill Gunn (DVD-Rom)
Article on the Film by Tim Lucas and David Walker (DVD-Rom)

[Ashirg]

On November 21 they will release 3-disc set AMERICAN SLAPSTICK

# Irreverent, anarchic, and truly American! These are the silent comedians: immigrants, outcasts and hard-up outsiders who personified the American Dream, becoming movie stars, heroes, icons. And here are their films! If you're looking for subtlety and refinement, drop this disc and run away. Inside, expect to find: exploding cars, innocent bystanders smacked in the head with hammers, underwear models chased by cross-dressing villains, auctioneers crawling across airplane wings to retrieve false teeth, memory-impaired lovers, somnambulists, drunken reprobates, deranged acrobats, and the Keystone Kops.
17 NEW-TO-DVD SILENT COMEDY CLASSICS AND ARCHIVAL RARITIES!
# THE FIRST FILM DIRECTED BY CHARLIE CHAPLIN!
# THE BEST FILM BY HIS BROTHER SYD--NEVER BEFORE ON HOME VIDEO, NEVER ON TV, NEVER SEEN BEFORE NOW!
# EARLY SCREEN APPEARANCES BY HAROLD LLOYD AND STAN LAUREL!
# BILLY WEST, THE CUBIC-CHAPLIN-ZIRCONIA OF SILENT FILM, RUNNING AMOK WITH OLIVER HARDY!
# LANDMARK SHORTS BY SUCH COMEDIANS AS CHARLEY CHASE, SNUB POLLARD, BILLY BEVAN, AND LARRY SEMON!
# SEXY COMEDIENNE FRANCES LEE CHASING HER STOLEN NIGHTIE!
# Original music by Ben Model, Bernie Anderson, and Ray Brubacher
# Super secret bonus short
# Audio commentary on the 1915 short "A Submarine Pirate"
# PDF REPRINT OF ORIGINAL 1915 CHAPLIN PROMOTIONAL BOOK!

[Gordon]

Great to see Ganja & Hess back in print! I have wanted to see it for years. Cheers, Ash.

[Scharphedin2]

All Day Entertainment will release a lavish 4-Disc Collection of Harry Langdon's films in December. The set will cover material from 1924-1944, and will include several restorations of film hitherto thought lost, as well as a number of extras detailing Langdon's life and career. Details at All Day's site.

In other news, Kalat has apparently moved his operations to Chicago, and forged a distribution agreement with the "...venerable Chicago institution of Facets Multimedia!"

[HerrSchreck]

The ULMER ARCHIVE is a total blast. I just managed to score one and I can't stop watching MOON OVER HARLEM. The upgrade of BLUEBEARD was sorely needed from an awful old vhs. I even dug the cornball SWISS FAMILY and it's faded programmers like STRANGE ILLUSION that are total time machines for me, not the grand epics. Ulmer's widow, the interviews with her are just excellent.. she seems so charmed you can see she really enjoyed the whole thing. I'm happy she got the attention SHE deserved (for her scenarios w Ulmer) as well as saw the set/Ulmermania, before she passed.

Kalat's telecine operator or his encoders have a tendency to author these transfers with these flying grey pixels in shaded areas (it's on USHER too), but aside from that, the thing is great low budget fun at a nice price. Kalat is a sick nut, but in the best sense; I can't help but love the guy for his taste and his urgency to see his taste corresponded to in the market, and for a low cost. Epstein, GANJA & H, CHRIST IN CONCRETE, all this Ulmer, not to mention his work on Lang and contribution to discs of LES YEUX SANS & GHIDORA.

I hope his operation-- yikes-- survives FacEts.

[ogygia avenue]

I asked this over in the Warner Classics section, and figured I'd ask here as well.

Any chance that Warner would license Stop (Bill Gunn's pre-Ganja & Hess feature, which was shelved in 1971) to All Day or a comparable distributor? On the one hand, they don't usually play nice with small companies, but on the other, it's not as though they're about to release it...

[tryavna]

Warner never licenses any of its films to other distributors -- unless you count Flicker Alley, which TCM has worked with on occasion.

[HerrSchreck]

Yes that's a deeply mysterious arrangement. Even at the beginning of JUDEX you see

"turner Classic Movies presents...

JUDEX"

I've had a bit of correspondence w Jeff Massino. My sixth sense tells me he has a pre-existing arrangement with TCM, either as an employee or producer. I think he pulls together external sources of restoration/license/preservation for the channel to bring certain projects in and make them happen, with the understanding that he will get the transfers done for broadcast provided he can use them to get certain pet projects out on vid for his own deepest loves, and that's what FA is. He provides programming for the cable channel, they provide a license here & there for dvd. A byproduct of this arrangement is that in return they allow him the use of certain titles that would fall under their lib rightswise (the Hughes material?, probably the only genuine WB stuff) that they might not have the urgency to release themselves. For gods sakes they cant even get GREED and the Seastrom Sjostroms out, anywhere NEAR schedule (and the Vidors), so I'm sure they didn't care about that Hughes silent stuff.

Even so, if he wasn't an "inside man" I doubt they'd have let it out.

We need more dudes like him...

[Nihonophile]

I picked up the Langdon set from amazon. This set is far too cheap for the value contained within this 'layered' digipack set. The packaging is very pink but is sturdy and fairly attractive. The booklet is not much more than a few collected brief essays and it just sorta floats between the digipack.

Now onto the discs. So far I have watched about half of the All Day produced documentary "Lost and Found." Its quite good despite some distortion on the mic Kalat used to record the interview participants. I've watched the first two shorts on disc 3 and the quality is good and clean without being digitally sterile. The restorations do not seem to remove any splice lines or other such damage with photoshop trickery, but I did not find these print flaws to be distracting from my enjoyment of the shorts. There is so many shorts for me to still watch but I feel as though I will be watching this set for many years to come.

The set is so cheap that anyone with even the slightest interest in Langdon should get this package. Facets hasn't changed All Day Entertainment one bit!

[Cash Flagg]

The Sadist (1963, James Landis)

Available ONLY at All Day's website HERE for $19.95. This title is NOT OOP, apparently - rejoice!

The shipping cost of $12.00 (!) makes this one a bit tougher to pull the trigger on.

[Ashirg]

American Slapstick, Volume 2 was announced for July 22 here.

[Cash Flagg]

Wasn't sure where else to put this, as I'm not sure this label has enough releases yet to justify it's own thread in Boutique Labels. For all you R2 fans of The Sadist, this is from DVD Times:

Powis Square Pictures have announced the UK DVD release of two titles on 12th January 2009. The inaugural releases from this new label are The Sadist from writer/director James Landis and Speak Easily, a talkie starring Buster Keaton.

The Sadist is presented in widescreen from a digitally re-mastered print, struck from Joe (‘Gremlins’) Dante’s personal 35mm copy. The sample disc we received is non-anamorphic 2.35:1, though it’s not clear if this is final. Audio is English 2.0, there are no subtitles. DVD extras include a feature length commentary by Vilmos Zsigmond who discusses the filming of The Sadist and also his career as a cinematographer for films including McCabe and Mrs. Miller and Close Encounters of The Third Kind.

And am I the only one who hates DVD Times' new layout?

[Person]

The Sadist was shot in 1.85:1 and the All Day transfer is 1.85:1 NON-anamorphic.

[gelich]

Disappointing news. The All Day set of Charley Chase shorts has been "indefinitely postponed," that is, cancelled. This was a set I was very much looking forward to.
Information at this link:
http://www.classicflix.com/postponed-be ... a-410.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[domino harvey]

Two of the best All Day Entertainment DVDs are now out of print, the 1000 Eyes of Dr Mabuse and Christ in Concrete!

[HerrSchreck]

That Christ In Concrete disc is probably their greatest labor of love. Loaded to the hilt with extras, a little insert booklet, and with a decent enough transfer, with not one but two commentaries (one with DiDonato himself... and--phew-- what a source novel; I have it's first rare 1939 edition, plus an even rarer hardbound edition of the Esquire short story by DiDo that served as his own source, which at editorial urging he expanded to book length)... David Kalat is and shall forever remain The Man in my eyes on the strength of this, plus my favorite film of all time-- La Chute de la maison Usher-- and that indispensable Ulmer set. (Moon Over Harlem baby... Moon Over Harlem. Moon over... Blumsteins?).

I recall when I bought it around 2005 I'd heard it was going out of print and destined for extreme prices on eBay, and snatched the last copy at Tower Video in NYC forthwith postfuckinghaste

[domino harvey]

For anyone interested in how a small DVD label manages to produce a DVD, you should definitely seek out the last Lang Mabuse film. Kalat devotes the last thirty minutes of the commentary to explaining how he managed to find prints and how his company got the final product out, very educational and entertaining as per Kalat's norm

[HerrSchreck]

DK is the only guy I enthusiastically listen to for commentary... sometimes at the first spin of a new disc (i e before watching the disc w soundtrack proper). Hands down the best commentary in the biz.

Made me very happy to see him chosen for the liner notes for what may be the best CC release-package ever: Les yeux sans visage.

[Jonathan S]

Disappointing news. The All Day set of Charley Chase shorts has been "indefinitely postponed," that is, cancelled. This was a set I was very much looking forward to.
Information at this link:
http://www.classicflix.com/postponed-be ... a-410.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

David Kalat announced this postponement publicly over a month ago. His own website (so far anyway) indicates it has not been cancelled:

BECOMING CHARLEY CHASE, a four-disc box set collecting the early works of America's most influential comic genius, has been delayed. It was our intention to release this set in January of 2009, but poor sales of our other silent comedy collections, and soft sales of DVD product overall in these tough economic times, have forced us to put this on a temporary hiatus. Information about BECOMING CHARLEY CHASE will be updated here as it becomes known. In the meantime, please be patient and enjoy our other exciting silent comedy finds, already available in stores and directly from us here.