Rating summary
| Movie |  | 4.5 |
| Video |  | 3.5 |
| Audio | | 3.5 |
| Extras |  | 3.0 |
| Overall |  | 4.0 |
The Extraordinary World of Charley Bowers Blu-ray Movie Review
An impressive collection of classic short films by the great silent star Charley Bowers
Reviewed by Neil Lumbard April 3, 2020
The Extraordinary World of Charley Bowers is an impressive collection of 17 short films produced from 1917-1940. The creative and visionary Charley Bowers was a remarkable silent creative who went overlooked by some audiences over the years. Finding a resurgence in France and eventually becoming a hero to silent film fans the world over, the genius of Charley Bowers is once again on display with this fantastic collection of short features assembled by Flicker Alley.
The set kicks off with an engaging Mutt and Jeff entry showcasing the creative animation of Bowers. Unlike some of his contemporaries, Bowers was multi-faceted in his talents: crafting animation and live-action short films throughout his career. The experimental style of Bowers is constantly on display. The animation is not as complex as works by modern masters like Disney, Pixar, and Studio Ghibli yet there's an underlining creativity that is hard to ignore. The shorts are charming and entertaining.
The comedy of the animated shorts still works even after all these decades. While hundreds of these animated shorts were ultimately produced, not every short was attributed to Bowers directly. The set includes a sample of the early animated works for audiences to re-discover or be introduced to for the first time. The set also has a short film from the Joys and Glooms series to charm and delight modern audiences with its unique charms.
The process of creativity at play.
Most modern viewers will find the shorts of Bowers to be surprising for their cutting-edge creativity with egg-cellent special effects (pun intended). Charley Bowers had a curious thing for eggs and many events in these short films focus on the use of eggs in one shape or another. In the set's best short, Egged On, Bowers crafted a masterpiece in the film produced for the Whirlwind comedy series. Focusing on an inventor (performed by Bowers), a new elaborate device is created that can quite magnificently stretch eggs and make them downright flexible: making the egg easy to open with a simple slice of a knife. No “cracking” eggs required.
Yet to make the invention mainstream, the inventor has to find enough eggs for a demonstration to potential investors. Scrambling (eggs) around town to find eggs to use for the demo, the mad-cap frenzy of the silent classic is enormously entertaining and full of unexpected spectacle. The design of the egg-softening machine is impressive and has the kind of highly elaborate design one would expect to find in a modern production (rather than a silent classic). With an excellent score accompanying the film as composed by Donald Sosin, the 1926 short is given new life.
Watching the silent films spread across the two-disc set, Charley Bowers manages to consistently find ways to be inventive as an artist. The shorts are often visually creative with the use of animation being experimental. One gets the feeling that if Bowers had not become a comedian, animator, and director he might have turned his attentions to becoming an inventor. As a cinematic creator, Bowers used his animation skills to craft unique stories told in a distinct way. There is a clear thirst for originality and bursts of ambition are on display. The wonderful Charley Bowers collection by Flicker Alley is a true joy for silent film fans. Whether or not one has seen these shorts before, audiences should give these classic short films a chance: there is real magic here.
The release includes the following short films:
The Extra-Quick Lunch, A.W.O.L. or, All Wrong Old Laddiebuck, Egged On, He Done His Best, Fatal Footsteps, Now You Tell One, A Wild Roomer, Many a Slip, Nothing Doing, There It Is, Say Ah-h!, Whoozit, It's a Bird, Believe it or Don't, A Sleepless Night, Wild Oysters, and Oil Can and Does.
The Extraordinary World of Charley Bowers Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality
The Extraordinary World of Charley Bowers short film collection arrives on Blu-ray from distributor Flicker Alley with 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition presentations. Each of the included short films is presented in the original 4:3 full-frame aspect ratio. Most of the shorts are in excellent condition given the age of the source materials. These prints are largely fantastic looking (and some actually appear breathtaking).
As a few general notes on the image-quality featured on the collection, disc one contains the shorts with the best restorations provided. The second disc is generally not as impressive looking as the contents included on disc two. On both discs, most of the short films still have occasional slight scratches and dirt on the prints. Certain shorts on disc two are also missing fragments of the whole short. As a result, incomplete presentations are included: "Whoozit" (for example) begins on the 2nd part.
For some specific need-to-know information, the short "Nothing Doing" (found on disc two) was missing sections of the original film scans. Select portions were unavailable for scanning in high-definition and Flicker Alley has included standard-definition footage for the necessary material. Similarly, the short "Ah-h!" has some sequences with noticeable print deterioration which was distracting from that short's viewing experience. Though most of the footage was not obscured, portions of the short suffer obvious damage. Lastly, the short "Wild Oysters" looks incredibly soft (appearing almost as if it was in standard-definition despite not being listed as such). This may be simply due to the print source-related deficiencies.
Despite not every short being in pristine condition, the vast majority of the short films included on the The Extraordinary World of Charley Bowers collection look impressive and far better than one might be expecting. The clarity boost given to the films by having high-definition presentations is notable. The black-and-white photography looks more natural and organic than it does in standard-definition. These classic shorts deserve to look their absolute best and it's clear that Flicker Alley assembled the collection with an enormous amount of care to include the best available materials.
The Extraordinary World of Charley Bowers Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality
The audio quality is impressive across the board with The Extraordinary World of Charley Bowers collection. Each short is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. The level of clarity on display is downright terrific. Both discs contain superb high-resolution audio score tracks that accompany the short films. Each silent feature is given new life and vitality with these beautiful sounding scores and any fan of the films will be enormously pleased.
The only shorts included in the set with less-than-ideal audio are a few of the included talkies towards the end of the collection. These shorts are a bit thin sounding by comparison and have some slight audible hiss on the tracks. Lastly, the short "A Sleepless Night" was somehow missing the original talkie audio and is thereby presented as a silent feature presentation (with no score accompaniment) and only the faint background sound of a projector. The short is still entertaining and is largely visual so it's not unwatchable. Nonetheless, the information needed to be noted.
The Extraordinary World of Charley Bowers Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras
The release comes packaged in a beautiful clear case and features a booklet including an essay written by author and film historian Sean Axmaker.
On disc supplements are located on disc-two and include the following:
Looking for Charley Bowers (SD, 16:24) is an insightful documentary which explores the resurgence of Bower's career in France and the discovery of prints of his earliest works. The documentary is by Christophe Coutens and is worthwhile for any fans of Bowers interested in the history of his career trajectory and the rediscovery of these classics.
An Image Gallery featuring 73 rare behind-the-scenes photographs from during the production of these classic silent era films.
The Extraordinary World of Charley Bowers Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation
The Extraordinary World of Charley Bowers is a breathtaking collection of short films from the great silent-era artist. The level of creativity on display by Bowers is off-the-charts. As a animator, comedian, and director, Bowers crafted unique works of art that are distinctly his own. The artistic animation feels like cutting-edge special effects that far outclasses most productions of the era. From the exciting egg-softening machine to the bundles of cars given birth by cracked-eggs (Bowers does have a thing for eggs throughout his career), the effects are spectacular. The Blu-ray release features 17 short films produced between 1917 and 1940.
The included short films explore all areas of Bowers' career trajectory: from the animated works of the Mutt and Jeff series to silent self-starred classics to later-animated talkies. Flicker Alley has assembled a fantastic collection. The Blu-ray release has a number of impressive video-audio presentations and some worthwhile supplements. The release feels highly extensive and was clearly produced as a true labor of love. Without a doubt, the The Extraordinary World of Charley Bowers collection deserves a high recommendation.
