Accidentally Preserved Blu-ray
HomeAccidentally Preserved Blu-ray
Posted March 26, 2024 09:08 PM by Webmaster
Undercrank Productions has provided final details for its upcoming Blu-ray release ofAccidentally Preserved, which will be available for purchase on April 9.
Label description: Accidentally Preserved: Volume Five contains three feature films – a jungle adventure, a melodrama and a western – plus a rare comedy short with a Technicolor sequence, all of which do not survive in film archives. The phrase "accidentally preserved" was coined by Undercrank Productions' founder Ben Model referring to silent films that exist only because copies were made on 16mm safety film in the 1920s and 1930s for the home movie rental market.
In Lorraine of the Lions (1925), Patsy Ruth Miller is a female Tarzan in a tale that anticipates King Kong; in Hoofbeats of Vengeance (1928) equine star Rex, King of Wild Horses is out for retribution over his owner's murder; in The Fourth Commandment (1927) Belle Bennett is caught in a power struggle with her mother-in-law when she moves in with the couple and their son, and the antics in Love at First Flight (1928) find comedian Lige Conley in trouble in a plane and on the beach. Each of films on this set have been scanned in 2K by the Library of Congress from the only surviving copies, vintage 16mm prints from the collection of Jon C. MIrsalis, who also scored the films.
"Of the approximately 950 feature films Universal released in the silent era, only about 25% survive in any form," Mirsalis says, "and of those, nearly half survive only as 16mm Show-at-Home prints. As one of the film collectors working with the Library of Congress on their Silent Film Project, I was delighted to see them preserve these three rare Universal features from my rare 16mm copies, and it's fitting that we can get them out to fans on this latest Accidentally Preserved set."
The previous four Accidentally Preserved volumes were released by Undercrank Productions on DVD in 2013-2018, and these showcased rare silent comedy shorts. Those discs contain rare films scanned from 16mm prints in the collections of Ben Model and other collectors, as well as films issued in the UK on 9.5mm film that were sourced from the USC HMH Moving Image Archive.
The silent films on Accidentally Preserved: Volume 5 were originally produced for video by Mirsalis for the online editions of the annual Cinecon Festival during the pandemic, and were highlights of "Cineconline" for its viewers. This home video release presents these three silent feature films plus the bonus Sennett comedy on both Blu-ray and DVD in new scans by the Library of Congress, with new musical scores by Jon C. Mirsalis.
RELEASE CONTENT:
DISC ONE
Lorraine of the Lions (1925) — directed by Edward Sedgwick; starring Norman Kerry and Patsy Ruth Miller; with Fred Humes, Harry Todd; 76 mins
Love at First Flight (1928) — directed by Edward Cline ; starring Lige Conley; with Daphne Pollard, Madeline Hurlock, Andy Clyde, The Sennett Girls; 18 mins
DISC TWO
Hoofbeats of Vengeance (1928) — directed by Henry MacRae; starring Rex, King of Wild Horses; with Helen Foster, Jack Perrin; 47 mins
The Fourth Commandment (1927) — directed by Emory Johnson; starring Belle Bennett; with June Marlowe, Henry Victor; 66 mins
REGION-FREE
TOTAL RUNNING TIME - 207 Min - B&W/tinted
Stereo - NTSC - Not Rated -1920 x1080p (1:33.1)
New musical scores composed and performed by Jon C. Mirsalis
Produced for home video by Jon C. Mirsalis and Ben Model
Associate Producer - Crystal Kui
Films preserved by the Library of Congress
Released by Undercrank Productions / Library of Congress
Label description: Accidentally Preserved: Volume Five contains three feature films – a jungle adventure, a melodrama and a western – plus a rare comedy short with a Technicolor sequence, all of which do not survive in film archives. The phrase "accidentally preserved" was coined by Undercrank Productions' founder Ben Model referring to silent films that exist only because copies were made on 16mm safety film in the 1920s and 1930s for the home movie rental market.
In Lorraine of the Lions (1925), Patsy Ruth Miller is a female Tarzan in a tale that anticipates King Kong; in Hoofbeats of Vengeance (1928) equine star Rex, King of Wild Horses is out for retribution over his owner's murder; in The Fourth Commandment (1927) Belle Bennett is caught in a power struggle with her mother-in-law when she moves in with the couple and their son, and the antics in Love at First Flight (1928) find comedian Lige Conley in trouble in a plane and on the beach. Each of films on this set have been scanned in 2K by the Library of Congress from the only surviving copies, vintage 16mm prints from the collection of Jon C. MIrsalis, who also scored the films.
"Of the approximately 950 feature films Universal released in the silent era, only about 25% survive in any form," Mirsalis says, "and of those, nearly half survive only as 16mm Show-at-Home prints. As one of the film collectors working with the Library of Congress on their Silent Film Project, I was delighted to see them preserve these three rare Universal features from my rare 16mm copies, and it's fitting that we can get them out to fans on this latest Accidentally Preserved set."
The previous four Accidentally Preserved volumes were released by Undercrank Productions on DVD in 2013-2018, and these showcased rare silent comedy shorts. Those discs contain rare films scanned from 16mm prints in the collections of Ben Model and other collectors, as well as films issued in the UK on 9.5mm film that were sourced from the USC HMH Moving Image Archive.
The silent films on Accidentally Preserved: Volume 5 were originally produced for video by Mirsalis for the online editions of the annual Cinecon Festival during the pandemic, and were highlights of "Cineconline" for its viewers. This home video release presents these three silent feature films plus the bonus Sennett comedy on both Blu-ray and DVD in new scans by the Library of Congress, with new musical scores by Jon C. Mirsalis.
RELEASE CONTENT:
DISC ONE
Lorraine of the Lions (1925) — directed by Edward Sedgwick; starring Norman Kerry and Patsy Ruth Miller; with Fred Humes, Harry Todd; 76 mins
Love at First Flight (1928) — directed by Edward Cline ; starring Lige Conley; with Daphne Pollard, Madeline Hurlock, Andy Clyde, The Sennett Girls; 18 mins
DISC TWO
Hoofbeats of Vengeance (1928) — directed by Henry MacRae; starring Rex, King of Wild Horses; with Helen Foster, Jack Perrin; 47 mins
The Fourth Commandment (1927) — directed by Emory Johnson; starring Belle Bennett; with June Marlowe, Henry Victor; 66 mins
REGION-FREE
TOTAL RUNNING TIME - 207 Min - B&W/tinted
Stereo - NTSC - Not Rated -1920 x1080p (1:33.1)
New musical scores composed and performed by Jon C. Mirsalis
Produced for home video by Jon C. Mirsalis and Ben Model
Associate Producer - Crystal Kui
Films preserved by the Library of Congress
Released by Undercrank Productions / Library of Congress
