Charlie Chaplin - 57 Classics DVD

This 6 DVD set comes from Brentwood, and sells for very little (mine
cost $11.98, shipping included!). It's BARELY worth it. All of the
shorts are the commonly available PD prints (see: Madacy), although in
this case a lot of them have been brightened, so they look even WORSE
than previous low budget issues. The First Nationals are not from the
PD 16mm sources from the original issues, but are simply copies of the
latter day "restorations."

The set DOES include the 2 part "Chaplin Puzzle," however, which is why
I bought it, and I'm happy to report that the quality on this disc is
fine (too bad it comes in a generic white envelope tossed in with the
other discs).

I'd never watched "Puzzle" before, and it turns out to be quite a nice
little documentary about Charlie's early films and character
development. This falls apart a little in the second half, as the
delusional "restoration" of a mythical 3-reel "Police" is presented -
but what it loses in conceptual silliness it makes up for by the fact
that it contains some footage from "Police" lacking on the Image DVD.

D.

"Doug Sulpy" wrote in message

> This 6 DVD set comes from Brentwood, and sells for very little (mine
> cost $11.98, shipping included!). It's BARELY worth it. All of the
> shorts are the commonly available PD prints (see: Madacy), although in
> this case a lot of them have been brightened, so they look even WORSE
> than previous low budget issues. The First Nationals are not from the
> PD 16mm sources from the original issues, but are simply copies of the
> latter day "restorations."

Were the First Nationals lifted from old 16mm prints of the Chaplin
"restorations", or do you think they were simply copied from the Image or
MK2 DVDs?

Derek