New Keaton DVDs?

The new Image DVD with both The General and Steamboat Bill Jr. will
include newly recorded scores by Alloy Orchestra. The General is
completely new, written and recorded this spring (and soon to be
performed live). Steamboat Bill is an older score of ours, recorded
for the first time for this release.

The film material, from what I understand, is derived from the same
sources as the Kino releases but has been remastered and should look a
little better than before.

Both films are included on one DVD and will be on the streets in
October.

Alloy will be performing their new score for the General extensively
this fall in:

Telluride CO
Brandeis University (Waltham MA)
Baltimore
Sutton's Bay MI
Detroit
Chicago
St. Louis
Kansas City
Decatur Il
Cleveland
Pittsburgh
Concord NH
Northampton MA
Peekskill NY
Tucson
and hopefully San Diego

The dates and times are not posted yet, but soon, details will be
available at alloyorchestra.com


Ken Winokur
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alloyorchestra.TakeThisOut@earthlink.net (Ken Winokur) writes:

>The new Image DVD with both
> The General and Steamboat Bill Jr.
> will include newly recorded scores
> by Alloy Orchestra.

What *I'd* like to see is the Carl Davis score for the old HBO Video VHS
release put out on DVD.

But you can't have too much Buster...


Tom Moran

"The people can always be brought to the bidding
of the leaders...All you have to do is to tell them
they are being attacked, and denounce the
pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the
country to danger."

Hermann Goering
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feuillade.DeleteThis@aol.com (Feuillade) wrote in message news:<20030813090257.05032.00001326.DeleteThis@mb-m26.aol.com>...
> alloyorchestra.DeleteThis@earthlink.net (Ken Winokur) writes:
>
> >The new Image DVD with both
> > The General and Steamboat Bill Jr.
> > will include newly recorded scores
> > by Alloy Orchestra.
>
> What *I'd* like to see is the Carl Davis score for the old HBO Video VHS
> release put out on DVD.


AND I thought the B&W print for that was a hair better than the
sepiatoned one in the Kino set (at least it's what was on the
laserdisc set). Although now we're talking fine gradations versus
other PD editions that were much, much worse.
 >> Stay informed about: New Keaton DVDs? 

> What *I'd* like to see is the Carl Davis score for the old HBO Video VHS
> release put out on DVD.
Yes! The General is the only movie I bought on DVD in which I've kept my
laserdisc copy--primarily for that great Davis score.

Lincoln
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> AND I thought the B&W print for that was a hair better than the
> sepiatoned one in the Kino set (at least it's what was on the
> laserdisc set). Although now we're talking fine gradations versus
> other PD editions that were much, much worse.
I go back and forth on this. I can see a bit more detail on the HBO LD, but
more is cropped off the sides. At least one joke (the watertower gag where
the girl is soaked) is hurt by what's lost on the edge of the frame.

Lincoln
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"Lincoln Spector" <Notreally.DeleteThis@myemailaddress.com> wrote in message news:<P1y_a.437$ym4.46952600@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com>...
> > What *I'd* like to see is the Carl Davis score for the old HBO Video VHS
> > release put out on DVD.
> Yes! The General is the only movie I bought on DVD in which I've kept my
> laserdisc copy--primarily for that great Davis score.
>
> Lincoln

Oh god yes. That Davis score has melded itself to "The General" in my
mind, ever since I rented the Thames tape from my local library. I
don't think I could enjoy "The General" properly without it.

Erica
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<< Oh god yes. That Davis score has melded itself to "The General" in my
mind, ever since I rented the Thames tape from my local library. I
don't think I could enjoy "The General" properly without it. >>

Well, folks, I suggest you not dismiss the Alloy scores to THE GENERAL and
STEAMBOAT BILL before you hear them. I think they lift the already great films
much higher, and everyone who worked on the project with me at Image also
thought they were really wonderful. Without expressing a negative thought about
any of the earlier scores, including those I produced, I've gotta say that
Alloy's is the only sound I'll use when I show these films in the forseeable
future.

I feel the same enthusiasm about the Alloy scores on our DVD SLAPSTICK MASTERS.


No, I'm not passionate about everything Alloy has done. I'm reminded of a
letter Lubitsch wrote to a critic who said that his late work wasn't as good as
his films of years before. Lubitsch agreed with the assessment but pointed out
that if everything had attained the same level of quality, then all of it could
be dismissed as mediocre! Not everything by Alloy is mediocre. These two
comedy DVDs (IMHO) are terrific.

Improved video technology hasn't hurt the image quality, either.

David Shepard
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dshepfilm.DeleteThis@aol.com (DShepFilm) wrote in message news:<20030814132740.01007.00001005.DeleteThis@mb-m22.aol.com>...
> << Oh god yes. That Davis score has melded itself to "The General" in my
> mind, ever since I rented the Thames tape from my local library. I
> don't think I could enjoy "The General" properly without it. >>
>
> Well, folks, I suggest you not dismiss the Alloy scores to THE GENERAL and
> STEAMBOAT BILL before you hear them. I think they lift the already great films
> much higher, and everyone who worked on the project with me at Image also
> thought they were really wonderful. Without expressing a negative thought about
> any of the earlier scores, including those I produced, I've gotta say that
> Alloy's is the only sound I'll use when I show these films in the forseeable
> future.
>
> I feel the same enthusiasm about the Alloy scores on our DVD SLAPSTICK MASTERS.
>
>
> No, I'm not passionate about everything Alloy has done. I'm reminded of a
> letter Lubitsch wrote to a critic who said that his late work wasn't as good as
> his films of years before. Lubitsch agreed with the assessment but pointed out
> that if everything had attained the same level of quality, then all of it could
> be dismissed as mediocre! Not everything by Alloy is mediocre. These two
> comedy DVDs (IMHO) are terrific.
>
> Improved video technology hasn't hurt the image quality, either.
>
> David Shepard

Anythings better than the Clubfoot score for Sherlock Jr. I've heard a
bit about
Alloy, some good, some bad. I wouldn't dismiss them out of hand, but
as much as I love the Davis, Alloy would have to be pretty darn good
to dislodge that score from my heart.
 >> Stay informed about: New Keaton DVDs? 

> Oh god yes. That Davis score has melded itself to "The General" in my
> mind, ever since I rented the Thames tape from my local library. I
> don't think I could enjoy "The General" properly without it.
Which brings up an inherent problem with silent films on video: The scores
become fixed in our minds so that we think of them as part of the original
film. This can close our minds to one of the delights of silents: They can
always be reinterpreted by a new composer.

Of course, you can have more than one musical track on a DVD, but it's
apparently not financially practical to do that very often. But I'm very
happy with my Nosferato DVD with two different musical tracks.

Lincoln
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"DShepFilm" <dshepfilm DeleteThis @aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030814132740.01007.00001005@mb-m22.aol.com...
> << Oh god yes. That Davis score has melded itself to "The General" in my
> mind, ever since I rented the Thames tape from my local library. I
> don't think I could enjoy "The General" properly without it. >>
>
> Well, folks, I suggest you not dismiss the Alloy scores to THE GENERAL and
> STEAMBOAT BILL before you hear them. I think they lift the already great
films
> much higher, and everyone who worked on the project with me at Image also
> thought they were really wonderful. Without expressing a negative thought
about
> any of the earlier scores, including those I produced, I've gotta say
that
> Alloy's is the only sound I'll use when I show these films in the
forseeable
> future.
Great, but how many copies of The General can I justify owning?

Lincoln
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"Lincoln Spector" <Notreally.RemoveThis@myemailaddress.com> wrote in message
news:bhS_a.1624$ah3.50988078@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com...
> > Alloy's is the only sound I'll use when I show these films in the
> forseeable
> > future.
> Great, but how many copies of The General can I justify owning?
>
> Lincoln


??? You have to justify owning them?

Frederica
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"DShepFilm" <dshepfilm.RemoveThis@aol.com> wrote

> I feel the same enthusiasm about the Alloy scores on our DVD SLAPSTICK
MASTERS.

Those are a real treat, love that disc -- in particular, finally a BIG
BUSINESS score that does justice to the anarchy of the film! (I liked it to
begin with on the respective Alloy CD and have tried to synch it up to the
'Lost Films' version before; and yes, the fellow Mutual perfectionists
hopefully will all get this release too because of EASY STREET --- that
alone is worth it). But it was ONE WEEK and CHOO-CHOOS that made me even
more curious about the upcoming Keaton release. In fact, in writing a piece
for a German film club, I just pointed out that it's the train chase segment
that makes me look forward very much to the hurricane finale of BILL and the
chase sequences of GENERAL. I'm still curious though how they'll handle the
more subtle aspects of those features, but your enthusiasm, David, makes me
even more eager to have the fun of making up my own mind!

Uli
(just back home very late .. or early? .. from the Bonner Sommerkino)
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Erica wrote:
>
>
> Anythings better than the Clubfoot score for Sherlock Jr. I've heard a
> bit about
> Alloy, some good, some bad. I wouldn't dismiss them out of hand, but
> as much as I love the Davis, Alloy would have to be pretty darn good
> to dislodge that score from my heart.


Any chance of Sherlock Jr. being redone with a decent soundtrack?
 >> Stay informed about: New Keaton DVDs?