MK2 King in NY / Woman of Paris DVD

REVIEW

Well, it was "buy one get one free" time at Columbia House, so I
figured I'd pick up the MK2 DVD of "A King in New York" / "A Woman of
Paris," the one MK2 DVD left that I hadn't felt any burning desire to
spend money on.

Like the other MK2 DVDs, this sports some of the worst extras in the
history of the format. Scenes which had been cut for reissue and
restored in the previous Image DVDs (thanks to David Shepard) are once
again cut here, and offered as extras, with no context, explanation or
order. Thank God the people who found the censored King Kong footage
weren't members of Association Chaplin, or we'd be watching Kong pick
off Fay Wray's clothing somewhere on the extras of disc two, right next
to the 35 minute documentary on "Protecting Wild Gorillas," trailers
from Yugoslavia, commentary by Hao Hsiao Hsien, and some guy, speaking
in French, explaining that the filmmakers originally intended to use
the Eiffel Tower instead of the Empire State Building, but that it's
better as it is because it shows the Americans as the brutal,
murderous, anti-big-gorilla thugs the entire world knows they are.

I'm barely exaggerating. Jim Jarmusch's comments on "King" amount to
little more than "America schtunk!" and he goes out of his way several
times to point out how much he agrees with Boy Michael's scripted
ravings. Speaking of Michael, it was excruciating even to watch
excerpts of his scenes in the documentary. Anyone remember Bobby Blake
in those MGM "Our Gang" episodes? Well, Michael's even worse. Everytime
I watch "King" (which, admittedly, isn't exactly often) I make a
bee-line for the "off" button at the point the kid appears in the film.
Now I remember why.

What also annoyed me in the documentary is the clear implication that
"King" failed because some evil McCarthyite cabal was intent on keeping
Chaplin's brilliant condemnation of the evils of Capitalism from the
American public. "It was only released in America 15 years later... and
then cut by 10 minutes..." Of course, they fail to mention that those
cuts were things like the musical number - hardly something to have
given American censors fits - and that the film might actually have
failed because it isn't very good.

They also fail to recognize the irony of their own images of Chaplin
working on his great screed on the evils of Capitalism, while
comfortably lounging on the lawn of his mansion, splitting his
attention between scrawling pages of cliche leftist propaganda, and the
crows that are messing up his manicured lawn.

As for "A Woman of Paris" - well, I watch that one even less than "A
King In New York." Not that it's a bad film - in fact, I thought it was
quite a good film - but these days I give it about as much time in my
life as any other silent melodrama (which means none). I also find it
difficult to escape my grudge against the film for existing at all -
for if it didn't, I can't help thinking that the world would have one
more Tramp film, and one less Edna Purviance vehicle - a trade-off, I
think, that any of us would gladly make.

The primary "extra" for "Woman" is Ralph Barton's 33 minute home movie
"Camille," which makes "Nice and Friendly" look like "Citizen Kane".
Except for the few moments where Chaplin appears, I can't imagine this
bloated home movie being of interest to anyone. A far better choice
would have been the unedited 12 minutes of Reel 8, which contains the
"City Lights" rehearsal footage (among other shots of Charlie) which
was used in "Unknown Chaplin" (of course, this would have made an even
BETTER extra for the "City Lights" DVD, but it's not there EITHER).

On the plus side, the "King In New York" disc contains what is
evidently the unedited (?) 3 minute short (a newsreel?) of Chaplin
conducting "Mandolin Serenade". While this has been excerpted
elsewhere, it's nice to see it here in the original context. See? I
found something nice to say.

Final thoughts:

Here's an idea for Assocation C. - ditch the lousy extras and reduce
all of the MK2 catalog to one disc per title, putting the "deleted
scenes" back where they belong. Replace the narrated "Gold Rush" with
the real thing, and forget about "A Woman of Paris" entirely. If you
have any room left, include what extras are really worth anyone's
attention (like the "Dictator" home movies), and put the original
version of "Shoulder Arms" on there, too - just to give us film wonks
SOME reason to purchase the whole thing a 3rd (or 4th) time. Then
package the DVDs in slim-line double cases, just like the 10 DVD Jerry
Lewis set, put them out there for $39.95 list, and get the thing into
Walmart.

Doug Sulpy (KidAutoRaces@Venice.net) writes:
> REVIEW
>
> Well, it was "buy one get one free" time at Columbia House, so I
> figured I'd pick up the MK2 DVD of "A King in New York" / "A Woman of
> Paris," the one MK2 DVD left that I hadn't felt any burning desire to
> spend money on.
>
> Like the other MK2 DVDs, this sports some of the worst extras in the
> history of the format. Scenes which had been cut for reissue and
> restored in the previous Image DVDs (thanks to David Shepard) are once
> again cut here, and offered as extras, with no context, explanation or
> order. Thank God the people who found the censored King Kong footage
> weren't members of Association Chaplin, or we'd be watching Kong pick
> off Fay Wray's clothing somewhere on the extras of disc two, right next
> to the 35 minute documentary on "Protecting Wild Gorillas," trailers
> from Yugoslavia, commentary by Hao Hsiao Hsien, and some guy, speaking
> in French, explaining that the filmmakers originally intended to use
> the Eiffel Tower instead of the Empire State Building, but that it's
> better as it is because it shows the Americans as the brutal,
> murderous, anti-big-gorilla thugs the entire world knows they are.
>
> I'm barely exaggerating. Jim Jarmusch's comments on "King" amount to
> little more than "America schtunk!" and he goes out of his way several
> times to point out how much he agrees with Boy Michael's scripted
> ravings.

Somehow I didn't get that impression. Jarmusch says that New York is
"all about money." My son lives and works there, as does Jarmusch,
and I can't think of a more accurate assessment.

Speaking of Michael, it was excruciating even to watch
> excerpts of his scenes in the documentary. Anyone remember Bobby Blake
> in those MGM "Our Gang" episodes? Well, Michael's even worse. Everytime
> I watch "King" (which, admittedly, isn't exactly often) I make a
> bee-line for the "off" button at the point the kid appears in the film.
> Now I remember why.
>
> What also annoyed me in the documentary is the clear implication that
> "King" failed because some evil McCarthyite cabal was intent on keeping
> Chaplin's brilliant condemnation of the evils of Capitalism from the
> American public. "It was only released in America 15 years later... and
> then cut by 10 minutes..." Of course, they fail to mention that those
> cuts were things like the musical number - hardly something to have
> given American censors fits - and that the film might actually have
> failed because it isn't very good.

Well, realistically, admitting that the film isn't very good might
raise the question of why one should bother to watch it. How many DVDs
have you bought which include negative comments about the film?

> They also fail to recognize the irony of their own images of Chaplin
> working on his great screed on the evils of Capitalism, while
> comfortably lounging on the lawn of his mansion, splitting his
> attention between scrawling pages of cliche leftist propaganda, and the
> crows that are messing up his manicured lawn.

_King_ is not about the evils of caplitalism. It's about greed and the
kind of cultural decadence that ensues when making money is all people
think or care about.

Chaplin liked making money and living well, but it was hardly the only
thing he thought or cared about.

Isn't there also irony in the fact that Chaplin became a multimillionaire
by playing a tramp? But you don't seem to mind the Tramp.

> As for "A Woman of Paris" - well, I watch that one even less than "A
> King In New York." Not that it's a bad film - in fact, I thought it was
> quite a good film - but these days I give it about as much time in my
> life as any other silent melodrama (which means none). I also find it
> difficult to escape my grudge against the film for existing at all -
> for if it didn't, I can't help thinking that the world would have one
> more Tramp film, and one less Edna Purviance vehicle - a trade-off, I
> think, that any of us would gladly make.
>
> The primary "extra" for "Woman" is Ralph Barton's 33 minute home movie
> "Camille," which makes "Nice and Friendly" look like "Citizen Kane".
> Except for the few moments where Chaplin appears, I can't imagine this
> bloated home movie being of interest to anyone. A far better choice
> would have been the unedited 12 minutes of Reel 8, which contains the
> "City Lights" rehearsal footage (among other shots of Charlie) which
> was used in "Unknown Chaplin" (of course, this would have made an even
> BETTER extra for the "City Lights" DVD, but it's not there EITHER).

The _City Lights_ disk contains 8 minutes of Barton's footage, some of which
is quite interesting, and most of which is not all that exciting. It was
interesting to me because it indicated how well excerpts were selected for
_Unknown Chaplin_.


> On the plus side, the "King In New York" disc contains what is
> evidently the unedited (?) 3 minute short (a newsreel?) of Chaplin
> conducting "Mandolin Serenade". While this has been excerpted
> elsewhere, it's nice to see it here in the original context. See? I
> found something nice to say.
>
> Final thoughts:
>
> Here's an idea for Assocation C. - ditch the lousy extras and reduce
> all of the MK2 catalog to one disc per title, putting the "deleted
> scenes" back where they belong. Replace the narrated "Gold Rush" with
> the real thing, and forget about "A Woman of Paris" entirely. If you
> have any room left, include what extras are really worth anyone's
> attention (like the "Dictator" home movies), and put the original
> version of "Shoulder Arms" on there, too - just to give us film wonks
> SOME reason to purchase the whole thing a 3rd (or 4th) time. Then
> package the DVDs in slim-line double cases, just like the 10 DVD Jerry
> Lewis set, put them out there for $39.95 list, and get the thing into
> Walmart.

Doing these things would greatly reduce the informational value of the
set. Even that horrible Barton home movie tells me something.

Connie K.