First review I've seen of "Chaplin at Keystone"

Find out about the latest releases and exhibition of classic films.
Chris Seguin

First review I've seen of "Chaplin at Keystone"

Postby Chris Seguin » Sun Oct 17, 2010 1:33 pm

Sounds fantastic; packaging and frame grabs look amazing...but no word on the big question: film speed:

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/dvd_revi ... ystone.htm

Rob Farr
Godfather
Posts: 489
Joined: Fri May 29, 2009 12:00 pm
Location: Our Nation's Capitol

Re: First review I've seen of "Chaplin at Keystone"

Postby Rob Farr » Sun Oct 17, 2010 9:22 pm

Cue the ominous chords. Look at the running times to the right of the bitrate charts. The Knockout clocks in at half an hour, as does Dough and Dynamite. 85 minutes for Tillie, but that was expected since the Alloy score was timed for that speed. Most of the one-reelers come in at 12-15 minutes. Our only hope is that these times include loooong Blackhawk intro cards.
Rob Farr
"If it's not comedy, I fall asleep" - Harpo Marx

Richard M Roberts
Godfather
Posts: 2895
Joined: Sun May 31, 2009 6:30 pm

Re: First review I've seen of "Chaplin at Keystone"

Postby Richard M Roberts » Sun Oct 17, 2010 11:02 pm

Rob Farr wrote:Cue the ominous chords. Look at the running times to the right of the bitrate charts. The Knockout clocks in at half an hour, as does Dough and Dynamite. 85 minutes for Tillie, but that was expected since the Alloy score was timed for that speed. Most of the one-reelers come in at 12-15 minutes. Our only hope is that these times include loooong Blackhawk intro cards.


Yep, this is spelling "Comedy Killing Shepard Slo-Mo" to me as well.

So it will really be TWENTY MINUTES OF LOVE

RICHARD M ROBERTS

Steve Massa
Capo
Posts: 262
Joined: Sun May 31, 2009 10:55 pm

Re: First review I've seen of "Chaplin at Keystone"

Postby Steve Massa » Sun Oct 17, 2010 11:14 pm

Looks like Slo-Mo Shepard crawls again.

Gary Johnson
Cugine
Posts: 656
Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2009 4:15 am
Location: Sonoma, CA
Contact:

Re: First review I've seen of "Chaplin at Keystone"

Postby Gary Johnson » Mon Oct 18, 2010 10:39 pm

Maybe the Keystones could stand a little slowing down.

All of Chaplin's little tics and mannerisms that he said he was always trying to sneak into these films have
been lost through the generations of blurred, random violence involving scratchy sped-up stomach kicks.

I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Gary J.

Joe Migliore
Cugine
Posts: 194
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:57 pm

Re: First review I've seen of "Chaplin at Keystone"

Postby Joe Migliore » Thu Oct 21, 2010 3:01 pm

I'm just looking forward to being able to follow the action in these films. We've all spent our formative years watching muddy dupes of these titles, re-edited for countless reissues, often rendering them incoherent. I don't mean to sound like a girl's blouse, but I'm excited.

Jim Kerkhoff
Capo
Posts: 64
Joined: Sun Jun 07, 2009 11:59 am

Re: First review I've seen of "Chaplin at Keystone"

Postby Jim Kerkhoff » Thu Oct 21, 2010 7:13 pm

Just received my pre-ordered Chaplin set today and have done a quick look-see at the contents. The films are indeed run at a slower speed. But it doesn't bug me that much since it's such a pleasure to see decent prints of these formative comedies. I've been collecting since I was in high school, back in the good old 8mm days. It still boggles my mind that I can have virtually all of Chaplin's Keystone output in such pristine quality for what I paid for this set. It's totally worth every cent!

Jim K

Michael J Hayde
Associate
Posts: 95
Joined: Fri Jun 05, 2009 10:33 pm

Re: First review I've seen of "Chaplin at Keystone"

Postby Michael J Hayde » Fri Oct 22, 2010 12:08 pm

Richard M Roberts wrote:Yep, this is spelling "Comedy Killing Shepard Slo-Mo" to me as well.

So it will really be TWENTY MINUTES OF LOVE

RICHARD M ROBERTS


Sadly, you're right. I just watched GETTING ACQUAINTED and, to these eyes, the action seems even slower than the Image ESSANAY set.

On the plus side, the mini-docs, especially John Bengston's, are delightful. And of course the restoration work is wonderful. But it looks like it's gonna be a chore to slog through these films, if the one I did watch is any indication. DOUGH AND DYNAMITE at 28 minutes, 29 seconds? I don't think the Syd Chaplin-intertitled abomination ran that long!

Michael

Ben Model
Capo
Posts: 26
Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 10:51 pm

Re: First review I've seen of "Chaplin at Keystone"

Postby Ben Model » Fri Oct 22, 2010 2:06 pm

The current release of VLC includes the option to play back DVDs at 1.5x speed. Motion is smooth. I have a Pioneer DVD player (DV200, from last year) that goes at 1.4x with audio, and then 2x, 4x etc without audio and wonder if there are other players out there with this feature. Great for watching silents on DVD when you're not wild about the transfer speed.

Rob Farr
Godfather
Posts: 489
Joined: Fri May 29, 2009 12:00 pm
Location: Our Nation's Capitol

Re: First review I've seen of "Chaplin at Keystone"

Postby Rob Farr » Fri Oct 22, 2010 3:29 pm

Sounds like there might be a market for Ben Model Alt Scores timed for 1.5x speed. Don't forget we need a score for 1.5x Tillie too!
Rob Farr
"If it's not comedy, I fall asleep" - Harpo Marx


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 30 guests