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Early Women
Filmmakers:
An International
Anthology
(1902-1943)

Contents: Les Chiens savants (1902), Une Histoire roulante (1906), La Barricade (1907), Falling Leaves (1912), The Making of an American Citizen (1912), The Girl in the Arm-Chair (1912), Suspense (1913), Mabel’s Strange Predicament (1914), Discontent (1916), The Star Prince (1918), La Cigarette (1919), The Blot (1921), La souriante Madame Beudet (1922), Baby Riazanskie [The Peasant Women of Ryazan] (1927), Le Roi des aulnes (1929), Harlequin (1931), A Night on Bald Mountain (1933), The Stolen Heart (1934), The Woman Condemned (1934), Papageno (1935), Day of Freedom (1935), Parabola (1937), Spook Sport (1939), Dance, Girl, Dance [excerpt] (1940) and Meshes of the Afternoon (1943).

Flicker Alley
2017 Blu-ray Disc / DVD edition

Early Women Filmmakers: An International Anthology (1902-1943), black & white, 652 minutes total, not rated,
including Les Chiens savants (1902), black & white, 5 minutes, not rated, Une Histoire roulante (1906), black & white and color-tinted black & white, 3 minutes, not rated, La Barricade (1907), black & white and color-tinted black & white, 6 minutes, not rated, Falling Leaves (1912), black & white and color-tinted black & white, 14 minutes, not rated, The Making of an American Citizen (1912), black & white, 14 minutes, not rated, The Girl in the Arm-Chair (1912), black & white, 13 minutes, not rated, Suspense (1913), black & white, 10 minutes, not rated, Mabel’s Strange Predicament (1914), black & white, 12 minutes, not rated, Discontent (1916), black & white, 25 minutes, not rated, The Star Prince (1918), black & white, 58 minutes, not rated, La Cigarette (1919), black & white, 50 minutes, not rated, The Blot (1921), black & white, 94 minutes, not rated, La souriante Madame Beudet (1922), black & white, 43 minutes, not rated, Baby Riazanskie [The Peasant Women of Ryazan] (1927), black & white, 88 minutes, not rated, Le Roi des aulnes (1929), black & white, 45 minutes, not rated, Harlequin (1931), black & white, 25 minutes, not rated, A Night on Bald Mountain (1933), black & white, 9 minutes, not rated, The Stolen Heart (1934), black & white, 10 minutes, not rated, The Woman Condemned (1934), black & white, 64 minutes, not rated, Papageno (1935), black & white, 11 minutes, not rated, Day of Freedom (1935), black & white, 17 minutes, not rated, Parabola (1937), black & white, 8 minutes, not rated, Spook Sport (1939), black & white, 8 minutes, not rated, Dance, Girl, Dance [excerpt] (1940), black & white, 4 minutes, not rated, and Meshes of the Afternoon (1943), black & white, 14 minutes, not rated.

Flicker Alley, FA0052, UPC 6-17311-68529-3.
Three single-sided, dual-layered, Region A Blu-ray Discs, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) progressive scan AVC (MPEG-4) format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, DTS-HD Master Audio? 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops; and three single-sided, dual-layered, Region 1 NTSC DVD discs, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; chapter stops; two standard three-disc BD keepcases in cardboard slipcase; $69.99.
Release date: 9 May 2017.
Country of origin: USA

This six-disc, dual-format Blu-ray Disc / DVD collection has been mastered from 35mm print elements, primarily from the Blackhawk Films and Lobster Films collections, and features more than 10 hours of content. The collection, produced for home video by David Shepard, Serge Bromberg, Jeffery Masino and Joshua Morrison, contains 25 silent and sound films, with seven of them being feature-length films.

Alice Guy’s Les Chiens savants (1902) (also known as Miss Dundee and Her Performing Dogs) has been transferred at a natural pace from a 35mm print from the Blackhawk Films collection which was struck from a negative with emulsion pinholes, producing a very-good picture but with a distracting number of black specks (negative pinholes). Music by Frederick Hodges.

Une Histoire roulante (1906) has been transferred from an excellent but worn 35mm print from the Blackhawk Films collection, with fine filmbase scratches, dust, schmutz and emulsion chipping, and some frame instability. The Blu-ray Disc image is excellent. Music by Frederick Hodges.

La Barricade (1907) has been transferred from an excellent 35mm print from the Blackhawk Films collection, with dust, speckling, schmutz and emulsion scraping. Music by Frederick Hodges.

Falling Leaves (1912) has been transferred from a very-good 35mm print, with a number of splices, a little speckling and dust, and some mild print warping. Music by Tamar Muskal.

For review information on other films in this collection, see our The Blot on home video, La Cigarette on home video, Mabel’s Strange Predicament on home video, The Peasant Women of Ryazan on home video, La souriante Madame Beudet on home video, The Star Prince on home video and Suspense on home video pages.

The films are accompanied by music scores by Sergei Dreznin, Frederick Hodges, Tamar Muskal, Judith Rosenberg, and Rodney Sauer with the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra.

The collection’s supplementary material includes audio commentary for The Blot by author and professor Shelley Stamp, and a booklet essay by film historian and Women Film Pioneers Project Manager Kate Saccone.

While several of these films have appeared in earlier home video editions, the appeal of this collection will be the retrospective context of the collection and the updated, high-definition video transfers. A highly recommended collection.

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