Wake (2003) Gale Harold, Martin Landau In the film, "Wake", the fateful reunion of four brothers quickly dissolves into a night of drinking, deceit, perversions, and death. They don't realize until it is too late that the party they are having is, in fact, a wake. Directed by Roy Finch
In DVD/CD sleeves, photo label & 4x6 glossy promo photos as shown. Guaranteed/replaced with same title.
"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." Dr. Seuss
"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." Dr. Seuss
My beloved little cat - from kitten with me in NYC to Texas, 2 years after 9/11. Unconditional love - given and received. Such joy. Such love, with love. I smile through the tears, but mostly smile. She was my friend. 24th May 2011.
Pola Negri Sappho (1921) & Hi Diddle Diddle (1943)
Sappho a/k/a Mad Love (1921) Pola Negri
This melodrama was the last German-made film starring Pola Negri to be released in the United States. By the time it came out, Negri was already at Paramount and creating headlines over her romance with comedian Charles Chaplin.
Her first American-made film, Bella Donna, would be out only a few weeks after this picture hit the theaters. The vampy Liane (Negri) has driven Andreas insane -- literally -- and he is consigned to a sanitarium. His brother Chabot comes to Paris and denounces the wrong woman, but Liane overhears his tirade and, intrigued, decides to make a play for him. He falls for her, and the couple head for a seaside resort; however, they are followed by one of Liane's ex-lovers, the millionaire Bertink, who tells Chabot that she is the one who ruined his brother.
Chabot leaves Liane, but then Andreas escapes from the sanitarium and goes looking for her, and Chabot decides to do the same. They both find her at a carnival ball, where Andreas strangles her to death. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi (1hr22min6sec)
Hi Diddle Diddle (1943) starring Adolphe Menjou, Martha Scott, Dennis O'Keefe, June Havoc, Billie Burke, and (in a rare film appearance) Pola Negri. The film is also known as Diamonds and Crime (American reissue title). Directed by Andrew L. Stone.
2 gems on 1 no-region DVD. In DVD/CD sleeve, photo label and promo photo as shown so you can make your own case. Guaranteed/replaced with same title.
Danton (1921) aka All for a Woman Stars: Emil Jannings, Werner Krauss and Ossip Runitsch The true story of the conflict between Danton and Robespierre, the leaders of the French Revolution.
Director: Dimitri Buchowetzki Writers: Dimitri Buchowetzki (screenplay), Georg Büchner (play) 60 min - Drama - 4 December 1921 (USA) Original Score by Brian Pinette
John Barrymore General Crack (1929) Original Score, Brian Pinette
General Crack is an all-talking historical costume drama originally filmed with Technicolor sequences which was produced by Warner Bros. in 1929 and released early in 1930. The film was directed by Alan Crosland and stars John Barrymore in his first full-length all-talking feature.
The silent version of this film survives but it does not have any color sequences. No prints of the sound version are known to exist. The complete sound-track survives on Vitaphone disks. Unfortunately, the silent version was either a B negative or an alternate take with intertitles. So while this is a valid version, it does not match up with the Vitaphone sound-track at all.
1hr22min., silent; Black & White with Original Music Score by Brian Pinette.
NOTE: This no-region DVD is the silent version with English sub-titles. It has no color sequences.
2 Silent Gems on 1 no-region DVD. In DVD/CD sleeve, photo label and 4x6 color promo photo as shown. Guaranteed, replaced with same title.
Ramon Novarro Red Lily (1924) Road to Singapore (1928) Joan Crawford
The Red Lily (1924) silent drama film starring Ramon Novarro, Enid Bennett and Wallace Beery.
Directed, produced & written by Fred Niblo Release date: 8 September 1924 Running time: 81 minutes
Across to Singapore is a 1928 silent film by director William Nigh starring Ramon Novarro and Joan Crawford. The plot involves a love triangle between a woman and two brothers, set on board ship and in Singapore. The screenplay was written by Ted Shane based on the novel All the Brothers Were Valiant by Ben Ames Williams.
This was the second film based on this novel; the first was All the Brothers Were Valiant (1923, now lost), and it was remade again in 1953 under the title All the Brothers Were Valiant.
Directed & produced by William Nigh Release date: April 30, 1928 Running time: 78 minutes
1 no-region DVD (TCM airing) in DVD/CD sleeve, photo label & 4x6 promo photo as shown. Guaranteed/replaced with same title.
Intl. add $3.00
Paypal - Buyer/Seller protection!
The Flying Fleet (1929) Ramon Novarro 100 min; released 19 January 1929 (USA) Ramon Novarro, Ralph Graves and Anita Page Director: George W. Hill Writers: Frank Wead (story), Byron Morgan (story) Between the Oscar-winning Wings and the Talkies Hell's Angels and The Dawn Patrol came The Flying Fleet, a silent with music and sound effects, noted for its authentic depiction of naval flight training. Ramon Novarro and Ralph Graves portray hopeful flyboys and romantic rivals who fall for the same girl (Anita Page). Frank Wead (the biopic subject of John Wayne's The Wings of Eagles) co-authors the story which is based upon his experiences. 87 min. Silent with music score.
In DVD/CD Sleeve, photo label and promo card as shown to make your own case! Guaranteed/replaced with same title.
Beyond the Door (Italian title: Chi Sei?) is a 1974 Italian horror film directed by Ovidio G. Assonitis (credited as Oliver Hellman) and starring Juliet Mills and Richard Johnson.
Detailing a woman possessed by a demon, Beyond The Door was labeled a rip-off of The Exorcist. Warner Bros. promptly filed a lawsuit, claiming copyright infringement. The lawsuit failed after it was determined Warner Bros. had no rights to key horror scenes depicted in The Exorcist.
The interior shots were filmed on set in Italy at the Incir De Paolis Studios in Rome, while all exteriors were shot on location in San Francisco. Film Ventures International acquired the film for distribution in the United States for $100,000.
This meant Beyond The Door paved the way for several other "Exorcist rip-offs" (many originating in Italy as well) to see successful release in the U.S and elsewhere. Some of these include Abby, The House of Exorcism, L'Anticristo (The Antichrist) and Seytan.
Budget: $350,000.00 - The film became an independent hit, earning an estimated $15 million at the U.S Box Office.
Shock (also known as Schock andBeyond the Door II) is an Italian horror film directed by Italian horror director Mario Bava in 1977. This was Bava's last film before he died of a heart attack in 1980. The film starred Daria Nicolodi, John Steiner, and David Colin, Jr.
For its US release, Film Ventures International decided to rename the film Beyond the Door II, under the guise of it being a "sequel" to Ovidio G. Assonitis's 1974 film Chi sei?, renamed Beyond the Door for US release. The reason for the change was the fact that the two films starred child actor David Colin Jr., as a boy possessed.
In spite of this false re-branding of the film through its renaming, Film Ventures International was quite faithful with its English dubbing of Shock. Lamberto Bava's script was adapted quite faithfully and unlike Lisa and the Devil, did not include any reshoots or omission of footage, making it one of the few films by Mario Bavo to appear in the US intact.
Mastered from 16mm theatrical release prints with no digital enhancements. Includes original theatrical and TV trailers. Complete/un-cut no-region DVD in DVD/CD sleeve, photo label & 4x6 glossy promo photo as shown.
Irene (1926) Colleen Moore A romantic comedy film starring Colleen Moore, and partially shot in Technicolor. The technicolor scene (fashion show) does not survive in its entirety.
Irene was directed by Alfred E. Green and based on the play Irene O'Dare written by James Montgomery. As reported in the book and documentary film The Celluloid Closet, actor George K. Arthur plays a flamboyant gay man in the film named "Madame Lucy".
Distributed by First National Pictures Release date: February 21, 1926 Running time: 90 min
Twinkletoes (1926) Colleen Moore
Cast: Colleen Moore [Twinkletoes], Kenneth Harlan [Chuck Lightfoot], Tully Marshall [Dad Minasi] ... Director: Charles Brabin ... Released by First National Pictures ... Scenario by Winnifred Dunn, from the novel Twinkletoes, a Tale of Chinatown by Thomas Burke (same author of "Broken Blossoms").
Comedy construction by Mervyn LeRoy. Cinematography by James C. Van Trees.
Released 28 November 1926.
No-region DVD in DVD/CD sleeve, photo label & 4x6 glossy promo photo as shown. Guaranteed, replaced with same title.
J.B. Warner in Big Stakes (1922) & Arizona Days (1928) Bob Custer
Big Stakes (1922) J.B. Warner
"In BIG STAKES Elinor Fair, the proud Castillian daughter of Don Enrico, master of a large Mexican rancho, is betrothed to the Commandante of Sonora, Mexico, Capitan Robert H. Gray, but she shows a romantic interest in devil-may-care Americano J. B. Warner who is not taking life too seriously until he meets Fair.
Infuriated with Fair’s interest in Warner, Gray has Warner and his tubby comedic sidekick, H. S. Karr, captured and brought to Sonora. Gambling for his life, Warner challenges Gray to a deadly contest with the victor winning Fair and the loser forfeiting his life to the bite of a poisonous Gila Monster. A secondary plot has an American enemy of Warner’s, bullying Les Bates, leading a band of Klan-like night-raiding marauders.
To wreak vengeance on Warner, Bates has captured an American girl, Wilamae Carson (who is also fond of Warner), in order to lure Warner into a revengeful trap. There are several surprises, and big stakes, in order before it’s over.
Talented producer/director Clifford S. (Sanford) Elfelt, born February 15, 1890, in Chicago, Illinois, was a former cigar salesman and operator of a movie exchange who became a director at Universal in 1916 and Fox in 1917. It is Elfelt who spotted Warner when the cowboy made several two reelers at Universal, saw great potential in him and signed him to star in features for Elfelt’s East Coast Productions. (Incidentally, Elfelt cast his former wife, minor actress June La Vere [real name Gladys Elfelt], in Warner’s DANGER in ‘23.)
When Warner then signed with Sunset, Elfelt hooked up with fledging Davis Productions to produce Ken Maynard’s first westerns (including $50,000 REWARD. DEMON RIDER, etc.). Unfortunately, Davis floundered and Elfelt went bankrupt. He left films altogether in 1926 after directing Bill Patton in UNDER FIRE for Davis. (Thanks to Evy Patrick for early years research.)
James B. Warner was born in Chadron, Nebraska. His father was William H. Tobias but J. B. was raised by his mother’s parents whose name was Warner. J. B. legally changed his name to Warner, considering his grandparents his father and mother. He was not the brother of film star H. B. Warner as is often reported. J. B. entered the Army in 1917 and was discharged as a Corporal two years later. It was then he came to the attention of Universal, probably at first as a riding extra." Boyd Magers
Warner's career remains a "What if", as the handsome young actor never did mature into one of the "wax works" of the silent era his brother H.B. played in Billy Wilder's 1950 Hollywood classic, Sunset Blvd. (1950). Not yet 30, J.B. died on November 9, 1924, in Los Angeles, California, from tuberculosis.
AND
Arizona Days (1928) Bob Custer, cowboy star of the 1920s and '30s, fights rustlers and saves the heroine from a Fate Worse Than Death in this typical B western from the last days of the silent era. Directed and co-starring J.P. McGowan, sadly overlooked personality who was actively involved in movies from their dawn until his death in the '50s.
Bob Custer, Peggy Montgomery, J.P. McGowan
Bob Custer stars in this rare silent western. Pretending to join a gang of rustlers in exchange for the protection of his herd, a rancher is really a spy for the cattlemen's association.
When Bob comes along on a similar mission, the rancher's daughter mistakes him for one of the gang. She soon changes her mind when Bob rescues her father and goes after the leader of the gang.
Two little gems on one no-region DVD. In DVD/CD sleeve, photo label and 4x6 promo photo as shown.
The False Faces (1919) Lon Chaney, Sr., Henry B. Walthall
During World War I, a professional thief known as The Lone Wolf is assigned to steal a cylinder with important information from behind the German lines and bring it to Allied intelligence headquarters. However, German agents set out to stop him, headed by the man who was responsible for the death of the thief's sister.
Directed by Irvin Willat Produced by Thomas H. Ince Written by Louis Joseph Vance, Irvin Willat Cinematography Paul Eagler, Edwin W. Willat Editing by W. Duncan Mansfield Distributed by Paramount Pictures Release date: 16 February 1919 Running time: 97 minutes A print of the film survives at George Eastman House. On August 31, 2009 the film made it to DVD for the first time.
Nomads of the North (1920) A Canadian Mountie allows an innocent fugitive to escape with the woman he loves. Starring Lon Chaney Sr., Betty Blythe, Lewis Stone, Melbourne MacDowell Directed & written by David Hartford, Novel: James Oliver Curwood Produced by James Oliver Curwood, Hal Roach Cinematography Walter L. Griffin Distributed by Associated First National Pictures, Inc. Release date: October 11, 1920 Running time: 109 min
His Picture in the Papers (1916) Douglas Fairbanks as Pete Prindle Clarence Handyside as Proteus Prindle Rene Boucicault as Pansy Prindle Jean Temple as Pearl Prindle Charles Butler as Cassius Cadwalader Loretta Blake as Christine Cadwalader Homer Hunt as Melville Helena Rupport as Olga
Directed & written by John Emerson, Anita Loos (writer) Cinematography, George W. Hill Release date: 13 February 1916 Running time: 62 minutes
No-region DVDs in DVD/CD Sleeves, photo label & 4x6 glossy promo photo as shown. Guaranteed, replaced with same title.
