Edison: the invention of the movies...whose getting it
 

Kino did it again. This one looks like a must for cinema history collector's. I'll post a pic when i get it....any reviews yet? I know some people have this one already.


Edison: The Invention Of The Movies
LIST: $99.95
Release Date: 2-1-2005
Studio: Kino Video
Disk Count: 4

An Interactive History of the Edison Company and the Invention of the Motion Picture An unprecedented collection from Kino International and the Film/Media Department of The Museum of Modern Art together with the Library of Congress.

Beginning in 1888, Thomas Edison's laboratory was responsible for the invention of the Kinetograph (a motion picture camera) and the Kinetoscope (A peep-hole motion picture viewer). This exhaustive collection includes 140 complete Edison Company films, restored and newly mastered for DVD with all new musical scores.

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Kino on Video is proud to announce the release of a four-disc box set named EDISON: THE INVENTION OF THE MOVIES, made possible by an unprecedented collaboration between The Museum of Modern Art and Kino International, the leading distributor of silent and early cinema on DVD. This groundbreaking box set comes chiefly from the extensive Edison collection of the Department of Film and Media at The Museum of Modern Art, in New York, with additional footage provided by the Library of Congress, and includes over 140 films produced by the Edison Company between 1891 and 1918. Prior to this release, the majority of these films have been unavailable for viewing in a high-quality format except for 35MM projections at The Museum of Modern Art in New York and Library of Congress in Washington DC.

In addition to the original motion pictures themselves, EDISON: THE INVENTION OF THE MOVIES brings two hours of interviews with seven Edison and silent cinema scholars and over 200 scans of rare photographs, scripts, promotional pamphlets and internal correspondence by the Edison staff. These interviews are interspersed among the 140+ films, creating a unique study tool of this groundbreaking moment in the history of cinema. Each film on this series will be accompanied by a text description (also available for download) written by the world's leading expert on the Edison films, Charles Musser, Yale University Professor of Film and American Studies.

EDISON: THE INVENTION OF THE MOVIES will prebook on January 4, 2005, with a street date of February 2, 2005, at a suggested retail price of $99.95.

Responsible for developing the technical apparatus of commercial motion picture between the years of 1888 and 1893,a camera, a viewing machine, systems for printing, the developing of long strands of film, The Edison Company, owned by Thomas Edison, also produced hundreds of films. In order to feed its circuit of Kinetoscopes, the arcade peepshow device that had been developed by W.K. Dickson, Edison and his staff started to produce short films that were duplicated and used for exhibition throughout the world.

In 1894, The Edison Company was the world's sole producer of commercial motion pictures. A year later, the Lumiere Brothers introduced their Cinematograph and a battle ensued for dominance of the newfound film industry. Edison struggled not only to maintain technical superiority over his competitors (through a series of mechanical patents) but to also remain artistically innovative. As a result, for twenty years the Edison company reigned supreme over the American film industry.

Thomas Edison's enterprise also allowed talented filmmakers like Charles Brabin (A WICKED WOMAN, 1934) and J. Searle Dawley (THE HARVEST MOON, 1920) to have their first directing jobs and in hindsight, was essential in enabling the career of Edwin S. Porter, the man who developed the concept of continuity editing and paved the way to Griffith's THE BIRTH OF A NATION.

Digitized from MOMA's 35mm restored print, Kino's version of Porter's THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (1903, 10 min.) brings the first appearance of parallel editing two separate lines of action cut together as to indicate simultaneity as well as the first pan shot and camera movement ever captured on film. EDISON: THE INVENTION OF THE MOVIES also makes available several other films directed by Mr. Porter, like THE LIFE OF AN AMERICAN FIREMAN (1903, 6 min.), THE GAY SHOE CLERK (1903, 1 min.), EUROPEAN REST CURE (1904, 13 min.), THE LITTLE TRAIN ROBBERY (1905, 11min.) and COLLEGE CHUMS (1907, 11 min.).

The new Kino series also includes an 1895 film with synchronized sound ("Dickson Experimental Sound Film"), a hand-colored 1906 film ("Three American Beauties"), and some of the first appearances of stop-motion animation ("The Teddy Bears"), tracking shots ("The Passer-by"), and outlandish special effects ("Dream of a Rarebit Fiend").

The earliest material in the collection is MONKEYSHINES (1889). This crude photographic experiment of late 1880s was considered unsuccessful and was never viewed by anyone outside the Edison laboratory. It has been carefully reanimated for this Kino box set and represents a true world premiere. EDISON: THE INVENTION OF THE MOVIES also encompasses a wide array of genres, including early comedies ("How a French Nobleman Found a Wife..."), educational films ("The Wonders of Magnetism"), fantasy ("Jack and the Beanstalk"), documentary ("The Public and Private Care of Infants"), western ("At Bear Track Gulch"), crime drama ("The Great Train Robbery"), and even examples of early product placement ("Serenade by Proxy").

Presented in chronological order, interspersed with introductions by a panel of historians and archivists, the first disc of this set covers the early years of Edison's films, between 1891 and 1905, and includes 100 early shorts. The second and third discs, respectively, collect Edison shorts from the periods of 1905 to 1907 and 1908 to 1913, while the last disc, covering the period between 1913 and 1918, brings seven short films and one feature film, the rousing war epic THE UNBELIEVER (1918, 80 Min.), featuring Erich Von Stroheim and directed by Alan Crosland (THE JAZZ SINGER, 1927).

More than an indispensable source of historical information on the history of the cinematic medium, the EDISON box set also represents a unique film record of urban and rural life in late 19th century and early 20th century North America.

Following is a list of the film scholars featured in video interviews on this all-new EDISON box set:

Steven Higgins -- Curator, Department of Film and Media, The Museum of Modern Art.
Charles Musser -- Professor of Film and American Studies, Yale University. Author of "Before the Nickelodeon," and "Edison Motion Pictures, 1890-1900," among others.
Patrick Loughney -- Head, Moving Image Section, The Library of Congress
Michele Wallace -- Professor of English, The City College. Author of "The Black Macho and The Myth of The Superwoman," among others.
Eileen Bowser -- Curator Emerita, The Museum of Modern Art.
Paul Israel -- Director and editor of the Edison Papers; among others.
Richard Koszarski -- Associate Professor of English, Rutgers University. Author of "An Evening's Entertainment: The Age of the Silent Feature Picture 1915-1928," among others.

EDISON: THE INVENTION OF THE MOVIES (DVD)

U.S. 1889 - 1918 14(+) Hours
Black and White 1.33:1
In English subtitles
Produced by Thomas Edison
Interviews with Charles Musser, Steven Higgins and Paul Israel
UPC# 7 38329 03832 8
SRP $99.95

PREBOOK: January 4, 2005
STREET: February 1, 2005

For more information contact:
Director of Publicity
Kino International
333 West 39th Street, Suite 503
New York, NY 10018
t (212) 629-6880
f (212) 714-0871

Okay ... they got me .... I'm clearing some space next to <i>The Movies Begin</i> for this box set!

It is amazing that one man is responsible for things like motion pictures, telephones, phonograph records, modern light bulb etc. He is truly one of a kind. I can not wait to get this dvd set about Edison. I am always interested in learning more about him.

you guys are lucky MOMA is just a stones throw away...Wonder if they will have a showing around dvd release time

Hey, this guy was my film professor. He's a bit of a freak. On an unrelated note, I'll be getting this set eventually.

I want this so freakin' bad!

Andrew

I haven't received an advance copy yet, but when I do I'll put a review up in my silent movie column here on DVDTalk, <i>Silent DVD.</i> I'm looking forward to this set too.

In other silent movie news, Milestone is coming out with a series of Mary Pickford films next year. You can find release dates, where avalible, here:

http://dvdtalk.com/silentdvd/

This is one to keep in mind for the next DDD sale. Looks great.

Can't wait to get this one in the mail....the more i see the more i salivate...i wonder if arts will run any of these early

OMG. I didn't even know DVDTalk had a Silent Area!

I'm gonna comb through the reviews.


Andrew

anybody found this in store yet.....watched it....need to get it myself

It's still a pre-order to be released on 2/22.

The best price on line appears to be DeepDiscountDVD at 59.95

didn't realize the date has changed...thanks

Too many good things already eating up my budget for the next few months .... I think I'll have to be patient and toss this on my DDD Wish List in anticipation of another twenty-percenter.

So why weren't ALL Edison's movies included?

<i>Mod edit: Please remember "Promoting links to and Ebay auction or other auction site (this is considered advertising)" is against the rules. thx nemein</i>

No need to twist my arm.....I've had a spot on the shelf ready for it for the past 3 weeks.

I think this is everything MOMA has restored....

anybody paying 80 bucks for 9 burned cds is an idiot...ebay...bad idea

I never got into the really old stuff; nonetheless, I'm glad to see it gets Kino treat the oldies so well.

It also includes much material from the Library of Congress, which essentially co-produced the set.

any idea what they spent to restore these films....just wondering how much of my cash gets spent keeping these classics clean and working....don't mind paying that tax....better than most

I don't know, but I guess I could ask.

Like the Treasures From American Film Archives series, the Edison set is the result of an amazing combination of public and private funding, grants and the extraordinary work of several dedicated people. Kino first approached the Museum of Modern Art about doing it, because it held the source material of much of the earliest works. Some of that came from the Ford Library in Michigan. Then the Library of Congress was approached about lending its material, which forms the later years of the set.

The restoration of the LOC content has been an ongoing process since the 1940s--via various funding from Congress--with some of the work continually being redone as technology has improved. The LOC material all originated on paper stock, not film. It has been transferred to film--first 16mm, and now 35mm--and restored over the decades through a partnership with experts in Hollywood, the most recent being Lucasfilm's restoration of the first synced audio/film short.

Some of what I've noted above is on the set, some from talking to its producer and curator. One thing the latter noted was that they consciously chose not to print up the extensive liner notes, as was done on the Treasures of American Film Archives sets. Instead, those notes can be found on the discs or downloaded from the web. This was a deliberate move to keep the costs down, so consumers and what they'd have to pay for the set were very much on their minds from the start.