There is a growing and welcome trend among recent DVD releases of well known classic movies. If the film is a remake of a silent movie (and many are), the DVD package now includes the original silent version in the set.
I was initially opposed to the idea when it first began happening last year. As a silent film enthusiast and historian, I wanted to see the silent titles relesed separately as I wasn’t interested in the sound remakes. There were also economic considerations. A multi-disc set costs a good bit more than a single disc especially when loaded with extra features.
But after giving the matter some thought, I realized that without the famous remakes, DVD packagers wouldn’t release the silent versions at all. By combining the two films in a single package, consumers can get the sound movie they’re familiar with as well as have the opportunity to see the silent original in a restored version.
So far this trend has given us the 1936 CAMILLE starring Greta Garbo coupled with the 1921 Art Deco version starring Alla Nazimova and a young up-and-coming actor named Rudolph Valentino. Both versions look fantastic. Another high profile release is the 75th anniversary edition of THE WIZARD OF OZ. It also features several short silent OZ films and the 1925 full length silent that features Oliver Hardy as the Tin Man.
The top DVD package released so far is Warner Home Video’s deluxe 4-DVD edition of MGM’s spectacular 1959 remake of BEN-HUR directed by William Wyler and starring Charlton Heston. The film won 11 Oscars which was a record until TITANIC tied it in 1999. The package features a completely restored edition on two discs with a running time of 212 minutes.
Disc 3 in the BEN-HUR package features the complete 1925 movie whose production is quite a story unto itself. The film, based on the Lew Wallace novel, was once regarded as Hollywood’s greatest folly. It took years to make, had numerous personnel changes, and cost 4 million in 1925 currency (roughly half a billion today) to produce. Parts of it were shot in Italy, including a full scale sea battle that featured life size Roman galleys. The Hollywood sets for Antioch and Ancient Jerusalem took up over 100 acres.
The silent epic made a star out of Mexican actor Ramon Novarro as Judah Ben-Hur and gave early matinee idol Francis X. Bushman the role of his career as Messala. In addition to the monumental sets, the cast of tens of thousands, and the famous chariot race, what really strikes a modern audience is the films treatment of anti-semitism. The Christian aspects of the story are still there of course, but they are on an equal footing with what it means to be Jewish in a hostile world.
Photoplay Productions of England, one of the leading restorers of silent films, searched for years to find quality prints of the 1925 version. Several scenes were shot in Technicolor and this footage was located in excellent condition in the Czech Republic. Together with material from other sources, Photoplay was able to assemble a video version that look’s as if it were shot yesterday. The incredible picture quality, coupled with a sumptuous orchestral score makes BEN-HUR the ideal viewng experience for people unfamiliar with silent movies.
At 141 minutes it’s one of the longest silent features currently available (coming later this month is a 3 DVD set of Cecil B. De Mille’s THE TEN COMMANDMENTS which includes the 1923 original that takes place both in Biblical and in modern times) but that’s still way shorter than the 1959’s 212 minutes.
The Capsule Critic 