Author Archives: chipkaufmann

It’s hard to think of a more important silent film or any major work of world cinema that has taken as long to be issued in a definitive version than BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN. It took many years and the combined efforts of several different film archives to put POTEMKIN back together again but it has beenContinue reading “BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN: The Definitive Edition”

DESTINY or to be more precise WEARY DEATH (Death is tired of man’s hatred for just doing his job) was the first big international success for Fritz Lang and his collaborator Thea von Harbou. She would marry him after this film and be responsible for his scenarios until Lang left her and Germany in 1933.Continue reading “DESTINY (1921): Kino Restoration Is First Rate”

As much as I love this movie, Kino’s Blu-Ray edition is a textbook example of how high end resolution does not always benefit older movies especially when they haven’t been restored. Of the many different versions of this title that I have seen from the 1999 Image edition to the 2001 Kino edition to thisContinue reading “DR JEKYLL & MR HYDE (1920): Not An Ideal Candidate for Blu-Ray”

THE EAGLE was something of a comeback picture for Valentino. His popularity sagged after the disastrous MONSIEUR BEAUCAIRE in which he played a foppish aristocat who was a little too foppish for 1920’s audiences. This story of a Russian Robin Hood taken from Pushkin was just what he needed to regain his lost fan base.Continue reading “THE EAGLE: Valentino Action Movie Is Given A Slight Upgrade From DVD To Blu-Ray”

THE GOLEM is one of those movies that many people have seen stills from or have read about but, up until now, have not had the opportunity to see it as it was intended to be seen. Copies of it have been around for years but it was available only in poor quality prints projectedContinue reading “THE GOLEM (1920): This Restoration Is Incredible!”

This new Kino Blu-Ray marks the fourth time that I have written a review of the 1923 Lon Chaney movie THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. I wrote my first review in 1999 about the Image Entertainment DVD which was the first quality release. It featured a speed corrected print that had been tinted and aContinue reading “HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1923): The Fourth Time Is The Charm”

So says Oscar Mazamette, one of the three principal characters in Louis Feuillade’s LES VAMPIRES and it sums up the plot concisely but hardly scratches the surface of the complexity of this legendary 10 episode serial. Feuillade (pronouced Foo-YAHD) had succeeded Alice Guy (rhymes with KEY) in 1907 as the production head of France’s GaumontContinue reading “LES VAMPIRES: “Though Vice Is Sometimes Slow To Be Punished, Virtue Is Always Rewarded””

It has been over 75 years since CITIZEN KANE did its hatchet job on the reputation of actress Marion Davies but thanks to releases like LIGHTS OF OLD BROADWAY, 21st century movie buffs now have the opportunity to see her at her best. The character of Susan Alexander Kane was long thought to have beenContinue reading “THE LIGHTS OF OLD BROADWAY (1925): The Rehabilitation Of Marion Davies’ Reputation Continues”

It has been a little over 10 years since a battered 16mm print of the original version of METROPOLIS was discovered in a museum archive in Argentina. That coupled with the recovery of the original German censorship records from 1927 which contained a complete listing of all the intertitles, has finally made it possible toContinue reading “METROPOLIS: The Complete Version Gets Better With Each Viewing”

Long before THE LORD OF THE RINGS and THE HOBBIT there was DIE NIBELUNGEN (The Nibelung Saga). This 1924 epic from Fritz Lang is the grandaddy of all fantasy epics and now it can be seen as it was first presented with over 100 minutes of footage restored and with the original music that wasContinue reading “DIE NIEBELUNGEN Is An Excellent Choice For Blu-Ray Release”