When we see a fresh restoration released on Bluray (like BEHIND THE DOOR), we are watching a movie as it would have been seen at its premiere. Your experience at the movies in the silent era was HEAVILY changed depending on where you were and how much money you spent.
Also, what we see on home media depends one what the film was transferred FROM and TO. For example, the first version of EVE'S LEAVES that I saw was an 8mm transfer to VHS. The next version I saw was probably a 16mm transfer to HD DVD. Big difference.
And once you get into 35mm transfers to HD (as we see with THE BLOOD SHIP), then you're really cooking! You can count the pores of the cast!
The film's last reel only survives on 16mm, so there is a drop in clarity but the good transfer means there is still a lot of detail.
So, I guess the modern silent film experience can also depend on where you are and how much money you have to spend. One thing is for sure, a high quality home media release is probably better than most theatrical experiences at smaller theaters, with battered prints and questionable music.
Ain't this just the truth. I saw "The Passion of Joan of Arc" (1928) at a cinema that screened the film with NO musical accompaniment & distributed the translation on print-outs. The theatre was filled with people craning to read the paper in the dark. Way to kill what I'm told is an excellent film.
There are accounts of theater musicians going on autopilot and playing something like Does the Spearmint Lose Its Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight when the comedy relief scene was done and high romance was ensuing. Big cities had orchestras. Tiny towns often had Whoever Could Kind of Play.
And wide release is a thing for studio fare now but we are still in the silent era with anything indie or foreign in the USA. (And, of course, foreign markets often have to wait for Hollywood films in wide release here.) Sound systems vary by theater, of course, but the score is the same everywhere
The available movies were different too. Most of the majors owned theaters (Universal being an exception) but small towns had indies and relied on what was called "States Rights" distribution. Westerns went over big. Big fancy epics tended to flop.
So, as with everything, your experience at the movies in the silent era depended on location, class and spending money. Far more than the talkie era and certainly more than the modern blockbuster era. Yes, IMAX is a different experience but the big Captain Zip Zap movie is still available to all.
Oh and race! Many theaters were segregated, there were only a few Black theaters, movies with Black casts did not enjoy financial support from big business. When such films were released, the cast was touted as a draw because people like onscreen representation.
(Proponents of the Invisible Hand, the notion that business will naturally lean ethical, constantly argue that Hollywood wouldn't leave money on the table if there had been a REAL demand. Well, they did in the silent era and the success of SINNERS indicates they're doing it now.)
lol who is this goof, I love his vibe
I work at National Cinematheque of Chile. Here we restore films and have endless discussions about this issue. Do the film must look better then the original? What is the original? Which artifacts must remain? Things got worse when the filmmaker is alive and usually tries to re-edit the film.
Yes, it's such a constant balancing act, I imagine (love El Húsar de la Muerte by the way)
El Húsar de la Muerte is a good example; its restoration was made from a 16mm copy from the 60s made from a 35mm copy from the 40s. The original, longer and coloured from 1925, is lost.
Doubly in the silent era as some repertoire theatres are the theatres that are from that era still, hanging on by their nails! My favourite one to go to opened in 1910!
Ahhh, would love to hear even a small orchestra at a screening. Have attended two showings with Dennis James playing music intended for each film’s original release. That was cool.
I love the idea of a Kino alternate track of “improv by Aunt Irene”
Right? Give us the real experience (loads old fireworks under the theater seats for added authenticity)
On this topic, years ago I enjoyed the documentary Dawson City: Frozen in Time, about the discovery of a preserved cache of silent movies buried there. (I am guessing you've seen it.) They talked about the quality issue, too, & how long it took movies to reach the Yukon--it was the end of the line.
