New DVD Set from Kino

From my inbox: Kino is taking preorders for a new DVD box set, this one featuring John Barrymore!

The set, to be released July 7 (with preorders beginning June 9), will feature 3 previously released titles: The Beloved Rogue, Tempest, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and a previously thought-to-be-lost Sherlock Holmes.

According to the press release:

Headlining Kino's John Barrymore Collection is the release (for the first time on either VHS or DVD) of Sherlock Holmes (1922), a feature-length adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's famous adventures. Sherlock Holmes was believed to be lost, surviving only in the form of a few stills, until a battered and incomplete print surfaced in the mid 1970s. However, it wasn't until recently that a viewable version was meticulously restored at the George Eastman House Motion Picture Department in Rochester, N.Y.

The film also features location shots in London, along with the screen debut of William Powell.

I'm really looking forward to this!

I'm Still Here

Just a quick note to let you all know I'm still here.

I think I mentioned a while ago I got a new job; it has been occupying me more than I imagined. That, and that I've kept some freelance clients has meant for some busy days (and brain dead weekends).

That said, I do have a few new items to post, probably this weekend. So don't give up on me, and check back Saturday/Sunday for some fun new items!

Thanks all!

New Web Site

Back in December I received an email from William Drew, author of several books on the silent era as well as two articles on WTSM.

Happily, he has created his own Web site, 100 Years of Hollywood and the Stars: 1910 to 2010, which seeks to celebrate the centenary of the year that he calls "remarkable:"

The birth of the movie star and the discovery of Hollywood in 1910 were two distinct but ultimately closely intertwined developments that radically changed film history. Much like the larger-than-life figures on the screen, Hollywood became a name of myth, no longer simply a district in Los Angeles but a word signifying a host of hopes and dreams, an alternative universe of images.

A lot of interesting articles are included, making the site well worth the visit.

Bill also alerted me to the wonderful Looking for Mabel Normand. The site was created by Marilyn Slater, who is an extensive researcher and archiver of all things Mabel Normand. Another site worth visiting.

New Kino Sale

Just got this in my Inbox:

We just launched a SPRING SALE http://www.kino.com/video. All DVDs on sale plus 16 surprise titles at $9.99.