Three silent "screams"
Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 12/02/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"There's a good chance that both silent movie and horror film fans will be familiar with the contents of ST. CLAIR's DVD triple-feature, SILENT CLASSICS. These well-regarded photoplays have long been in the public domain and enjoy wide circulation among purveyors of PD material.
None of the transfers are in any way restored and the music chosen is not specific to action on-screen. Such are the occasional limitations of budget-priced silent movies. One thing remains constant, however: these three are some of the finest pictures produced in the 1920s.
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John Barrymore was in top form when he made DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE. Many still consider this the definitive adaptation of the R.L. Stevenson novelette.
Director Fritz Lang's German Expressionist sci-fi masterpiece, METROPOLIS contains powerful images that remain with a viewer. This frightening look at a nightmarish future somehow never gets dated. Over 37,000 extras were used, and the budget adjusted to 21st Century dollars was about $200 million!
NOSFERATU is the vampire movie that Bram Stoker's widow fought legal battles over. The film was ordered by German courts to be destroyed, but a few copies survived in other countries. Only a single complete original is known to exist. It's owned by a private collector.
Another interesting ST. CLAIR silent movie set is their MARY PICKFORD SIGNATURE COLLECTION. This DVD 4-fer contains these features: "Little Annie Rooney" (1925), "Pollyanna" (1920), "The Poor Little Rich Girl" (silent-1917) and "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" (1917).
Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website.
(7.0) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) - John Barrymore/Charles Lane/Brandon Hurst/Cecil Clovelly/Nita Naldi
(8.4) Metropolis (1927) - Alfred Abel/Gustav Fröhlich/Rudolf Klein-Rogge/Fritz Rasp/Theodor Loos/Erwin Biswanger
(8.1) Nosferatu (1922) - Max Schreck/Gustav von Wangenheim/Greta Schröder/Alexander Granach/Georg H. Schnell"
A great set.
Annie Van Auken | 10/14/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This set my not have the greatest prints ever but it is all in all a very good set with great movies.
Films on this DVD:
(4.5/5) Metropolis
(4/5) Nosferatu
(3/5) Dr. Jeckyll and Mr Hyde
It's a one DVD set with literally no features. Great buy if your not crazy over special features on a DVD and care more about the movies, like I do. This makes more sense to buy because Nosferatu and Metropolis purchased together on Amazon rings up to over $50. You can get this DVD for $4. A good buy for movie lovers. Great classics on this DVD. Well worth the money I spent on it, although it wasn't much. Highly recommended.
4/5"