June, 2009

Specialty DVD Supplier Flicker Alley Announces BARDELYS THE MAGNIFICENT & MONTE CRISTO – LOST FILMS OF JOHN GILBERT

Featuring Two Rediscovered Silent Classics From MGM and Fox

Previously Lost, BARDELYS THE MAGNIFICENT is a New Restoration of King Vidor’s Handsomely Mounted 1926 Production

The two-disc set makes its home video premiere on Tuesday, July 7th, just in time for Gilbert’s 112th Birthday!

Los Angeles, CA— Flicker Alley, a specialty supplier of fine silent films and classic cinema programming, in association with the Blackhawk Film Collection, announces the release of BARDELYS THE MAGNIFICENT & MONTE CRISTO, a new DVD release featuring two brand-new restorations of once thought-lost John Gilbert classics. This collection carries a suggested retail price of $39.95.

Bardelys the Magnificent (1926) is based upon the novel by Rafael Sabatini and directed by King Vidor, who just one year before had directed Gilbert in the smash hit The Big Parade. In France “in an age of light loves and lively scandals,” the Marquis de Bardelys (Gilbert), casual womanizer and accomplished swashbuckler, is entranced by Roxalanne de Lavedan (Eleanor Boardman); and against a background of knavery and intrigue, he sets out to woo and win her. Lavishly mounted and superbly directed with spectacular action scenes, Bardelys is a hugely entertaining action romance given an A-plus MGM production. The sole surviving print was found in France in 2006; the English titles are restored according to the original script. A gap in the recovered footage is bridged with stills, titles, and footage from the original trailer so the story is complete; the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra provides a lovely score of period photoplay music. This release is possible through the graciousness of Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures.

In Monte Cristo (1922), adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, and directed by Emmett J. Flynn, Gilbert is Edmond Dantes, a sailor unjustly imprisoned for twenty years, time he spends acquiring education and finesse. Later the accidental heir to a vast fortune, Dantes reinvents himself as the Count of Monte Cristo, and wreaks revenge on those symbols of the decadent monarchy that wronged him. Fox Film spared no expense on this prestige film with lavish sets and a distinguished supporting cast. The sole surviving copy of Monte Cristo is a worn and choppy print found in the Czech Republic, but nearly complete. English titles have been restored with the help of the original script. Pianist Neal Kurz arranged and performs a score of obscure yet beautiful French music of the period.

This DVD, produced by Serge Bromberg, Eric Lange, Jeffery Masino and David Shepard, includes a number of DVD special features; Film historians Jeffrey Vance and Tony Maietta draw from their own extensive historical research into the life of John Gilbert to provide a full-length audio essay on Bardelys the Magnificent as well as an enclosed booklet and a brand-new thirty-minute documentary supplement, Rediscovering John Gilbert, featuring an on-camera interview with John Gilbert’s daughter and biographer, Leatrice Gilbert Fountain.

Bardelys the Magnificent & Monte Cristo – Lost Films of John Gilbert is the eighth DVD project to be released through the partnership of Film Preservation Associates’ Blackhawk Films Collection and Flicker Alley, following Discovering Cinema, Saved From The Flames, Georges Méliès: First Wizard of Cinema (1896-1913), Abel Gance’s La Roue, Perils of the New Land: Films of the Immigrant Experience (1910-1915), Douglas Fairbanks: A Modern Musketeer, and Under Full Sail: Silent Cinema on the High Seas.

ABOUT THE BLACKHAWK FILMS COLLECTION
Blackhawk Films was founded in 1927 as a producer of film advertising for merchants and as a distributor of regional newsreels. The company made its mark as a nontheatrical distributor with the advent of 16mm sound film in 1933, establishing several regional offices before WWII. In 1947, Blackhawk expanded into sales of used film and soon thereafter began distributing new 8mm and 16mm prints of Laurel & Hardy comedies from Hal Roach Studios as well as titles from such other suppliers such as Fox Movietone, Killiam Shows, and National Telefilm Associates. David Shepard joined Blackhawk as Vice President (1973-1976) and after founding Film Preservation Associates in 1986, acquired the Blackhawk Films library which now comprises some 5,000 titles.

ABOUT LOBSTER FILMS
Lobster Films Studios was founded in 1985 by friends Serge Bromberg and Eric Lange out of their passion for movies and moving images. The Lobster Films Collection has grown over the years to represent more than 20,000 films – over 1200 hours of moving images – including feature films, silent films, newsreels and documentaries, much of it from the first few decades of motion pictures. Lobster has a visionary preservation program, saving and preserving film from nitrate deterioration. In 2008, the company spearheaded the launch of the European Film Treasures on-line archive and recently (along with Film Preservation Associates) has partnered with Flicker Alley on several highly regarded home video and broadcast projects.

ABOUT FLICKER ALLEY
Flicker Alley, LLC was founded in 2002 by Jeff Masino. Each Flicker Alley project is the culmination of hundreds of hours of research, digital restoration, and music production. Flicker Alley has partnered with Turner Classic Movies on several historic cable broadcasts including three previously unavailable silent films produced by Howard Hughes, three rarely seen Rudolph Valentino films and new digital editions of J’Accuse and La Roue, by Abel Gance. Flicker Alley is the proud recipient of the National Society of Film Critics’ 2008 Film Heritage Award and the 2008 Willy Haas Award. For more information, please visitwww.flickeralley.com.

Flicker Alley titles are available in North America directly through Flicker Alley (www.flickeralley.com) and through online retailers such as Amazon.com (www.amazon.com). Wholesale orders are handled by Emphasis Entertainment Group, Inc. (astrutz@aol.com). For institutional sales please contact Gartenberg Media Enterprises (gartmedia@nyc.rr.com).