Pioneers : first women filmmakers / Kino Classics, Library of Congress ; producer, Bret Wood.

Format:

Video

Contributor:

Davenport, Dorothy, 1896-1977, film director.

Guy, Alice, 1873-1968, film director.

Weber, Lois, 1879-1939, film director.

Holmes, Helen, 1891-1950, film director.

Normand, Mabel, 1894-1930, film director.

Cunard, Grace, 1893-1967, film director.

Wood, Bret, film producer.

Kino Classics (Firm), production company.

Library of Congress, production company.

Kino Lorber, Inc., publisher.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women motion picture producers and directors--United States.

Women motion picture producers and directors.

Women in the motion picture industry--United States--History--20th century.

Women in the motion picture industry.

Silent films--Production and direction.

Silent films.

Short films--Production and direction.

Short films.

Women--Social conditions--20th century.

Women.

women's studies.

plays (performing arts compositions).

Women--Social conditions.

Documentary films.

Drama.

Women's studies.

United States.

Genre:

Silent films.

Short films.

Nonfiction films.

History.

Film adaptations.

Fiction films.

Feature films.

Documentary films.

Physical Description:

6 videodiscs (approximately 1320 min.) : sound, black and white ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 book (76 pages : illustrations; 18 cm)

Place of Publication:

New York, N.Y. : Kino Lorber, [2018]

Language Note:

Silent films with English intertitles and added musical accompaniment.

System Details:

DVD, NTSC, Region 1; full screen (1.33 : 1) presentation.

digital optical surround Dolby

laser optical NTSC

video file DVD video region 1

Summary:

In the early decades of cinema, some of the most innovative and celebrated filmmakers in America were women. Alice Guy-Blaché helped establish the basics of cinematic language, while others boldly continued its development : slapstick queen Mabel Normand (who taught Charlie Chaplin the craft of directing), action star Grace Cunard, and LGBTQ icon Alla Nazimova. Unafraid of controversy, filmmakers such as Lois Weber and Dorothy Davenport Reid tackled explosive issues such as birth control, abortion, and prostitution. This crucial chapter of film history comes alive through the presentation of a wide assortment of films, carefully curated, meticulously restored in 2K and 4K from archival sources, and presented with new musical scores.

In the early decades of cinema, some of the most innovative and celebrated filmmakers in America were women. Alice Guy-Blaché helped establish the basics of cinematic language, while others boldly continued its development: slapstick queen Mabel Normand (who taught Charlie Chaplin the craft of directing), action star Grace Cunard, and LGBTQ icon Alla Nazimova. Unafraid of controversy, filmmakers such as Lois Weber and Dorothy Davenport Reid tackled explosive issues such as birth control, abortion, and prostitution. This crucial chapter of film history comes alive through the presentation of a wide assortment of films, carefully curated, meticulously restored in 2K and 4K from archival sources, and presented with new musical scores.

Contents:

Disc one : Alice Guy-Blaché, Mixed pets

Tramp strategy

Greater love hath no man

Algie the miner

Falling leaves

Little rangers (fragment)

Canned harmony

Fool and his money

High cost of living

Coming of sunbeam

Matrimony's speed limit

Ocean waif

Colleen bawn

On the brink (fragment)

Disc two : Lois Weber, From death to life

Fine feathers

Rosary

Suspense

Lost by a hair (fragment)

Hypocrites

Sunshine Molly (fragment)

Idle wives (fragment)

What do men want? (fragment)

Disc three : Genre pioneers, Hazards of Helen

Daughter of "The law"

Eleanor's catch

'49

'17

Caught in a cabaret

Mable's blunder

Mabel and Fatty's wash day

That ice ticket

Ethnographic films

Disc four : Social commentary 1, Where are my children?

Her defiance

When little Lindy sang

Curse of Quon Gwon : when the far east mingles with the west

Scandal

Dream lady

Something new

Disc five : social commentary 2, Risky road (fragment)

Bread (fragment)

Salomé

Red Kimona

Linda

Disc six : the feature film, Call of the Cumberlands

Back to God's country

Song of love.

Disc one : Alice Guy-Blaché: Mixed pets / Solax Film Company ; directed by Alice Guy-Blaché (1911) (14 min.)

Tramp strategy / Solax Film Company ; directed by Alice Guy-Blaché (1911) (12 min.)

Greater love hath no man / Solax Film Company ; directed by Alice Guy-Blaché (1911) (16 min.)

Algie the miner / Solax Film Company ; directed by Alice Guy-Blaché (1912) (10 min.)

Falling leaves / Solax Film Company ; directed by Alice Guy-Blaché (1912) (12 min.)

The little rangers (fragment) (aka Two little rangers) / Solax Film Company ; directed by Alice Guy-Blaché (1912) (11 min.)

Canned harmony / Solax Film Company ; directed by Alice Guy-Blaché (1912) (16 min.)

A fool and his money / Solax Film Company ; directed by Alice Guy-Blaché (1912) (11 min.)

The high cost of living / Solax Film Company ; directed by Alice Guy-Blaché (1912) (14 min.)

Matrimony's speed limit / Solax Film Company ; directed by Alice Guy-Blaché (1913) (14 min.)

The ocean waif / Solax Film Company ; directed by Alice Guy-Blaché (1916) (36 min.)

The colleen bawn / The Kalem Company ; directed by Gene Gauntier and Sidney Olcott (1911) (35 min.)

On the brink (fragment) / Rex Motion Picture Company ; directed by Edwin S. Porter and Lois Weber (1911) (12 min.).

Disc two : Lois Weber: From death to life / Rex Motion Picture Company ; directed by Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley (1911) (13 min.)

Fine feathers / Rex Motion Picture Company ; directed by Lois Weber (1912) (15 min.)

The rosary / Rex Motion Picture Company ; directed by Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley (1913) (14 min.)

Suspense / Rex Motion Picture Company ; directed by Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley (1913) (11 min.)

Lost by a hair (fragment) / Rex Motion Picture Company ; directed by Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley (1914) (4 min.)

Hypocrites / Hobart Bosworth Productions ; written and directed by Lois Weber (1915) (51 min.)

Sunshine Molly (fragment) / Hobart Bosworth Productions ; directed by Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley (1915) (31 min.)

Idle wives (fragment) / Universal Film Manufacturing Company ; directed by Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley (1916) (23 min.)

What do men want? (fragment) / Lois Weber Productions ; written and directed by Lois Weber (1921) (40 min.).

Disc three : Pioneers of genre: The hazards of Helen. Episode 13, The escape on the fast freight / The Kalem Company (1915) (11 min.)

The hazards of Helen. Episode 26, The wild engine / The Kalem Company (1915) (10 min.)

The purple mask. Episode 12, The vault of mystery / Universal Film Manufacturing Company ; written and directed by Grace Cunard and Francis Ford (1917) (19 min.)

The purple mask. Episode 13 reel 1, The leap / Universal Film Manufacturing Company ; written and directed by Grace Cunard and Francis Ford (1917) (10 min.)

A daughter of "the law" / Star Ranch Productions ; written and directed by Grace Cunard (1921) (22 min.)

Eleanor's catch / Rex Motion Picture Company ; directed by Cleo Madison (1916) (13 min.)

'17 / Universal Film Manufacturing Company ; written and directed by Ruth Ann Baldwin (1917) (70 min.)

Caught in a cabaret / Keystone Film Company ; directed by Mabel Normand (1914) (23 min.)

Mabel's blunder / Keystone Film Company ; directed by Mabel Normand (1914) (16 min.)

Mabel and Fatty's wash day / Keystone Film Company ; directed by Mabel Normand and Roscoe Arbuckle (1915) b(13 min.)

That ice ticket / Gibson Studios ; directed by Angela Murray Gibson (1922) (10 min.)

Ethnographic films / directed by Zora Neale Hurston (1929) (12 min.).

Disc four : Social commentary 1: Where are my children? / Universal Film Manufacturing Company ; directed by Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley (1916) (65 min.)

Her defiance / Universal Film Manufacturing Company ; directed by Cleo Madison and Joe King (1916) (21 min.)

When little Lindy sang / Powers Picture Plays ; directed by Lule Warrenton (1916) (10 min.)

The curse of Quon Gwon : when the Far East mingles with the West / Mandarin Film Company ; written and directed by Marion E. Wong (1917) (35 min.)

Scandal / Universal Film Manufacturing Company ; directed by Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley (1915) (35 min.)

The dream lady / Universal Film Manufacturing Company ; directed by Elsie Jane Wilson (1918) (54 min.).

Disc five : Social commentary 2: The risky road (fragment) / Universal Film Manufacturing Company ; written and directed by Ida May Park (1918) (2 min.)

Bread (fragment) / Universal Film Manufacturing Company ; written and directed by Ida May Park (1918) (16 min.)

Salomé / Nazimova Productions ; directed by Charles Bryant and Alla Nazimova [uncredited]

The red kimona / Mrs. Wallace Reid Productions ; directed by Walter Lang and Dorothy Davenport Reid [uncredited] (1925) (77 min.)

Linda / Mrs Wallace Reid Productions ; directed by Dorothy Davenport Reid (1929) (73 min.).

Disc six : The feature film: The call of the Cumberlands / Pallas Pictures ; produced by Julia Crawford Ivers (1916) (64 min.)

Back to God's country / Canadian Photoplays Ltd., Shipman-Curwood Company ; directed by David Hartford and Nell Shipman [uncredited] (1919) (73 min.)

The song of love / Norma Talmadge Film Corporation ; directed by Frances Marion and Chester M. Franklin.

'49 - '17 / Universal Film Manufacturing Company ; written and directed by Ruth Ann Baldwin (1917) (70 min.)

Credits:

Directors: Dorothy Davenport Reid, Alice Guy-Blaché, Lois Weber, Helen Holmes, Mabel Normand, Grace Cunard,

Notes:

Curator : Shelley Stamp ; executive producer, Illeana Douglas.

A monumental six-disc collection ; 2K and 4K restorations of more than 50 films ; features, shorts, fragments ; 80-page booklet with essays and photos ; interviews with historians and archivists ; musical scores by Renée C. Baker, The Berklee Silent Film Orchestra, Makia Matsumura, Maud Nelissen, Dana Reason, Aleksandra Vrebalov, and others.

Includes bibliographical references.

For private home use only.

OCLC:

1082612261

Publisher Number:

738329234102

K23410 Kino classics

Access Restriction:

Classroom use may be subject to licensing restrictions.