Pioneers : first women filmmakers /
, United States
- 6 videodiscs (approximately 1,710 mins) : sound, black & white ; 4 3/4 in. 1 booklet (76 pages : illustration ; 18 cm)
- 4 3/4 in. stamping
Originally produced as a motion pictures 1911-1929. Title from container. 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. Special feature include interviews with historians and featurettes on the directors and restoration.
Includes bibliographical references.
Alice Guy-Blaché: Mixed pets Tramp strategy Greater love hath no man Algie the miner Falling leaves Little rangers (fragment) (aka Two little rangers) Canned harmony A fool and his money High cost of living Coming of sunbeam Burstup Homes' murder case A house divided Matrimony's speed limit Ocean waif Colleen bawn / On the brink (fragment) / Cricket (fragment) / directed by Gene Gauntier and Sidney Olcott directed by Edwin S. Porter and Lois Weber directed by Elsie Jane Wilson Disc one: (1911, 14 min.) ; (1911, 12 min.) ; (1911, 16 min.) ; (1912, 10 min.) ; (1912, 12 min.) ; (1912, 11 min.) ; (1912, 16 min.) ; (1912, 11 min.) ; (1912, 14 min.) ; (1913, 11 min.) ; (1913, 15 min.) ; (1913, 13 min.) ; (1913, 14 min.) ; (1916, 36 min.) -- (1911, 35 min.) -- (1911, 12 min.) -- (1917, 12 min.) -- Lois Weber: From death to life / Fine feathers Rosary / Suspense / Lost by a hair (fragment) / Hypocrites Sunshine Molly (fragment) / Idle wives (fragment) / Too wise wives What do men want? (fragment) directed by Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley directed by Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley directed by Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley directed by Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley directed by Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley directed by Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley Disc two: (1911, 13 min.) ; (1912, 15 min.) ; (1913, 14 min.) ; (1913, 11 min.) ; (1914, 4 min.) ; (1915, 51 min.) ; (1915, 31 min.) ; (1916, 23 min.) ; (1921, 69 min.) ; (1921, 40 min.) -- Pioneers of genre: Hazards of Helen Purple mask / A daughter of "The law" / Eleanor's catch / '49 - '17 / Caught in a cabaret / Mabel's blunder / Mabel and Fatty's wash day / Mabel lost and won / That ice ticket / Ethnographic films / written and directed by Grace Cunard and Francis Ford written and directed by Grace Cunard directed by Cleo Madison written and directed by Ruth Ann Baldwin directed by Mabel Normand directed by Mabel Normand directed by Mabel Normand and Roscoe Arbuckle directed by Mabel Normand directed by Angela Murray Gibson directed by Zora Neale Hurston Disc three: (1915) -- (1917) -- (1921, 22 min.) -- (1916, 13 min.) -- (1917, 70 min.) -- (1914, 23 min.) -- (1914, 16 min.) -- (1915, 13 min.) -- (1915, 13 min.) -- (1922, 10 min.) -- (1929, 12 min.) -- 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 / directed by Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley directed by Cleo Madison and Joe King directed by Lule Warrenton written and directed by Marion E. Wong directed by Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley directed by Elsie Jane Wilson written and directed by Nell Shipman and Bert Van Tuyle Disc four: (1916, 65 min.) -- (1916, 21 min.) -- (1916, 10 min.) -- (1917, 35 min.) -- (1915, 35 min.) -- (1918, 54 min.) -- (1920, 57 min.) -- Social commentary 2: Risky road (fragment) / Bread (fragment) / Salomé / directed by Charles Bryant and Alla Nazimova [uncredited] Red Kimona / Motherhood: life's greatest miracle / Linda / written and directed by Ida May Park written and directed by Ida May Park directed by Walter Lang and Dorothy Davenport Reid [uncredited] written and directed by Lita Lawrence directed by Dorothy Davenport Reid Disc five: (1918, 2 min.) -- (1918, 16 min.) -- (1923, 71 min.) -- (1925, 77 min.) -- (1925, 59 min.) -- (1929, 73 min.) -- Feature film: Call of the Cumberlands / Broadway love / Back to God's country / Song of love / Julia Crawford Ivers directed by Ida May Park directed by David Hartford and Nell Shipman [uncredited] directed by Frances Marion and Chester M. Franklin Disc six: 1916, 64 min.) -- (1918, 61 min.) -- (1919, 73 min.) -- (1923, 81 min.).
Includes works by directors: Ruth Ann Baldwin, Grace Cunard, Dorothy Davenport Reid, Alice Guy-Blaché, Zora Neale Hurston, Cleo Madison, Frances Marion, Alla Nazimova, Mabel Normand, Ida May Park, Nell Shipman, Lois Weber, Elsie Jane Wilson, Marion E. Wong. Includes works by directors: Ruth Ann Baldwin, Grace Cunard, Dorothy Davenport Reid, Alice Guy-Blaché, Zora Neale Hurston, Cleo Madison, Frances Marion, Alla Nazimova, Mabel Normand, Ida May Park, Nell Shipman, Lois Weber, Elsie Jane Wilson, Marion E. Wong. Curator, Shelley Stamp ; producer, Bret Wood ; executive producer, Illeana Douglas. Curator, Shelley Stamp ; producer, Bret Wood ; executive producer, Illeana Douglas.
"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."--Container.
Blu-ray; NTSC, region A; aspect ratio (1.33:1); stereo; requires Blu-ray player.