Disk Two - This is the second set I've acquired recently that contains `Gus Visser and His Singing Duck' (ca. 1925 - 90 sec.) It's another synchronized sound experiment, and remains a hoot. Also of interest was the 12-minute `Early Color Films,' a trio of films from 1916, 1929 and 1926 that used different experimental color processes. This one really benefits from the commentary track. The 1926 entry is `The Flute of Krishna,' choreographed by Martha Graham. My favorite film on this disk has to be `Clash of the Wolves' (1925 - 74 mins), a Rin Tin Tin silent. Rin Tin Tin plays Lobo, a wild dog who gets a thorn in his paw and is rescued by a borax miner. There's a pretty girl, a staid father, an unscrupulous claim-jumper, and stunts galore. Also included on this disk is a Charley Bowers two-reeler (19 mins) from 1928, a silent, titled `There It Is.' Bowers is the great unknown silent movie comedian, a stop-action animation innovator and one of the more surreal moviemakers to come out of Hollywood's early years.
Disk One - Things are kicked off with `Dickson Experimental Sound Film' (ca. 1894), a 15-second film that features two-men dancing and a man playing a violin in front of a huge metal cone, the microphone for the wax cylinder the sound was recorded on. This set is dotted with experimental movies like this one. Out of context they're a little mystifying, but this one comes with a short commentary track. The commentary track lasts a few minutes, and the movie is looped behind it. All films come with program notes which are found both on-screen (handy) and in a two-hundred page book. I think a lot of people will get a kick out of the 13-minute `The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' (1910). It's certainly inventive enough, but the Scarecrow, Tin Man & Lion look different, the Wizard looks creepy, and I was never that much of an Oz fan to begin with. My favorites from the first disk are the two feature films, at least feature length for their time: `The Invaders' (1912- 41 mins) and `Gretchen the Greenhorn' (1916- 58 mins.) `The Invaders' is an early western that features real Lakota Sioux playing the indians. It's a smart film that feels authentic. `Gretchen the Greenhorn' is a charming story starring the 18-year-old Dorothy Gish (Lillian's little sister) as a young Dutch girl joining her father in America. There's an innocence and a sincerity to it that I found completely winning.
