Charlie Chaplin Keystone, Essanay and Mutual DVDsADDED

[Brent_Reid]

Hey James, of course you rightly should just be entering provided specs. I only posted the Beaver links in response to your post about that site having no reviews. You don't have to re-read all my guide(s): from the contents list, just jump straght to the required section, ie "1995 Essanay and Mutual restorations". Should take all of about 5-10 seconds to find what you need. Far less than the time we've spent on these last few posts!

[James-Masaki_Ryan]

Again, will get to it when I have the time, or if another mod could add them.

[James-Masaki_Ryan]

Added the BFIs. No runtimes could be found for the shorts or the extras for the V1 set.

[Brent_Reid]

Nice work James. A few small points:

• The "Non-Anamorphic" designation is missing from the BFIs.
  The BFIs should be noted as "2003 restorations by Film Preservation Associates and Photoplay Productions".
  The German DVDs have the same restorations as the Image discs, so should replicate the relevant details on their soundtracks and sequencing notes.

The link to my guide has an unwanted section tag on the end; it should be: http://www.brentonfilm.com/articles/cha ... ide-part-2

In the concluding footnotes, mention should be made of both sets of US discs' proper transfers, as well as the German (and likely UK) DVDs having NTSC-PAL transfers.

I'll ensure the various incomplete details get added as I hunt down the relevant discs, and will get more Essanay and Mutual comparisons added asap. In the meantime, don't archive this thread!

[James-Masaki_Ryan]

The "Non-Anamorphic" designation is missing from the BFIs.

When "Multi-Aspect Ratio" is chosen, anamorphic/non-anamorphic fields are not available for display. I have noted in the notes.

The BFIs should be noted as "2003 restorations by Film Preservation Associates and Photoplay Productions".
The German DVDs have the same restorations as the Image discs, so should replicate the relevant details on their soundtracks and sequencing notes.

Updated

The link to my guide has an unwanted section tag on the end; it should be: http://www.brentonfilm.com/articles/cha ... ide-part-2

It jumps to the Esssanay/Mutual films list. That is also how it is linked in the Blu-ray entry.

In the concluding footnotes, mention should be made of both sets of US discs' proper transfers, as well as the German (and likely UK) DVDs having NTSC-PAL transfers.

The UK transfers are unconfirmed. The others have been updated.

I'll ensure the various incomplete details get added as I hunt down the relevant discs, and will get more Essanay and Mutual comparisons added asap. In the meantime, don't archive this thread![/quote]

[Brent_Reid]

Re the guide link, which BD entry are you referring to? There isn't a link in the Essanay BDs comparison and the Mutuals one is fine (no section tags).
Retaining the "1995 restorations" tag in the Essanay DVD comparison isn't appropriate, as the page currently features a mixture of restorations and I'm about to add another, in the shape of the 2014 ones.

[Brent_Reid]

It should be noted that the Mutuals 90th Anniversary DVD set was reissued in a pared down version, but with the same ASIN. More info here.

[James-Masaki_Ryan]

So the re-release is just in a keep case without the booklets? No missing content?

[Brent_Reid]

Same four discs, different case, no booklets...

[James-Masaki_Ryan]

Updated the notes

[Anthony_DiPaola]

So does anyone know if this is finished yet?

Just want the author of this post know they're comparisons have not been ignored.

[James-Masaki_Ryan]

With Chaplins, comparisons are never finished...

[Brent_Reid]

Well said, James. As I've said before, do not go locking off this thread! I've been away most of the summer and unable to post comparisons. But I've got a bunch of Chaplins and others lined up for when I get the chance...

[James-Masaki_Ryan]

Good to know you got more to add!

[Brent_Reid]

Flicker Alley Essanay BDs and DVDs

First off, there are some errors in the current BD listing:

• Timings for the individual shorts are incorrect. I assume they've been lifted from a press release or similar, as they correspond to the timings stated on the BD/DVD menus. Strangely though, the runtimes for the two entire programmes are accurate (215:00 and 161:10).
  The last two shorts, "Triple Trouble" and "Charlie Butts In" are actually listed in the BD/DVD extras, unlike the latest BFI discs.
  The release year (1920) is missing from "Charlie Butts In".

The BD timings correspond to the DVD timings, within a second or so, naturally. This is especially good news as it means Flicker Alley have used native NTSC masters, instead of their usual (up to that point at least) PAL-NTSC conversions.

Title: Chaplin’s Essanay Comedies 1915
Country: US
Region: 1
Releasing Studio: Flicker Alley

DISC ONE (DVD)
The Films (with Play All) (2:08:57)
- "His New Job" (1915) (29:21)
- "A Night Out" (1915) (27:50)
- "The Champion" (1915) (31:41)
- "In the Park" (1915) (14:34)
- "A Jitney Elopement" (1915) (25:28)

DISC TWO (DVD)
The Films (with Play All) (2:15:24)
- "The Tramp" (1915) (27:13)
- "By the Sea" (1915) (14:45)
- "His Regeneration" (1915) (14:52)
- "Work" (1915) (28:59)
- "A Woman" (1915) (23:43)
- "The Bank" (1915) (25:50)

DISC THREE (DVD)
The Films (with Play All) (151:27)
- "Shanghaied" (1915) (28:08)
- "A Night in the Show" (1915) (25:03)
- "Burlesque on 'Carmen'" (1916) (31:49)
- "Police" (1916) (26:26)

Case Type: Keepcase in slipcase with BDs
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Anamorphic?: No
PAL or NTSC?: NTSC
Soundtracks: 2.0 Dolby Digital stereo
Subtitles (are they optional?): None (English intertitles)
Cuts: (and if you know it, precise run time) None; 2014 2K restorations
Commentaries: None
Extras:
"Triple Trouble" (1918) short (23:49)
"Charlie Butts In" (1920) short (10:23)

Notes: Only available in BD/DVD dual format set
Easter Eggs: None
Amazon ASIN (UK, French, German, USA releases only): as per BD
Source: Own copy

All the other details can be copied over from the BD listing...

I've just comprehensively updated all my guides; would you mind adding this link? Brenton Film's Charlie Chaplin Collectors’ Guide, Part 2

[James-Masaki_Ryan]

First off, there are some errors in the current BD listing:

Timings for the individual shorts are incorrect.

Could you give us the correct timings for the Blu-ray?
I've added the DVD set and put the link on the Blu-ray page

[Brent_Reid]

I can't play the BDs in my PC right now but did check the timings of a handful of shorts via my BDP. They're either exactly the same as the DVDs or vary by no more than 1¼ seconds. The difference is negligible and likely down to the way my player reads them and/or the inherent minute variations in NTSC/1080p runtimes. They're the same!

In the footnotes you've stated the Flicker Alley DVDs are best but they're actually second and Charlie Butts In isn't "exclusive" as such. You could expand the notes by saying the latest BFI DVDs (the PAL equivalent of their BD set; ASIN B01N94GASF) are the best of the lot, while the most recent Spanish Divisa DVDs (ASIN B00R5XOBL4) are third best overall. The BFIs have the best audio sync, transfers and contain everything in the FA set and more. With the BDs being available I think it pretty unlikely that anyone here is going to add the UK and Spanish DVD sets, so it's certainly worth mentioning them.

Ta muchly for adding my article link but, as with the Essanay BD comparison, you've retained the erroneous tag! The links should be: http://www.brentonfilm.com/articles/cha ... ide-part-2

[James-Masaki_Ryan]

In the footnotes you've stated the Flicker Alley DVDs are best but they're actually second and Charlie Butts In isn't "exclusive" as such.

I don't see the short on any other DVD set, so it is exclusive to the Flicker Alley here.

You could expand the notes by saying the latest BFI DVDs (the PAL equivalent of their BD set; ASIN B01N94GASF) are the best of the lot, while the most recent Spanish Divisa DVDs (ASIN B00R5XOBL4) are third best overall. The BFIs have the best audio sync, transfers and contain everything in the FA set and more. With the BDs being available I think it pretty unlikely that anyone here is going to add the UK and Spanish DVD sets, so it's certainly worth mentioning them.

Without someone confirming, we shouldn't state they are the "best". They may have botched the transfers - even the Chaplin Essanay Blu-ray had issues with one of the shorts as the transfer was an old analog source.

Ta muchly for adding my article link but, as with the Essanay BD comparison, you've retained the erroneous tag! The links should be: http://www.brentonfilm.com/articles/cha ... ide-part-2

The link goes atraight the the Essanay sets part of the article. What is the issue?

[Brent_Reid]

As I said, the latest DVDs are fairly unlikely to ever be added (I only have the Flicker Alleys because they come with the BDs), so that statement is too absolute and could easily be better qualified.

I'm confirming it! I have both sets and have scrutinised them extensively. Re Triple Trouble: both the FA and BFI BDs use the exact same analogue transfer, as there were no better materials available. It has been improved extensively though, as per my article.

The Essanay and Mutual sections are both combined and interleaved throughout, and that jump link skips over the earlier restorations. That's why I always include a hyperlinked list of contents!

[James-Masaki_Ryan]

Link updated and "exclusive" removed.