Posts Tagged ‘Sprocket Vault’
How Not to Repair a DVD
Posted on: June 27, 2017
Option 1: Use Scotch tape, scratch remover and melt with a blow torch.
Option 2: Contact us and we’ll send a speedy replacement.
A customer tried Option 1 and sent us the following unedited message:
“hi, could you please refund me on the dvd disc. I played this dvd disc on my dvd player, and it did NOT work. I took it out and found huge scratches and huge cracks in the disc. I repaired the huge scratches with scratch remover, and I repaired the huge cr acks with scotch tape. I then put it back in the dvd player to see if it would play better, but it would NOT play better AT ALL. the lasers inside the dvd player would NOT even recognize the dvd disc AT ALL. it was too IMPOSSIBLE to even be recognizable AT ALL. my other dvd discs work perfectly normal and great on my dvd player, and my dvd player still works perfectly normal and great as well. it’s just that the dvd disc would NOT even play well AT ALL. my other ones did. I just about tried everything I could even do to repair this dvd disc, but NONE of the ideas worked AT ALL. it was just too IMPOSSIBLE to even be recognizable, and there was absolutely NOTHING else I could even do about it AT ALL. I tried to send the dvd disc back to you, but when I was down in my basement welding something together, I had it with me, and when it fell out of my pocket, i accidentally melted the whole entire item with a blow torch. the whole entire item completely melted down into tiny little specs, and there is absolutely NOTHING left of this item WHATSOEVER. i have absolutely NO replacement for this item WHATSOEVER. so please refund me. i need my money back. thank you.”
You couldn’t make this up! Of course, we promptly returned his money along with an apology for his inconvenience.
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Who needs a real pirate ship?!
What’s more fun to watch than a B-movie produced by Robert L. Lippert? A double-feature produced by TWO Robert L. Lippert’s (Sr. and Jr.), both featuring B-movie stalwart Robert Clarke, one filmed in AnscoColor with Lon Chaney, Jr. as a priest, and with a script by Star Trek producer Fred Freiberger. Oh, and a rowboat for a “ship”! With a lineup like that, who needs Douglas Fairbanks, Errol Flynn, or even a real pirate ship?
I’d about given up hope of finding color film elements on “The Black Pirates” (Lippert/1954) until a few years ago when my friend, producer Sam Sherman, revealed he had been storing the original negative for decades under the Spanish release title, “El Pirata Negro.” It came into Sam’s possession this way: In the mid 1940s, Robert L. Lippert and William Pizor formed Screen Guild Productions, which later became Lippert Pictures. Pizor was in charge of international sales. (Pizor founded two low budget studios)
In 1954, Lippert acquired distribution rights for seven years to “The Black Pirates,” which was co-produced by Robert L. Lippert, Jr. and Mexican producer, Ollalo Rubio, under the banner of Salvador Films Corp. For some unknown reason “The Black Pirates” negative ended up in Pizor’s film vault.
Pizor’s son, Irwin, also a producer, took over the vault after the elder Pizor died in 1959, and Sam Sherman maintains it to this day.
Sam gave me the negative. Thank you, Sam!
But, there were problems: the AnscoColor negative had excellent color, but odd looking streaks in some of the reels. Poor lab work? (It was done in Mexico) Improperly stored? For sure. Lippert Jr. told me the negative had been stored under hot and humid conditions in El Salvador where the film was mostly shot. Since I don’t like releasing movies with blemishes, the DVD release was tabled until hopefully a good print or some other usable element could be found.
Then, in 2016, another old friend, Wade Williams, gave me an original 35mm color print, and it had those same blemishes! Conclusion: The movie must have been shown in theatres with the same imperfections I’d rejected for a DVD release. Tiffany Clayton* has done the digital restoration work on the majority of my movies and she tasked with fixing this one, and the resulting image is probably better than when it looked in theatres.
One other thing, only the Spanish main and end titles survived, so we used them. No big deal.
The difficulties I had in locating good film materials is nothing to what Lippert, Jr. endured while producing the movie. He told me the movie was “shit.” The experience, yes, the movie – not nearly so bad. Find out exactly what he had to say about making the movie in a reenacted interview as part of the DVD special features.
SWASHBUCKLER DOUBLE-FEATURE from The Sprocket Vault
“The Black Pirates” (1954)
Cast: Anthony Dexter, Robert Clarke, Martha Roth, Lon Chaney, Jr., Toni Gerry, Víctor Manuel Mendoza
Location filming in El Salvador highlights this hot blooded tale of pirates landing in a Latin American town in search of buried treasure, and learning that a church was built over the spot. A pirate chief enslaves the townspeople and forces them to dig for it–but more twists lie ahead. Script by Star Trek producer Fred Freiberger.
74 min | Color | 1.87:1/widescreen | NR
“Tales of Robin Hood” (1952)
Cast: Robert Clarke, Mary Hatcher, Paul Cavanagh, Wade Crosby, Whit Bissell, Ben Welden, Robert Bice
In 12th-century Nottinghamshire, ruthless tax collectors oppress the simple folk. Meanwhile, deep in the shadows of Sherwood Forest, a new hero is born: Robin Hood a sharp-witted swashbuckler joined by his Merry Men steals from the rich and gives to the poor–AND, on his own, romances the lovely Maid Marian. Some scenes were filmed on the set of “Joan of Arc” (1950). Originally produced as a TV pilot, but released theatrically.
1952 | 60 min | B&W | 1.37:1 |NR
Bonus Features:
Interviews with Robert L. Lippert, Jr. and Robert Clarke by Tom Weaver (reenactments)
Original trailer to “The Black Pirates”
Order DVD on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZFBT15
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Also, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel:
*You can find more restoration work by Tiffany Clayton on her LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffanyclayton/
The Mysterious Airman (1928)
Posted on: April 19, 2017
It’s been a year-long journey, but our “Super 10-Chapterplay of the Air” is finally released!
I have owned the chain of title for years, but couldn’t find any film elements to work with. Then long-time friend and film collector, Jeff Joseph, loaned us his one-of-a-kind 35mm tinted nitrate print. Working with an almost 90 year-old-print took time, but it turned out beautiful.
We are delighted that silent film accompanist Dr. Andrew Simpson agreed to score, and what a great job he did.
Our favorite commentator, noted film historian, Richard M Roberts, liked the serial so much he produced and recorded a full-length commentary…excellent, as always. More time was spent syncing (easier said than done), checking the final master, creating packaging, replication, shipping to Amazon, and impatiently waiting for them to disperse inventory to their various warehouses. It’s here at last!
“Superior to the usual run of serials…full of thrills…” – Schenectady (NY) Gazette
You just might think the Schenectady Gazette’s comment is an understatement. Feel free to let me know. Of course, you’ll have to buy it first! Here’s the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y4GLV4C
The following is our formal press release —
The Sprocket Vault announces its DVD release of the 1928 silent serial THE MYSTERIOUS AIRMAN, a ten-part “Super Chapterplay of the Air” starring silent era-serial superstar Walter Miller and Eugenia Gilbert produced by the long-lasting Poverty Row Producers, The Weiss Brothers.
Featuring vintage biplanes and exciting action, THE MYSTERIOUS AIRMAN was the last silent serial produced by The Weiss Brothers and one of the last silent serials ever produced. Thought to be a “lost” film, Producer Kit Parker, who purchased the holdings of Weiss Global International in 2004, was approached by film archivist, Jeff Joseph of SabuCat Productions, who offered to loan a near-complete original 35mm tinted nitrate print which was missing only the first reel of Chapter Nine. The print was lovingly restored and transferred (recreating the missing reel from stills and plot synopses), and a new piano score was commissioned from ace silent film accompanist Dr. Andrew Earle Simpson, main accompanist of the Library of Congress Packard Campus in Culpeper, Virginia.
The Sprocket Vault’s DVD release of THE MYSTERIOUS AIRMAN also features a complete and comprehensive commentary track by noted film historian Richard M Roberts. He weaves a story about the production and the people involved, from stars Miller and Gilbert, co-stars like Robert Walker and Dorothy Talcott to Director Harry Revier and the production staff of Weiss Brothers-Artclass Pictures, a family of low-budget film producers whose filmmaking operations kept them in business from the 1910s up to the 1990s, outlasting some of Hollywood’s major studios.
The Sprocket Vault’s release of THE MYSTERIOUS AIRMAN heralds an important rediscovery in film history, as few silent serials exist today in anything resembling complete form, much less in lovely tinted original print quality. It’s a fun, light-hearted cliffhanger that shows the joys of Saturday Matinee moviegoing and what could be done on less-than-spectacular budgets as well as illustrating the early days of flying, seat of your pants filmmaking from the seat of your pants days of Aviation.
Also included as bonus features:
- “Flying Cadets” (1928) 2-reel short with great vintage plane shots filmed at Brooks Field, TX
- New York Censor Board File (some scenes were required to be cut for the serial to be shown in the State of New York!)
- Gallery of original posters and lobby cards
DVD BASICS
Retail: $24.99
Amazon Price: $19.99
Language: English title cards
Running Time:
Color: Original color tints
Year: 1928
Rating: Not Rated
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 – 4X5
The Soldier and the Lady
Posted on: February 20, 2017
— Out of Sight Out of Mind
Through the years I’ve unearthed and released a number of pictures originally distributed by major studios.
One top-of-the bill picture I’ve held off offering on DVD until now is “The Soldier and the Lady,” produced and released by RKO Radio Pictures in 1937.
It’s a good movie…a staple on the late, late show in the 1950s and early 60s, but only sporadically seen since. Too bad, because it’s a fast paced and thoroughly enjoyable adventure picture from producer Pandro S. Berman, complete with a rousing music score, and a whipping sequence that somehow passed the censors. What’s not to like?
I call movies like this “out–of–sight–out–of-mind” pictures. Translation: People don’t know ‘em, don’t buy ‘em, I make no money on ‘em, but go ahead and release ‘em anyway.
Film historian, Richard M Roberts, and frequent KPF and Sprocket Vault collaborator contributed this:
THE SOLDIER AND THE LADY
Based on the story Michael Strogoff by Jules Verne, this epic action adventure follows a courageous courier of Tsar Alexander II as he struggles to deliver vital information to Russian troops fighting a losing battle against invading Tartar hordes in Siberia. It’s a straight ahead action film, adventurous, swiftly paced and blood-thirstily satisfying. The lady in the title has practically nothing to do with it.
Michael Strogoff: the Tsar’s Courier is a famous novel written by Jules Verne in 1876 that tells the story of its title character who is sent to the far east of Russia to warn the governor of Irkutsk about the trainer Ivan Ogareff, who incites rebellion and plans to destroy Irkutsk. This serial-like adventures of Strogoff and his friends battling a Tartar rebellion has captivated Verne fans for decades despite it being one of the author’s few non-science fiction works.
That said, one of the eternal movie history questions may indeed be just how many versions of Michael Strogoff do we really need? More than ten at casual count, and apparently a number of those were produced or coproduced by one Joseph N. Ermolieff, a White Russian who was one of the major film producers under the Tsar, and a political exile himself who escaped to France when came the revolution and spent the next several decades as an ex-patriot film producer over many continents. He apparently owned the rights to Verne’s novel and every decade or so managed to crank out or be involved in the cranking out of at least one new version of the peace, including a lavish three-hour French silent masterpiece directed by Victor Tourjansky and starring Ivan Mouskoujine. Then in 1935, Ermolieff produced a new French-German co-production directed by Richard Eichberg and starring Anton Wahlbrook that utilizes some footage from the 1926 version. As if this was not enough, what does Ermolieff go and do but take this 1935 version and Wahlbrook to America the following year and sell RKO on yet another remake of Strogoff re-using Wahlbrook (or Walbrook as he Anglicized the spelling) and utilizing as much footage from the Eichberg Version as one could possibly match-up with the new American cast. So RKO releases this new version, retitled The Soldier and the Lady (Fair enough, Eichberg’s Version had been titled the Tsar’s Courier) and, surprise, surprise, it’s a grand and glorious flop.
Now hold on, we didn’t say it was a deserved flop, for as patch-job French – German – American co-productions matching up footage of Anton Wahlbrook and sometimes even Ivan Mouskoujine to Anton Walbrook go, it’s pretty amazingly seamless, and Walbrook in his first English – speaking role is a very dashing Strogoff. The American cast has a lot going for it, number one being Akim Tamiroff in top-villainous mode as Ivan Ogareff, and Elizabeth Allan looking reasonably radiant as Nadia. Perhaps some are a bit put-off by comic relief Eric Blore and Edward Brophy as the reporters covering the rebellion, but this author likes both performers and finds them the occasional breath of fresh air amongst all of Walbrook’s masochistic abuse. Okay, when you get down to Ward bond as a tartar things are getting a bit silly but all in all, this Michael Strogoff moves along at an easy-to-take 85 minutes, give you much of the spectacle of the earlier European version, and gives one and incredible lesson in editing and matching old footage.
And it didn’t stop Mr. Ermolieff from making yet more versions of the darn book, next up with a 1944 Mexican version, Miguel Strogoff, I kid you not, and Curt Jurgens went through the tortuous motions again in 1960. Now of course public domain, Jules Verne’s books all seems to be one of those European co-productions they can always get off the ground though remakes seem to have dropped off since the 70s when both a feature and television version appeared. Seems to this one, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a bit more fun, but Michael Strogoff still beats it in the remake department.
Order DVD on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N7QYTXX
Keep up to date with our new Sprocket Vault releases by liking us on Facebook www.facebook.com/sprocketvault/
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The click that put www.sprocketvault.com online
We’ve been so busy with creating our new company, working the bugs out, and setting up our Amazon store (it would have helped if I spoke Tagalog and Hindi) that it took us months to produce our website. No excuses other than we just wanted to do it right. Websites are always a work in progress, so let me know what could be improved.
Although the majority of releases are movies to which I own all rights, we are working on a release schedule of hard-to-find movies from other producers. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter (bottom of our home page), visit and “like” our Facebook page, and subscribe to our YouTube Channel.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/sprocketvault/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCLHjjG-o5Ny5BDykgVBzdrQ
OK, with the website crossed off my to-do list, it’s now time to get to work setting up new releases!
More later…
P.S. Thanks to our webmaster, Wendall Williams of Provido LLC, and graphic artist Missy Koskey for making the website a reality.
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