Charlie Chaplin and Criterion

News on Criterion and Janus Films.
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Ashirg
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:10 am
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Re: Charlie Chaplin and Criterion

#201 Post by Ashirg » Sun Sep 23, 2012 9:38 pm

Monsieur Verdoux is out in Scandinavia.

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JPJ
Joined: Mon Dec 15, 2008 8:23 am

Re: Charlie Chaplin and Criterion

#202 Post by JPJ » Mon Sep 24, 2012 9:57 am

Ashirg wrote:Monsieur Verdoux is out in Scandinavia.
Also The Kid,Woman of Paris,Gold rush(re-release version),The circus,City lights,Modern Times and Limelight.Just picked up dual format Woman of Paris for 6 euros from the local shopping mall.

Kauno
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Re: Charlie Chaplin and Criterion

#203 Post by Kauno » Mon Sep 24, 2012 11:55 am

JPJ wrote:
Ashirg wrote:Monsieur Verdoux is out in Scandinavia.
Also The Kid,Woman of Paris,Gold rush(re-release version),The circus,City lights,Modern Times and Limelight.Just picked up dual format Woman of Paris for 6 euros from the local shopping mall.
Aren't they all 1080i/25fps?

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JPJ
Joined: Mon Dec 15, 2008 8:23 am

Re: Charlie Chaplin and Criterion

#204 Post by JPJ » Mon Sep 24, 2012 12:17 pm

Kauno wrote:
JPJ wrote:
Ashirg wrote:Monsieur Verdoux is out in Scandinavia.
Also The Kid,Woman of Paris,Gold rush(re-release version),The circus,City lights,Modern Times and Limelight.Just picked up dual format Woman of Paris for 6 euros from the local shopping mall.
Aren't they all 1080i/25fps?
Actually I'm not sure,The Great Dictator(forgot that one from the previous post)definitely isn't.

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OrphanSeasun
Joined: Sun Oct 28, 2012 11:52 am
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia

Re: Charlie Chaplin and Criterion

#205 Post by OrphanSeasun » Thu Dec 20, 2012 4:28 am

Criterion has released all four of their Chaplin titles in chronological order: Modern Times (1936), The Great Dictator (1940), Goldrush (the 1942 re-release is the officially sanctioned version), and now Monsieur Verdoux (1947). If Criterion continues the pattern we can look forward to Limelight next and a long, long wait for the earlier great works from the 20s.

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Jeff
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:49 pm
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Re: Charlie Chaplin and Criterion

#206 Post by Jeff » Sun Dec 30, 2012 8:48 pm

OrphanSeasun wrote:Criterion has released all four of their Chaplin titles in chronological order: Modern Times (1936), The Great Dictator (1940), Goldrush (the 1942 re-release is the officially sanctioned version), and now Monsieur Verdoux (1947). If Criterion continues the pattern we can look forward to Limelight next and a long, long wait for the earlier great works from the 20s.
I'm betting that pattern continues, more or less, and that it mainly has to do with how much work is needed on various titles. If I was to randomly speculate (as I am wont to do), I would say that the release schedule for the remaining titles might look something like:

Summer 2013: Paired spines of Limelight and A King in New York (the latter being a lower-tier $30 release)

Holiday 2013: Charlie Chaplin at First National Pictures (includes The Kid, The Pilgrim, Shoulder Arms, and the six shorts) [two-disc set]

Spring 2014: A Woman of Paris (with new commentary by David Kalat??? I suspect Criterion will try to rehabilitate this one.)

Summer 2014: The Circus

Holiday 2014: City Lights and Chaplin125 (Like AK100, a set of all Criterion's Chaplin holdings with a big, fancy book and no supplements)

MongooseCmr
Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2012 11:50 pm

Re: Charlie Chaplin and Criterion

#207 Post by MongooseCmr » Sun Dec 30, 2012 9:50 pm

If they did a big Chaplin box set I imagine A Woman of Paris would be the Madadayo of the set. A title by the director that may not sell very well on an individual release but would be an essential bit for a collectors edition.

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: Charlie Chaplin and Criterion

#208 Post by knives » Sun Dec 30, 2012 10:02 pm

I hope you are very wrong on that as A Woman of Paris is easily one of his best.

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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: Charlie Chaplin and Criterion

#209 Post by zedz » Sun Dec 30, 2012 10:35 pm

Sounds like a decent plan, Jeff, but I have no doubt that The Kid will be top-billed as such. That said, it does make sense to load the shorts in with it, unless the Chaplins are doing so well for Criterion that they want to spin them into their own release.

I also wouldn't be surprised if the two 'lesser lights' among the features (Woman of Paris and King in New York) come out as a double feature, speciously linked by the title similarities but actually linked because they're not commercially strong enough to stand alone.

bamwc2
Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2008 11:54 am

Re: Charlie Chaplin and Criterion

#210 Post by bamwc2 » Mon Dec 31, 2012 6:41 pm

knives wrote:I hope you are very wrong on that as A Woman of Paris is easily one of his best.
I know that we've gotten into this before, but it's easily my least favorite of Chaplin's films. I've only seen it once, but found it excruciatingly boring.

Brianruns10
Joined: Sun Jul 02, 2006 10:48 am

Re: Charlie Chaplin and Criterion

#211 Post by Brianruns10 » Mon Dec 31, 2012 7:40 pm

Jeff wrote:
OrphanSeasun wrote:Criterion has released all four of their Chaplin titles in chronological order: Modern Times (1936), The Great Dictator (1940), Goldrush (the 1942 re-release is the officially sanctioned version), and now Monsieur Verdoux (1947). If Criterion continues the pattern we can look forward to Limelight next and a long, long wait for the earlier great works from the 20s.
I'm betting that pattern continues, more or less, and that it mainly has to do with how much work is needed on various titles. If I was to randomly speculate (as I am wont to do), I would say that the release schedule for the remaining titles might look something like:

Summer 2013: Paired spines of Limelight and A King in New York (the latter being a lower-tier $30 release)

Holiday 2013: Charlie Chaplin at First National Pictures (includes The Kid, The Pilgrim, Shoulder Arms, and the six shorts) [two-disc set]

Spring 2014: A Woman of Paris (with new commentary by David Kalat??? I suspect Criterion will try to rehabilitate this one.)

Summer 2014: The Circus

Holiday 2014: City Lights and Chaplin125 (Like AK100, a set of all Criterion's Chaplin holdings with a big, fancy book and no supplements)
Oh my yes, a First National set (with the Kid in its proper place, not separate) is one I do crave.

And what about "A Countess from Hong Kong?" Standard Def bonus feature seems about right :P

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: Charlie Chaplin and Criterion

#212 Post by knives » Mon Dec 31, 2012 7:42 pm

Countess is not in Criterion's possession.

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ryannichols7
Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2012 2:26 pm

Re: Charlie Chaplin and Criterion

#213 Post by ryannichols7 » Tue Jan 01, 2013 1:20 pm

well, as we can see now, The Kid is surely coming in 2013.

Brianruns10
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Re: Charlie Chaplin and Criterion

#214 Post by Brianruns10 » Tue Jan 01, 2013 7:08 pm

ryannichols7 wrote:well, as we can see now, The Kid is surely coming in 2013.
i just hope this means we'll get the other First Nationals. I firmly believe The Kid ought to be bundled with those films, since it was originally conceived as a short film for his F.N. contract, but then turned into a feature, with one more short, The Pilgrim, to follow. It is part of a whole, and they all need to be presented together.

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med
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2009 5:58 pm

Re: Charlie Chaplin and Criterion

#215 Post by med » Sun Mar 31, 2013 10:20 am

To further give credence to the possibility of Limelight being the next Criterion release, one of the the supplements on Monsieur Verdoux features a brief clip from the later film and it looked very nice.

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Brian C
I hate to be That Pedantic Guy but...
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Re: Charlie Chaplin and Criterion

#216 Post by Brian C » Sun Mar 31, 2013 12:03 pm

They've all been restored and toured in new 35mm prints, though, so they all look plenty nice already without Criterion specifically working on them. I don't think that's much of a tea leaf.

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Lowry_Sam
Joined: Mon Jul 05, 2010 3:35 pm
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Re: Charlie Chaplin and Criterion

#217 Post by Lowry_Sam » Sun Mar 31, 2013 11:48 pm

MongooseCmr wrote:If they did a big Chaplin box set I imagine A Woman of Paris would be the Madadayo of the set. A title by the director that may not sell very well on an individual release but would be an essential bit for a collectors edition.
If they do a box, hopefully they ditch the haphazard & unattractive covers and replace them with stills a la (what they are hopefully doing with) Harold Lloyd.

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aox
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Re: Charlie Chaplin and Criterion

#218 Post by aox » Mon Apr 01, 2013 10:29 am

City Lights (as well as the already released Modern Times) is the only one I am really pining to purchase. Being a big title in his filmography, I am surprised it hasn't been released yet and that we may have to wait even longer. I figured City Lights would have been high in the queue along with Modern Times, Gold Rush and The Great Dictator.

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agnamaracs
Joined: Thu Dec 21, 2006 3:13 am

Re: Charlie Chaplin and Criterion

#219 Post by agnamaracs » Wed May 15, 2019 9:29 am

The Kid was released in February 2016. It is now over three years later. Did they give up?

I'd love to see a First National shorts collection on par with the Flicker Alley/BFI sets. Maybe with The Chaplin Revue as an extra.

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CSM126
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 8:22 am
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Re: Charlie Chaplin and Criterion

#220 Post by CSM126 » Wed May 15, 2019 10:19 am

The influx of major studio licenses took precedence. No one else is getting their hands on the Chaplin titles for a long time anyway, so they can afford to wait on them while keeping the studios happy with quick turnarounds on their films.

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tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: Charlie Chaplin and Criterion

#221 Post by tenia » Wed May 15, 2019 10:38 am

As long as I'm still alive by the time they release the last Chaplin they own... They might even get their UK branch running smoothly first.

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denti alligator
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:36 pm
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Re: Charlie Chaplin and Criterion

#222 Post by denti alligator » Wed May 15, 2019 8:29 pm

What else do they own the rights to besides Woman in Paris and The Circus?

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Shrew
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Re: Charlie Chaplin and Criterion

#223 Post by Shrew » Wed May 15, 2019 8:52 pm

A King in New York, as well as all the First National shorts (A Dog's Life, Shoulder Arms, Sunnyside, A Day's Pleasure, Pay Day, The Idle Class, The Pilgrim). Basically everything except the pre-1918 shorts and A Countess from Hong Kong.

I expect Filmstruck/Criterion Channel has taken the urgency out of this project, since they're all available there. Plus the remaining films aren't Chaplin's most well-known or best-regarded (sorry, I know swo likes The Circus).

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dustybooks
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Re: Charlie Chaplin and Criterion

#224 Post by dustybooks » Wed May 15, 2019 9:08 pm

Count me with swo, The Circus is my second-favorite just behind CIty Lights. I'll be mildly annoyed if A King in New York gets out first!

A full collection of the First National shorts seems like an easy sell to me. I wouldn't be shocked if that came next whenever they revisit the Chaplin well.

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captveg
Joined: Wed Sep 02, 2009 7:28 pm

Re: Charlie Chaplin and Criterion

#225 Post by captveg » Thu Jun 20, 2019 9:40 am

With the release of The Circus, we likely only have two releases left, but it may be a while: Chaplin Revue/First National Shorts, A Woman of Paris/A King In New York.

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