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A COTTAGE ON DARTMOOR Plus Silent Britain
Long treated with indifference by critics and historians though it was popular with audiences British silent cinema has only recently undergone the reevaluation it has long deserved. As this double-feature disc illustrates, the British silent era is proving to be far richer and more rewarding than previously acknowledged, and some of its greatest achievements are again being recognized after decades of neglect.
A Cottage on Dartmoor is perhaps the most significant rediscovery. A tense, shocking thriller that stylistically evokes the early films of Alfred Hitchcock and the masterworks of Russian and German silent cinema, it is also an innovative work in its own right. From the dramatic opening night scenes on the English moorlands, director Anthony Asquith (Pygmalion, The Winslow Boy) establishes an eerie, unpredictable atmosphere. Filled with astounding camerawork and lighting, and some of the fastest editing of the late silent period, Dartmoor shows silent-era techniques at their apex just as sound was about to radically change the industry and the movies.
A perfect companion to Dartmoor is Silent Britain, a feature-length documentary that celebrates this newly-rescued golden age of British filmmaking. Hosted by Matthew Sweet, it spans from such early pioneers as George Albert Smith and Cecil Hepworth to such later figures as Asquith, Maurice Elvey and, of course, Hitchcock. Featuring clips from a remarkable range of films (some of the earliest films featured are available in their entirety on Kinos DVD set The Movies Begin), Silent Britain is the perfect means to reacquaint oneself with early British film history or discover it for the first time.
A COTTAGE ON DARTMOOR
UK 1929 87 min. B&W
Original Aspect Ratio (1.33:1)
Starring NORAH BARING, UNO HENNING and
HANS ADALBERT SCHLETTOW
Photography by STANLEY RODWELL
Art Direction IAN CAMPBELL GRAY
Written by ANTHONY ASQUITH from a story by HERBERT C. PRICE
Directed by ANTHONY ASQUITH
Piano Score Composed and Performed by STEPHEN HORNE
Produced for the BFI by ERICH SARGEANT
Digital Restoration JAMES WHITE
Copyright 2006 BFI
SILENT BRITAIN
UK 2006 88 min. B&W / Color
Full-frame (1.33:1)
Directed by DAVID THOMPSON
Written and Presented by MATTHEW SWEET
Edited by JAN CHOLAWO Original Music by NEIL BRAND
Executive Producer DAVID OKUEFUNA
Produced by DAVID THOMPSON
Featuring JACK CARDIFF, IAN CHRISTIE, BRYONY DIXON, MICHAEL EATON, and FRANK GRAY
Archival footage of ALFRED HITCHCOCK, JOAN MORGAN,GEORGE PEARSON, MABEL POULTON and CHRISSIE WHITE
A BBC and BFI co-production
Copyright 2006 BBC |
