Summer is, for the movie industry, one of the biggest times of the year if not the biggest. However, this year, summer has been anything but thanks to a strike by the Writers Guild of America that recently ended and the ongoing Screen Actors Guild strike. The strikes have crippled the movie industry (and the television industry, too). That is because they have prevented any new content from hitting screens small and large and continue to do so, too. Thankfully alternatives have been out there through a variety of sources, one of those sources being Cohen Media Group. The studio released as an alternative for vintage cinema fans, the Douglas Fairbanks Double Feature: Robin Hood and The Black Pirate July 25 on a single-disc Blu-ray presentation. The two-movie offering is a work that the noted audiences are sure to appreciate. That is due in part to the featured movies. They will be discussed shortly. The movie’s production makes for its own interest and will be discussed a little later. The bonus content that accompanies the movies in their new presentation rounds out the collection’s positives and will also be addressed later. Each item noted here is important in its own way to the whole of the collection’s presentation. All things considered they make the Douglas Fairbanks Double Feature: Robin Hood and The Black Pirate a welcome new look at two classic pieces of cinema history.
Cohen Media Group’s recently released vintage cinema collection, Douglas Fairbanks Double Feature: Robin Hood and The Black Pirate is a collection that most vintage movie fans will find engaging and entertaining. The collection’s appeal comes primarily through its two featured movies. Robin Hood (1922) is considered one of Fairbanks’ greatest cinematic epics while The Black Pirate (1926) is a movie that according to the bonus commentary, came close to not even happening even though Fairbanks wanted to make the movie. That commentary will be addressed later. Robin Hood clocks in at 2 hours, 13 minutes, making it one of the longest takes on the classic story of the legendary outlaw to ever grace the silver screen. Much of that time is spent in this movie setting up how Robin and his band of merry men came together thanks to the evil deeds of King Richard’s evil brother, Prince John. That begins with the movie’s first act, which finds Robin vying to become one of Richard’s top soldiers for the upcoming crusade. This is part of the story that no take of Robin Hood has ever presented. In most versions of the tale, King Richard does not actually come into the story until its finale, but here, he plays a very big part in the story, even after heading out on the crusade. According to this rendition of the story, it was Richard himself who allowed Robin to return to England to deal with Prince John and who eventually returns himself when he discovers just how deep John’s efforts to overthrow him went. There are also interludes between Robin (who goes by the title of the Duke of Huntingdon throughout much of the movie) and Maid Marian that take up some time. Simply put, this extended take of the story of Robin Hood offers audiences a unique version of the tale that few if any iterations since have ever taken. Given, there are some pacing issues throughout the story because of everything that is added to the script, but those who can get themselves past those slower moments will find some engagement and entertainment in this movie.
In the case of The Black Pirate, the story is relatively simple and fun, too. It follows Fairbanks as a young Duke (not to give away too much) who manages to escape an explosion on his ship caused by a group of pirates. He was the sole survivor of the explosion and vows to get vengeance on those pirates. Along the way, he meets a young princess (played by his wife) who has been taken hostage – ironically – by the same pirates who blew up the ship he was on previously. He falls for her and vows to save her as well as eliminate the pirates. The movie clocks in at 1 hour, 35 minutes, much shorter than Robin Hood. The high seas action (most of which was captured on sound stages) and the romance is everything that made and makes vintage Hollywood so wonderful. This movie and Robin Hood together give audiences reason enough to add the collection to their movie libraries. The production values in the movies build on the foundation formed by the stories.
The production values in the movies are so important because the movies are so old, one being more than a century old. Looking at the quality of the footage, the constant color changes in Robin Hood’s footage and the generally grainy quality is eye-opening. It serves as a reminder of just how far movie technology has come since the days of that historic piece of cinema history’s premiere. What’s more even with the grainy look and color changes there, they are important to have because it shows the work that went into restoring the original negatives while also making sure they still had that original quality. On the same note, the grainy quality of the color footage in The Black Pirate shows how film was slowly changing as it went from the old black and white and sepia tone negatives to color. The quality of the film and the music looks and sounds so good. Given, one of the soundtracks was re-recorded for the presentation here, but either way, it all sounds and looks that good.
The positive impact of the movies’ production does plenty to build on the appeal of this collection from Cohen Media Group and is certainly not the last important element. The bonus content that accompanies the movies rounds out the collection’s most important items. The bonus content in question comes in the form of a feature-length audio commentary on The Black Pirate and additional commentary on some deleted scenes from that movie from film historian Rudy Behlmer. Why there is no commentary for Robin Hood is anyone’s guess. Either way, the commentary offered by Behlmer offers its own share of insight, not the least of which being the interesting revelation that Fairbanks had a lot of concerns about filming The Black Pirate in technicolor. To that end, it sounds like the movie came close to not even happening even despite Fairbanks saying a few years prior to the movie’s creation, he wanted to make the presentation.
Another interesting tidbit that Behlmer shares in his commentary is that most of the ocean scenes were shot on water, but not how people might think. Through the use of movie magic, small model ships were used in many of the boat scenes, however the final climactic rescue scene was actually shot in the waters off of Catalina Island, according to Behlmer. Keeping that in mind, the boat that is used in that scene is impressive to say the very least. Along the way, Behlmer also shares tidbits about Fairbanks’ cast mates in the movie, including his own wife, who plays her own role in the movie. There is also note of the movie magic used for one of the underwater scenes that proves intriguing. As if all of that is not enough, Belhmer adds both in the movie’s commentary and that of the deleted scenes, a large airplane propellor was used to make the ships’ sails bellow and that many of the scenes were actually shot in forward but presented to make it look like Fairbanks was quite the superhuman type figure. Between all of this and so much more, the bonus content that comes with The Black Pirate adds even more to the movie’s engagement and entertainment. When the appeal ensured by the movie’s bonus commentary is considered along with the positive impact of the overall footage of both movies and of the movies’ stories, the whole therein makes this collection a largely successful piece that most vintage cinema fans will find appealing overall.
Cohen Media Group’s recently released Douglas Fairbanks Double Feature: Robin Hood and The Black Pirate is an interesting new look back at a piece of cinema history. It proves watching in part through its featured movies, one of which is legendary in its own right and the other which had the potential of never even happening. The production values in the movies show that the most painstaking efforts were taken to make sure the movies were restored properly and to the best of their ability. The bonus commentary that comes with The Black Pirate adds even more interest to that movie. When all of the information shared in that commentary works with everything else noted to make this collection all the more interesting. When that commentary is considered alongside everything else noted, the whole makes the Douglas Fairbanks Double Feature: Robin Hood and The Black Pirate a welcome offering for any vintage cinema fan who needs an alternative to everything that is and is not out there right now in theaters and on television.
Douglas Fairbanks Double Feature: Robin Hood and The Black Pirate is available now through Cohen Media Group. More information on this and other titles from Cohen Media Group is available at:
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