German Sound Classics box (1930-1945) with English subs

[lubitsch]

In 2006 Transit and the Goethe Instituts released a box of 10 sound films which never was sold through retailers and seems to have been destined for culture work in the Goethe Instituts mainly. Some boxes popped up on ebay, but that's about it. Now the box seems to be available on some retailers at a very reasonable price. See here or here.

Of the films obviously M and Blue Angel will be in most classic film buff collections. La Habanera, Titanic and Münchhausen also had international releases from Kino International, however the other five films didn't. Ophüls Lachende Erben is a very minor film, but Der Kongreß tanzt, Amphitryon, Die Drei von der Tankstelle are three major examples of the early sound operetta/comedy tradition and Der Kaiser von Kalifornien is one of the major films of Luis Trenker.

At 40 Euro this is pretty cheap and you can put in Käutner's Unter den Brücken, the best German 40s film, in the same order. It also has English subs.

[zedz]

Thanks for the heads up, lubitsch, but that link goes through to a 'product not found' page. They might have had a limited number of the sets which are now gone.

[lubitsch]

Fixed the links now, they are in stock ("am Lager") at both shops. Don't know how many of those sets are available and what's the reason for their appearence, so better decide quickly. I think the price is bloody cheap even if you have 3,4 of the films.

[triodelover]

lubitsch, do you know if Der Blaue Engel is a new restoration, or the same as the Kino/Eureka discs?

I agree wholeheartedly about Unter den Brücken. It obviously owes a debt to Vigo's L'Atalante but it stands on it own.

[lubitsch]

lubitsch, do you know if Der Blaue Engel is a new restoration, or the same as the Kino/Eureka discs?

I think it's the same restoration, the edition is from 2006 and they apparently took the transfers from the German Universum/Black Hill discs which however also means that there's quite a bit of ugly sound filtering which affects also Brücken.

[perkizitore]

Alphamusic seems to be the cheapest option, buch.de sells it for a similar price but they do not state their international shipping costs.

[PillowRock]

Where did you see Viktor und Viktoria in the list of films? When I follow the links provided, the descriptions look like the Schunzel included is Amphitryon.

[lubitsch]

Where did you see Viktor und Viktoria in the list of films? When I follow the links provided, the descriptions look like the Schunzel included is Amphitryon.

Wishful thinking. Thanks for the correction. Amphitryon isn't bad either.

[TMDaines]

Presumably these include all the material from the original releases and thus we get the extras, as it refers to the film essays as being included which were present on the UFA Klassiker Edition discs. It would be nice to think we get all the other extras from Der blaue Engeland Munchausen also but I doubt it as they were two disc sets.

The set looks very beautiful I must say.

The extras other than the digital film essays aren't included.

[TMDaines]

I've got this box now and I must say it looks as beautiful in real life as it does on the pictures online. The covers are all very stylish with the whole poster imposed on a close-up of it. I tried La Habanera out just because I read some negative reviews of this transfer on the UFA Klassiker Edition disc and whilst it isn't great I've seen far worse discs get a positive spin online. It's certainly acceptable for me, although I'll be watching these on my 22" PC screen, and far better than some of shit interlaced Kino transfers out there if that's your measuring stick. I've only watched the M extra and it was very informative and I hope the other essays on the films prove to be just as knowledgeable also. Everything is subtitled in English and the discs are region free (1-6 & 8).

I thought I'd maybe feel a little disappointed at paying €40 for this after reading some reviews of the original discs but I'm very pleased with it I must say. JPC did a wonderful job of packing it also!

Any particular questions or some screenshots from a particular film and I'll happily provide them.

[htdm]

Thanks for that update TMD - I also ordered it but it hasn't arrived yet.
How do Der Kaiser von Kalifornien and Der Kongress Tanzt look?

[TMDaines]

Thanks for that update TMD - I also ordered it but it hasn't arrived yet.
How do Der Kaiser von Kalifornien and Der Kongress Tanzt look?

I'll have a look later if I get time.

[Tommaso]

"Der Kaiser von Kalifornien" looks all right, if I remember correctly. Not my favourite Trenker film, but among the German films of the time not set in Germany, it's surely one of the few successful ones.

"Der Kongress tanzt" suffers basically from the source materials, surely more than one generation down from the negative, but I suppose it's all that survives. The transfer itself looks a bit too much cleaned-up, some unnatural looking grain structure because of digital manipulation etc. So yes, Edition Filmmuseum would have done this better, but it's not terribly bad either, and after all you'll forget about such trifles after 10 minutes. Please don't let these imperfections keep you from getting this marvel of filmmaking. It's quite simply one of the best German films ever made, and there's no alternative edition anyway (apart from the Spanish divisared release which uses the same master).

EDIT: Arhhhm... hang on:

. Everything is subtitled in English and the discs are region free (1-6 & 8).

That means that you can take my comments above with a grain of salt perhaps, as these must be different versions to the discs released in their own editions, because none of them had English subs. I'd still assume the transfers are the same, but one never knows... Quite apart from the fact that some custom subtitling in the backyards would have been quite unnecessary if they had released this edition to a wider audience in the first place

[Perkins Cobb]

Wait, wait, wait -- you're saying I ordered this and none of the films are going to have English subs?!

[lubitsch]

Wait, wait, wait -- you're saying I ordered this and none of the films are going to have English subs?!

No Tommaso refers to the German single discs. They had another cover, no subs and not all of them the 20 minute video essays. I think it's highly unlikely that they are other transfers though, I admittedly never bothered to compare my discs.

[Perkins Cobb]

Oh, all right, I got it now. (Too many percocets sloshing around in my yammy tonight, I guess.) Whew!

[htdm]

"Der Kongress tanzt" ... It's quite simply one of the best German films ever made, and there's no alternative edition anyway (apart from the Spanish divisared release which uses the same master).

And there is also the Japanese DVD which really isn't bad (and far better than the source used for the US VHS).

[Tommaso]

Oh yes, the Japanese.... they even released Willi Forst's wonderful debut film "Leise flehen meine Lieder" on dvd, while the rest of the world (including Germany and Austria) is still waiting...

[Michael Kerpan]

Oh yes, the Japanese.... they even released Willi Forst's wonderful debut film "Leise flehen meine Lieder" on dvd, while the rest of the world (including Germany and Austria) is still waiting...

Is this the film we see excerpts from in Ozu's Only son?

[Tommaso]

Yes, that's the one.

[Jonathan S]

Anyone who has used jpc: should I receive an automatic e-mail confirming the order "immediately" (as the site says), even at weekend? The order appeared to go through, but I received no e-mail, and for some reason the site wouldn't let me create an account after making the order (the procedure it suggested)... so I've no way of confirming or tracking the order at present.

[TMDaines]

They only process the orders at the end of the working day I believe, or something like that anyway. I don't think you have anything to worry about.

[Jonathan S]

Thanks. I was eventually able to open an account and they now seem to have merged it with the accountless order. I was just a bit concerned as the website gave the impression they sent a confirmation e-mail automatically, like Amazon and other major sites.

[htdm]

They also sent me a follow up email (in English) to ask whether I had any questions.
Quite impressed with this retailer!

[TMDaines]

Thanks. I was eventually able to open an account and they now seem to have merged it with the accountless order. I was just a bit concerned as the website gave the impression they sent a confirmation e-mail automatically, like Amazon and other major sites.

I wouldn't worry. JPC are a very good site, very good customer service in both German and English and they always package well too. My boxset come in a big box full of packing chips to help ensure it arrived without damage.