Lupino Lane: Silent Comedian - DVD

Next to Buster Keaton, Lupino Lane was the finest acrobatic comedian in the history of film. Remembered today mainly as a stage performer and for the hugely successful ME & MY GIRL, it's perhaps surprising that the film career of Lupino Lane has been largely forgotten. After appearing in a few British films, he travelled to the USA in the 1920s and was signed by Educational Pictures to make a series of 2 reel comedies, which are his main legacy today. This collection features eight of those rare titles in digitally scanned, reconstructed and restored prints, from archival sources around the world. They combine brilliantly inventive, often surreal gags with wild dazzling acrobatics and include routines from British music hall and pantomine, many featuring his brother Wallace. With a choice of newly composed scores from three of the UK's top silent film accompanists (Neil Brand, Donald MacKenzie and Meg Morley) and a feast of EXTRAS on the disc, we're confident that you'll discover Lupino Lane to be an exceptional comedian. Films HELLO SAILOR (1927), SWORD POINTS (1928), FISTICUFFS (1928), SUMMER SAPS (1929), GOOD NIGHT NURSE (1929), BATTLING SISTERS (1929), JOYLAND (1929), FIRE PROOF (1929) (sound).

Jack Nicholson returns as private eye Jake Gittes in the long-awaited sequel to InchChinatown.Inch Set in 1948 Los Angeles, this riveting mystery has Gittes investigating a case of adultery and murder, only to find a web of land fraud, scheming oil barons, and a mysterious link to the past. Harvey Keitel, Meg Tilly, Reuben Blades co-star; directed by Nicholson and written by InchChinatownInch scripter Robert Towne. 137 min. Widescreen; Soundtracks English DTS HD 5.1 Master Audio, French Dolby Digital stereo; Subtitles English, French.

SILENT MOVIE is director Mel Brooks's comic tribute to the golden days of the silent screen. A movie within a movie, SILENT MOVIE stars Brooks as Mel Funn, a filmmaker who has seen better days-for one thing, he's just come out of a bout with the bottle. When his best friends (Marty Feldman and Dom DeLuise) rescue him from despair and convince him to make another attempt at moviemaking, Mel comes up with an idea-a silent picture. Alas, this is the 1970s, and in order to get backing from wacky, frazzled studio chief Sid Caesar, the three pals have to get lots of celebrities to agree to be in their silent picture. SILENT MOVIE is, in fact, silent, and all the celebrities play themselves (or parodies of themselves). Funny, warm, and packed with sight gags galore, the film evokes the days of Chaplin, Keaton, and Pickford and Fairbanks while remaining oddly, and wondrously, contemporary. There is hardly a funnier scene than when Burt Reynolds-vainly admiring himself in the mirror while showering-is talked-up about the movie by DeLuise, Brooks, and Feldman, all in the shower together.