It's not all that long ago that I blogged about the part-talking Noah's Ark. Apparently Warner Bros. re-released it 25 years later. They made a promotional short to go along with it, and that short, Magic Movie Moments, is showing up on TCM overnight a little after 3:15 AM, following I Confess (1:30 AM, 95 min plus an intro/outro).
I can't comment on the short, since I haven't seen it, although the one IMDb reviewer suggests it's little more than an extended trailer for the movie. I have to admit, however, my surprise that Warner Bros. would have picked Noah's Ark to re-release. When it comes to silents, I've always thought the comedies hold up better, and the two-reelers are the easiest to get into just because they're short. In particular, though, I'd think a part-talkie like this would be a harder sell still.
If I had been in charge of selecting movies for re-release, I'd probably select some tent-poles with big stars, like the Humphrey Bogart (Casablanca) and James Cagney (Yankee Doodle Dandy) movies, and possibly some good Bette Davis titles. The Adventures of Robin Hood would, I think, also be another excellent choice. But what do I know? I'm not a studio boss.
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2 comments:
I love silent films and this is a film I would love to see. This is actually a notorious film because when they did the flood sequence, the director, I think it was Michael Curtiz, decided to have the water go and most of the people in the tank were just extras not stuntmen. There were also the horned cattle in there and when the rush of water came through, there was panic! Many people were injured and I think a couple died but I can't recall. There is an excellent series about Hollywood from the beginning to the end of Silent film simply called Hollywood. I highly recommend it. It is a 13 part series and it might be in the one episode called Stuntmen or in one of the latter episodes. If you go to YouTube and put in Dolores Costello talks about Noah's Ark, I bet it will come up. She talks about making this film and you get some real info about the tragedy. For silent films I would pick Pandora's Box, The Wind, The Crowd and The Big Parade
I think three people died.
Hollywood, I believe, I saw on the local PBS station decades ago. There was also some other similar documentary going on and on about Abel Gance's Napoleon, which obviously wouldn't have been Hollywood.
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