More British silents for the North American market! Kino is releasing a pair of Anthony Asquith silents, Shooting Stars (A.V. Bramble was the credited director) and Underground.
These are both BFI releases imported by Kino for region 1 DVD and region A Blurays. As always, thanks to Kino Lorber for the review copies!
Both films are slated for release on April 23, 2019. You can order Shooting Stars here and Underground here.
Image
Underground needed a lot more TLC than Shooting Stars but both look lovely.
Underground
A drama about “ordinary people” and just a pinch of melodrama.
As you can see, the restoration turned out rather well. It is detailed in a featurette included as an extra.
Shooting Stars
A dark behind-the-scenes comedy about the famous westerns of England.
Music
The scores for both films are excellent. Shooting Stars features a jazzy, toe-tapping score by John Altman. Underground has a lush orchestral score by Neil Brand and an alternative modern score by Chris Watson that includes ambient sounds.
These discs are lovely showcases for these films and the quality scores add considerably to the experience. You can order them here.
Movies Silently 
Two excellent and underrated films to show we Brits could hang with Hollywood when it came to filmmaking even in the silent days! 😛
If only there was similar TLC for Hepworth.
That would certainly cover some ground! 🙂
Looks superb- ordered them both!
Ham is cooking, veggies snipped, rolls made, friends gathering, and Happy Hols to all 😀
Huzzah!
I bought and watched both recently and enjoyed them very much. It would be interesting to find out how well our British films of the early days appeal to the American and other overseas audiences, as they often have a rather parochial feel, IMHO.
Any views, anyone?
I can only speak from personal experience but I have found often that Americans respond quite positively to British silents. I have had great responses to The “?” Motorist, The Sick Kitten, Rescued by Rover and other early classics.
Thanks, Fritzi, that’s good to know.