Lon Chaney: Before the Thousand Faces – Vol. 2
Silent-centric video label Undercrank Productions announced that they will release five more rare silent films starring Lon Chaney: By The Sun’s Rays (1914), The Oubliette (1914), The Millionaire Paupers (1915), Triumph (1917) and The Scarlet Car (1917). Each film has been newly scored by Jon C. Mirsalis. These rare titles will be released on Blu-ray and DVD as Lon Chaney: Before the Thousand Faces – Vol. 2 on July 26th.
To coincide with the new release, Undercrank Productions will also release a Blu-ray edition of the first volume, originally issued only on DVD in 2017. Below is the full press release for the new Lon Chaney set, along with Amazon links to both Blu-rays.
FOLLOW-UP RELEASE OF EARLY CHANEY SILENTS
“LON CHANEY: BEFORE THE THOUSAND FACES – VOL. 2”
COMING TO HOME VIDEO FROM UNDERCRANK PRODUCTIONS
Five Rare Dramas from 1914-17 Showcasing Legendary Actor’s Pre-1920s Work in New 2-Disc Set From Archival Sources In New Scans and With New Musical Scores by Jon C. Mirsalis
Undercrank Productions (www.undercrankproductions.com) announced today that Lon Chaney: Before the Thousand Faces – Vol. 2 will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on July 26, 2022.
Lon Chaney’s film work from the 1920s is well known and – with the exception of the notoriously lost A Blind Bargain (1922) and London After Midnight (1927) – is already available on home video. However, only 24 of the 111 films Chaney made at Universal in the 1910s survive, and have never been available for fans. Lon Chaney: Before the Thousand Faces – Vol. 2 contains five films from this era: By The Sun’s Rays (1914), The Oubliette (1914), The Millionaire Paupers (1915), Triumph (1917) and The Scarlet Car (1917). Because some of these rare films do not survive in complete form, missing scenes and titles have been reconstructed where possible. The films on this set have been curated from the Library of Congress and private collections, and new musical scores have been created for each by Jon C. Mirsalis.
“We are so used to seeing Lon Chaney in shocking makeup in films like The Phantom of the Opera (1925) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)”, says Mirsalis, “that we often overlook his many non-makeup early roles. Four of the five films on this new video release have him in little to no makeup, playing roles as a western villain, a gangster, a lovestruck playwright, or a medieval Chevalier. Only in The Scarlet Car (1917), the latest of the films on this release, do we see him in a wild-man makeup that might feel more familiar to Chaney fans.”
This 2-disc set brings these films to Blu-ray and DVD for the first time, in new digital scans from archival materials, in some cases from original 35mm safety or nitrate prints. Two of these – The Scarlet Car (1917) and The Oubliette (1914) – were preserved by the Library of Congress. To coincide with the release of Lon Chaney: Before the Thousand Faces – Vol. 2, Undercrank Productions will also release a Blu-ray edition of the first volume, originally issued only on DVD in 2017.
LON CHANEY: BEFORE THE THOUSAND FACES – VOL. 2
DISC 1:
By The Sun’s Rays (1914) – directed by Charles Giblyn; starring Murdock McQuarrie, Lon Chaney, Seymour Hastings; 13 mins
The Oubliette (1914) – directed by Charles Giblyn; starring Murdock McQuarrie, Pauline Bush, Lon Chaney; 46 mins
The Millionaire Paupers (1915) – directed by Joseph De Grasse; starring Grace Thompson, Gretchen Lederer, Lon Chaney; 6 mins
DISC 2:
Triumph (1917) – directed by Joseph De Grasse; starring Dorothy Phillips, William Stowell, Lon Chaney; 33 mins
The Scarlet Car (1917) – directed by Joseph De Grasse; starring Franklyn Farnum, Edith Johnson, Lon Chaney; 62 mins
Genre: Drama/Comedy/Romance
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: July 26, 2022
DVD Suggested Retail Price: $24.95
Blu-ray Suggested Retail Price: $29.95
TOTAL RUNNING TIME – 160 min – B&W/tinted – 2 discs
stereo – NTSC – not rated – Region: 0 – 1.33:1
New musical scores composed and performed by Jon C. Mirsalis
Jon Mirsalis website: www.lonchaney.org
produced for video and restored by Jon C. Mirsalis
Blu-ray/DVD produced by Ben Model
The Oubliette and The Scarlet Car preserved by the Library of Congress
Released by Undercrank Productions / Library of Congress
