Marx Brothers Rarities Coming to Blu-ray
Attention, Marx Brothers fans,
Film Preservation Society (a.k.a. The Biograph Project) has announced that they have partnered with Paramount Pictures and the Library of Congress to release a restoration of Harpo Marx’s film debut, Too Many Kisses (1925) on Blu-ray on November 30th! This silent feature, in which Harpo took a supporting role to Richard Dix and William Powell, was long considered lost, so it’s fantastic news that it will finally be available on home video. It is also notable that the disc will be produced by Robert S. Bader, author of Four of the Three Musketeers: The Marx Brothers on Stage, which is the best book I’ve ever read on the team.
Just as exciting, the Blu-ray will include the 55-minute Paramount promotional film, The House That Shadows Built (1931), in which Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo recreated a scene from their Broadway stage success I’ll Say She Is. When Universal released The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection on Blu-ray, my one disappointment was that The House That Shadows Built (1931) was not included as an extra. Consequently, I consider this just as big a reason to pick up the upcoming release.
One last note, the press release mentions that just prior to the Blu-ray release, Turner Classic Movies will present the world premiere of the newly restored Too Many Kisses on on November 29th as part of their Silent Sunday Nights program.
To pre-order the Blu-ray on the Film Preservation Society website, CLICK HERE.
The full press release from the Film Preservation Society is included below:
TOO MANY KISSES: Screen Debut of Harpo Marx (Coming in November!)
Film Preservation Society is pleased to announce the restoration and release of Too Many Kisses, the screen debut of Harpo Marx. Shortly after the film’s original 1925 release, it seemingly vanished. Long considered lost, the discovery of a print in 1971 didn’t rescue Too Many Kisses from obscurity. Until now. Film Preservation Society has partnered with Paramount Pictures and the Library of Congress to bring this delightful film back in a glowing new restoration. Featuring a new score composed and performed by Harpo’s son Bill Marx, Too Many Kisses has never looked or sounded better.
Turner Classic Movies will present the world premiere of the newly restored Too Many Kisses on their popular Silent Sunday Nights program on November 29th and the Film Preservation Society’s Blu-ray release follows on November 30th.
Bill Marx, a Juilliard School graduate and longtime composer of music for film and television said, “I had never done any music for a silent film. So my dad’s first silent is also mine.” Bill performed the score on his father’s 1935 Steinway grand piano, and added, “It’s a real kick to see my dad looking so young.” Too Many Kisses was filmed in late 1924 while the Four Marx Brothers were appearing in their first Broadway show, I’ll Say She Is. Too Many Kisses also features silent-era star Richard Dix and an early performance by William Powell.
The Too Many Kisses Blu-ray also includes the bonus feature The House That Shadows Built. This 1931 Paramount promotional film includes a unique sequence with the Four Marx Brothers. The House That Shadows Built, also newly restored, will be a revelation to fans familiar with the poor quality clips of the Marx Brothers sequence that have turned up over the years. The film also includes sequences from lost films featuring Douglas Fairbanks and Lon Chaney.
Additionally, the Blu-ray includes a short documentary featurette about the work of Film Preservation Society. Preservationist Katie Pratt and FPS founder Tracey Goessel discuss the organization’s Biograph Project, an ongoing effort to preserve and restore the more than 460 short films directed by D. W. Griffith for the Biograph studio. The 1910 Biograph short subject, “A Child’s Impulse” starring Mary Pickford, is included on the Blu-ray. An accompanying 16-page booklet features essays by Goessel, Academy Award-winning film historian Kevin Brownlow, William Powell aficionado D. Christian Anderson, and Robert S. Bader, author of Four of the Three Musketeers: The Marx Brothers on Stage. Bader is also the producer of the Blu-ray, which is the first in a planned series of FPS releases. Future titles include the 1915 Douglas Fairbanks film Double Trouble and a collection of William S. Hart Westerns.
Our Too Many Kisses Blu-ray can be pre-ordered now in the FPS Shop. All proceeds from sales benefit Film Preservation Society’s ongoing restoration and preservation efforts.
