Discovering Cinema

Discovering Cinema is a two-disc set compiling a pair of fascinating documentaries originally produced in France (with later narration recorded in English) that provide an excellent overview of film history, focusing specifically on the advent of sound movies and the development of color film. Learning to Talk is an hour-long piece that quickly dispenses with the popular belief that The Jazz Singer (1927) was the first "talkie"; in fact, sound recording for motion pictures had already experienced a lengthy sequence of innovations through a process of trial and error, and this film demonstrates most of these advances through archival film clips, illustrative footage (schematics, designs, technical blueprints, etc.), and informative interviews with film historians. As a survey of technical advancement this is a treasure-trove of fascinating discoveries culled from film archives around the world. From the cumbersome "Allefex" machine used to create live sync-sound effects in the early years of motion pictures, to the commercial breakthrough of Warner's Vitaphone system in the late 1920s, this documentary shows how sound and cinema were inseparable from the very beginnings of motion-picture experimentation in the 1880s and '90s. The second hour-long documentary, Movies Dream in Color, follows a similar format, presenting a chronological survey of the history of color on film, from applied techniques (like hand-tinting and dyes) to the advent of three-strip Technicolor, followed by the modern evolution of color reversal processing. DVD extras include an impressive selection of full-length shorts and archival clips representing most of the technical advancements in sound and color, including such delightful (and fully restored) rarities as an interview with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and a full-color clip featuring the Marx Brothers from 1930, and much more. Despite a few forgivable oversights (it would've been nice if each film was identified by an onscreen title rather than just its year of origin), Discovering Cinema is a vital addition to the study of early film history. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (J. Shannon)