Caligari 1919

The history of screen comedy did not begin with Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton. Prior to their appearances on the American screen, an entire generation of comedians was already establishing (and breaking) the boundaries of this rapidly evolving genre. While working at the Vitagraph Studios, music hall artists such as John Bunny, Frank Roberts, and Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew retooled their brands of comedy into something uniquely cinematic, advancing the art form and setting the stage for the slapstick explosion. This three-disc collection, presented by the Library of Congress, showcases the bold innovation of these overlooked pioneers, including the ingenious trick film The Disintegrated Convict, the gender-bending irrereverence of Edith Storey, and the epic scale of Larry Semon’s The Sawmill. Vitagraph Comedies also provides precious glimpses of comedians (e.g. Flora Finch or the comedy duo Montgomery and Rock) who are virtually forgotten today, because so little of their work has survived.

The history of screen comedy did not begin with Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton. Prior to their appearances on the American screen, an entire generation of comedians was already establishing (and breaking) the boundaries of this rapidly evolving genre. While working at the Vitagraph Studios, music hall artists such as John Bunny, Frank Roberts, and Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew retooled their brands of comedy into something uniquely cinematic, advancing the art form and setting the stage for the slapstick explosion. This three-disc collection, presented by the Library of Congress, showcases the bold innovation of these overlooked pioneers, including the ingenious trick film The Disintegrated Convict, the gender-bending irrereverence of Edith Storey, and the epic scale of Larry Semon’s The Sawmill. Vitagraph Comedies also provides precious glimpses of comedians (e.g. Flora Finch or the comedy duo Montgomery and Rock) who are virtually forgotten today, because so little of their work has survived.

The history of screen comedy did not begin with Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton. Prior to their appearances on the American screen, an entire generation of comedians was already establishing (and breaking) the boundaries of this rapidly evolving genre. While working at the Vitagraph Studios, music hall artists such as John Bunny, Frank Roberts, and Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew retooled their brands of comedy into something uniquely cinematic, advancing the art form and setting the stage for the slapstick explosion. This three-disc collection, presented by the Library of Congress, showcases the bold innovation of these overlooked pioneers, including the ingenious trick film The Disintegrated Convict, the gender-bending irrereverence of Edith Storey, and the epic scale of Larry Semon’s The Sawmill. Vitagraph Comedies also provides precious glimpses of comedians (e.g. Flora Finch or the comedy duo Montgomery and Rock) who are virtually forgotten today, because so little of their work has survived.

Asta Nielsen, the greatest Danish diva of all time, has been reincarnated on the big screen with the revival of the 1919 silent film TOWARDS tHE LIGHT, produced by Nordisk Film and directed by Holger-Madsen. This special-edition DVD features a new score composed by some of Denmark's leading musicians: Jonas Struck, Kasper Tranberg, Mads Hyhne and P.O. Jørgens. TOWARDS THE LIGHT is a haunting story of dangerous temptation, a tale of the divine and the diabolical. Asta Nielsen plays an alluring, coquettish upper-class woman who, after being abandoned by her first love, sets out to seduce an evangelist.

"South is the film record of Sir Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated but ultimately heroic attempt to cross Antarctica in 1914-16.As Shackleton was setting out, Britain declared war on Germany. It was to be two years before Shackleton and his men were to learn of the progress of that war, and how utterly changed was the world they had left behind. That romantic world had encouraged a cult of heroism, and it was as a heroic polar explorer that Shackleton wished to be known. He had first journeyed to the Antarctic in 1902 under Captain Robert Falcon Scott, the future rival against whom he would always be compared.

Representing the definitive collection of rare films starring Rudolph Valentino, one of Hollywood’s most legendary stars the Rudolph Valentino.

Oyster-king Quaker cannot be impressed anymore. He is so rich that he even has a special butler holding his cigar while he is smoking.

The history of screen comedy did not begin with Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton. Prior to their appearances on the American screen, an entire generation of comedians was already establishing (and breaking) the boundaries of this rapidly evolving genre. While working at the Vitagraph Studios, music hall artists such as John Bunny, Frank Roberts, and Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew retooled their brands of comedy into something uniquely cinematic, advancing the art form and setting the stage for the slapstick explosion. This three-disc collection, presented by the Library of Congress, showcases the bold innovation of these overlooked pioneers, including the ingenious trick film The Disintegrated Convict, the gender-bending irrereverence of Edith Storey, and the epic scale of Larry Semon’s The Sawmill. Vitagraph Comedies also provides precious glimpses of comedians (e.g. Flora Finch or the comedy duo Montgomery and Rock) who are virtually forgotten today, because so little of their work has survived.

The history of screen comedy did not begin with Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton. Prior to their appearances on the American screen, an entire generation of comedians was already establishing (and breaking) the boundaries of this rapidly evolving genre. While working at the Vitagraph Studios, music hall artists such as John Bunny, Frank Roberts, and Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew retooled their brands of comedy into something uniquely cinematic, advancing the art form and setting the stage for the slapstick explosion. This three-disc collection, presented by the Library of Congress, showcases the bold innovation of these overlooked pioneers, including the ingenious trick film The Disintegrated Convict, the gender-bending irrereverence of Edith Storey, and the epic scale of Larry Semon’s The Sawmill. Vitagraph Comedies also provides precious glimpses of comedians (e.g. Flora Finch or the comedy duo Montgomery and Rock) who are virtually forgotten today, because so little of their work has survived.

How can you make peace when what you really want is revenge?
In the wake of 37 million casualties at the end of World War I, President Woodrow Wilson took his dream of a League of Nations to Paris to seek "peace everlasting," joining over 30 international delegations who descended upon the great city for the most ambitious peace talks in history. Helmed by the Big Four (the United States, France, Great Britain, and Italy), the Paris Peace Conference ultimately and ironically sowed the seeds of resentment that led to World War II.