BEHIND THE DOOR / BELOW THE SURFACE
STREET DATE: March 4th, 2025
Flicker Alley and San Francisco Film Preserve proudly present the return of Irvin V. Willat’s Behind the Door (1919), paired for the first time with his Below the Surface (1920), both newly restored by the SFSFF and available in their most complete versions. Flicker Alley’s initial publication of Behind the Door was honored as Best Blu-ray/DVD disc at Il Cinema Ritrovato in 2018.
Legendary producer Thomas H. Ince and director Irvin V. Willat made Behind the Door —“the most outspoken of all the vengeance films” according to film historian Kevin Brownlow—during the period of World War I-inspired American patriotism.
Hobart Bosworth stars as Oscar Krug, a working-class American, who is persecuted for his German ancestry after war is declared. Driven by patriotism, Krug enlists and goes to sea. However, tragedy strikes when his wife (Jane Novak) sneaks aboard his ship and is captured following a German U-boat attack. Krug’s single-minded quest for vengeance against the sadistic German submarine commander (played with villainous fervor by Wallace Beery) leads to the film’s shocking and brutal climax.
Willat then reteamed with Bosworth the following year with Below the Surface, setting the star as deep sea diver Martin Flint who, along with his son, Paul (Lloyd Hughes), become heroes after saving the lives of a downed submarine crew. Unfortunately, their fame draws the attention of George Webb’s James Arnold, who enlists Paul in a deadly scheme involving sinking ships, lost treasure, and the love of Grace Darmond’s Edna Gordon.
These newly restored editions represent the most complete versions of these films available, thanks to the San Francisco Silent Film Festival working in partnership with the Library of Congress and Gosfilmofond of Russia. Each film features a new score by Stephen Horne.
BONUS MATERIALS INCLUDE:
- Russian version of Behind the Door – The re-edited and re-titled version of the film that was distributed in Russia, with musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne
- Outtakes from Behind the Door – Featuring music composed and performed by Stephen Horne
- “Restoring Irvin Willat’s Behind the Door” – A behind-the-scenes look at the restoration
- “Kevin Brownlow Spotlights Irvin Willat” – Film historian and Honorary Academy Award® winner Kevin Brownlow spotlights director Irvin Willat
- Slideshow Gallery – Featuring stills and promotional material from Behind the Door and Below the Surface
- Printed Essays – Featuring writing on both films by historians Jay Weissburg and Scott Simmon
- English SDH Subtitles
- Blu-ray Authoring by David Mackenzie of Fidelity In Motion
- All Region Encoding (A,B,C)
LIMITED EDITION SLIPCOVER IS AVAILABLE
FOR AN ADDITIONAL $5.00 DIRECT FROM FLICKER ALLEY
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MERRY-GO-ROUND
STREET DATE: March 4th, 2025
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Flicker Alley and Blackhawk Films are honored to present for the first time ever on Blu-ray the new restoration of Erich von Stroheim’s Merry-Go-Round. Pre-war Vienna sets the stage for a fated love affair between young, freewheeling Count Franz Maximilian (Norman Kerry) and lowly organ grinder Agnes Urban (Mary Philbin), in a ‘Super-Jewel’ spectacle of opulence, class strata, and carnal desire. |
Merry-Go-Round (1923) was initially intended to be Erich von Stroheim’s fourth directorial feature for Universal, following the success of Foolish Wives (1922). Behind the scenes, however, Stroheim wrote the script, supervised the production but was initially forbidden by the studio from headlining and, six weeks into shooting, was fired by the new head of production Irving Thalberg, and replaced by Rupert Julian (The Phantom of the Opera). Flicker Alley is honored to present this newly restored edition of the film, thanks to the dedicated restoration efforts of Blackhawk Films with the support of the Sunrise Foundation and many archives throughout the world (from Austria, Denmark, France, etc.), in a deluxe Blu-ray edition.
This new restoration of Merry-Go-Round reconstructs the original continuity by combining the surviving original abridged and incomplete elements scattered around the world, meticulous image restoration, and recreation of the original stunning color effects, to offer audiences the closest look possible at the original version of the film.
Merry-Go-Round features a newly commissioned orchestral score composed and conducted by Robert Israel, generously underwritten by the Sunrise Foundation for the Arts.
BONUS MATERIALS INCLUDE:
- Audio Commentary by Richard Kosarski – Go behind the scenes of the troubled production and explore Merry-Go-Round’s incredible filmic legacy with an in-depth commentary track from cinematic historian Richard Kosarski
- Vienna Actualities – Explore Vienna in the years before World War I with 17 minutes of historical footage, courtesy of Filmarchiv Austria
- Old Heidelberg (1915) – A new restoration of a feature from director John Emerson and producer D.W. Griffith, which served as an influence on Merry-Go-Round and also boasts Erich von Stroheim’s very first acting role
- Restoring Merry-Go-Round – Go behind the scenes of the brand-new restoration with film restorer Serge Bromberg
- Souvenir Booklet – Featuring a new essay on the production by Richard Kosarski and notes on the restoration by Serge Bromberg and Lucie Fourmont
- English SDH Subtitles
- Reversible Cover Artwork
- Blu-ray Authoring by David Mackenzie of Fidelity In Motion
- All Region Encoding (A,B,C)
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