jeffoc_99

About a gazillion copies of the soundtrack (on CD and vinyl) are being sold via Amazon.com and eBay, but the film?

Well, here are 4 possible sources to acquire this movie (at your own risk). Since I cannot post direct online links, you will have to do the searches for yourself on Google and YouTube.

1. Subterranean Cinema (do search on Google with "All This And World War II DVD")

IMDb will not allow this web address to be posted. You must e-mail the site's proprietor for information on obtaining a DVD copy, which is listed at the site.

2. The Video Beat (do search on Google with "All This And World II DVD")

(apparently selling a DVD or VHS copy for $29 plus s/h, with the following bonus features:

JOHN LENNON : MAN OF THE DECADE

1969 U.K. TV special. Dec-30-69. Rare ATV special that examined three influential men of the 1960s; John F. Kennedy, Ho Chi Minh and John Lennon. When esteemed sociologist and anthropologist Dr. Desmond Morris was asked whom he felt was the man of the decade, he chose John Lennon. Dr. Morris presents the John Lennon segment which included analysis of John Lennon's contribution to the 1960s, Beatles footage (selected by Lennon) and interviews with John as he strolled through the grounds of Tittenhurst Park. Topics discussed by Lennon include youth culture, Vietnam, peace, love, LSD, the establishment, Woodstock, and more.

BEATLES COVER GROUPS 1960s

From U.S. TV. The girls from TV show Petticoat Junction call themselves "The Lady Bugs" and perform "I Saw Her Standing There." From TV show Shivaree "The Mermaids" perform Twist and Shout." From an unknown Chinese movie a group of mop-top Orientals perform a very weird version of "I Saw Her Standing There." )

3. Shocking Videos (the website name is actually "revengeismydestiny") has advertised a DVD copy for $14.95 plus s/h (do search on Google with "All This And World II DVD"). It is listed in their "Hot 100" section of cult movie offerings on DVD.

4. The ENTIRE film has been posted on YouTube, with a catch: the soundtrack has been re-dubbed with the music of Beatallica, a comedy speed-metal group that covers/rewrites Beatles songs in the style of Metallica...in 9 parts. Just do a YouTube search using the exact words "Beatallica - All This And World War II."

So the above four options are the closest ways that you'll ever have to view/own this film at home (so far...). I haven't seen the original version of "ATAWWII," so I cannot add any reviews or star ratings yet...

The first time I had viewed excerpts from this film was a re-broadcast of the 1970s British anthology series "The Amazing Years Of Cinema," hosted by Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. It had been produced before the AFI listed the Edison Company's "Frankenstein" on its Top-Ten "Most Wanted" list. I taped a number of episodes of this series in the mid-1980s from the Discovery Channel, on the Beta format (anybody got a Beta VCR they can spare?). Viewing the creation scene was beyond fascinating, and has imprinted itself upon my mind even to this day. I presumed that eventually the film would be archived, restored, and made available upon home video (the then-current, and future formats), but was dismayed in the early years of this century to find this was not so. Even the video/DVD "releases" of the late 90s were (from what I understand) of such horrible quality (the imposition of "time codes," for starters) because Aldois Detalff refused to make the print available to professional celluloid preservationists...he was paranoid about not being paid enough to have this important cinematic document claimed and preserved into perpetuity, so he hoarded the battered print, gave it only sparse public screenings, and refused any bid under $1-2 million to relinquish it into the hands of those better qualified to save this work.

Now, Alois Detlaff is dead (as of 2005). Which (at risk of sounding cold and disrespectful) begs this question....

What will become of the sole remaining "Frankenstein" print? If there are any silent film buffs or insiders that have knowledge to this question, I would very much appreciate an answer and/or updates. I really, really hate to say this, but sometimes (for human history's sake) the survival and fate of one very, very important physical artifact should place priority over "respecting" the misguided ego of the last person known to have shielded it from the rest of the world (especially if the concern was largely about money, collector ego, and a mild strain of blackmail/greed).

It would be tragic if the only source print of this film were kept under lock and key until it disintegrates beyond repair because of its final owner's rapacious whims.

Again, any feedback is more than welcome...

Slight correction for the previous review (though admittedly it came before the actual discovery). The long-lost missing scenes (Keaton walloping the cement in the pool-dive sequence, his return with Chinese wife and child, both cute BTW) WERE found in a French archive (will have to check which one), albeit in terrible-but-watchable shape, and were restored on a special compilation DVD of Keaton rarities (home movies, TV appearances, cameos, and some restored films, including the missing scenes from "Daydreams").

The title is "Keaton Plus"...I found it circulating in the Buffalo Public Library. Not sure of the date, but would probably be between 2001 to 2004. And yes, it's released by Kino Video (in association with the Rohauer and Keaton estates, etc.) It's gratifying to know that the cherry on the top of Keaton's fantastic cinema career in the 20s has survived (barely, but serviceable), and it's a short, sweet coda for such a majestic American comedy talent.