The Garden of Eden (Deluxe Edition)
by Lewis Milestone
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Charles Ray, Corinne Griffith, Louise Dresser, Lowell Sherman, Maude GeorgeDirector: Lewis Milestone
DVD: Region Code 1
Format: Black & White, Collector's Edition, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Silent
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 78 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-11-06
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Flicker Alley
Movie Reviews of The Garden of Eden (Deluxe Edition)
Movie Review: A diamond
Summary: 5 Stars
When I mentioned a friend that I had ordered through Amazon.com, Corinne Griffith's DVD of "The Garden of Eden" (1928-United Artists), the only of her movies available on the market, on any "format" (VHS/DVD/Laserdisc too?)...and one of the few chances to watch this silent legend in her glory (TCM is the only channel? which airs sometimes, two of her films: Frank Lloyd's "The Divine Lady" and "Back Pay"?), she went in awe, I think she said she was going to buy it or rent it right away!!
Well, I have seen the DVD in its entirety, and Silent Film Lovers, this is a Gem, a "Fabergé Egg".
This Comedy-Drama is truly highly enjoyable, It made smile & laugh lots of times, it's charming, cute, elegant, I don't know..I haven't seen too many silent films, but I feel this one belongs to the "superior" category. It has sort of a kind of "Lubistch's" touch...Lewis Milestone's direction is deft.
Corinne's interpretation of a viennesse ingenue who travels to Budapest to become an Opera Star is so good! I didn't expect that much....The Cast is great: Lowell Sherman as a lecherous Rich Man, Marvellous Louise Dresser as the heroine's sort of "surrogate" mother, Charles Ray as her love interest, Edward Martindel (great as Charles Ray's Uncle)....Maude George...Won't tell you anymore about the plot, don't want to give away its surprises.
The Bonuses are a topic apart. Never had seen so much "worthwhile" bonuses: extensive text excerpts, lobby cards, memorabilia, promotional stuff, from the original press book of the film, etc. Contemporary (1928) biographies of all the six principal players. Lots of info!!!
The digitally recorded score by the composer Robert Israel, is grandiose...excellent, what a joy to watch this film with such a "right" score, which also "sounds" so well.
The print is in-all very good, there are some portions which are more damaged, but in the whole, it's greatly restored. I'd say the quality of the copy, surpasses what they did with "Sunrise"...It's quality is similar to "Evangeline's" (1929-Image), perhaps a little inferior, but I repeat, in the whole great.
There are also original promotional photographs and production stills from the state of Lewis Milestone.
Furthermore, there's a lost bi-color technicolor dream sequence of Corinne, when she's travelling by train (where she imagines herself as a "Prima Donna"), which is thoroughly analyzed in an "exploration", which contains still photos, original press book excerpts and promotional images.
And if all this wasn't enough, you get two shorts, one filmed in early bi-color technicolor...a charming cutie called "The Toy Shop", a tale made by Tiffany-Stahl Studios (of Poverty Row) and another one, sort of a "documentary" of architectural styles & "pop culture" in 1927 Hollywood & L.A. (B&W or sepia toned) called "Hollywood The Unusual", a sort of travelogue of a lost era!
In all a experience not to be missed! Really, this time when you read on the cover of the DVD: "DeLuxe DVD Edition", it is true as it is stated!
A must!!
Summary of The Garden of Eden (Deluxe Edition)
An absolutely terrific silent comedy, wittily played and polished like a gem. Jazz-age cutie Corrine Griffith stars as a showbiz-minded girl who leaves her humble family of bakers ("I could never be satisfied making pretzels all my life") in Budapest. In a hilarious sequence, she tries her hand at hifalutin "opera singing" while employed at a distinctly questionable cabaret in Paris. Somehow this leads to impersonating royalty at a fancy hotel in Monte Carlo, with the expected confusions and complications. The delightful blend of sophistication and slapstick recalls the comedies of Ernst Lubitsch, but it was directed by Lewis Milestone, best known for the Oscar®-winning All Quiet on the Western Front, made two years later. Adding fun is the delightfully debauched presence of Lowell Sherman, a popular actor and director of the era (and a lounge lizard before his time), as a tuxedo-clad baron on the make. --Robert HortonSimilar DVD Movies
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