I hadn’t heard of this film before, but this is great news. Whenever I hear about these discoveries, it gives me hope for some of the more infamous losses.
hopefully on blu ray
Yeah, interesting that it seems to “fill in the blanks” to some extent regard Murnau’s influence on Ford during this period at Fox.
Upstream will officially “re-premiere” tomorrow (Wed., Sept 1) at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
Every once in a while I wish I lived in Los Angeles. This is one of this times.
Yeah, me too.
If any Mubi-ites make the premiere, please post something and let the rest of us poor slobs know what we missed.
Saw it at the Dryden last night (in Rochester, NY). It’s a charming comedy, actually pretty amusing! Earle Foxe was hilarious as the arrogant heir of the Barrymore-esque acting family. The theater managed to get a pianist to accompany the film too. If you’re lucky enough to catch a showing, I recommend it.
Matt Parks
Dave Kehr has an interesting note about a recently found print of John Ford’s late silent Upstream (1927) at the NY Times website:
’ “Upstream” appears to be his first film reflecting the influence of the German director F. W. Murnau, who had arrived at Ford’s studio, Fox, in 1926 to begin work on his American masterpiece, “Sunrise.” From Murnau, Ford learned the use of forced perspectives and chiaroscuro lighting, techniques Ford would use to complement his own more direct, naturalistic style . . . 20th Century Fox, a descendant of the studio that made “Upstream,” has taken responsibility for preservation of that title. If all goes well, the restored “Upstream” will be receive its repremiere at the Academy in September. The preserved films will be made public through archival screenings and as streaming videos on the preservation foundation’s Web site, filmpreservation.org.’
Images from Kehr’s website