(I?m posting this to a number of newsgroups, to reach as wide an audience as possible to share this information.). Cable TV alert!!! - The earliest surviving Edison Sound Film and MORE! If you have cable TV (in the US) and you receive Turner Classic Movies (Not TNT), set aside this Sunday and next Sunday at 10pm to catch the fabulous More Treasures from American Film Archives. (The first broadcast was last Sunday.). If you don?t get TCM, find someone who does and go visit! If neither works, or even if it does, you may want to check out the 3-volume DVD set which was released by the National Film Preservation Foundation. A few years ago they released the first volume and it was fascinating, but covered recent films as well as a few early ones. This series is devoted to the years 1894-1931. (Yes, 1894 when W.K.L. Dickson made the oldest surviving sound film of two men dancing (while Dickson himself plays the violin!). The original wax cylinder was found about two years ago at the Edison Historic Site and restored and matched to the film by the experts at UCLA. I was privileged to be among the group who saw this very short (15 second!) restored film at collector Dave Heitz?s house last year. The reason this new series is so important is that it was made with the cooperation of the 5 major film archives in the US. And 50 films sound wonderful. I don?t get cable but today I received the 3 DVD set ? which I?ll be covering in my column for In The Groove ? and have gone partly through Disc One. On that disc alone is a very rare 9 minute advertising film made by Edison to promoted his dictating machine. The silent film (with new music) is titled The Stenographer?s Friend and ? at least on the DVD has an optional commentary by our own Sam Brylawski of the Library of Congress. There?s also a 12 min silent from 1920 Delight: Making An Electric Lightbulb. I?m looking forward to Disc 3 which contains two Deforest Phonofilms from 1923-24 ? one with Eddie Cantor and the other with President Calvin Coolidge at the White House. That disc also includes a 30 second film from 1897 of Mr. Edison at Work in His Chemical Factory and eight 30 second Mutoscopes of actor Joseph Jefferson in Rip Van Winkle. There?s also a ?bouncing ball? cartoon of ?Tramp Tramp Tramp? a 1925 Vaudeville Sound Film of Gus Visser and His Singing Duck!! And so much more! The DVDs with the commentaries have over 9 ? hours of material. And for those reading this outside the US, you might want to know that the DVDs are Region Code Free so they play anywhere in the world. Oh, I forgot... there?s a 2000 page illustrated booklet in the DVD set as well. I?m not sure how much of this material is on the TCM broadcast but I?ll suggest to all that you go to the following URL and read about the show and it?s contents. http://tinyurl.com/6t8b4 I?m sure this set will make a lot of Christmas ?wish lists? this year. Catch it on cable this weekend and next. Steve Ramm
