The Mack Sennett Collection, Volume 1 (Blu-ray)

The Keystone Film Company, under the guidance of pioneering producer and director Mack Sennett, was the birthplace of classic American slapstick comedy. This historic studio was at one time home to a staggering number of silent screen luminaries including Mabel Normand, Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, Harold Lloyd, Gloria Swanson, Wallace Beery, Harry Langdon, Marie Dressler, Ben Turpin, The Keystone Cops, Ford Sterling, Charley Chase, Al St. John, Mack Swain, Edgar Kennedy, Billy Bevan, Louise Fazenda, Eddie Quillan, and countless others. Even Hollywood icon Charlie Chaplin, still the world's most recognized actor, introduced his beloved Tramp character under the auspices of Keystone. Later, under the Mack Sennett Comedies banner, Sennett went on to produce a new generation of sound comedies, some in early color, featuring the likes of W.C. Fields, Bing Crosby, Lloyd Hamilton, Andy Clyde, and more.

Now, for the first time, thanks to Flicker Alley, CineMuseum, and Keystone Films, 50 of the best surviving Sennett comedies have been gathered from around the world, fully restored, and digitally re-mastered in HD for Blu-ray home video. These new editions have been painstakingly reconstructed by CineMuseum and Keystone Films using original 35mm nitrate, archival negatives, preservation materials, and sometimes the lone known surviving film print, from the collections of the Library of Congress, the Museum of Modern Art, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Blackhawk Films®, Lobster Films, the Richard M. Roberts Collection, Gierucki Studios, and dozens of privately held archives.

Content Highlights:

• KEYSTONE COPS - Make an appearance in several of the films in The Mack Sennett Collection, Vol. One: Shot in the Excitement, The Noise of Bombs, and Bangville Police (1913), regarded as the seminal Keystone Cop film. Also included is A Thief Catcher (1914). Previously thought lost, this short was discovered by producer Paul E. Gierucki in 2010. It features a rare appearance of Charlie Chaplin as a Keystone Cop.
• THE WATER NYMPH (1912) - Starring Mabel Normand, The Water Nymph served as the inspiration for the famous Sennett Bathing Beauties.
• FATTY AND MABEL ADRIFT (1916) - A groundbreaking comedy from the most famous comedy team in the world at that time, Mabel Normand and Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle. Struck from an original tinted nitrate film print.
• A MAJOR RESTORATION OF RECREATION (1914) - An early Charlie Chaplin comedy, featuring new footage and improved source materials of this long thought lost comedy.

Bonus Features:

• FULL COLOR BOOKLET - Filled with rare images, production information, restoration notes, and Keystone Sennett player biographies.
• NEW MUSIC SCORES - From silent film accompanists Philip Carli, Ben Model, Dennis Scott, Andrew Simpson, and Donald Sosin.
• COMMENTARY TRACKS - From noted comedy historians Brent Walker, Steve Massa, Richard M. Roberts, Stan Taffel, Sam Gill, Paul Gierucki, and others.
• MEMORABILIA GALLERIES - Featuring vintage lobby cards, glass slides, posters, scripts, studio photographs, The Mack Sennett Story by film historian Joe Adamson, and rare audio recordings.
• LONG UNSEEN RARITIES - Newsreels, trailers, outtakes, Sennett-Color films, the dedication of the Mabel Normand soundstage, This Is Your Life Mack Sennett, and much more!