barryg@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Lee Gold) (05/05/85)
Publishers Central Bureau is now offering videotapes, some VERY cheap. We recently bought "Intolerance" (by Griffith) for $19.95 plus shipping and handling. It runs 122 minutes--and should run somewhat longer. They overcranked it a little much. And some of the still frames with titles have distracting flickering light on them, due to failure to synchronize speed. And it's totally silent--no music track. However, once you've gotten used to all that, it's pretty good. Paticularly since the local theatre that used to show silent movies closed down about ten years ago, so it's been at least that long since I saw this film last. Oh yes, "Intolerance" was made after the outcry at Griffith's treatment of the KKK in "Birth of a Nation." It interweaves four stories of Intolerance through the ages: the fall of ancient Babylon, the crucifixion of Jesus, the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, and a narrative of the present (well, actually the early 20th century) showing what naive Do-Gooders can do to their victims. It's holds up surprisingly well, 70 years after it was made. --Lee Gold