Merry-Go-Round

"The Merry-Go-Round, directed by Erich Von Stroheim and Rupert Julian, has been handed down to us on DVD in a pleasing if not altogether satisfying edition. The source elements (from the Blackhawk Films library) for the full-screen (1.33-to-1) image show some graininess throughout and there are very visible signs of wear in the early sections of the movie, as well as at the reel-change points. It's easily watchable but you never do forget the age of the movie, and that's unfortunate, because what we see on the screen -- in the way of the offbeat and the bizarre in characterization and detail -- could be all the more diverting, if a serious restoration effort could be undertaken with this film. Alas, this last is an impossibility, as the notes point out -- the original negative was destroyed in 1949, and the only reason we even have it looking as good as it does is that a few high-quality domestic 16mm prints of the movie, prepared in the 1920's, survived to the present day, two of which were digitally matched to produce a reasonably high-grade edition for twenty-first century audiences. So what we see is, evidently, all that there is -- complete with the original tints -- unless a negative from a foreign source were to turn up at some future point. The movie has been given a relatively paltry 11 chapter markers, and the only major addition to the DVD is a new adaptation of the 1923 score (which is steeped in nineteenth century Viennese music, including lots of Johann Strauss II), arranged and performed by Brian Benison. The DVD opens automatically to the film's credits, and the menu and chapters must be accessed manually."