DVD Review: Gaumont Treasures - Vol. 2: 1908-1916

In 2009, Kino released a three-disc box set highlighting some of the groundbreaking work done at Léon Gaumont's studio in the early days of cinema. The first set highlighted the earliest work of Alice Guy and Louis Feuillade, but this new set digs even deeper.

There's an astonishing disc full of animated work by Emile Cohl (1857-1938), starting with Fantasmagoria (1908). Far from early, primitive attempts at moving drawings, these shorts are already full-grown and quite amazing, even lovely. It's clear now that Cohl must have been a big influence on later animators like Winsor McCay, Walt Disney, and Max and Dave Fleischer.

The second disc highlights the work of Jean Durand (1882-1946), a rough-and-tumble filmmaker that concentrated on comedies and adventure movies, and especially Westerns. As with other Gaumont employees, his movies were rather groundbreaking and advanced for their time, including moving cameras, innovative shots and clever editing.

The third disc includes three films by Jacques Feyder (1885-1948), who is best known for his later films The Kiss (1929, with Greta Garbo) and Knight Without Armor (1937, with Marlene Dietrich). The third disc also includes films from lesser-known Gaumont filmmakers.

Extras include a documentary on Durand, and two short featurettes that show Gaumont's experimentations with sound and color.

Buy Gaumont Treasures - Vol. 2: 1908-1916 on DVD here