July 11, 2006

Interview. Milestone co-founder Dennis Doros.

Beyond the Rocks Today sees two more landmark releases on DVD from Milestone Films: Beyond the Rocks, long believed to have been lost, is remarkable most of all for the pairing of Gloria Swanson and Rudolph Valentino, offering "a fascinating chance to compare and contrast the playing styles of two of the silent era's most representative stars," writes Dave Kehr in the New York Times today; and Electric Edwardians: The Lost Films of Mitchell & Kenyon is a stunning, almost disturbing resurrection of an entire era.

Sean Axmaker talks with Milestone co-founder Dennis Doros not only about the nuts and bolts of restoring and bringing lost classics such as these, Piccadilly, I Am Cuba and other films to theaters and then to DVD, but also about the passion for film that drives him and his partner in business and marriage, Amy Heller. They also discuss the long struggle to revive Charles Burnett's Killer of Sheep and plans for at least a dozen more releases in the near future.

Update, 7/14: Josh Rosenblatt reviews Edwardians and Beyond in the Austin Chronicle.



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Posted by dwhudson at July 11, 2006 3:22 AM

Comments

When I briefly worked for Troma Studios, the biggest thrill I had was finding out my favorite coworker worked for Dennis and Amy.

I would ask her endless questions about Milestone, what it was like working for them and their acquisitions. I just watched, "It Happened Here" and was thrilled when I saw their logo. Looking now at my DVD rack, I see many discs from their back catalog.

Their work has made available films that have carried me through those times when classics are like a shot of adrenaline after some anemic modern releases.

Posted by: Jerry Lentz at July 11, 2006 5:02 AM

I added "Beyond the Rocks" to my Netflix queue yesterday. I had the opportunity to speak with the directors of the Nederlands Filmmuseum last fall in Amsterdam, who told me about the restoration of "Beyond the Rocks," and I wrote about it on Filmthreat. You can read the article here:
http://filmthreat.com/index.php?section=features&Id=1636

Posted by: Brian at July 11, 2006 9:30 AM