Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2018 February 7

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February 7

International co-productions

I learn from our article on international co-productions that "the first European nations to sign a film co-production agreement were France and Italy in 1949", but it doesn't tell me whether any films were made by more than one country before 1949, either without the benefit of such an agreement or perhaps outside Europe. Can anybody find one? I also have a second question: which film has been the product of most countries? Waltz with Bashir, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, Joyeux Noël, Dear Wendy and The Motorcycle Diaries were all made by eight countries according to IMDb, and Dogville by nine. Is there anything better? I'm excluding anthology films like Tokyo! and Spirits of the Dead, and I'm using IMDb as my measure of which countries were involved because I'm afraid our articles tend to undercount. --Antiquary (talk) 12:22, 7 February 2018 (UTC)

This book here discusses internataional co-productions undertaken during the interwar period (1920s and 1930s), including several by Germany & the Soviet Union. --Jayron32 16:10, 7 February 2018 (UTC)

I'm not entirely clear what counts as an international co-production, but some of the examples in this book must count? For example, "in 1912, Pathé Frères [a French company] commenced production in Sweden, initially in close alliance with SB [a Swedish company]". Warofdreams talk 02:25, 8 February 2018 (UTC)

Thanks, both of you. The Pathé Frères/SB partnership sounds promising, but I haven't yet found a film produced by both. What I have found is a 1928 British/German co-production called Song, which at the moment must count as the earliest one we have, along with the Salamandra at the other end of Jayron's link, which we and IMDb reckon dates from 1928 as well. --Antiquary (talk) 19:25, 8 February 2018 (UTC)

But Savitri Satyavan is a 1923 Italian/Indian co-production. There's also another nine-country one in The Best Intentions. --Antiquary (talk) 22:51, 8 February 2018 (UTC)

An earlier co-production, at least according to our article, is Richard III (1912 film). Warofdreams talk 15:54, 9 February 2018 (UTC)

Wooh, good one! IMDb confirms it as American/French – and also as being an adaptation of Shakespeare, which is perhaps not what silent films do best. We're getting closer to the beginning of commercial cinema than I thought possible when I asked this question. --Antiquary (talk) 17:55, 9 February 2018 (UTC)

And another from before WWI: De afwezige (1913), which IMDb considers French/Dutch. --Antiquary (talk) 18:07, 9 February 2018 (UTC)

Encyclopedia of the Paranormal

Hi

I am looking for an encyclopedia or lexicon of paranormal phenomenon and was wondering, whether you have some suggestions. although Wikipedia lists some literature, it is not made clear about what quality these books have. Could you recommend a book, preferably one that could be bought in a bookstore or on Amazon?

Thank you for your responses

With kind regards--2A02:120B:2C79:D630:4829:FF13:998:9BC8 (talk) 14:37, 7 February 2018 (UTC)

One thing that I have noticed (though I'm no expert) is that these reference books are often uneven or deliberately targeted and/or have different opinions on what qualifies as paranormal. For example, books on, say, ghosts, may have little or nothing about cryptids or divination or telekinesis. So, the first question I'd have for you is - what do you mean by paranormal? i.e. what do you want the book to cover? The second question would be how skeptically-based you expect it to be; a publication by SCICOP is obviously going to be differently framed than one y The Ghost Club. It's not a single volume, but Time-Life's Mysteries of the Unknown strikes a good balance in terms of reporting style and accessibility. Matt Deres (talk) 15:28, 7 February 2018 (UTC)

Hi Matt

Thank you for your response. I am looking for a detailed encyclopedia that describes reported phenomena like ghostly apparitions and poltergeist activities etc. in a relatively neutral way. A dictionary like book with many entries would be the best one for me.--2A02:120B:2C79:D630:DC28:4C7B:F031:2195 (talk) 15:38, 7 February 2018 (UTC)

Here's something:[1] ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:43, 7 February 2018 (UTC)

This forum isn't really about recommending things, but the encyclopedia Man, Myth & Magic had an impressive roster of contributors at any rate. --Antiquary (talk) 18:13, 7 February 2018 (UTC)

I have heard of the book *The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal" by Gordon Stein, for which Carl Sagan wrote the foreword. I am not sure, if this book is anything I am looking for, given that I doubt Sagan`s honest interest into the subject. I also doubt that it is like the textbook style book I am looking for.--2A02:120B:2C79:D630:68E5:831B:1000:49AA (talk) 11:08, 8 February 2018 (UTC)

While it's not an encyclopedia as such, I think the Fortean Times is along the lines that you are looking for, and they have an extensive website and I believe they also publish books. --TammyMoet (talk) 13:02, 8 February 2018 (UTC)

I have bought Time-Life's "Mysteries of the Unknown", and it is quite good. Not an encyclopedia or a dictionary, but it does list several encounters and it is written in a relatively neutral way.--2A02:120B:2C79:D630:6DEB:80B6:A145:8693 (talk) 10:52, 9 February 2018 (UTC)

• I recently bought Readers' Digest's Into the Unknown which is a similarly scholarly without being dismissive work suitable for secondary school aged children. μηδείς (talk) 02:59, 12 February 2018 (UTC)

Readers' Digest's "Into the Unknown" is awesome, although I am afraid that it isn't available anymore. I wish they would reprint it.--2A02:120B:2C02:5DD0:5C0B:8CFA:B2EF:A137 (talk) 20:39, 13 February 2018 (UTC)