Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved. |
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’49-’17
(1917)
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This feature drama film was written and directed by Ruth Ann Baldwin, and stars Joseph Girard, Leo Pierson, William J. Dyer, George Raroe, Donna Drew and Jean Hersholt.
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 Kino Classics
2018 Blu-ray Disc edition
Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers (1911-1929), black & white and color-toned black & white, 1710 minutes total, not rated, including ’49-’17 (1917), color-tinted black & white, 70 minutes, not rated.
Kino Lorber, K23411, UPC 7-38329-23411-9.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region A Blu-ray Disc (six BDs in the set); 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) 24 fps progressive scan image encoded in SDR AVC format at ? Mbps average video bit rate; Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; 80-page insert booklet; three double-disc plastic trays on cardboard wrap in cardboard storage box; $99.95.
Release date: 20 November 2018.
Country of origin: USA
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This Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered from 4K and 2K high-resolution scans of archival prints.
The films are accompanied by music scores by Renee C. Baker, The Berklee Silent Film Orchestra, Makia Matsumura, Maud Nelissen, Dana Reason, Aleksandra Vrebalov, Andrew Earle Simpson and others.
This will likely be the best home video editions of many of these films. A companion volume containing three feature films and a fragment of a fourth was also released under the title The Intrigue.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.
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 Kino Classics
2018 DVD edition
Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers (1911-1929), black & white and color-toned black & white, 1320 minutes total, not rated, including ’49-’17 (1917), color-tinted black & white, 70 minutes, not rated.
Kino Lorber, K23410, UPC 7-38329-23410-2.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 1 NTSC DVD disc (six DVDs in the set); 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; 80-page insert booklet; three double-disc plastic trays on cardboard wrap in cardboard storage box; $79.95.
Release date: 20 November 2018.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD edition has been mastered from a high-resolution scan of an archival print.
The films are accompanied by music scores by Renee C. Baker, The Berklee Silent Film Orchestra, Makia Matsumura, Maud Nelissen, Dana Reason, Aleksandra Vrebalov and others.
This will likely be the best DVD home video editions of many of these films. A companion volume containing three feature films and a fragment of a fourth was also released under the title The Intrigue.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 DVD edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.
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 Kino International
2008 DVD edition
The Ocean Waif (1916), color-toned black & white and black & white, 40 minutes, not rated, with ’49-’17 (1917), color-toned black & white and black & white, 63 minutes, not rated.
Kino International, K603, UPC 7-38329-06032-9.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at 4.4 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 256 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 3 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $19.95.
Release date: 22 April 2008.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 7 / audio: 8 / additional content: 7 / overall: 7.
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This DVD edition, originally released by Kino as an educational video offering in 2000, has been prepared from a very-good 35mm print. The older analog video transfer is reasonably detailed but still soft and looks OK on today’s equipment, but the source material is marred by dust, speckling, long vertical scratches, emulsion scrapes, and other print flaws.
The film is accompanied by a music score performed on piano by Jon C. Mirsalis.
Not recommended as the edition is out-of-print and has been surpassed by Kino Lorber’s 2018 releases noted above.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued
and is . . .
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Other silent era films directed by WOMEN DIRECTORS.
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