Reviews of silent film releases on home video. Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

Our Hospitality (1923)

Our Hospitality (1923) is a fine southern comedy-drama of a family feud and early locomotive days, and can be considered a companion piece to The General (1926).

The film is accompanied by a music score composed by Carl Davis and performed by the Thames Silents Orchestra in 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo sound.

Some collectors may wonder what we’re dissatisfied with when they view this disc but, despite our nitpicking, we still recommend this home video edition of the film.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
This Region A Blu-ray Disc edition is also available directly from . . .

The film is presented with a music score by Robert Israel.

Supplementary materials include audio commentary by film historians Farran Smith Nehme and Imogen Sara Smith; Un duel à mort [A Duel to the Death] (1947), a short film starring Buster Keaton; The Iron Mule (1925), a short film starring Al St. John; a presentation on Our Hospitality by Serge Bromberg; an insert booklet essay by Jeffrey Vance; and “Scoring for Buster,” a documentary on the recording of Robert Israel’s score.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
This Region A Blu-ray Disc edition is also available directly from . . .

This Blu-ray Disc edition of Buster Keaton’s Our Hospitality (1923) has been prepared from a new high-definition video transfer of an archival duplicate 35mm print previously held by Douris UK Ltd. The source print is not visually as sharp as is desired, with a lack of image detail that is readily apparent is some shots more than others. There is a slight amount of fine scratches, dust and other flaws in the lightly color-tinted source print.

The film is presented with a 5.1 surround sound music score by Carl Davis, and with a 2.0 stereo music score by Donald Hunsberger.

Supplemental material includes a previously unreleased 49-minute alternate version of the film thought to have been prepared by Keaton to test the noncomedic story elements; a short documentary on the film by Patricia Eliot Tobias with David B. Pearson (26 minutes); an Al St. John comedy short; and two photo galleries.

The alternate version of Our Hospitality, transferred from a 16mm reduction print that was produced from a 35mm positive that was already in active decomposition when duplicated. The print was recovered in 2008 by Paul E. Gierucki. The presentation is introduced by Courtney Patterson from material written by Patricia Eliot Tobias with David B. Pearson. The introduction notes that there is no footage in this alternate print that is not in the longer standard print known to modern audiences, only that the footage was alternately edited. There are fragments of footage that have been lost (presumably to splices) in the standard print that are present in the 16mm print, but not substantially so. The introduction also shows us that the Hospitality reduction print captures the lower right of the original 35mm frame, with the top edge and a substantial portion of the left side of the original image missing. The print is riddled with nitrate decomposition. This alternate version is presented with a music score performed on theatre pipe organ by Lee Erwin.

Only a slight visual improvement over Kino’s other DVD editions, this is the best available home video edition of Our Hospitality but it isn’t the stunning HD quality one might expect from Blu-ray Disc due to the compromised quality of the duplicate source print. This Blu-ray Disc edition is now out-of-print.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

This Blu-ray Disc boxset contains the high-definition home video release of Buster Keaton’s Our Hospitality.

Also included in this set is a presentation of the 1923 alternate version of the film intended for export outside the United States.

This boxset edition of Our Hospitality is identical to Kino’s single-disc Blu-ray Disc edition noted above. This Blu-ray Disc boxset edition is now out-of-print.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Supplementary material includes audio commentary for Our Hospitality by historian Rob Farr; audio commentary for Go West by historians Joel Goss and Bruce Lawton; the alternate version Hospitality (1923) with optional commentary by film historian Polly Rose; a video essay by Patricia Eliot Tobias (26 minutes); video essays on Go West and College shooting locations by John Bengtson; a video essay by David Cairns (28 minutes); the short film Go West (1923) (12 minutes); the short film The Railrodder (1965) with optional audio commentary by director Gerald Potterton and cameraman David De Volpi (24 minutes); the documentary Buster Keaton Rides Again (1965); and a 60-page insert booklet with essays on all three films by Imogen Sara Smith, an article by Philip Kemp, an article on Our Hospitality shooting locations by John Bengtson, Gerald Potterton’s original treatment for The Railrodder, and an appreciation of Keaton and The Railrodder by writer and silent cinema aficionado Chris Seguin.

Sight unseen, this is our recommended European home video edition of the film. North American collectors will need a region-free PAL DVD player capable of outputting an NTSC-compatible signal to view this edition.

United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region B Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.

The film is presented with a music score by Robert Israel.

Supplementary materials include audio commentary by film historians Farran Smith Nehme and Imogen Sara Smith; Un duel à mort [A Duel to the Death] (1947), a short film starring Buster Keaton; The Iron Mule (1925), a short film starring Al St. John; a presentation on Our Hospitality by Serge Bromberg; an insert booklet essay by Jeffrey Vance; and “Scoring for Buster,” a documentary on the recording of Robert Israel’s score.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
This Region 1 NTSC DVD edition is also available directly from . . .

Among the supplemental material is a previously unreleased 49-minute alternate version of the film thought to have been prepared by Keaton to test the noncomedic story elements, a short documentary on the film by Patricia Eliot Tobias and David B. Pearson (26 minutes), an Al St. John comedy short, and two photo galleries.

This DVD edition is now out-of-print.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued and is . . .

This early DVD edition has been mastered from the video transfer originally prepared by David Shepard for the VHS and laserdisc editions of this film. The print is of very-good quality.

The film is accompanied by a 2.0 stereo music score compiled by Donald Hunsberger.

This DVD edition is now out-of-print.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued and is . . .

The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting music recordings.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .

Other silent film music scores by CARL DAVIS available on home video.