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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Ben Blair
(1916)
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This drama, written by Julia Crawford Ivers and directed by William Desmond Taylor, stars Dustin Farnum and Winifred Kingston, with Herbert Standing, Lamar Johnstone, Virginia Foltz and Frank A. Bonn.
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 Kino Classics
2020 Blu-ray Disc edition
The Intrigue (1916), black & white, color-tinted black & white and color-toned black & white, 64 minutes, not rated, with The Majesty of the Law (1915) [reel 4 only], color-tinted black & white, color-toned black & white and black & white, 13 minutes, not rated, A Son of Erin (1916), color-tinted black & white and black & white, 56 minutes, not rated, and Ben Blair (1916), color-tinted black & white and black & white, 64 minutes, not rated.
Kino Lorber, K24449, UPC 7-38329-24449-1.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Regions ABC Blu-ray Disc; 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 24.0 Mbps average video bit rate; LPCM 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 1.5 Mbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 6 chapter stops; standard BD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 17 March 2020.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 8 / audio: 7 / additional content: 7 / overall: 7.
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This Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered from 35mm archival film materials that are generally excellent except for sections of footage marred by advanced nitrate decomposition.
The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on piano by Andrew Earle Simpson.
The generous supplemental material includes audio commentary by Anthony Slide, two feature films and a reel of a third, The Majesty of the Law (1915).
This companion release to Kino Lorber’s 2018 six-disc boxset Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers is highly recommended.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Regions ABC Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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This
Regions ABC Blu-ray Disc edition is also available directly from . . .
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 Kino Classics
2020 DVD edition
The Intrigue (1916), black & white, color-tinted black & white and color-toned black & white, 64 minutes, not rated, with The Majesty of the Law (1915) [reel 4 only], color-tinted black & white, color-toned black & white and black & white, 13 minutes, not rated, A Son of Erin (1916), color-tinted black & white and black & white, 56 minutes, not rated, and Ben Blair (1916), color-tinted black & white and black & white, 64 minutes, not rated.
Kino Lorber, K24448, UPC 7-38329-24448-4.
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 ? 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; 8 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $19.95.
Release date: 17 March 2020.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD edition has been mastered from archival film materials of varying quality from good to excellent.
The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on piano by Ben Model.
The generous supplemental material includes audio commentary by Anthony Slide, two feature films and a reel of a third, The Majesty of the Law (1915).
This companion release to Kino Lorber’s 2018 six-disc boxset Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers is highly recommended.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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This
Region 0 NTSC DVD disc edition is also available directly from . . .
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