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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The Busher
(1919)
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Returning to a successful theme only two years after the production of The Pinch Hitter (1917), Charles Ray stars as a baseball hero in The Busher (1919), with Colleen Moore as his love interest.
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 Kino International
2007 DVD edition
Reel Baseball: Baseball Films from the Silent Era (1899-1926), black & white, 253 minutes total, not rated, including The Busher (1919), black & white, 55 minutes, not rated.
Kino International, K529, UPC 7-38329-05292-8.
Two single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD discs, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; two-disc DVD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 3 April 2007.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD edition of The Busher (1919) has been transferred from a very-good to excellent 35mm print from the holdings of Film Preservation Associates that features a broad range of greytones and fine image details.
The film is accompanied by a music score performed on piano by David Drazin.
The other films have been transferred from film elements provided by Dennis Atkinson, Film Preservation Associates, the Larson-Casselton Collection, the Library of Congress, and Lobster Films, and is accompanied by music composed and performed by David Drazin, David Knudtson and Ben Model.
This edition of The Busher is highly recommended for its excellent source print and the fine accompanying music.
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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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 Grapevine Video
2005 DVD edition
The Pinch Hitter (1917), black & white, 47 minutes, not rated, with The Busher (1919), black & white and color-tinted and color-toned black & white, 63 minutes, not rated.
Grapevine Video, no catalog number, UPC 8-42614-10024-6.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R disc, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), 4.4 Mbps average video bit rate, 224 Kbps audio bit rate, PCM 48 kHz 8-bit 2.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, no subtitles; 6 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $16.95 (reduced to $14.95).
Release date: November 2005.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has been mastered from a good to very-good original Filmo Library 16mm reduction print with tinted-and-toned color sequences. The older video transfer, probably originally prepared for release on VHS videotape, flares briefly after edits that follow a darker preceeding shot as the transfer equipment auto-adjusts the exposure. We suspect that the video transfer is responsible for the flared-out highlight details that lose facial details from time to time.
The film is accompanied by a cobble-together music score of preexisting recordings.
We recommend the edition from Kino International noted above.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
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 Alpha Video
2024 DVD edition
The Busher (1919), black & white, 49 minutes, not rated.
Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 8605D, UPC 0-89218-86059-0.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R 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 mono sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $8.98.
Release date: 28 May 2024.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a reduction print.
The film is accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting recordings.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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This
Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is also available directly from . . .
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Other silent era CHARLES RAY films available on home video.
Other silent era COLLEEN MOORE films available on home video.
Other BASEBALL FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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