Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved. |
|
The Finances of
the Grand Duke
(1924)
|
|
 Kino Classics
2019 Blu-ray Disc edition
The Finances of the Grand Duke (1924), color-tinted black & white, 78 minutes, not rated, with The Haunted Castle (1921), color-tinted and color-toned black & white and black & white, 81 minutes, not rated.
Kino Lorber, K23620, UPC 7-38329-23620-5.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region A Blu-ray Disc, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) progressive scan MPEG-4 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Mbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, German language intertitles, optional English language subtitles; 8 chapter stops; standard BD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 12 February 2019.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 9 / audio: 8 / additional content: 8 / overall: 8.
|
This Blu-ray Disc edition of The Finances of the Grand Duke has been mastered from the 1994 35mm restoration print by Cineteca Italiana, Milan, Cineteca del Comune di Bologna and Münchner Stadtmuseum Filmmuseum, and licensed by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung.
The film is accompanied by a fine music score composed and performed on piano by Ekkehard Wölk.
The disc’s supplemental material includes an informative full-length audio commentary by film scholar David Kalat.
This is our recommended 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.
|
|
|
|
United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.
|
|
|
 Masters of Cinema
2016 Blu-ray Disc edition
Early Murnau: Five Films, 1921-1925 (1921-1926), black & white, 433 minutes total, BBFC Certification PG, including The Finances of the Grand Duke (1924), black & white, 78 minutes, BBFC Certification PG.
Eureka Entertainment,
EKA70222 (MoC 140-144), unknown UPC number.
Three single-sided, dual-layered, Region B Blu-ray Discs; 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; LPCM 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Mbps audio bit rate; German language intertitles, optional English language subtitles; chapter stops; 100-page insert book; standard three-disc BD keepcase [?] in cardboard cover wrap?; unknown suggested retail price.
Release date: 26 September 2016.
Country of origin: England
|
|
This Region B Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered from the 1994 35mm restoration print by Cineteca Italiana, Milan, Cineteca del Comune di Bologna and Münchner Stadtmuseum Filmmuseum, and licensed by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung.
The film is accompanied by a fine music score composed and performed on piano by Ekkehard Wölk.
Supplemental material includes sudio commentary by film historian David Kalat on The Grand Duke’s Finances; excerpts from The Language of Shadows by Luciano Berriatúa on the works of F.W. Murnau (31 minutes); featurette “The Making of The Last Laugh” by Luciano Berriatúa (41 minutes); featurette “Tartuffe: The Lost Film” by Berriatúa (37 minutes); a video essay by critic David Cairns; and a 100-page insert book including articles by Charles Jameux, Lotte Eisner, Janet Bergstrom and Tony Rayns.
Sight unseen, we recommend this home video collection for European collectors. North American collectors will need a region-free Blu-ray Disc player to view this edition.
|
|
United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region B Blu-ray Disc collection from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.
|
|
|
 Kino International
2009 DVD edition
The Finances of the Grand Duke (1924), color-tinted black & white, 78 minutes, not rated.
Kino International, K625, UPC 7-38329-06252-1.
One single-sided, single-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 7.8 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 18 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $24.95.
Release date: 17 March 2009.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 8 / audio: 8 / additional content: 8 / overall: 8.
|
This DVD edition of The Finances of the Grand Duke has been mastered from the 1994 35mm restoration print produced by Cineteca Italiana, Milan, Cineteca del Comune di Bologna and Münchner Stadtmuseum Filmmuseum, and licensed by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung. The results are very-good to excellent, with a minimal amount of dust and speckling, emulsion scuffing, exposure fluctuations, and other minor print flaws.
The film is accompanied by a fine music score composed and performed on piano by Ekkehard Wölk.
Supplemental material includes an informative audio commentary by film scholar David Kalat.
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.
|
|
|
 Eureka Entertainment
2009 DVD edition
Phantom (1922), color-toned and color-tinted black & white and black & white, 119 minutes, BBFC Classification PG, with Die Finanzen des Großherzogs [The Finances of the Grand Duke] (1924), black & white, 78 minutes, BBFC Classification PG.
Eureka Entertainment,
unknown catalog number (MoC 85), unknown UPC number.
Two single-sided, dual-layered, Region 2 PAL DVD discs, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 576 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 mono sound; German language intertitles, optional English language subtitles; chapter stops; standard two-disc DVD keepcase; £24.99.
Release date: 19 October 2009.
Country of origin: England
|
 This PAL DVD edition has been transfered and progressive-scan encoded from the recent restoration materials licensed by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung.
The supplemental material includes a full-length audio commentary by film scholar David Kalat, and an essay by film scholar Janet Bergstrom.
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 2 PAL DVD edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.
|
|
|
|
Other F.W. MURNAU films available on home video.
Other GERMAN FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
|
|
F.W. Murnau filmography in The Progressive Silent Film List
|
|
