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Hard Luck
(1921)

 
coverKino International
2011 Blu-ray Disc edition

Buster Keaton: The Short Films Collection 1920-1923 (1920-1923), black & white, 390 minutes total, not rated, including Hard Luck (1921), black & white, 21 minutes, not rated.

Kino Lorber, K756, UPC 7-38329-07562-0.
Three single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 Blu-ray Discs, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) progressive scan AVC (MPEG-4) format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; three slimline BD keepcases in cardboard slipcase; $49.95.
Release date: 12 July 2011.
Country of origin: USA

This Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered from a conflation of at least two prints, which appear to be a 35mm print and a 16mm reduction print. The compiled source material is still incomplete and is missing approximately three minutes of footage, which is indicated by brief sections of black frames.

For material that is quite scuffed or otherwise of distracting state, Kino offers viewer-selectable versions that have been digitally cleaned by computer processing.

Among the supplementary content created for this collection are 15 visual essays featuring contributions from Jack Dragga, Ken Gordon, David Kalat, Bruce Lawton, Steve Massa, Ben Model, David B. Pearson, R. Emmet Sweeney and Patricia Eliot Tobias, a series of alternate and deleted shots from Keaton shorts, a presentation of exerpts from comedy films influenced by Keaton, and Keaton cameos in short films of the late 1920s.

 
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.
 
United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.
coverEureka Entertainment
2016 Blu-ray Disc edition

Buster Keaton: The Complete Short Films 1917-1923 (1917-1923), black & white, 740 minutes total, BBFC Classification PG, including Hard Luck (1921), black & white, ? minutes, BBFC Classification PG.

Eureka Entertainment,
EKA70218 (MoC 150), unknown UPC number.
Four 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; DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Mbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; four plastic BD trays on cardboard wrap in cardboard slipcase; £49.99.
Release date: 18 July 2016.
Country of origin: England
This Region B Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered from an archival 35mm print.

Supplementary material includes an introduction by preservationist Serge Bromberg; audio commentary on six films by Joseph McBride; a recently-discovered version of The Blacksmith containing four minutes of previously unseen footage; alternate endings for Coney Island and My Wife’s Relations; a video essay by critic David Cairns; a discussion of Keaton’s style by actor Pierre Étaix; an audio recording of Keaton at a 1962 party; and a 184-page booklet with a roundtable discussion with critics Brad Stevens, Jean-Pierre Coursodon and Dan Sallitt, an essay and with detailed notes on each film by Jeffrey Vance; an essay by Serge Bromberg on the two versions of The Blacksmith and other discoveries; an excerpt from Life with Buster Keaton (1951) in cluding a reenactment by Keaton of Roscoe Arbuckle’s “Salomé dance,” first performed in The Cook and the words of Buster Keaton.

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.
coverKino International
2011 DVD edition

Buster Keaton: The Short Films Collection 1920-1923 (1920-1923), black & white, 390 minutes total, not rated, including Hard Luck (1921), black & white, 21 minutes, not rated.

Kino Lorber, K755, UPC 7-38329-07552-1.
Three 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 mono sound, English language intertitles, no subtitles; 2 chapter stops; three-disc DVD keepcase in cardboard slipcover; $34.95.
Release date: 12 July 2011.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 6 / audio: 8 / additional content: 7 / overall: 7.

This remastered DVD edition has been mastered from a conflation of at least two prints, which appear to be a 35mm print and a 16mm reduction print. The compiled source material is still incomplete and is missing approximately three minutes of footage, which is indicated by brief sections of black frames.

Among the supplementary content created for this collection are 15 visual essays featuring contributions from Jack Dragga, Ken Gordon, David Kalat, Bruce Lawton, Steve Massa, Ben Model, David B. Pearson, R. Emmet Sweeney and Patricia Eliot Tobias, a series of alternate and deleted shots from Keaton shorts, a presentation of exerpts from comedy films influenced by Keaton, and Keaton cameos in short films of the late 1920s.

 
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.
coverKino on Video
2000 DVD edition

College (1927), black & white, 65 minutes, not rated, with Hard Luck (1921), black & white, 22 minutes, not rated.

Kino International, K129 DVD, UPC 7-38329-01292-2.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in windowboxed 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; snapper DVD case (reissued in standard DVD keepcase [retail], and in slimline DVD keepcase [boxset]); $29.99 (reduced to $24.95).
Release date: 11 January 2000.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 5 / audio: 8 / additional content: 7 / overall: 6.

This DVD edition has been mastered from a conflation by Kevin Brownlow and David Gill of 35mm and 16mm prints that range from very-good to fair quality. The compiled source print is generally either an overall flat grey or is contrasty (depending on the original source material), with frame jitters, dust, speckling, scratches, schmutz and beginning decomposition, and is still missing several sections of footage to splices. The introduction in the source print notes that altogether approximately three minutes of footage is missing, and missing footage within a shot is indicated by several black frames.

The film is accompanied with music performed by Robert Israel on the Fotoplayer.

Once the best-available home video edition, we are now advising that collectors choose either the remastered DVD version or the high-definition Blu-ray Disc version from Kino International noted above.

 
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.
Other silent era BUSTER KEATON films available on home video.
Buster Keaton filmography in The Progressive Silent Film List
 
 
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