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Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
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My Boy
(1921)

This drama vehicle for Jackie Coogan was released after the success of Charles Chaplin’s The Kid (1921) and, the producers being no fools, repeats several of the thematic, situational and visual elements of that film.

Directed by Victor Heerman and Chaplin sidekick Albert Austin, My Boy (1921) is a simple tale of a child returning to America by boat, his father dead in France and his mother passing away two days into the Transatlantic journey. Landing at Ellis Island, the boy evades immigration detention and lands in the care of an aging sea bird, Captain Bill (Claude Gillingwater). Meanwhile, the boy’s wealthy grandmother launches a full-scale search for her sole surviving family member. Results are as expected.

Not the artistic achievement of The Kid, My Boy nonetheless gives audiences another satisfying dose of the Coogan charms.

— Carl Bennett

Warner Home Video
2004 DVD edition

The Kid (1921), black & white, 50 minutes, not rated, with My Boy (1921), black & white, 55 minutes, not rated.

Warner Home Video, 37645,
UPC 0-85393-76452-4, ISBN 0-7907-7162-4.
Two single-sided, dual-layered, Region 1 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 5.1 surround and Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 mono sound, English, Spanish and Portuguese language menus, English language intertitles, optional English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Chinese, Korean and Thai language subtitles; chapter stops; cardboard wrap with two plastic DVD trays in cardboard slipcase; $29.95.
Release date: 2 March 2004.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 6 / audio: 0 / additional content: 8 / overall: 6.

This DVD edition of the hardly-seen My Boy has been mastered from a 16mm reduction print in the Blackhawk Films collection held by Film Preservation Associates. The source print is rough, with dust and schmutz, emulsion gouges, speckling, fine scratches and other print wear. Being a reduction print, the image does jitter about the frame, especially when splices run through. Still, the print is reasonably detailed, with a balanced, natural-speed, full-frame video transfer.

The film is presented without an accompanying music soundtrack.

This long out-of-print DVD may still be the best available home video edition of the film available.

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 has been discontinued
and is . . .

Reelclassicdvd.com
200? DVD edition

My Boy (1921), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, with Players at Play (1929), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.

Reelclassicdvd.com, no catalog number, UPC 7-62184-94602-3.
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), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $20.00.
Release date: 200?.
Country of origin: USA

This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm reduction print.

The film is accompanied by a piano score performed by Ben Model.

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

Alpha Video
2016 DVD edition

My Boy (1921), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, with The New School Teacher (1924), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.

Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 7876D, UPC 0-89218-78769-9.
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), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $7.98 (raised to $8.98).
Release date: 29 November 2016.
Country of origin: USA

This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm or 8mm reduction print.

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

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.