Silent Era : DVD : Champagne (1928) Review

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Reviews of silent film releases on DVD home video.
Copyright © 1999-2008 by Carl Bennett. All Rights Reserved.

Champagne
(1928)
on

2005 Brentwood Home Video edition

Champagne (1928), black & white, 85 minutes, not rated, with Easy Virtue (1927), black & white, 80 minutes, not rated, The Farmer’s Wife (1928), black & white, 129 minutes, not rated, The Manxman (1929), black & white, 111 minutes, not rated, Murder! (1930), black & white, 92 minutes, not rated, The Skin Game (1931), black & white, 78 minutes, not rated, Number Seventeen (1932), black & white, 65 minutes, not rated, The 39 Steps (1935), black & white, 82 minutes, not rated, and Jamaica Inn (1939), black & white, 89 minutes, not rated.

Brentwood Home Video, 46304-9, UPC 7-87364-63049-3.
Full-frame 4:3 NTSC, five double-sided, single-layered DVD discs, Region 0, ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, 8 chapter stops, multidisc keep case, $19.95.
DVD release date: 23 August 2005.
Country of origin: USA

Our first look at this multidisc collection of Hitchcock films reveals a contrasty, artifact-laden, sound-speed video transfer of Champagne from a very-good 16mm reduction print.

The highlights of the picture are often blasted out, but the real issue is the low-resolution image which may be the result of a VHS videotape master — early in the film a video glitch tells of its analog origin. Another tell-tale sign of its analog origin is the lower-than-usual number of scan lines constituting the picture, even while the disc is playing, that will be visible on both standard and HD monitors.

A discerning viewer will have a tough time watching this disc, especially in HD. However, this is currently the only edition of the film available on DVD home video and collectors must make do with it until a better edition is produced.

USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase a Region 0 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.com.
Canada: Click the logomark at right to purchase a Region 0 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.ca.

Other silent era Alfred Hitchcock films available on DVD home video:
Blackmail (1929)
Downhill (1927)
Easy Virtue (1927)
The Farmer’s Wife (1928)
The Lodger (1926)
The Manxman (1929)
The Ring (1927)

Other British silent era films available on DVD home video:
Electric Edwardians: The Lost Films of Mitchell & Kenyon (1900-1906)
Hindle Wakes (1927)
Piccadilly (1929)
The Woman He Scorned (1929)

Alfred Hitchcock filmography in The Progressive Silent Film List

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