Silent Era Home Page > DVD > Work DVD Review
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Reviews of silent film releases on DVD home video.
Copyright © 1999-2008 by Carl Bennett. All Rights Reserved.
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Work
(1915)
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Having left Keystone late in 1914 for employment with the Essanay studio in Chicago, Charles Chaplin departed for their studios near San Francisco for a few films, only to insist on returning to southern California to complete his contract. Work, his first Essanay film shot in a studio in southern California, includes some location photography that was taken near Los Angeles and at the Bradbury Mansion on North Hill Street.
Charlie causes a messy commotion in an upscale house as a paperhanger’s apprentice while wooing Edna Purviance, the maid.
The two-reeler allowed Chaplin to work in his own studio, for the first time ever, and settle down to making another funny and inventive comedy. — Carl Bennett
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 1999 Image Entertainment edition
Work (1915), black & white and color-tinted black & white, ? minutes, not rated, with The Tramp (1915), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, By the Sea (1915), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, A Woman (1915), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, The Bank (1915), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, and His Regeneration (1915), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Image Entertainment, ID5414DSDVD, UPC 0-14381-54142-7.
Full-frame 4:3 NTSC, one single-sided, dual-layered DVD disc, Region 0, 6.5 Mbps average video bit rate, 192 kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops, snapper case (rereleased in keep case), $24.99.
DVD release date: 28 September 1999.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 8 / audio: 9 / additional content: 7 / overall: 8.
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The source print used for the majority of the transfer of Work is a very-good but slightly soft 35mm positive. As with other prints of Work we have seen, the first four minutes of this film (and occasionally later in the print) are slightly marred by two short horizontal marks in the center of the picture. We don’t know whether surviving materials all originated from the same damaged print or that the damage was on the original negative. Some attempt was made to digitally mask the marks in later shots. Otherwise, the print is in very good condition, with little speckling and very little wear. A second 35mm print was utilized that is very soft, almost blurry. On close inspection, lighter gray areas of the picture such as light wallpaper or curtains reveal some digital compression artifacts.
USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 0 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.com. |
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Canada: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 0 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.ca. |
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 1999 Madacy Entertainment edition
Work (1915), black & white, 27 minutes, not rated, with Cruel, Cruel Love (1914), black & white, 9 minutes, not rated, A Film Johnnie (1914), black & white, 7 minutes, not rated, His New Profession (1914) [rereleased as The Good-for-Nothing], black & white, 14 minutes, not rated, Tango Tangles (1914) [rereleased as Charlie’s Recreation], black & white, 13 minutes, not rated, and Triple Trouble (1918), black & white, 24 minutes, not rated.
Madacy Entertainment Group, DVD9 9103, UPC 0-56775-03619-5.
Full-frame 4:3 NTSC, one double-sided, single-layered DVD disc, Region 1, 3 Mbps average video bit rate, 448 kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, 3 chapter stops, keep case, $11.98.
DVD release date: 2 March 1999.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 3 / audio: 4 / additional content: 1 / overall: 3.
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 This less-than-desirable edition has been mastered from a latter-day 16mm reduction print, with synchronized music, narration and sound effects. Its coarsely mastered picture reveals all manner of compression artifacts, and does little to well represent the good but substandard source print.
Two processing marks, present in the circa-1920s rerelease source print for the 16mm print, are seen in the center of the picture throughout its presentation.
USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.com. |
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Canada: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.ca. |
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 1999 Madacy Entertainment edition
Work (1915), black & white, 27 minutes, not rated, with Cruel, Cruel Love (1914), black & white, 9 minutes, not rated, A Film Johnnie (1914), black & white, 7 minutes, not rated, His New Profession (1914) [rereleased as The Good-for-Nothing], black & white, 14 minutes, not rated, Tango Tangles (1914) [rereleased as Charlie’s Recreation], black & white, 13 minutes, not rated, and Triple Trouble (1918), black & white, 24 minutes, not rated.
Madacy Entertainment Group, unknown catalog number, unknown UPC number.
Full-frame 4:3 NTSC, two single-sided, single-layered DVD discs, Region 1, ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, 3 chapter stops, keep case, unknown suggested retail price.
DVD release date: 1999.
Country of origin: USA
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A repackaging of the same Madacy DVD program reviewed above was also issued under a different title and on two discs, with a slipcase wraparound, as Chaplin: Hollywood Classics. No doubt, just as rough.
USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.com. |
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Canada: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.ca. |
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 1998 Madacy Entertainment edition
Work (1915), black & white, 27 minutes, not rated, with Cruel, Cruel Love (1914), black & white, 9 minutes, not rated, A Film Johnnie (1914), black & white, 7 minutes, not rated, His New Profession (1914) [rereleased as The Good-for-Nothing], black & white, 14 minutes, not rated, Tango Tangles (1914) [rereleased as Charlie’s Recreation], black & white, 13 minutes, not rated, and Triple Trouble (1918), black & white, 24 minutes, not rated, and other Chaplin short films.
Madacy Entertainment Group, unknown catalog number, unknown UPC number.
Full-frame 4:3 NTSC, five single-sided, single-layered DVD discs, Region 1, ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, 3 chapter stops, keep case, unknown suggested retail price.
DVD release date: 1998.
Country of origin: USA
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Yet another Madacy repackaging, this a box set, of the content reviewed above. Have they no shame in their repackaging attempts to deceive the consumer?
USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.com. |
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Canada: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.ca. |
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Other silent era Charles Chaplin films available on DVD home video:
Chaplin’s Essanay Comedies Volume 1 (1915)
Chaplin’s Essanay Comedies Volume 2 (1915)
Chaplin’s Essanay Comedies Volume 3 (1915-1918)
The Chaplin Mutual Comedies, 90th Anniversary Edition (1916-1917)
The Chaplin Revue (1918-1923)
The Circus (1928)
City Lights (1931)
Cruel, Cruel Love (1914)
A Film Johnnie (1914)
The Gold Rush (1925)
His New Profession (1914)
The Kid (1921)
Tango Tangles (1914)
Tillie’s Punctured Romance (1914)
Triple Trouble (1918)
A Woman of Paris (1923)
Chaplin-related films available on DVD home video:
Chaplin’s Goliath (1996)
Unknown Chaplin (1983)
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| Charles Chaplin filmography in The Progressive Silent Film List |
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