Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved. |
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The Adventures
of Dollie
(1908)
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This Biograph short drama, the directorial debut of D.W. Griffith, tells the tale of a young girl kidnapped by gypsies and her narrow escape from death. Linda Arvidson, Charles Inslee and Arthur Johnson star.
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 Kino on Video
2002 DVD edition
Griffith Masterworks: Biograph Shorts (1908-1914), black & white, 362 minutes total, not rated, including The Adventures of Dollie (1908) black & white, 12 minutes, not rated.
Kino International, K268, UPC 7-38329-02682-0.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc (two DVDs in the set); 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 4.2 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 foreign language subtitles; no chapter stops (within the film); two-page insert card; double-wide two-disc DVD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 10 December 2002.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 3 / audio: 8 / additional content: 8 / overall: 8.
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This DVD edition, produced by Bret Wood, has been mastered from a good 16mm reduction print prepared in the 1950s from the Library of Congress paper print collection, which means that the image quality is lower than would normally be expected. The picture image is blurry with dust, speckling, thin vertical scratches, frame jitters, and exposure fluctuations.
The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on piano by Jon C. Mirsalis.
Although the source print is not ideal, we recommend this home video edition of the film.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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 Kino on Video
2002 DVD edition
Griffith Masterworks (1908-1921), color-toned black & white and black & white, 986 minutes total, not rated, including The Adventures of Dollie (1908) black & white, 12 minutes, not rated.
Kino International,
no catalog number, UPC 7-38329-02702-5.
Seven single-sided, single-layered and dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD discs; 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 4.5 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 foreign language subtitles; chapter stops; four standard DVD keepcases and one double-wide two-disc DVD keepcase in cardboard slipcase; $99.95.
Release date: 10 December 2002.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 3 / audio: 8 / additional content: 8 / overall: 8.
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This DVD boxset contains the Kino International 2002 edition noted above.
The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on piano by Jon C. Mirsalis.
An obvious attraction of this boxset is the additional content in the form of supplemental materials, and the compilation of early Griffith Biograph short films.
A collector’s preference for one home video edition over another will be driven by an evaluation of price, availability and the other films available in each collection.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD boxset from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD boxset from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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 Grapevine Video
2003 DVD edition
D.W. Griffith, Director, Volume 1 (1908-1909), black & white, 102 minutes total, not rated, including The Adventures of Dollie (1908), black & white, 10 minutes, not rated.
Grapevine Video, no catalog number, UPC 8-42614-00116-1.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R 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 ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 224 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; 11 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $16.95 (reduced to $14.95).
Release date: 2003.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 3 / audio: 4 / additional content: 0 / overall: 3.
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This DVD-R edition has been mastered from 16mm reduction print materials prepared in the 1950s from the Library of Congress paper print collection, which means that the image quality is lower than would normally be expected, with some of the prints quite soft, flat and grey, and others of good contrast and soft image quality — all with some greater or lesser degree of frame movement. The older full-frame analog video master was originally prepared for VHS videotape release in the 1990s.
The film is accompanied by a music score compiled from old low-fidelity recordings.
This DVD-R home video edition is not recommended.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
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Other silent era D.W. GRIFFITH films available on home video.
Other SHORT DRAMA FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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