Silent Era Information*Progressive Silent Film List*Lost Films*People*Theaters
Taylorology*Articles*Home Video*Books*Search
 
Foolish Wives BD
 
Silent Era Home Page  >  Home Video  >  The Birth of Motion Pictures
 
Silent Era Films on Home Video
Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved.

The Birth of
Motion Pictures

(1910-1915)

 

Contents: The House with Closed Shutters (1910), An Unseen Enemy (1912), The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912) and Love, Loot and Crash (1915).

This poorly-produced collection of three D.W. Griffith films and a Charley Chase Keystone comedy seems an ill-conceived represenation of the birth of motion pictures. Don’t be misled by the photo of the Gish sisters on the cover — this disc doesn’t include Orphans of the Storm (1921).

coverAlpha Video
2011 DVD edition

The Birth of Motion Pictures (1910-1915), black & white, 55 minutes total, not rated, including The House with Closed Shutters (1910), black & white, 14 minutes, not rated, An Unseen Enemy (1912), black & white, 13 minutes, not rated, The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912), black & white, 14 minutes, not rated, and Love, Loot and Crash (1915), black & white, 13 minutes, not rated.

Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 6609D, UPC 0-89218-66099-2.
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 6.0 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 384 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; 4 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $7.98 (raised to $8.98).
Release date: 26 July 2011.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 3 / audio: 3 / additional content: 3 / overall: 3.

This budget DVD-R collection has been mastered from 8mm reduction prints. In all cases, the results are substandard.

The films are accompanied by soundtracks compiled from old preexisting recordings.

For reviews of the individual films, see our The House with Closed Shutters on home video and The Musketeers of Pig Alley on home video pages.

This is not a collection worth buying, even at this low cost, as all of the films are available on home video in better-looking editions. Save your money.

 
USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
 
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Other silent era D.W. GRIFFITH films available on home video.

Other silent era LILLIAN GISH films available on home video.

Other KEYSTONE comedy films available on home video.

Other SHORT COMEDY FILMS of the silent era available on home video.

Other SHORT DRAMA FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
Lillian Gish filmography in The Progressive Silent Film List
 
 
Silent Era Home Page  >  Home Video  >  The Birth of Motion Pictures
 
Lodger BD
Become a Patron of Silent Era

LINKS IN THIS COLUMN
WILL TAKE YOU TO
EXTERNAL WEBSITES

SUPPORT SILENT ERA
USING THESE LINKS
WHEN SHOPPING AT
AMAZON

AmazonUS
AmazonCA
AmazonUK

Birth of a Nation BD

Way Down East BD

Floating Weeds BD

Vitagraph BD

Road to Ruin BD

Cat and the Canary BD

Boob / Why Be Good BD

Madame DuBarry BD

Stella Maris BD

Three Ages / Hospitality BD

Pandora's Box BD

Browning's Shockers BD

Foolish Wives BD