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The
Iron Mule
(1925)

The Iron Mule (1925) with Al St. John. This semi-parody of John Ford’s The Iron Horse (1924) was directed by Roscoe Arbuckle and features a cameo by Buster Keaton.

Kino International
2011 Blu-ray Disc edition

Our Hospitality (1923), black & white, 75 minutes, not rated, with The Iron Mule (1925), black & white, 19 minutes, not rated.

Kino International, K715, UPC 7-38329-07152-3.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 Blu-ray Disc, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) progressive scan AVC (MPEG-4) format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, DTS-HD 48 kHz 5.1 surround sound, LPCM 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound and Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops; standard BD keepcase in cardboard slipcover; $34.95.
Release date: 22 March 2011.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 9 / audio: 9 / additional content: 9 / overall: 9.

This Blu-ray Disc edition of Buster Keaton’s Our Hospitality (1923) contains, as bonus material, a new high-definition transfer of The Iron Mule (1925) from a very-good 35mm print held by the Museum of Modern Art. There is to be seen the usual amount of positive and negative dust, fine scratches, processing flaws and more, but the overall visual quality is quite good and is a considerable improvement over previous home video editions. The intertitles are a conflated combination of new video frames and titles transferred from an 8mm reduction print held by historian David Kalat.

The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on Miditzer virtual (computer-based) theatre pipe organ by Ben Model. The music is a considerable improvement on the music accompanying the film in the Slapstick Encyclopedia editions.

By far, this is the best-looking home video edition of The Iron Mule, and is highly recommended to collectors with a Blu-ray Disc player.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Kino International
2011 DVD edition

Our Hospitality (1923), black & white, 75 minutes, not rated, with The Iron Mule (1925), black & white, 19 minutes, not rated.

Kino International,
unknown catalog number, unknown UPC number.
Two single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 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 sound and Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase in cardboard slipcover; $29.95.
Release date: 22 March 2011.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 8 / audio: 9 / additional content: 8 / overall: 8.

This DVD edition of Buster Keaton’s Our Hospitality (1923) contains, as bonus material, a new high-definition transfer of The Iron Mule (1925) from a very-good 35mm print held by the Museum of Modern Art. There is to be seen the usual amount of positive and negative dust, fine scratches, processing flaws and more, but the overall visual quality is quite good and is a considerable improvement over previous home video editions. The intertitles are a conflated combination of new video frames and titles transferred from an 8mm reduction print held by historian David Kalat.

Not quite as good-looking as the Blu-ray Disc edition noted above, this is the best DVD edition of The Iron Mule, and is highly recommended to collectors that are still without a Blu-ray Disc player.

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

Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Film Preservation Associates
2002 DVD edition

Slapstick Encyclopedia (1909-1929), black & white and color-toned black & white, 1089 minutes total, not rated, including The Iron Mule (1925), black & white, 13 minutes, not rated.

Film Preservation Associates, distributed by Image Entertainment, ID0699DSDVD, UPC 0-14381-06992-1.
Five single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 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), 4.5 Mbps average video bit rate, 224 Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo and mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops; five standard DVD keepcases in cardboard slipcase; $69.99.
Release date: 7 May 2002.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 6 / audio: 7 / additional content: 7 / overall: 6.

Overall, we are less than impressed with the three bonus films included in this new DVD set — all of them have previously appeared on Shepard-produced home videos. However, we are generally overjoyed at high-quality of many of the films that are presented here. Some of these films have been available on public-domain videotapes for years, but here they are presented in their best available form on home video from the best surviving materials. The introductions to the films have a number of typographical errors in them, but provide brief and sometimes valuable background information to each of the films. For the number of films and the gargantuan length of the program, this DVD set is well worth the comparatively modest cost.

We highly recommend this DVD edition of the Slapstick Encyclopedia.

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

Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Madacy Entertainment
2012 DVD edition

Slapstick Encyclopedia (1909-1929), black & white and color-toned black & white, 1089 minutes total, not rated, including The Iron Mule (1925), black & white, 13 minutes, not rated.

Madacy Entertainment, distributed by Image Entertainment,
VB951290, UPC 6-28261-12909-6.
Five single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 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 2.0 stereo and mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops; rollfold cardboard DVD videobook with cardboard disc pockets; $16.98.
Release date: 25 September 2012.
Country of origin: Canada

Ratings (1-10): video: 6 / audio: 7 / additional content: 7 / overall: 6.

This budget DVD edition of the mammoth silent comedy collection has been released by the questionable company historically responsible for some of the worst-looking silent film DVDs ever released. However, it is apparent that the video masters prepared by producer David Shepard have been licensed and utilized for this cheap edition.

The results are much the same as the previous edition, being of good quality. An OK edition of The Iron Mule that benefits from being produced from the same video masters as the 2002 Image edition noted above.