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The Making of an American Citizen
(1912)

In this short Solax film, The Making of an American Citizen (1912), a Russian immigrant learns he must change his selfish and cruel ways to live happily in America. The film was directed by pioneering French filmmaker Alice Guy Blaché.

Flicker Alley
2017 Blu-ray Disc / DVD edition

Early Women Filmmakers: An International Anthology (1902-1943), black & white, 652 minutes total, not rated, including The Making of an American Citizen (1912), black & white, 14 minutes, not rated.

Flicker Alley, FA0052, UPC 6-17311-68529-3.
Three single-sided, dual-layered, Region A Blu-ray Discs, 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 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops; and three single-sided, dual-layered, Region 1 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 sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; chapter stops; six-disc BD keepcase; $69.99.
Release date: 9 May 2017.
Country of origin: USA

This Blu-ray Disc / DVD edition has been mastered from 35mm print elements.

The films are accompanied by music scores by Sergei Dreznin, Frederick Hodges, Tamar Muskal, Judith Rosenberg, and Rodney Sauer with The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra.

The collection’s supplementary material includes audio commentary for The Blot by author and professor Shelley Stamp, and a booklet essay by film historian and Women Film Pioneers Project Manager, Kate Saccone.

The Blu-ray Disc presentation is likely to be the best home video edition of the film available.

USA: Click to order this Region A Blu-ray Disc and Region 1 DVD disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Canada: Click to order Region A Blu-ray Disc and Region 1 DVD disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Click the button at right to order this dual-disc Region A Blu-ray Disc
and Region 1 DVD edition directly from . . .

Kino on Video
2002 DVD edition

The Movies Begin (1894-1913), black & white and color-tinted black & white, 414 minutes total, not rated, including The Making of an American Citizen (1912), black & white, 16 minutes, not rated.

Kino International, K236A-E, UPC 7-38329-02362-1.
Five single-sided, single-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), 5.5 Mbps average video bit rate, 192 Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops; five standard DVD keepcases in cardboard slipcase; $99.95.
Release date: 19 February 2002.
Country of origin: USA

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

This DVD edition of the film has been transferred from what appears to be a 35mm print (or even a 16mm reduction print) of very-good quality. For the most part, the image is reasonably balance thorughout the grayscale range, however, some shots have darker shadows and some shots have highlights that are blasted-out to white nothingness. During disc mastering, at 8:44 into the film, the videotape master momentarily glitched causing a permanent video jiggle and audio warble that lasts a couple of seconds.

The film is accompanied by a music score performed on piano.

This used to be the only home video edition of the film available. Now, there is a far clearer edition as part of David Shepard’s last home video production from Flicker Alley that is noted above.

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