Silent Era : Home Video : Smouldering Fires (1924) Review

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Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2013 by Carl Bennett
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Smouldering Fires
(1924)

Pauline Frederick stars as a no-nonsense businesswoman in this comedy-drama directed by Clarence Brown. Laura La Plante, Malcolm McGregor and Tully Marshall support.

2006 Sunrise Silents DVD edition

Smouldering Fires (1924), color-tinted black & white, 70 minutes, not rated,
with Monkey-Shines (1920), color-tinted black & white, 12 minutes, not rated, Mystery of the Double Cross (1917) [episode 7: “Into Thin Air”], color-tinted black & white, 25 minutes, not rated, Luring Eyes (1920), color-tinted black & white, 4 minutes, not rated, and Disposing of Mother (1922), color-tinted black & white, 20 minutes, not rated.

Sunrise Silents, SMFR-N (NTSC) and SMFR-P (PAL), no UPC number.
Windowboxed 4:3 NTSC or PAL, one single-sided, single-layered DVD-R disc, Region 0, ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? kbps audio bit rate, PCM 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, 6 chapter stops, standard DVD keepcase, $23.95.
DVD release date: 24 May 2006.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 5 / audio: 6 / additional content: 6 / overall: 6.

This DVD-R edition from Sunrise Silents has been mastered from a 16mm reduction print that is on occasion dark, with plugged up shadow details. The windowboxed video transfer has been digitally color-tinted.

The film is accompanied by a music score performed on MIDI-synthesizer.

Edition producer Rich Oliver continues to offer more in additional disc features than any other independent home video company, with a serial episode, a short comedy, a compilation of newsreel footage of film stars, and more.

This is our recommended home video edition of Smouldering Fires for its higher visual clarity.

SUNRISE SILENTS has discontinued business and this edition is no longer available.

2006 Grapevine Video DVD edition

Smouldering Fires (1924), black & white, 91 minutes, not rated,
with Alice’s Egg Plant (1925), black & white, 8 minutes, not rated.

Grapevine Video, no catalog number, unknown UPC number.
Full-frame 4:3 NTSC, one single-sided, single-layered DVD-R disc, Region 0, ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, 16 chapter stops, standard DVD keepcase, $14.95.
DVD release date: 2006.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 4 / audio: 5 / additional content: 5 / overall: 5.

This DVD-R edition from Grapevine Video has been mastered from a 16mm reduction print that originates from the same print material as the Sunrise edition noted above and is contrasty, with closed-up shadows and burnt-out highlights. The full-frame video transfer is cropped a tad tighter than the Sunrise edition and generally looks coarser in picture details.

The film is accompanied by a music score of electronic organ music.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from GRAPEVINE VIDEO.

Other silent era CLARENCE BROWN films available on home video.

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