Silent Era : Home Video : The Toll Gate (1920) Review

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SILENT ERA FILMS ON HOME VIDEO
Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2010 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved.

The Toll Gate
(1920)

This William S. Hart western costars Anna Q. Nilsson.

1999 Image Entertainment edition

The Toll Gate (1920), black & white and
color-tinted black & white, 73 minutes, not rated,
with His Bitter Pill (1916), black & white, 20 minutes, not rated.

Film Preservation Associates, distributed by Image Entertainment,
ID4728DSDVD, UPC 0-14381-47282-0.
Full-frame 4:3 NTSC, one single-sided, single-layered DVD disc, Region 0, ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, 11 chapter stops, snapper case, $24.99.
DVD release date: 20 April 1999.
Country of origin: USA

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

This early DVD edition of The Toll Gate has been mastered from what appears to be a very-good 16mm reduction print duplicated from source material that is moderately scuffed, scratched and speckled. The older full-frame natural-speed video transfer is OK, but the color-tinting is a bit darker than it should be, resulting at time in eyestrain.

The film is accompanied by a sometimes annoying music score performed on synthesizers by Eric Beheim.

His Bitter Pill has been mastered from very-good 16mm reduction print materials.

The film could benefit from a new video transfer from 35mm film materials — and nix the music, please!

USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 0 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.com.

Canada: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 0 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.ca.

United Kingdom: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 0 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.co.uk.

2004 Sunrise Silents edition

The Toll Gate (1920), color-toned black & white, 75 minutes, not rated.

Sunrise Silents, TGWH-N (NTSC) and TGWH-P (PAL), no UPC number.
Full-frame 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, chapter stops, keep case, $20.95.
DVD release date: 2004.
Country of origin: USA

This budget edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm reduction print, and features a music score performed on MIDI-based synthesizer.

This Region 0 NTSC or PAL DVD-R is available direcctly from Sunrise Silents.

2006? Sinister Cinema edition

The Toll Gate (1920), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.

Sinister Cinema, W328D, no 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, PCM? 2.0 mono? sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops, keep case, $11.95.
DVD release date: 2006?
Country of origin: USA

This budget edition has been mastered from a 16mm reduction print and features a music score that may be pieced together from existing recordings.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R is available directly from Sinister Cinema.

Other WILLIAM S. HART films available on home video.

Other WESTERN FILMS of the silent era available on home video.

William S. Hart filmography in The Progressive Silent Film List

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