Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved. |
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Beau Brummel
(1924)
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John Barrymore stars in this Warner Brothers historical drama with Mary Astor, Carmel Myers and Alec B. Francis.
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 Warner Archive Collection
2009 DVD edition
Beau Brummel (1924), black & white, 127 minutes, not rated.
Warner Home Video,
no catalog number, UPC 8-83316-16770-0.
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 5.8 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 13 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $19.95 (reduced to $12.99).
Release date: 16 June 2009.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 6 / audio: 7 / additional content: 0 / overall: 7.
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This DVD-R edition has been transferred from a very-good 35mm print that features a broad range of greytones and good image detail. There is a standard amount of dust and speckling, with some emulsion damage, brief scratches, and image instability. Our review player, capable of very-good upscaling of a standard NTSC signal, has some difficulty with this disc. Quick lateral movements reveal the coarse picture interlacing inherent in older DVD discs.
The film is accompanied by a fine modern orchestral music score.
We recommend this disc as the best available but the film is due for a remastered home video edition.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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 TeleVista
2007 DVD edition
Beau Brummel (1924), black & white, 81 minutes, not rated.
TeleVista, no catalog number, unknown UPC number.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD 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 ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $14.95.
Release date: 25 September 2007.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD edition may have been mastered from a 16mm or 8mm reduction print.
Don’t expect much, other TeleVista products have been disappointing at best. Compare the running time of this disc to the Warner Archive edition above. That should tell you something.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark at right to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Other silent era JOHN BARRYMORE films available on home video.
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