Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2025 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved. |
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Dry and Thirsty
(1920)
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This one-reel comedy, directed by Craig Hutchinson, stars Billy Bletcher with Vera Reynolds and John Dempsey. Billy tries to get an alcoholic drink in Prohibition times.
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 Film Preservation Associates
2002 DVD edition
Slapstick Encyclopedia (1909-1929), black & white and color-toned black & white, 1089 minutes total, not rated, including Dry and Thirsty (1920), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Film Preservation Associates, distributed by Image Entertainment, ID0699DSDVD, UPC 0-14381-06992-1.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc (five DVDs in the set); 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 4.5 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 224 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; five standard DVD keepcases in cardboard slipcase; $69.99.
Release date: 7 May 2002.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD edition has been mastered from a very-good 35mm print.
The film is accompanied by a music score by Robert Israel, performed by an ensemble.
The film is accompanied by music arranged and composed by Robert Israel, and performed by an ensemble.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition has been discontinued
and is . . .
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 Madacy Entertainment
2012 DVD edition
Slapstick Encyclopedia (1909-1929), black & white and color-toned black & white, 1089 minutes total, not rated, including Dry and Thirsty (1920), black & white, ? 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 subtitles; chapter stops; rollfold cardboard DVD videobook with cardboard disc pockets, $16.98.
Release date: 25 September 2012.
Country of origin: Canada
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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 budget edition. The same files (including the menus) as prepared for the edition above have been utilized for this edition.
The film is accompanied by a music score by Robert Israel, performed by an ensemble.
We caution that disc mastering makes a huge difference in the visual quality of DVDs. Since the content has been manufactured onto five double-sided discs, and if proper care has been taken to master the DVDs, the visual quality is comparable to the 2002 Image edition noted above.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued
and is . . .
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 Grapevine Video
2009 DVD edition
Annabel Lee (1921), black & white, 57 minutes, not rated, with Dry and Thirsty (1920), black & white, 12 minutes, not rated.
Grapevine Video, no catalog number, unknown UPC number.
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 ? 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: 2009.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm reduction print.
The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting recordings.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
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 Alpha Video
2012 DVD edition
Slapstick Rides Again (1915-1927), black & white, 56 minutes total, not rated, including Dry and Thisty (1920), black & white, 11 minutes, not rated.
Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 6871D, UPC 0-89218-68719-7.
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 ? 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; 4 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $7.98 (raised to $8.98).
Release date: 27 November 2012.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from an 8mm and 16mm reduction prints
The film is accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting recordings.
We wouldn’t recommend this below-average disc but a few of the films are available nowhere else on home video.
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This
Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available from
ALPHA VIDEO through . . .
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Other SHORT COMEDY FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
Other silent film music scores by ROBERT ISRAEL available on home video.
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