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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The Little
American
(1917)
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This World War I drama from director Cecil B. DeMille stars Mary Pickford, Jack Holt and Raymond Hatton, with Hobart Bosworth, Walter Long, James Neill, Ben Alexander, Guy Oliver, Edythe Chapman, Lillian Leighton and DeWitt Jennings.
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 VCI Entertainment
2025 Blu-ray Disc / DVD edition
The Little American (1917), black & white, 85 minutes, not rated, with A Lodging for the Night (1912), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
VCI Entertainment, VCI9121, UPC 0-89859-91212-2.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Regions ABC Blu-ray Disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) 24 fps progressive scan image encoded in SDR AVC format at ? Mbps average video bit rate; DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Mbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; and 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 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; insert booklet; standard two-disc BD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 10 June 2025.
Country of origin: USA
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This Blu-ray Disc / DVD edition has been mastered from a high-definition scan of archival film elements by the Mary Pickford Foundation in association with UCLA Film and Television Archive.
The film is accompanied by an orchestral music score composed and performed by Adam Chavez.
Supplemental material includes audio commentary by film historian Marc Wanamaker; the short film A Lodging for the Night (1912) with an original music score by Adam Chavez; an extensive photo gallery by Tiffany L. Clayton; and an insert booklet with information by the Mary Pickford Foundation.
This is our recommended home video edition of the film.
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This Regions ABC Blu-ray Disc / Region 0 NTSC DVD edition is available directly from . . .
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 Vintage Film Buff
2007 DVD edition
The Little American (1917), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Vintage Film Buff, SIL4, no 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; $20.00.
Release date: 2007.
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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VINTAGE FILM BUFF no longer sells home video products
and this edition is . . .
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 Alpha Video
2015 DVD edition
The Little American (1917), color-toned black & white, 85 minutes, not rated.
Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 7625D, UPC 0-89218-76259-7.
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 5.1 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 6 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $7.98 (raised again to $9.99).
Release date: 28 April 2015.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has been mastered from a good 16mm reduction print.
The film is accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting orchestral recordings.
Not a great edition, but watchable.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available from
ALPHA VIDEO through . . .
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 JEF Films
2007 DVD edition
The Little American (1917), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
JEF Films, unknown catalog number, UPC 0-29502-56898-6.
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; 16 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $14.95.
Release date: 27 November 2007.
Country of origin: USA
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This budget DVD edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm reduction print.
Don’t expect much.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition is available from
JEF FILMS through . . .
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 Passport Video
2007 DVD edition
The Cecil B. DeMille Classics Collection (1914-1926), black & white, 1622 minutes total, not rated, including The Little American (1917), black & white, 62 minutes, not rated.
Passport Video, DVD-5090, UPC 0-25493-50900-0.
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 4.1 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; double-wide five-disc DVD keepcase; $19.98.
Release date: 12 June 2007.
Country of origin: USA
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This multidisc budget DVD edition has been mastered from a 8mm reduction print that is short on image detail and is flat and greyed out.
The film is accompanied by a cobbled-together music score of preexisting recordings of sparce logical sense.
A disappointment in quality — are we to expect anything else from the budget video producers? — but watchable.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued
and is . . .
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Other silent era MARY PICKFORD films available on home video.
Other silent era CECIL B. DeMILLE films available on home video.
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Mary Pickford filmography in The Progressive Silent Film List
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