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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The Ocean Waif
(1916)
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This incomplete feature film, directed by Alice Guy-Blaché, stars Carlyle Blackwell and Doris Kenyon, with William Morse, Fraunie Fraunholz and Dyne Donaldson.
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 Kino Classics
2018 Blu-ray Disc edition
Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers (1911-1929), black & white and color-toned black & white, 1710 minutes total, not rated, including The Ocean Waif (1916), black & white and color-tinted black & white, 35 minutes, not rated.
Kino Lorber, K23411, UPC 7-38329-23411-9.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region A Blu-ray Disc (six BDs in the set); 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 30.6 Mbps average video bit rate; Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 224 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; 4 chapter stops; 80-page insert booklet; three double-disc plastic trays on cardboard wrap in cardboard storage box; $99.95.
Release date: 20 November 2018.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 7 / audio: 8 / additional content: 8 / overall: 8.
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This Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered from a high-resolution scan of a very-good but incomplete 35mm master positive print (a possible rerelease version) held by the Library of Congress. Sections of the print are in active nitrate decomposition and action can be difficult to discern in the damaged footage. Clear footage shows signs of dust, moderate speckling, emulsion offsetting, blooms and scrapes, and other print flaws. Missing narrative is implied through still frames and expository replacement intertitles (set in 2009).
The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on piano by Maud Nelissen (with faint beachy sound effects).
Supplemental material includes a featurette on Alice Guy-Blaché with contributions by Alison McMahan, Shelley Stamp, Jane M. Gaines and Anthony Slide (8 minutes).
This will likely be the best home video editions of many of these films. A companion volume containing three feature films and a fragment of a fourth was also released under the title The Intrigue.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.
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 Kino Classics
2018 DVD edition
Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers (1911-1929), black & white and color-toned black & white, 1320 minutes total, not rated, including The Ocean Waif (1916), black & white and color-tinted black & white, 35 minutes, not rated.
Kino Lorber, K23410, UPC 7-38329-23410-2.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 1 NTSC DVD disc (six 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 ? 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 foreign language subtitles; chapter stops; 80-page insert booklet; three double-disc plastic trays on cardboard wrap in cardboard storage box; $79.95.
Release date: 20 November 2018.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD edition has been mastered from a high-resolution scan of an archival print.
The films are accompanied by music scores by Renee C. Baker, The Berklee Silent Film Orchestra, Makia Matsumura, Maud Nelissen, Dana Reason, Aleksandra Vrebalov and others.
This will likely be the best DVD home video editions of many of these films. A companion volume containing three feature films and a fragment of a fourth was also released under the title The Intrigue.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 DVD edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.
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 Kino International
2008 DVD edition
The Ocean Waif (1916), color-toned black & white and black & white, 40 minutes, not rated, with ’49-’17 (1917), color-toned black & white and black & white, 63 minutes, not rated.
Kino International, K603, UPC 7-38329-06032-9.
One single-sided, dual-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 5.3 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 256 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; 3 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $19.95.
Release date: 22 April 2008.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 6 / audio: 8 / additional content: 7 / overall: 7.
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This DVD edition, originally released by Kino as an educational video offering in 2000, has been prepared from the sole surviving 35mm print of The Ocean Waif, which is held by the Library of Congress. Originally prepared from an analog video transfer, some damaged or missing footage is presented in still frames with quite visible interlacing artifacts. The picture is not quite as sharp as the source material could render, and a sigenificant amount of speckling is seen throughout. Other print flaws include emulsion offsetting, blooms and scrapes.
The film is accompanied by a fine music score performed on piano by Jon C. Mirsalis.
Not recommended anymore as this edition is out-of-print and has been surpassed by Kino Lorber’s 2018 edition noted above.
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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 to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Other silent era films directed by WOMEN DIRECTORS.
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